<p>This was upsetting to me. Be careful where you let your kids go.</p>
<p>[Comcast.net</a> News - National - Exchange Student Starved While in Egypt](<a href=“Discovery Hub - News & Technology”>Discovery Hub - News & Technology)</p>
<p>The exchange program is certainly at fault, but I also believe the student, at 17, had the ability to take more steps to improve his situation, and I believe the boy’s parents should have done more to ensure their son’s well-being after being alerted that he was not in good shape.</p>
<p>Lessons:
- Choose exchange programs carefully, look at past issues with the program (this was apparently not an isolated incident), do research, and ask questions.
- Keep in contact with your child.
- Take steps to help yourself or your child in the case of serious problems.</p>
<p>Yeah…I wouldn’t care, nothing’s going to stop me from talking to my parents no matter where I am.</p>
<p>I think AFS has a really good reputation - it’s been around for at least fifty or sixty years since my friend’s mom who is in her seventies was an AFS student. And the kid did have some contact. So I understand why the parents would have trusted the program.</p>
<p>Could this be an undiagnosed eating disorder?</p>
<p>My d. was in Cairo last summer through a State Department scholarship to study intensive Arabic, with the program administered by AFS. Her first family didn’t work out, and AFS (with a little bit of goosing) arranged for a transfer to a WONDERFUL family with whom we are still in touch. AFS has done more than 300,000 international exchanges over the past 40 years or so, and they’ve probably run at least once into virtually every problem imaginable. They have a superb record, so I expect there is more than meets the eye.</p>
<p>Having said that, I do know that since reopening shop in Egypt about four years ago, they have just been ramping up host families there, so there may be fewer from which to choose. (The State Department program went from 12 in 2006, to 24 in 2007, and there will be 30 this year.)</p>
<p>I was also thinking that there may be some kind of eating disorder or physical illness involved, though since he was hospitalized for two weeks after returning home, they surely would have discovered a further problem if one existed.</p>
<p>I’m thinking the 2 week hospital stay does indicate it was an eating disorder.</p>
<p>The news report I saw mentioned that the host family was some type of Christian sect that believes in fasting. The figures were flashed up on the screen and I thought it said that they fast more days of the year than they eat. That can’t be right, could it? The boy didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Someone else out there must have seen this!??</p>
<p>Sorry, sonssecty, but I didn’t read your link. I think I summarized it, though.
Our high school uses the AFS system every year. For the most part, there haven’t been many problems.</p>
<p>It is true that traditional Coptic Christians do have fast days - sunrise to sundown - 210 days a year. HOWEVER, the fast each day is supposed to be followed by a feast (and Coptic cooking is world-renowned.)</p>
<p>This didn’t make any sense to me. If he was starving because the family was fasting, why wasn’t the family starving? </p>
<p>He is 17 years old, he could have walked to a grocery store.</p>
<p>And the organization was aware of the situation and concerned and tried to move him. It seems odd that he would not move.</p>
<p>AFS has a 90-year history. (It grew out of a World War I ambulance service.)</p>
<p>Oh, that makes sense Mominva. At one point he stole a loaf of bread from the grocery store because he didn’t have money for food… Um, why not? Would you ever send your kid across the world without access to emergency money? Anyway, I agree that it just doesn’t seem to add up.</p>
<p>We lived in Egypt for three years. The local bread is baladi bread a flat unleavened bread and is incredibly cheap as it is a main staple in the diet of the poor people. (kind of like pita but better). It was pennies for a loaf. So it is definiteley odd that he would not have enough money for bread. Also the part of the story about the lack of meat - many Egyptians do not eat meat daily. Beans are a major part of the diet. In fact when we lived there (19 years ago) the meat stores were only open 2-3 days a week. (I think it was a law at the time but it is a while ago so I would not swear to it). For many poorer Egyptians (which is the majority) meat is an occasional treat not an everyday food. </p>
<p>One thing to consider when sending a student overseas is that the diet is going to be very very different and they have to be willing to eat foos they may not be used to or like. I don’t think a host family should be expected to cook special meals.</p>
<p>I agree there is more to this story. I can tell you that my children would figure out a way to eat if they were not getting enough. My daughter happens to have a host mom who makes wonderful meals for the girls. Yes, there have been a few meals that my daughter has not liked so she didn’t eat much; but she does have snacks hidden in her room for just that reason. She told me that you should not let the host know you have food, otherwise they will not feed you as much food during a meal! </p>
<p>Being as the boy was in school everyday, I can’t imagine he couldn’t have insisted on a change in family. The thought that he said he wanted to stay where he was shows that this might have been his choice not to eat what he should have. It all just seems odd to me.</p>
<p>Sadly, I jumped to the eating disorder question immediately because a dear friend’s daughter had a similar experience. At 18 she spent 6 months in a third world country. Something about this trip triggered the latent eating disorder they thought she was over. The distance from family, typical appearance of the local populace, and local customs made it easy to engage in starvation. I don’t know that this is the case here, but looks possible.</p>
<p>The host dad said he was gobbling everything up though…so not an anorexia kind of eating disorder. And he’s supposedly better now after only 2 weeks in hospital.</p>
<p>Can a several months long period of malnutrition result in permanent damage to one’s heart?</p>