The Light - An Alumni Publication Fall 2015 | Page 4

NEW & NOTEWORTHY

CAROLINE KENNEDY ADDRESSES YFU

UPDATE: THE VINTAGE MAGICAL TOUR
Oscar Ramon Cabrera decided to revisit Royal Oak High
School, where he experienced American culture as an
international student many years ago. His wife, along
with Juan Carlos De Marco, Veronica Cecilia Schmidt,
Maria Cecilia Torres, Fabio Milner, and Graciela Szczesny,
attended the reunion with him. These former students
from Argentina came to the United States through the
Youth For Understanding program in the early 1970s and
decided to return to the United States to speak with
students about the advantages of the exchange program.
Without YFU and their mission to provide students with
the opportunity to learn about the advances intercultural
understanding, this group of alumni would not have been
able to reconnect decades later. When asked what it
meant for the school to have the group visit 44 years later,
the principal responded with, “It’s a really remarkable
experience for us to connect with them, and to hear the
impact of their experience on their lives and the influence
they had on the schools they’ve visited… It’s really
wonderful for our kids to see a big world made smaller.”

4

|

The Light

•

YFU

SEVEN YEARS OF CONNECTIONS
Jeff and Karen MacFarland, a couple from Clyde, Ohio,
have been generous to welcome several international
exchange students into their home over the past seven
years. They have also become YFU volunteers, helping to
keep the program running smoothly for almost as long.
Their passion for hosting exchange students began when
Jeff, a teacher at Clyde High School, was acquainted
with a German exchange student, Daniela Kellerman in
his class. Jeff and his wife visited Germany that summer
and were invited to stop and visit Daniela’s family along
the way. It was there that they met Daniela’s brother,
who was around the same age as their son. This helped
spark the idea that they should become a host family for
him. After returning, they contacted YFU Field Director
Jamie Withem, who helped guide them in the right
direction. After their children graduated, they thought
they would take a break from hosting, but they kept
going. Every moment they have given to the program
has been done for free, but the McFarland’s have been
rewarded with somethi