Below are a few of the most Frequently Asked Questions about AFS. Please contact the AFS office in your home country for further clarifications and for any other questions you have about AFS or write to info@afs.org.
For questions about High School Students Go Abroad, Adults Go Abroad, Hosting, Volunteering and Supporting AFS use the links or the menu to the left to go to the relevant sections of this website.
- I was an AFS participant and I would like to contact other former participants – my host family – other people involved in AFS.
- What do the letters A.F.S. stand for?
- What about jobs with AFS?
- How is AFS structured?
- How is AFS funded?
I was an AFS participant and I would like to contact other former participants – my host family – other people involved in AFS.
First check to see if the people you are looking for have registered themselves in the Find an AFSer section of the this website. Find an AFSer is a database where AFS friends, returnees (former program participants), host and natural families, and volunteers register by providing basic data about themselves.
If you don’t find the people you are looking for, try to find other people from the same year and contact them to find out if they can help.
As a last resort, you can also try to contact the AFS office in the country from which the AFS participant came.
What do the letters A.F.S. stand for?
The American Field Service, the volunteer ambulance service, first started in 1914. The current name of the organization is AFS Intercultural Programs.
What about jobs with AFS?
If you are interested in working in an AFS Partner office or at AFS Intercultural Programs, contact the AFS office in which you are interested. Please remember, to work for AFS in a specific country, you must comply with the legal requirements to obtain a work permit and any other requirements. People specifically interested in working for AFS - USA should connect to AFS-USA’s website. AFS-USA administers all AFS program in the United States.
How is AFS structured?
AFS is a network of independent, non-profit, volunteer based Partner Organizations committed to achieving world peace through intercultural exchange. Within each country AFS is organized in local volunteer chapters of varying geographic sizes. These chapters are the primary center for the program activity. Each Partner organization is led by a volunteer board with responsibility and accountibility for their Partner organization to the volunteers and to AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. The Partner board is also responsible for the professional staff. AFS Intercultural Programs provides worldwide leadership, coordination, support, quality control and development of AFS Partners and programs. An international Board of Trustees, elected by the Partners is responsible for AFS worldwide. The day-to-day work internationally is taken care of by the International Adminstration of AFS, based in New York City, USA.
How is AFS funded?
While the mission of AFS is global, its funding is primarily local. AFS Partner organizations maintain their own, autonomous financial systems. Each AFS organization is individually supported through a variety of means, most importantly through fees participants pay to go on the program, but also through corporate sponsorships and grants and donations from foundations, governments and individuals. Others help by supplying materials, meeting space or services. Very significant in-kind contributions are received from host families and schools who host the students on a volunteer basis and from all the more than 30,000 active volunteers who contribute their time and hard work to AFS.
