Jim and Susan Boyd with their exchange daughter Gulfiza Ganieva aka today Giza Boyd (2009-2010; Tajikistan/CA)
“People think they have to live some kind of flashy life style to host a student. Or they don’t have time. It’s all about sharing the everyday blessings that we have in America that we take it for granted.”
–Jim and Susan Boyd
I can’t tell you how happy we are to be a part of the FLEX and YES family.
Some of these students actually get introduced to volunteering here. To teach volunteerism is a great gift to anyone. Volunteerism isn’t about giving money. Volunteerism is about being in a situation to help others.
Students learn that others will give with time and or money, or whatever you’re asking for. Students learn we are the world. I read these articles and I’m so proud of our exchange sons and daughters. This is the greatest program going and we even have time for fun, like Disneyland and the Pacific coast
Susan and I have been working with exchange students volunteering as far back as eight years ago in our Hanford Breakfast Lions Club.
2007-2008- We were introduced to the World link coordinator, at that time the coordinator was in Visalia, about 30 minutes from Hanford. The Cluster of students that year came to volunteer at a pancake breakfast for a bike race. That Sunday morning our lives were changed, when a young lady from Tajikistan asked me, “Why you don’t have a student?”
2008-2009- We were working regularly with students to do volunteering. It’s very easy for a student to get at least one hundred volunteer hours with us, if they aren’t too busy with school children and other things. December, we had two young ladies from Kazakhstan show up to help the Salvation Army Bell, Aiman Adelshiyeva and Aiganymn Zhakassova. We never had so much fun. The students attended everything that the Lions did. They even came to the early morning before school. In February, they both needed to be placed in new permanent homes. They never quit coming over once a week to spend the night and on a lot of weekends. We were hooked. [The Boyd family has hosted 5 exchange students, plus have supported countless other students through volunteer opportunities]
This year we didn’t have a student because we signed up to be emergency parents, but no student needed to come to us. {Side note: they did make a big impact on the life of our student Yuliya Kacherovska this year- see her photo for her story!} This year was almost impossible for me. We love our children very much. All of our daughters try to come home and from time to time they do. Aiman has been back four times once she was an intern for a California Congressman David Valadao, a friend.
If I may say, we never use the words host family, son, daughter, parents. These are our children for always. They keep up with us and are accepted into their home families. We are one big family. Our natural children are all grown and old enough to be parents of their siblings. What do they think? They too, accept them as younger brother and sisters. They love them as much as they do each other. The older children give the younger the family rules. My grandson is told by the girls that he’s the nephew and he must mind his aunties!
Recently, we lost a father in Tajikistan. We couldn’t go over, so, we sent condolences and money to help the mother and family for the wake and morning. These students have made a very large impact in our lives! This experience never ends. It’s our life. There are so many retired families out there that reap the benefits of hosting one of these beautiful students, from the country of your choice. They are the way to fountain of youth. I wish I could describe the feeling but how does one describe the love of a parent.
