Enrichment for the SOUL

Posted 4/24/2020

The host experience for students and families

While many of our parents regularly step up to host students over breaks, the importance of this heart-warming hospitality has been particularly evident this year. In addition to overnight or short-term hosting situations that helped smooth the return home of many international students following an early conclusion to March Break trips and tours, several families went above and beyond to offer students a prolonged home-from-home.

“We had no shortage of offers,” shares Assistant Head, Co-curricular Programs Nigel Mayes, citing families from as far afield as Toronto, Yellowknife and Whitehorse, as well as those in Vancouver and the local Cowichan Valley area, stepping forward with generous offers of help. “I originally worked with Director of School Life Matt Clinton-Baker and Student Life Coordinator Katrina Cholack on homestays for students who needed a place to stay over March Break. Then the situation shifted, we were working hard to get every trip back early, and it became clear that boarding would not re-open in late March. At that point many additional families reached out to offer homestay and self-isolation options. The level of empathy from our parents was phenomenal and very heartwarming.”

Strathcona House Director Maureen Connolly reported that one of her local parents hosted four overseas students, while an offer to host up to 16 students came in from the Heward family in Vancouver, who ultimately provided overnight accommodation to at least six international students, enabling them to make their homebound connections.

“Everything we planned one day was different the next,” says Mr. Mayes. “From flights to ground transportation to and from airports. We had to operate not just with a plan A in mind, but plans B and C.”

While many of these homestay options were vital but temporary solutions supporting Shawnigan staff in ensuring international students could return home swiftly and safely, several families have generously offered more expansive homestay support.

Teacher Chris Brown, along with wife Ronni, offered a temporary home to students Ping Ping H. and Jacob D. for the full duration of the Spring Break, while a Shawnigan family in Duncan hosted Prep School student David M. for more than three weeks from the end of Spring Break until he was able to return home last week.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Cindy Willson, who had initially offered to host Rintaro U. following his return from the rugby tour, stepped up to offer a critical longer-term homestay solution for Syrian student Tarek A. when Rintaro was flown home to Japan by his family.

“Nigel reached out regarding Tarek and explained that no-one knew how long the homestay need was going to be for,” shares Mr. Willson. “We wanted Tarek to feel a sense of stability in a very uncertain time, so we said ‘Consider him with us until school resumes.’”

Tarek had been taking part in the EDGE Costa Rica trip when it was decided that all trips and tours would be recalled early, if at all possible. Despite the presence of some stressful logistical challenges in securing a seat on a Canadian-bound flight before Tarek’s student visa expired and the Canadian border closed, Mr. Mayes persevered and finally found a last-minute seat on a flight to Montreal where Tarek was able to stay during his self-isolation period. It was with some significant relief to all involved when Tarek safely arrived in the Cowichan Valley on April 3 to a warm welcome from the Willson family.

“He’s a wonderful young man,” says Mr. Willson. “We had Skype calls with Tarek’s family and got to know them before he arrived. We were able to show them our house and property and give them a comforting sense of seeing the exact room where Tarek would be staying.”

Alongside the Willson’s son, Tarek spends his days engaged in his SOUL classes and having fun playing pool, ping-pong, tennis, basketball and video games.

“It’s going great,” says Mr. Willson. “It’s been really neat getting to know Tarek. I feel like we’ve gained a good understanding about his life in Syria.”

Mr. Willson notes that, having enjoyed this hosting experience with Tarek, they wouldn’t hesitate to step forward to offer a homestay option for international Shawnigan students in the future.

“It’s been very enriching and rewarding to offer Tarek a secure sense of home, to learn about his life, culture and cuisine and to share our culture with him in turn,” he explains. “It dovetails nicely into one of the many reasons that people love Shawnigan, because there is that diverse, multicultural community. By hosting you get to bring that into your house and participate a bit in what your kids experience every day at the School. We’ve been able to offer Tarek some first-time experiences, such as watching some classic North American movies and going out on our boat, that I know he’ll remember for the rest of his life. We’re happy to have been a part of that.”

It’s Mr. Mayes’ hope that an established hosting program, supported by the Shawnigan Parents Association, will become a more formal part of the Shawnigan experience, bringing diversity home to local families and giving international students an expansive sense of family and home here in B.C.

Any families interested in volunteering as a host family, either now or in the future, are warmly encouraged to connect with Student Life Coordinator Katrina Cholack at studentlife@shawnigan.ca.

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