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What is it REALLY like to host an international guest? Get the scoop at an informal info session on April 12th!
Now is the time to check out what it means to open your home to an international guest for a few days to a couple of weeks. Drop by International House on Thursday, April 12th, 6-7pm, to hear from staff and former host families about the rewards of setting an extra place at the table and putting fresh sheets on the guest bed. Amazing conversations, lots of laughter, and lifelong friendships are just a few of the benefits of hosting a guest from across the globe. Contact Lara Printz, International House Program Director, for more information. (704) 342-2248, cell: (205) 332-9695, or lprintz@ihclt.org.
Upcoming Home Hosting Opportunities!
April 15 – April 22 (and/or) April 22 - May 2nd, host families needed for 3 guests (1 female from Kyrgyzstan and 2 males from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan) through the Legislative Fellows Program, a U.S. State Department initiative. Each visitor is involved with legislation or human rights in their home country and will be participating in internships here in Charlotte. To learn more about the Legislative Fellows Program, click here.
April 21 – 25, host families are also needed for a delegation 5 business and financial visitors from Central Asia through the Rumsfeld Fellows program. To learn more about the Rumsfeld Fellows Program, click here.
Snapshot of host responsibilities >>
More home hosting opportunities >>
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Who's in the House? - April 24, 2012
On Tuesday, April 24th, International House will welcome international visitors from Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan who will be showcased at our next “Who’s in the House?" event. These visitors are part of the Legislative Fellows and Rumsfeld Fellows professional exchange programs and will be visiting Charlotte during the second half of April. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet and socialize with these special guests and enjoy an interactive and educational experience right here at International House! Entertainment and light refreshments provided. Everyone is welcome!
Location: International House, 322 Hawthorne Lane, Clt, NC
Date: Tuesday, April 24th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Cost: Free
For more information call us at 704.333.8099, or email lprintz@ihclt.org
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Join us on May 3rd for an extraordinary music performance by cellist Tanja Bechtler and Swiss pianist Hanny Schmid Wyss right here at International House.
The Mission of The Bechtler Ensemble is to present musical performances that are educational in nature. The performances are primarily designed to weave a connection between the historical and creative contents of the music to the art exhibited at The Bechtler Museum.
The Bechtler Ensemble gives concerts in intimate settings. During these concerts, which are usually about one hour in length, slides of the art from the Bechtler collection as well as images from the art in its original setting in the Zürich home, are shown. Musical compositions are chosen from the same time period as the art and, before each piece, a brief explanation is given as to why the composer and artist were paired. For more information about the artists click here >>
Location: International House, 322 Hawthorne Lane, Clt, NC
Date:Thursday, May 3, 2012, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Cost: General admission $10, students $5
RSVP not required but helpful.
Contact Hendrik van Vuuren at 704-333-8099 ext. 12 or email hvanvuuren@ihclt.org
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On Monday, April 9th, German expat author and North Carolina resident, Monika Schroeder, will be discussing her books "Saraswati’s Way", "A Dog in the Wood", and "My Brother’s Shadow" at an event hosted by the Women’s National Book Association, a UN NGO member.
The event is free and open to the public. Join us as we discuss with Monika Schroeder the challenges of writing a book exploring international issues like child labor, education in undeveloped countries, and the effects of war on children.
Location: International House, 322 Hawthorne Lane, Clt, NC
Date: Monday, April 9 at 6:30 pm
Hosted by: Women’s National Book Association
A UNESCO Awareness Program
 Since 1917, the WNBA national organization has served publishing professionals and book-lovers alike in an effort to promote the community of the book. The WNBA is also a UN Non-Governmental Organization promoting literacy and education with programs like the UNICEF Afghan Education Alliance. |
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World Parade and Festival - April 21, 2012
You are invited to the First Annual Charlotte World Parade & Festival, featuring international games, family contests, continental displays of arts & crafts, world bazaar, storytelling in different languages and an art competition. There are many ways of participating in this wonderful and colorful day of traditional customs, celebrating the diversity of our city’s cultures. The festival will include folklore, food and a variety of live entertainment from many cultures.
Location: Independence Park, 300 Hawthorne Lane, Clt, NC
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2012
Cost: Free; Open to the Public
Time: 11:00am - 6:00pm
 The World Parade & Festival's mission is to educate our community regarding the many cultures in the world.
More Info: visit website >> |
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Middle East Council Festival
The Charlotte Middle East Festival is a cultural family event held every Spring at Queens University on Selwyn Avenue. This year there will be multiple food and dessert vendors, crafts, live Middle Eastern and international music and folk dances from around the Middle East.
This event is non-religious and non-political. It is organized by the Middle East Council of the Carolinas which is an International House affiliate and a Charlotte based non-profit organization. See you there!
For more Information call Pierre at 704-607-1566
Location: Queens University of Charlotte
Date: Sunday, April 22nd from 11 AM to 5 PM
Cost: Free
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Director of Educational Programs and Volunteers -
More Information >>
Citizen Diplomacy Associate -
More Information >>
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From the Executive Director |
For a few days last summer, I had the opportunity to host two teenage girls from the Kurdish region of Iraq through one of our international visitor programs. Shokh was a fearless extrovert with an easy laugh and great fondness for the English word, "Amazing"! EVERYTHING was amazing.... our raft trip at the Whitewater Adventure Center, the Charlotte skyline, and even my Chihuahua, Zorro. Sylvana was quieter, with a love for music and hats. She especially enjoyed our trek to an outdoor folk and bluegrass festival. She and Shokh were captivated by the rhythms and began an improvised Iraqi folk dance to the great amusement of festival onlookers. Shokh is Muslim; Sylvana, Christian. They became the best of friends and were deeply affected by their visit to America. I still receive facebook messages from both of them, addressed to their "dear American Host Mom", and filled with exclamation marks and smiley faces in the universal teenager style.
Last fall, I also volunteered to host a woman attorney and professor from Sri Lanka. Kosalai is a young Hindu lecturer at the University of Jaffna and was particularly interested in coming to America to learn about the U.S. legal system and grassroots advocacy and organizing. She loved her internship at one of the area nonprofits. On the weekend, we drove up to Asheville for some shopping and a hike. Sri Lanka is a tropical country, so a chance to see the brilliant colors of the North Carolina mountains during peak leaf season was a treat. Kosalai was also intrigued by our unique southern agriculture; we stopped beside a cotton field so she could take a piece back home.
To share life for a few days with these remarkable visitors from other parts of the globe was a real gift. I learned about day to day life and culture in Kurdish Iraq, discussed human rights issues with a fellow woman law graduate, laughed, sang, and learned an Iraqi folk dance, and shared family pictures with new friends whose lives were both very different, yet remarkably similar to mine.
The National Council of International Visitors believes in building international understanding, "one handshake at a time". This is the kind of citizen diplomacy we do everyday at International House through our international visitor program, and we depend on our volunteer home and dinner hosts to make it successful. Last year, 75 volunteer families offered home hospitality to 221 international visitors from 74 different countries. We open our doors, but we also open our minds and hearts to new ways of seeing the world and new links between human beings who share a common desire for global peace and prosperity.
If I could say one thing to those of you who may be on the fence about hosting an international visitor, it would be "Just do it!" These are international visitors vetted through the U.S. State Department and other national agencies, and they are highly intelligent, successful professionals and students in their home countries. Each one is eager to experience American life and culture and extremely grateful for the opportunity to stay with everyday American singles, couples, and families. International House staff provides interested host families with all the information and support needed, and most home hospitality stays are quite short, a few days to a couple of weeks.
Give it a try! You will be glad you did. And who knows, you might host the future leader of China, just as a small town family from Iowa did over 20 years ago, when a young agricultural student named Xi stayed in their son’s bedroom, complete with Star Wars figurines on the dresser. Mr. Xi made a special trip back to Muscatine when he was recently in the U.S. for a meeting with President Obama. Those small seeds of human connection planted years ago may have made more difference in world politics than millions of dollars in military expenditures.
I'll keep track of Shokh, Sylvana, and Kosalai. Who knows? The first female President of Iraq or Sri Lanka may come back to Charlotte one day to see me!
Denise Cumbee Long
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International Book Club |
The next meeting of the International House Book Club will be on Monday, April 16, 2012 at 7 p.m. Everyone welcome!
The book to be discussed will be Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea (368 pages) MEXICO.
Nayeli, is a young woman in the poor but tight-knit coastal Mexican town of Tres Camarones who spends her days serving tacos and helping her feisty aunt Irma get elected as the town's first female mayor. Abandoned by her father who headed north for work years before, Nayeli is hit with the realization that her hometown is all but abandoned by men, leaving it at the mercy of drug gangsters.
So Nayeli hatches an elaborate scheme inspired by The Magnificent Seven: with three friends, she heads north to find seven Mexican men and smuggle them back into Mexico to protect the town. What she discovers along the way, of course, surprises her. Urrea's poetic sensibility and journalistic eye for detail in painting the Mexican landscape and sociological complexities create vivid, memorable scenes. The colorful characters, strong narrative and humor carry this surprisingly uplifting and very human story.
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Doorways - International Women’s Group
Doorways is a group of international women meeting on the first Wednesday of each month for social and cultural exchanges. These meetings typically take place at International House and feature different presentations from guest speakers.
The guest speaker for March will be Robert FitzPatrick, the author of "False Profits", the first book to examine pyramid scheme frauds and multi-level marketing companies, also called network marketing. His presentation will discuss the rapid growth of Ponzis and pyramids in America. He will explore the values and ethics that lead people to enroll their friends and families into these schemes and examine how the schemes affect personal relationships.
If you are interested in Doorways, please contact Lakana at laklouk12@carolina.rr.com or Lara Printz at lprintz@ihclt.org.
The next Doorways meting will be on April 4th at 10 AM at International House.
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Zumba Fitness Classes |
Zumba with Hermine - Fridays 6:30 to 7:15 PM
Originally from Armenia, Hermine has a passion for teaching multi-cultural dances. Every class feels like a party! Come join her and you'll see what we mean. You don't even have to know how to dance. Just move your body and follow the lead, it's that easy! Exercise has never been this much fun.
Time: 6:30 – 7:15 PM
Dates: Fridays, Through May 11
(No class on April 4th)
Cost: $8.00 per session
To register for these classes or to receive more information call us at 704.333.8099, or email lprintz@ihclt.org
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Recent Grants & Sponsorships ($5,000 & more) |
Wells Fargo Foundation - $20,000 for summer youth tutoring program
$10,000 for Gala 2012 sponsorship
Al & Donna de Molina -
$20,000 for the International House immigration law clinic
TJMaxx - $5,000 in support of the adult English tutoring program
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