Would you like to experience the joy of hosting a CIP participant?

The Council of International Programs (CIP) provides work-based training and cultural exchange opportunities for professionals from other countries.  All participants are carefully screened and interviewed in their own country before they are selected.  Duration varies from 4-18 months.  Trainees stay with one or two host families for 3-5 weeks in the beginning of their program that gives the participant an opportunity to obtain an initial understanding of the community in which they will be living, the transport system, about the grocery stores, the schools, places of worship, etc and above all an experience family life in the United States.  Host families provide a bedroom, some meals and, most importantly, friendship and cultural insights.  In return the host family gets to know a professional, a culture, a community, a language, etc. of another region of the world - truly an enriching experience for the host as well as the guest.  By welcoming international professionals into our homes, we open the doors to create lasting relationship and gain in-depth perspective into other cultures as well as our own and in the process building bridges across cultures and countries, a most rewarding contribution to realizing the CIP vision of building peace and cross-cultural understanding!  Some families have hosted 20-30 participants over the years!  They say they and their children benefited immensely from this experience.

Please let me know if you want to learn more about the program or host a participant.

George Palamattam, Executive Director of CIP at gpalamattam@yahoo.com or call 630-359-3393 (h) or 312 545 6882 (cell).