Friendship Family Program matches international students with local
families
Imagine yourself thousands of miles from home in a foreign culture, where
you must adapt to a new and challenging academic environment. Would you
appreciate a supportive and welcoming home away from home?
Dartmouth's International Office Friendship
Family Program provides just that, matching incoming international freshmen
with a local host family. For the students, the family is a window on aspects
of American culture that campus life doesn't always provide. For the family,
it's a relationship that provides a unique opportunity to learn about another
culture.
 From left: Minty Koppenheffer, Amma R. Serwaah-Panin '10 of
Ghana, and Wan Xian Sng '10 of Singapore, pictured at the Koppenheffer home
last Thanksgiving. The Koppenheffer family is participating in the Friendship
Family Program and serving as a local host family for Serwaah-Panin and Sng.
(Photo Courtesty Amma R. Serwaah-Panin'10)
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Local families interested in the program are invited to apply to the International Office throughout the
academic year. Student-family matches are made at the end of the summer to
ensure the program begins in earnest when students arrive in the fall. While
the International Office officially supports the program through the first
fall, students and families often find that a lasting connection is formed that
continues throughout the student's Dartmouth career and beyond.
Stephen Silver, director of the International Office, says, "In the last
five years, my family and I have participated in the Friendship Family Program.
Our son has especially enjoyed hanging out with his big brothers from Canada,
Ghana, and Nigeria."
For application forms and further information, contact (603) 646-3474.
By AMMA SERWAAH-PANIN '10
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