One from China and the fourth one who is also from China, is just finishing her ma at a university in Germany

Dear Friends, 

Please forgive me for being very direct but I would like to ask for your assistance in a very special situation that may be of benefit to the Chinese Community in San Diego. I thought that you may be able to assist us in finding volunteer host families (or individuals) for the Amity Interns who will assist in Chinese language classrooms in Point Loma schools. Edward Park, Principal of Barnard Elementary Chinese Magnet School has invited four young ladies for the coming school. Two of them come from Taiwan, one from China and the fourth one who is also from China, is just finishing her MA at a university in Germany. The goal for all four is to assist the teachers in the Chinese language classroom by sharing their language and culture at Barnard Elementary, Point Loma High and Dana Middle School. As part of the program, interns live with a host family so that they not only are provided with a safe environment during their stay but also have an opportunity to learn about American communities.

Just a little bit of background: Amity Institute is a 47-year-old nonprofit organization that arranges international teaching exchanges nationwide. We are a designated J-1 Visa sponsor through the US Department of State and handle all administrative issues in our office in Point Loma. We have two programs: a Exchange Teacher Program for qualified international teachers who can join the staff of a public or private school for up to three years under our visa sponsorship and the language assistant program, also called Intern Teacher Program that allows young university students or recent graduates to come for up to 12 months to assist the world language teacher in the classroom. You can find more detailed information for both programs on our website at www.amity.org.

Perhaps you can forward this urgent appeal to a community forum or spread the word about this need to the members via an email blast. The invited young ladies are well educated, speak English and could be available also for a presentation at a gathering of your association if desired. The first three interns should arrive by the end of August, the last one in November. Hosts can be families or individuals and do not need to commit to the whole school year but it would be good if the term is not shorter than  8-9 weeks to allow for some consistency and adjustment to a new environment.

I would be very thankful if you could get back to me either by email or by phone (619-222-7000, ext. 22 - or my cell phone 619-248-3489 after hours) to discuss further details.

Sincerely,