ELI's Homestay program offers homes away from home
Omar cooks up a Saudi dish at the Blevins home.
Homestay students visit a shop in New London, Pa., that sells chocolate candy.
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1:07 p.m., Sept. 14, 2009----The University of Delaware campus is a global community with students from all over the world coming here not only as undergraduate and graduate students but also to attend the University's highly respected English Language Institute (ELI).

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For many of these students, the Homestay Delaware program, which is affiliated with ELI, is one of the highlights of their stay at UD.

“We have a variety of students representing the spectrum of cultures, languages and religions. While about half want to live in residence halls, there are many who want to learn about life in the United States firsthand by staying with American families. In almost all cases, homestays prove to be a life-transforming experience -- for the student and family alike. To see the love and understanding that bridges the divide of language, faith and culture is a truly beautiful thing to behold and goes to the heart of the virtue of international education and study abroad,” said Scott Stevens, ELI director.

Nancy Purcell has been director of ELI Home Stay Delaware for 11 years. “Most of our students come from Asia, South America and the Middle East, with some from Europe,” she said.

Purcell herself has hosted approximately 50 students for short and long-term stays over the years. “It's the fun part of my job,” she said. “I try to make students feel at home and include them in family activities, from backyard volleyball games to cookouts to visiting local landmarks such as Longwood Gardens.

“Not only do we get to know the students, we have contact with their families and have been invited to visit them at their homes in their countries,” she said. “Our family has actually traveled twice to Asia, visiting many of the students who became part of our family.”

When Purcell first started the job, there were 15 families enrolled but now the number has risen to 175, with most families learning about the program by word of mouth. When new families enter the program, Purcell visits to talk to them about what they might expect, makes suggestions and keeps in touch with them to make sure things are going smoothly.
“I try to match students with families,” she said. “Some students like dogs, some don' t; some host families have young children, some hosts are older. The students range in age from the late teens to lawyers and business people in their 60s. It's an ongoing process, and, as some sessions are seven to eight weeks long, I am continually getting ready for the next group. What we look for in families is the heart for hospitality.”

If, as occasionally happens, a student seems better fitted for living in a residence hall or apartment rather than Homestay, then Purcell is there to help make the transition.

Brian and Rose Humphrey joined the Homestay program more than nine years ago and have had many students from countries around the world stay with them and their two children. “I have always had an interest in international affairs and enjoy having the students stay with us,” Rose Humphrey, who has master's and doctoral degrees from UD, said. “We treat the students like members of our family, and my goal is to give them a taste of real American family life and culture.”

She recalled their first student was a young woman from Mexico. “She lived with us a year,” Humphrey said. “She had just broken up with her fiancé at home and met a young man from the Philippines here, whom she married, and they now live in Thailand.”

Another time the family hosted two Korean men and a young woman from Japan. “She was an only child, and it was like having two brothers, which she enjoyed,” Humphrey said. “I invited her back for Christmas, the first traditional Christmas any of them had experienced.”

Currently, the Humphreys are awaiting the return of two young men from Saudi Arabia. One is studying at ELI; the other qualified for admittance to graduate school in transportation and communication.

When Kevin and Diane Smith began Homestay, Diane was expecting their fourth child. “The students were so solicitous and caring,” she said.

The Smiths' older girls are students at UD and have moved out of the home, but the younger children are home and interact with the ELI students. “We had a student from Mexico who said talking to Mikayla and Shannon was so helpful because they didn't mind her mistakes and corrected her. It carried over into school, too. Mikayla had a friend from Japan at UD's Laboratory Preschool, and the little girl's mother thanked me for Mikayla's patience and help in teaching her English,” Smith said.

She added, “Being a Homestay family has worked out well. We are not far from campus, and I give the students ELI bicycles and they are very independent. It's wonderful to be able to give back to the world and to share what American family life is like.”

Nancy and Dennis Blevins are newcomers to the Homestay program. “We heard about Homestay at church where friends told us about it and said we would be a good fit for the program. When our daughters grew up and left home, we had room for students and soon two young men from Saudi Arabia moved in. Othman was with us a short time, and Omar spent one semester with us and is returning for a second semester. Both students were thoughtful and caring,” Nancy Blevins said.

“It has been an broadening experience,” she said, “and stretched us, and we understand far more about the Muslim world.”

Blevins added, “We have taken Omar different places from New York to see the Statue of Liberty and the site of the World Trade Center to a local rodeo and the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Omar also has learned about American cooking and has cooked Saudi dishes for us. We have had so much fun, and I strongly recommend the Homestay program.”

For more information about Homestay Delaware, visit the program's Web site.

Article by Sue Moncure

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