Former Little Rock host parents James and Marva Huff with the children of their former AFS exchange students

AFS Mission

AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

AFS History

AFS Intercultural Programs (formerly the American Field Service) is a worldwide, nonprofit organization that has been a leader in high school student exchange for 60 years. During World Wars I & II, young Americans volunteered as ambulance drivers in the American Field Service evacuating the wounded from battlefields. When these brave, forward thinking individuals returned home, they founded a movement to promote understanding and peace through international student exchanges, known today as AFS Intercultural Programs. The AFS Founders believed—as AFS believes today—that the way to build a more just and peaceful world begins when people from different countries and cultures meet, learn together, and better understand one another. In 1947, for the first time ever, AFS exchanged 52 young people from 11 countries formerly at war, establishing a legacy of hope for future generations.

AFS - By the Numbers

1. AFS has been organizing high school exchanges since 1947.
2. With over 30,000 active volunteers worldwide, AFS is one of the largest volunteer organizations in the world.
3. More than 300,000 students from around the world have been AFS exchange students.
4. Each year more than 11,000 students go overseas with AFS.