Manitoba 4-H Council is recruiting 4-H families once again for this year’s York-Benimaru Foundation (YBF) program where 20 Japanese students (ages 16-18) and two teachers travel to Manitoba to experience life on the Prairies.
This collaborative effort between the Japanese YBF and the 4-H Manitoba Council was facilitated by Manitoba’s Department of Agriculture 38 years ago, where each year 20 students spend 2 weeks living with a host family here in Manitoba.
Manitoba 4-H Executive Director, Shannon Carvey says these young people are eager to learn about Canadian and Manitoba culture.
“The Japanese students want to experience every-day life on the Prairies, and so a lot of families do a little bit of touring to highlight some of the things in Manitoba that are exciting to see,” she explains. “But it’s also about experiencing life in Manitoba. And probably the bulk of our host families would be in rural parts of the province which is an extremely different culture than what these members are used.”
“In Japan, the majority of them live in the city and so some highlights for them would be to see the open prairie, yellow canola fields, watching the stars at night,” she adds. “And if there’s an opportunity to see the northern lights, that’s a highlight. And really, just the openness and the vastness of the Prairies that I think we all take for granted every day. These are really memorable for these Japanese students.”
In exchange, every other year ten Manitoba 4-H young people travel to Japan where they spend one week touring the country, and the second week with a hosting family in Japan. And in the second week they attend a Japanese school with their host family students.
“It’s really a great cultural exchange and because it’s a long-standing relationship between all three organizations, we have a strong connection with the YBF in Japan,” shares Carvey. ” And so, it’s become part of our annual tradition of events that happen in Manitoba at 4-H throughout the summer.”
4-H families are welcome to apply to have one of 20 Japanese students (approximate ages 16-18) and two teachers into their homes, from August 1-15, either for 1 or for 2 weeks.
“We have some folks who are able to host for only one week and so we’ll split that timeline up for these students and they’ll spend one week in each home.”
Being a host family need not be expensive or change your regular family routine. The purpose is to allow students to experience everyday life in another part of the world and to treat them as part of your family. To be a host family please visit the 4-H Manitoba website HERE!.
Please note: All individuals 18 years of age and over in the host family home during the stay are required to complete the Manitoba 4-H Council’s Youth Protection Program (YPP) screening.
For more information call the 4-H Manitoba office at 1-204-726-1914.
Meet some 4-H families who have shared their experiences hosting a Japanese student at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzjfzlYMfMw&t=56s
AloJapan.com