(American Councils for International Education)
American Councils for International Education is in search of volunteers to evaluate scholarship applications of high school students from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and the United States. Evaluation of applications will take place from November 2013 through March 2014. Only individuals living in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area can volunteer. Volunteers must participate in a training session; subsequently hours are flexible.
From November 2012 through the present, PDAA board member Jon Schaffer volunteered 15 to 20 hours per week reading applications from high school students from the countries of the former Soviet Union, Lithuania, countries with significant Muslim populations, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as from U.S. high school students who wish to study difficult languages in other countries.
Volunteers who make a substantial commitment to the American Councils may have the opportunity to either accompany students from their home countries to the United States for their exchange or bring them back following a year in the U.S. Last year, for example, Jon escorted 25 students from Kazakhstan to the U.S. and also gave a talk at the American Corners in Kazakhstan to a group of young Kazaks about how volunteerism provides economic and social benefits to communities. As Jon has said of his experiences, “There is something very re-energizing about connecting with young people, which I am able to do through reading the applications, accompanying them to the U.S., and engaging with them through institutions such as Corners.”
Anyone interested in obtaining more information on volunteering can find it on the American Councils Web site.
