Also often asked is what does it take to be a host family and do you get paid?  First of all, it needs a willing and generous heart, patience, a practical nature, and a good sense of humor.  Practically speaking it requires a bed of their own in which to sleep but can share a room with a youth of the same gender, the same food you feed your family, and a place for them to study.  All adults in your family living in your home must pass a mandatory criminal background check and provide personal references as to your character and ability to host for a year.   Host families can be married or single, have small, grown, teen, or no children at all.  You don't have to live in a multimillion dollar mansion in California or Florida right on the beach (but if you do, trust me there is a list a mile long of students who think that is where all Americans who are not homeless must live and they want to join you) but have a clean, comfortable home you are willing to share with another person.

The students must be able to enroll in a high school and may require some help at first in adjusting to the differences in school subjects and learning in English.   As part of the exchange program, they have full coverage health insurance, spending money provided by their natural parents, and support and supervision by a local community representative of the exchange organization.  It is a requirement also that they be fluent enough in English to successfully study in regular classes at school with a C average or better.

As to the question of do we get paid to host...no, we don't.  If you consider the extra groceries, utilities, and gas in the car from toting around another person to his activities, we actually lose money on the deal despite being able to deduct $50 for each month of hosting from our taxes if we itemize.  The payment we receive in other benefits however, is as they say on a certain credit card commercial, PRICELESS.

One of the most interesting questions asked is HOW do you do it?  Well, it's not always easy, but it has always been worth it!  It often comes as a great surprise to our new sons when they ask...are you my host parent or my friend?  I answer YES!  I am your host parent and sincerely hope to be your friend as well, but if I have to choose between being your host parent and being your friend, my first responsibility is to be your host parent.  During the exchange year, there are times when I can be both and times when I feel I must "pull rank" and be first and foremost the host parent.  The friendship builds and grows as the year progresses until the day my son and friend must return to his host country. 

The most remarkable thing then begins to take place.  While I am always the "American Mom" to my boys, as they grow and mature into fine men, the friendship blossoms into two adults who love and support each other albeit over a very long distance.  It is a rare week that I don't communicate with at least one of them.  One of my most rewarding yet stunning experiences with this is the time I received the most sage and sane advice from a man I clearly remember bringing home from the airport as an exhausted, wide eyed, travel shocked 16 year old boy.  "Seeing" his growth into a mature adult over the years has been a precious gift I truly treasure.

Very Important Practical Things to Know about Hosting
(not for the faint of heart)

1. It is a commitment of time, energy and effort for a school semester or school year, make sure the whole family is in agreement to host.  It is people who are involved, families and young people who have feelings and are not to be treated like objects that can be shuffled around or disposed of when inconvenient.
2. Choose your organization wisely!  Choose an organization that values YOU as a host family and the student as well.  Do some research, ask questions.  This is many months of your life that will be including essentially a stranger at first.  How does the organization support the host family and the student?  What happens if you need help with your student or you find yourself in the ER with a broken, massively bleeding or previously on fire teenager?  On the other hand, will the rep be calling every other weekend to sweep away your student for yet another "fun outing" halfway across the state when what you and your student would really like is to chill out and do family things together.
3. Choose your student wisely!  Are you a homebody who prefers chilling in front of the tv (big screen or otherwise) with some popcorn after a busy day?  Perhaps a busy sporty teen who doesn't know the meaning of home in time for supper would not be a good choice for you.  Is your family so busy you have to spend one afternoon a week coordinating your activities calendars so no one gets left out or behind? Perhaps you don't really want to host that super over achieving straight A student whose idea of a good time is reading ahead for next months assignments and rarely comes out of the bedroom except to eat and go to school.
4. Don't believe everything you read on paper (or the internet) about your student.  Remember, they are trying to put their best foot forward so you will choose to host them.  All those wonderful interests they have indicated as their absolute favorite things to do may just be something they did 3 years ago and stopped because they hated every second of it. :) It could also be something they heard of people in the US do and would like to try it.  Try to "read between the lines" in their letter/essay, their family album and their profile.  Do all their pictures show them with their friends and not a single family activity?  Are they dressed in clothing you would not let your child be caught dead wearing?  Do they list "shopping, hanging out with friends, going to discos, and playing on computers" as their main interests?  These can be red flags for issues that will haunt you the entire exchange.
5. Take your time in choosing your student.  Don't be pressured into choosing a student simply because that is who is available and who will "miss the opportunity of a lifetime" if YOU don't agree to host them.  These days, animal shelters don't let you take home a pet without a cooling off and think about it period, how much more important to consider carefully which student you will invite into your home to become part of your family.
6. Be wary of being a "welcome" family for "just a few weeks" until a full year family can be found.  Many times an agency counts on you to keep the student the full year because you just couldn't let them go after getting to know them or out of guilt for not continuing to host them past the agreed upon time.  Hosting is not for everyone and each year more and more students come to the US and fewer families are willing or able to make the commitment to host.  Again, these are people's lives involved here, not used cars to be sold by high pressure tactics.
7. Be even more wary of agreeing to host a student who has left a previous host family after school has started.  In some cases, there has been a change of circumstance that was no fault of anyone.  In most cases though, it's a matter of the above welcome family situation or some serious issue between the student and previous host family.  It could be a mismatched placement between student and family, but it could also be a student who disgraced themselves with their previous family and was asked to leave the family.  Rarely (but it does happen) is it a case of an inappropriate host family situation.  Ask questions.  Don't accept vague answers as to what happened.  If it was a case of a serious problem child the organization is not willing to return home for whatever reason, it is rare that the student is going to have an overwhelming change of heart and behavior in your home.  That is when you find you have inherited the nightmare child of your life.
8. Make your expectations clear from the start.  Schools have their own requirements for senior standing and graduation.  Most countries don't accept US high school diplomas any more than schools in the US accept foreign diplomas.  If their only purpose is to come here for graduation and a diploma, this is not the best start to a successful exchange year.  The same goes for varsity sports.  A 5'5" boy who has never put on football gear is highly unlikely to be the starting quarterback for the high school varsity team.  Most schools have try outs for cheer, dance, and pom squads the spring before school begins.  Another issue is driving licenses.  These are usually reserved for 18 year olds in other countries and are often very expensive to obtain.  Most states have time, testing and driving experience requirements that make it impossible for someone living here less than a year to get a driving license.  It is against the Department of State regulations for organizations to promise in any way that a student will do any of these 3 things, yet they are on the top of the list for many students who come here.
9. Exchange programs are only for one semester or school year.  This again is in the Department of State regulations.  Even if it breaks your heart to put them on that plane at the end of the school year, they must return.  Year after year, some students insist their lives and futures will be ruined if they don't stay here to complete high school or get into a US university...usually Harvard! :)  These students usually have no clue just how competitive it is to get into many US universities and that the "competition" begins when a US student is an entering freshman in high school planning their classes and activities for the following 4 years to "be competitive on their college applications" their senior year.
10. Make your family rules clear from the start.  Communicate clearly and often about the written and unwritten rules of your family.  Don't expect the student to "just know" common sense things about how things are done in your family.  Teens the world over are not known for common sense in the first place and what makes sense in their life in their country could be the thing that drives you over the edge in yours.  Don't just tell, explain and demonstrate how you want things done.  The instruction "go sweep the floor" to a teen who has never held a broom in his life will probably not achieve the desired outcome. :) Don't be surprised if the next 5 times you again say "go sweep the floor" you need to explain and demonstrate again what it is that you want done and how you want it done.  Point out to your student that when the dog does that particular song and dance, she means she needs to go outside to do her business.  If the student asks why s/he should be the one to let the dog out or take the dog out on the leash, point out that in the long run it's easier and more enjoyable to take the dog out than it is to get on hands and knees and scrub up dog mess from the carpet.  Most people will make the better choice with an explanation like that. :) 
11. Don't let the above list scare you!  Anyone that has a spouse, children, teens or works with young people knows it takes patience and understanding in any relationship.  Because of the nature of international high school youth exchange, it is important to be prepared for dealing not only with the organizations that connect host families and students but with the relationships with the students as well.  Just as wise people prepare during their engagement for their marriage, it is wise to prepare for hosting a teen from a different culture for 5 or 10 months with research and thinking about what it involves.

Where did they come from?

Brazil