By Jolene FarleyShelly Knobloch, Hills, is doing her part to make the world a smaller, friendlier place.Knobloch works as an area representative for the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI), St. Charles, Ill. She finds and matches host families with exchange students.CCI is a nonprofit student and adult exchange organization founded in 1985 with goals of promoting cultural understanding, academic development and world peace through international exchange. CCI works with international partners in more than 40 countries to organize programs for 1,500 participants each year.This is Knobloch’s first year with CCI. Previously she worked with another exchange program.Knobloch is recruiting families to host students. She and her husband, Merle, also hosted exchange students themselves for the past four years "I’m trying to promote families to give it a try," she said. Knobloch considers her job with CCI a ministry — a way to connect with other countries. Some people see America as a rich country with lots of power and no family values, according to Knobloch. "It’s more having them see America in different light," she said. Knobloch currently oversees six host families, two in Hills, one in Luverne, one in Ellsworth, one in Sioux Falls, S.D., and one in Sheldon, Iowa. She has placed students from Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico and Japan.Knobloch has been successful matching up students with families.She tries to look at the atmosphere the students are accustomed to and choose a similar environment in the United States.For example, if a student is an only child and is not used to having many brothers or sisters around, Knobloch probably wouldn’t place that student with a large family. Knobloch selects a host family based on information from interviews with the student and the host family, a teacher’s report on the student, and a personal letter written by the student.She recommends that students live in the same household for 10 months. If a placement doesn’t work out, Knobloch would take the student into her own home until it is determined whether the student wants to stay in the United States or go home. Knobloch said some students need extra help with language but others don’t. Some understand English well, but are hesitant to speak. She works with her students by correcting them if they say a word wrong and reminding them how to form English words.Some countries don’t use their mouths and tongues to speak the same way as English-speaking countries."They want to know the English language," she said. "They want to go back home and not have an accent." If the students continue to struggle with the language, their parents are required by CCI to send extra money for tutoring. Host families provide room and board (three meals a day). Participants provide their own medical insurance and bring their own spending money. Students usually bring credit cards, and one opened a checking account and had money wired to the bank from home. Host families aren’t required to have an extra bedroom for the exchange students. They can sleep in a bedroom with a child of the same sex. Host families come from many different backgrounds. They include working parents, childless couples, single parents, and couples whose children are grown. The most important contribution is providing a secure and loving home. Some families host a student year after year, according to Knobloch."There’s some that absolutely love it," she said. "I would like families to understand that it can be a positive experience for them," she said. The host families and students learn about a different culture, a different way of life from each other. "It is a good cultural experience, it opens up eyes in America that other people have family units all over the world," Merle Knobloch said.
