Au Pairs from Au Pair in America share their culture

Au pairs from Au Pair in America share their culture at Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills, Michigan

Fernanda Silva Souto from Brazil, and Fena Aguilera Rojas from Chile, met with first graders at Hillel Day School on June 4, 2012, and shared interesting facts and stories about their countries and culture. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to learn first-hand about the customs and culture of two South American countries since all three first grade classes were studying the continent of South America.

The au pairs volunteered as part of Au Pair in America's Global Awareness Program which is designed to foster a greater knowledge of diversity and bring multi-cultural understanding into the schools.

Global Awareness offers something special to all of the participants. For the children, it was an interesting and exciting experience to meet two young ladies from South America - Fernanda, whose native language is Portuguese and Fena, whose native language is Spanish. The children enjoyed hearing Fernanda sing a portion of the Brazilian national anthem and learned it is common in Chile to kiss when you say hi to a friend.

Not only did the children learn about two of the countries they are studying, they also had the opportunity to ask questions. The au pairs handed out educational materials as well for the children to take home to show their parents what they learned.

For the au pairs, the Global Awareness program is an opportunity to volunteer in the community, share their own culture (which makes them very proud) and learn more about American education. Some au pairs intend to become teachers and this is an added benefit for them.

As au pairs, these young ladies provide in-home child care for their host families for up to 45 hours a week. Both Fernanda and Fena are with families who have three young children and the oldest child in each family is in the first grade at Hillel. These two lucky children had the thrill of seeing their own au pair come to their school and speak.

Au pairs are young women between the ages of 18-26 who come to the US to acquire a better understanding and appreciation of American life while living with an American family and caring for their young children. Recruited from six continents, and over 60 countries, they represent diverse social, economic, educational and cultural backgrounds. They become full-fledged family members ("au pair" means "on par" or equal), sharing a cultural exchange experience that often leads to a life-long relationship with the host family.

Since au pairs live with their host families, cultural exchange happens naturally on a daily basis. Simple things our children take for granted may be very different in other countries and learning about these differences, broadens and enriches a child's viewpoint of other cultures and the world.

Families who host au pairs not only benefit from great child care, they also truly enjoy the cultural exchange aspect of the au pair program. In addition, the au pairs from Au Pair in America are encouraged to participate in Global Awareness and go out into the community so they can spread their culture and knowledge to a wider group of students.

For more information about Au Pair in America, please contact Farmington Hills coordinator Carol Benton, cbaupair@aol.com, 248-489-1407 or www.aupairinamerica.com