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An increase in enrollment and an increase in popularity of the program have led to the need for more volunteers.

By Rebecca Ruiz-McGill, University Communications
January 8, 2009

A few hours once a month is all it takes to potentially build a lifetime of friendship.

International Friends, a community-based nonprofit organization that connects international students with Tucson community members, is seeking more volunteers willing to share their time and a meal or two with newly arriving international students at The University of Arizona.

International Friends will have an information session for interested community members on Jan. 14 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Ocotillo room at El Portal, on the corner of East Sixth Street and South Highland Avenue.

The program offers individuals who partner with international students the opportunity to develop friendships and to exchange knowledge about their respective cultures and countries.

Spikes in international student enrollment and an increase in popularity of the International Friends program have led to the need for more volunteers willing to give an hour or two a month to help students – many of whom have never been to the United States – acclimate to their new environment.

A number of UA employees and University affiliates volunteer for the organization, which has maintained a close partnership with the UA's Office of International Student Programs and Services for more than 50 years.

Currently, the University has 118 nations represented in its international student enrollment. The Office of the Executive Director of International Affairs has noted a rebound in the number of students enrolling internationally for study at the UA, with students most commonly hailing from China, India, Japan, Mexico and Korea.

According to Dale LaFleur, the office's assistant director, recent recruitment efforts in several of these countries have helped to reinvigorate the UA's reputation abroad and increase interest in the many academic offerings on campus.

As a result, last year over 200 international students from about 45 different countries – including China, Chile, Senegal, Denmark, Japan and Slovenia – signed up to be matched with a friend or host. "It was an all-time high," said Rick Hanson, who has been involved with the group for over nine years.

Hanson, who gathers information on the international students and then works to match them with an interested community member, said the group expects the need for hosts to increase as the word spreads "that this organization is a good thing" among those international students who signed up for the program.

More than 75 students attended the International Friends welcome luncheon and 39 turned in enrollment information to be matched up with Tucson community members.

The relationships Hanson and his wife have built with students through the organization have been mutually beneficial for the couple, who love to travel.

"My wife and I have made many lasting friendships over the years through International Friends. It is really something else to visit these students in their own country and see their world with them as our guide," Hanson said.  

Activities that host-friends organize for their students include dinners, hiking and museum visits. These activities complement social events that the organization as a whole plans for everyone, such as potluck gatherings at parks and an annual fundraiser.

The needs of the international students can be very simple, said Pamela Obando, associate director for Residence Life at the UA. She is on the board of directors for International Friends and will serve as a friend to four students this semester.

"I have found that grocery shopping is a big deal for these international students. Most of them do not have transportation. It doesn't take much time but it means so much to them," Obando said. 

Many of the students have never been to the United States, making the need for a community friend imperative.

Meng-Han Hung is a second year engineering master's exchange student and will be attending the UA for a semester. She is from Taiwan and has never been to the U.S. Hung wants to have her picture taken by a cactus to send to her father. "Taiwan is an island. There is water all around so I really want to see the desert," she said. 

Santiago Perez, from Guatemala, is a business major and has never been to the U.S. before either. He chose the UA because his grandmother said it had a good business school. Perez will be living in a residence hall and "plans to buy a bike to get around," he said.

Both students expressed interest and enrolled in the program in hopes of getting to meet new people in the Tucson community.