Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students
Advocating for the health, safety and welfare of all exchange students
Jeffrey William Hodges III has hosted at least 18 foreign exchange
students.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/87711
!!! Note: Jeffrey William Hodges III was an International Exchange
Coordinator with EF Foundation. If you are a former exchange student who was hosted by this man, we ask that you please contact CSFES immediately !!!
---
Deception in Exchange
Foreign Exchange Students Not Getting What They Pay For
By Joshua Palmer, Times-News, October 15, 2006.
TWIN FALLS — Holim Wang didn't know what to expect when he came to the United States two years ago, but something didn't seem quite right when he and three other Korean exchange students found themselves sleeping on the floor of a trailer home in Jerome.
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2006/10/15/news_topstory/news_topstory.1.txt
Student exchange organizations:
Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) and
Worldwide International Students Exchange (WISE)
---
ROCKVILLE MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING EXCHANGE STUDENT
By Stephanie Siegel, Gazette.net, October 4, 2006
http://www.gazette.net/stories/100406/wheanew214306_31951.shtml
**As of October 5, 2006, The student exchange organization has asked the Maryland County Police Department to not release its name at this time.
CSFES Update: November 27, 2006
Name of student exchange organization:
San Francisco-based AYUSA International
---
EXCHANGE STUDENT GETS RUDE WELCOME TO AMERICA
By Gayle Perez,
The Pueblo Chieftain, September 21, 2006
Seventeen-year-old German native Volkan Deniz applied to be a foreign exchange student in the United States for the experiences he would gain from spending a year abroad.
"I like to learn about new cultures and new countries," Volkan said in an interview Wednesday. "I wanted to come to the United States to learn more about the country and the people."
Since leaving his home in Schalksmeuhle, Germany on Aug. 15, Volkan has had quite the experience.
Volkan said he initially requested to live with a host family in California where he had hoped to learn to surf.
But the day before he left Germany, Volkan learned that he was being diverted to Colorado.
He arrived in La's Animas where he waited for a host family to be found for him through the Educational Foundation for Foreign Studies program.
"They told me that they didn't have any more spots open in California, so I came to Colorado," he said. "I guess I won't learn to surf."
It didn't take long for the foundation to find a host family in nearby Lamar.
But the family quickly declined to host him in their home once they learned Volkan was a Muslim.
"They stated I couldn't stay with them because of my religion," said Volkan, who was born and raised in Germany to Turkish parents. Volkan remained in Las Animas awaiting another host family. In the meantime, classes were beginning in most area school districts.
During a trip through Pueblo en route to picking up another exchange student from the airport, Volkan heard about a contest on a local radio, called in and won 15 gallons of gasoline.
While at the gasoline station to claim his prize, an employee overheard Volkan talking about his situation.
The employee, Gary Dall, said he had hosted another German exchange student the past school year and agreed to take in Volkan on a temporary basis.
"He had already missed a full week of school and we knew he needed to be enrolled in school," Dall said.
Volkan moved to Pueblo and enrolled at South High School, where he is adjusting to the school and his classmates. He also is a member of the school's soccer team.
Although he is doing well at Dall's home, there are several circumstances that prevent him from staying there long term.
Dall said his previous exchange student left on June 19 after a 10-month stay and he wasn't ready to host another student this soon.
"It's a very emotional experience," he said. "When he left it was like losing son."
Also, Dall said that Volkan's family had requested he live in a traditional family home with other children. Dall does not have any children.
"He's not a problem for us. He's a fine boy and a lot of fun to be around, but he really needs to be in a home where he has peers," Dall said.
Volkan agreed, adding that he had requested to be with a family with children.
"I would like to be with somebody my own age so we hang out and do things together," he said.
Volkan said he wants to remain at South to complete his senior year.
In spite of all he has gone through in his short stay in the United States, Volkan doesn't plan to leave before his stint ends in June.
"I think this is all part of the experience," he said with a smile. "I've never thought about leaving. It would destroy the whole experience if I were to go back now."
Dall said anyone interested in hosting Volkan for the remainder of the school year can contact him 671-2749. Student Exchange Organization: ---
EF Foundation (Educational Foundation for Foreign Studies Program)
Student shortchanged by shady dealings
By Julie Kay/The Reporter.Com -- 07/15/06
A 30-year-old Vacaville woman accused of stealing money from an exchange student she hosted last fall is being investigated by the Solano County District Attorney's office on suspicion of grand theft and felony misconduct, authorities said.
In the meantime, the exchange organization responsible for the student's placement has refused to refund his money, asserting the student "handled his personal spending money inappropriately."
Joseph Kessi, 18, arrived from Ghana last September to attend Vacaville High School, where he placed on the soccer team and excelled in his classes. The young man was featured in The Reporter after leaving the home where his host mom reportedly had stolen his money and after having been "adopted" by Woodland's Michelle Dickey and the Vacaville Rotary Club.
Dickey provided Kessi room and board without compensation throughout the school year, while rotarians gave Kessi a monthly stipened and took him on a variety of sight-seeking adventures.
The article touched only briefly on Kessi's experience in his first host home.
"He said he wanted to put it all behind him and pretend it never happened," said Dickey.
Dickey and other Rotarians say Kessi told them his parents borrowed from family members to pay the $7,000 total program cost. He arrived in the United States with $1,200, he said. Shortly after his arrival, his first host mother convinced him to buy a television and DVD player, which they used in her home, he said.
She advised him to put his money in a bank account but told him he couldn't open one without a social security number, Kessi told Dickey. She then offered to open an account for Kessi, into which he deposited his remaining money, Dickey said.
The woman also called Kessi's parents, telling them she could get Kessi into the University of California, Davis if they sent her $500. Kessi's parents had an American uncle wire the money to her; Kessi never saw it again.
After hearing Kessi's story, and later discovering what appeared to be evidence of felony misconduct, Dickey and Kessi filed a report with the police.
Police videotaped interviews with Kessi, Dickey, and Kessi's first host mother. Vacaville Police Detective Bob Horel, who handled the case, said authorities obtained copies of bank records and confiscated the host mother's computer for evidence. Having reviewed these, the police attempted to located the woman, but were unsuccessful, said Horel. Police then handed the case to the Solano County District Attorney's Office for further investigation of possible grand theft and felony misconduct, said Horel. Accounding to the DA's office, the case is still under investigation.
The organization which originally placed Kessi, the New York-based Program of Academic Exchange (PAX), said it will accept no responsibility for what happened.
In a July 11 e-mail addressing the situation, PAX president Libby Cryer said her organization "clearly and unmistakably advised the student, both verbally and in writing, that PAX rules specified that a student should not put money in a joint account."
"While we have regrets whenever a PAX student makes a costly mistake, we also make it very clear that students must abide by program rules and must accept responsibility for their own actions when they don't," Cryer continued in the e-mail.
Cryer wrote that she "spoke regularly and at length with Detective Horel."
"Detective Horel concluded that there was no case for legal action in this matter," Cryer continued. "He passed the case along to the district attorney, who, in turn, concluded no legal action was in order.
"PAX finds no reason to reimburse any amount to the family of Joseph Kessi (sic) and does not intend to do so."
In a telephone conversation Friday, Cryer declined to answer further questions on the situation, saying that the e-mail she sent contained a thorough explanation. Asked about differences between her's and Horel's accounts of the progress of the case, Cryer said her information was based on her understanding of what Horel said.
Dickey said she was "absolutely shocked at (PAX's) response."
"Putting the fault on Joseph...'Oh he shouldn't have opened a joint checking account,'" she said. "I think what's so frustrating is he was completely victimized and nobody's taking any responsibility for it at all."
Danielle Grijalva, who directs the Committee for the Safety of Foreign Exchange Students, based in Oceanside, filed a complaint about the issue with the State Department in June. Its investigation is under way.
Student exchange organization:
Program of Academic Exchange (PAX)
---
EXCHANGE STUDENT CLAIMS SHE WAS TARGET OF FRAUD
By Tasha Kates, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, June 14, 2006
http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local_story_165013302.html
Student exchange organization:
AYUSA International
---
AFTER ROCKY START, EXCHANGE STUDENT ENJOYS VACAVILLE EXPERIENCE
By Julie Kay/Vacaville Reporter of The Daily Democrat, June 4, 2006
Vacaville High School exchange student Joseph Kessi and his host mom Michelle Dickey have avoided talking about Joseph's imminent return to his native Ghana. It would make him too sad, Joseph says, given the kindness and adventure he's experienced here.
Watching the 18-year-old's eyes light up ashe speaks about his time here, one would hardly guess at the torment the tall, soft-spoken young man endured when he first arrived. Now, as he prepares to return home, Joseph said he feels thankful for the odd set of circumstances which sowed him the worst, and then the best, of American culture.
The talented student and athlete arrived here in August to fulfill a dream - to live with an American family and attend his senior year of high school here. But that vision quickly crumbled.
"I didn't have a good family," Joseph said simply last week, as he sat on a couch in the house he calls home.
"According to Vacaville Rotary Club members who befriended Joseph, the young man was initially placed in a dilapidated home on McClellan Street. It quickly became apparent that the woman living there wasn't interested in cultural exchange. She stole all the spending money Joseph had for the year, then tried to get Joseph's father to send her more."
At first, Joseph didn't know where to turn.
"I didn't have any friends I could confide in," he recalled.
Fortunately, he quickly became a popular member of his school's soccer team. He told a teammate about his situation, who told his mother, who told Vacaville's Dickey.
The mother "was telling me he was a really nice young man and needed to find a home, " recalled Dickey, who has a son the same age living with his father in Santa Cruz. Dickey agreed to take Joseph in and take care of his expenses, even though she had never even met him.
"I was thinking that I hoped someone would do the same for my son in the same situation," said Dickey. "I live near the high school. I had an empty bedroom. I thought it was the right thing to do."
Joseph's spirits rose the moment he walked into Dickey's house.
"When I came I knew it was a better place," he said, smiling at Dickey. The two hit it off with surprising ease.
"Michelle makes sure I'm OK" said Joseph. "She protects me. She buys me things like food and clothes."
Joseph, said Dickey, is kind and polite, but still a typical teenage boy.
"Even though he's from Ghana, people are people," she said. "He gets completely immersed in (video game systems) Xbox and his PSP. He'll hear the garage door opening and jump up from Xbox to go do his chores."
While Dickey provided Joseph a good home, her ability to show him all the sights of California was limited.
That's where the Vacaville Rotary Club stepped in. Club member Lauren Osborn, a friend of Dickey's brought Joseph's story to the club, looking for a way to help Joseph out.
The Rotarians responded eagerly, said club member Bill Ruth.
"Our Rotary Club adopted him," he explained.
For the rest of the story, please refer to the archives: http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_3899314
Student exchange organization:
PAX - Program of Academic Exchange
---
MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SEX ABUSE, Lexington Herald-Leader, April 6, 2006
A Berea man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old foreign exchange student. Paul Stone, 54, plead guilty Monday in Madison Circuit Court to third-degree sodomy and was recommended to serve one year in jail, the Madison County commonwealth's attorney's office said. Other charges of third-degree rape and third-degree sexual abuse were dropped, the office said. Sentencing will be April 27. In February, Stone was indicted for sexually abusing the exchange student. Police said the teen was with the family one or two months before the incident was reported in December 2005 to a teacher.
Student Exchange Organization:
EF Foundation for Foreign Study (EF)
---
MAN ACCUSED OF SEX ASSAULT ON EXCHANGE STUDENT
By Madelaine Vitale Staff Writer Published: February 9, 2006
Edward Gibbons, 35, is charged with having sex with a 17-year-old girl on numerous occasions between October 2004 and February 2005.
AYUSA International Global Youth Exchange, a nonprofit high school exchange program, placed the girl in Gibbon's home, the prosecutor said. Authorities arrested Gibbons, who works at ShopRite in Egg Harbor Township, at his job Wednesday morning.
Student exchange organization:
AYUSA International
CSFES Update: September 6, 2006
Man admits to sex with exchange student
By Lynda Cohen, Press of Atlantic City, September 6, 2006
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/atlantic/story/6725965p-6593752c.html
Student exchange organization:
AYUSA International
---
---
EXCHANGE STUDENTS SCAMMED, February 5, 2006
By Meghan Rubado of The Post-Standard
"They feared if they didn't give him the money, they'd be sent back to their home countries."
The students were from : ECUADOR, THAILAND, COLOMBIA, GERMANY, CHINA and SOUTH KOREA.
Christopher M. Seals, 35, was an area representative of the International Student Exchange organization, city police said. He is accused of meeting the students as they arrived at Hancock Airport from Sept. 3 to October 31, then telling them he needed to hold on to their money.
He told the students he would give them the money as they needed it, but instead kept most of the cash, police said.
The students attended Nottingham and Henniger high schools, but three moved to homes and schools outside Onondaga County after they complained of poor living conditions, Buske said.
Student exchange organization:
International Student Exchange (ISE)
---
COURT MAKES CHILD PORNOGRAPHY DOWNLOADS A 20-YEAR FELONY
By John S. Hausman, Muskegon Chronicle, January 26, 2006.
To read about Brian Lee Hill facing three counts of eavesdropping by installing a video device, a two-year felony, for snooping with a hidden camera on male teenage exchange students using the shower, click the following link:
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1138290303147010.xml&coll=8
---