George Frank, a former Naples High School student now living in Jacksonville, visited the Great Wall and other locations in China as part of a four-week summer-abroad program he and four other Collier County students were able to go on thanks to scholarships from the Naples Council on World Affairs. Submitted photo
Avery Segal, center in foreground, a 17-year-old Barron Collier High School senior, spent four weeks in South Korea as part of the Experiment in International Living program. During his "homestay," he took this picture with members of his temporary family. Submitted photo
The highlight of Avery Segal’s summer was living for three days in a Buddhist temple in South Korea.
“It was amazing. We had to get up at 4 a.m. We had to do 108 bows before lunch,” said the 17-year-old Barron Collier High School senior. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I look at my photos and I can’t believe I am in them.”
Avery and four fellow Collier County high school students were given the opportunity to travel the world this summer by the Naples Council on World Affairs. The council gave the students scholarships to pay for a trip with the Experiment in International Living, an organization that gives students summer-abroad programs focusing in cultural immersion and learning.
The Experiment in International Living has programs in 27 countries worldwide, including Poland, South Africa and Mongolia. While traveling, students will do everything from going to school and going on cultural tours to performing community service acts, such as digging wells or assisting in the construction of schools.
“It was the best summer of my life,” said George Frank, a former Naples High School student. “I could not think of a better way to spend a summer.”
George, a 16-year-old junior who now lives in Jacksonville, went to China as part of the program.
“I was interested in it. My brother went to China and I had heard all of his stories,” he said. “In world history, we had talked about the battles and how (China) conquered obstacles. Besides, you can go to Europe any day. You don’t hear of too many people going to China.”
Over the four-week trip, George said he sampled Chinese cuisine, traveled to the Forbidden City and went into Mongolia and explored the Gobi Desert.
“We went to a Hutong (an ancient city alley or lane) in the poorest area of the city. It was really interesting. You see people living out of basically nothing,” he said. “They were just living their lives.”
Lisvet Luceno, a Golden Gate High School senior, chose to go to Botswana on her trip because the focus of the program was going to be on HIV and AIDS education.
“I plan to go into some form of health care (for a career),” she said. “I thought it would be interesting. And I liked the community service portion of that program.”
While in Botswana, which is a landlocked country in southern Africa, Lisvet, 17, was witness to five funerals during her home stay — all young people.
“They were in their 20s, 30s. There was a 17-year-old. The response was always, ‘They died in their sleep.’ That was code that they had died from AIDS,” she said.
Lisvet went to a local clinic, which gave free treatment to Africans who were 18 and over. She and her group went to a school and spoke to students about health issues.
The program, she said, has only reinforced her desire to some day work with Doctors Without Borders specifically working with women infected with HIV and AIDS.
“It was incredible. It opened my eyes to things you forget when you are over here,” she said. “It really opens your eyes to things you don’t know. Now I have to spread awareness of what’s going on in other places, to help other people become more globally aware.”
Golden Gate High School senior Yenny Ramirez-Lee also went to China with the program.
“My mom’s grandfather is from China. I was born in Cuba, raised in America, but I wanted to know about the Chinese side of my family,” she said.
Yenny, 17, traveled to Beijing and then to southwestern China where she lived with two different host families.
“Neither of them spoke any English at all,” she said. “The first thing we did was go to a bookstore to get a Chinese to English dictionary. ... It was funny. I was trying to help my host mother cook and I made noises like a frying pan and she took me to the bathroom.”
George said he liked speaking with the Chinese students, who were interested in America.
“All of the kids in China want to go to America,” he said. “It was cool to share your culture with somebody and have them share it with you.”
To apply, the students had to complete an application and write several essays, including a letter to the family they would be staying with if chosen for the program.
They also had to choose a couple of places they were interested in visiting. Avery initially chose Thailand, but the trip was cancelled due to violence in the country.
“I would still like to go to Thailand,” he said. “But I chose Korea because the Korean War interested me. Korea is technically still at war. No peace treaty has ever been signed.”
Avery said evidence of the war was everywhere, including tanks in the streets and, while kayaking, having to move to allow war ships to pass.
Avery said the trip was better than if he had just went to South Korea on his own.
“You were there, living life, in a home stay, walking with your Korean brother in the pouring rain, stopping at a noodle shop,” he said. “It was amazing.”
It is the fifth year the Naples Council on World Affairs has sent children on trips through the Experiment on International Living. The council pays for the trip, but asked the students to pay for airfare to the airport of embarkation, which is usually New York or Los Angeles, and provide their own spending money.
Although council members declined to say how much the council spends to send students to other countries, each trip averages between $5,000 and $6,000.
“The nice thing about this program is they don’t take your family income into consideration,” said Yenny. “I had to pay the program $500 and pay for my flight to (Los Angeles). ... I wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise.”
In return, council members ask that the students “pay it forward” by giving presentations to their fellow students about the program and its benefits. The students will make presentations at Barron Collier and Golden Gate high schools later this fall.
George said not only did he talk about his trip with friends in Naples, it has been a conversation piece at his new school, too.
“If you have an opportunity like it, you should take it,” he said. “I can’t imagine spending the summer any other way. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ...There’s a whole world out there.”
For more information or to get an application, visit www.ncwa-fl.org and click on the School Outreach tab on the left side of the page. The application and information is under “Domestic and International Programs.”
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Connect with K-12 education policy reporter Katherine Albers at www.naplesnews.com/staff/katherine-albers/.
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