22/7/2009 - German Embassy hosted a Handover Ceremony of AFS Foreign Exchange Students
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18, 2009 – The German Embassy hosted a welcome reception on the 18th of July (Saturday) to a handover ceremony of foreign exchange students who will kick off their year long exchange here in Malaysia under the AFS Antarabudaya Malaysia organization. The event was held at the German Ambassador, H.E Dr. Guenter Gruber’s residence from 3pm until 5pm.
There is a significant increase for this year’s number of students and overwhelming response following an aggressive marketing and promotions efforts done by AFS Malaysia last year. A total of 78 international students from across the world have been selected to participate in the AFS cultural exchange to Malaysia for a year, with 34 students flying in from Germany alone. Apart from that, AFS Antarabudaya Malaysia will also be hosting students from Austria, China, Hong Kong, Italy, Portugal and Venezuela for the first time in their 50 year history.
The students will be staying with host families from multiracial backgrounds spread across the different states during the duration of their stay where they will experience the local culture and flavors of Malaysia while participating in secondary school life.
The event was emceed by Dato’ Mahadzir Lokman and was attended by ambassadors from Belgium and Venezuela; and cultural attaches from Austria, Italy and Norway For the Northern Hemisphere batch, AFS Malaysia is hosting 44 participants which includes 1 Canadian participant who will be staying in Malaysia for one year completing her community service exchange with the Women Aids Organization (WAO).
Ambassador from Germany, HE Dr Guenter Gruber said, “It is very exciting to see a large number of German high school students are brave to overcome the challenges to experience the different lifestyle in Malaysia. We hope through this exchange, Malaysians will learn more about Germany and vice versa.”
In August, AFS Antarabudaya Malaysia is hoping to host another 10 American high school students for a one year program.
Malaysia will also be the venue for the 22nd AFS World Congress that is to be held for the first time in this nation from the 20th – 25th October 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. Themed “Bridging Cultures-Acting on the Vision”, the week long event aims to bring together all 53 AFS partners around the world to promote Malaysia as a preferred student exchange hosting destination. About 300 international delegates are expected to participate in the World Congress.
Co-Chairman for the World Congress, Shazalyna Mohammad said that the hosting of the World Congress this year will help boost the image and branding of the organization and the 1 Malaysia concept attracting more foreign applicants in choosing Malaysia as their first choice destination, while encouraging local applicants and host families to participate in an intercultural experience overseas with AFS.
AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.
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For further information, kindly contact Ms Siti Badarny Hassan, Head of Media Relations, at telephone number 019-2194287 or Ms Gaya, Senior Executive, PR, Marketing and Communications at telephone number 012-3302671 or Email: gayathri.velayutham@afs.org
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