UA News

More than 200 international students are waiting to be paired with volunteers willing to share a few hours each month in the name of friendship.

Eating chips and salsa, hiking Finger Rock Trail, celebrating the Fourth of July are all familiar to most southern Arizonans. To a newly arrived international student from China, Germany or almost any other part of the world these things may be quite foreign and exotic.

Thanks to a program with University of Arizona ties, international students have the opportunity to experience these and other southern Arizona and American highlights thanks to volunteers who sign up to share their time and experiences.     

More than 200 new international students at the UA are looking to make new friends, learn about the Tucson community and share cultures. 

International Friends, a community-based nonprofit organization connects UA international students with Tucson residents who are willing to volunteer a couple of hours a month and perhaps a meal or two, all in the name of friendship.

Currently, the program has close to 100 volunteers who have signed up to be paired with a student or two. With spikes in international student enrollment and the increase in popularity of the International Friends program, more volunteers are needed.

"Students come from all over the word and some have never been to the U.S., seen a cactus or a football game. We are looking for community members who are willing to give an hour or two a month to help students acclimate to their new environment and make them feel welcome in our community," said Pam Obando, associate director of UA Residence Life.

Obando also is on the board of directors for International Friends and will serve as a friend to four students this semester.

International Friends will have an information session for interested community members on Wednesday Sept. 2, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the El Portal Residence Life Offices on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Highland Avenue.

A number of UA employees and community members volunteer for the organization, which has maintained a close partnership with the UA's Office of International Student Programs and Services for more than 50 years.

The program has gone high tech in the way students are partnered with friends. Community members can go online and select students based on common interest. The volunteer can view the country of origin, academic major, interests and hobbies of the student seeking a friend and also see whether the student is a graduate or an undergraduate student.

"Students spend their whole time on campus – it's isolated. We introduce them to another side of the U.S. and it's fun for someone who doesn't have any family or friends here," said Dean Langadas, a UA alumnus who became a friend to an international student last year.

Langadas was paired with Prashanth Raju, who left India to study as a graduate student at the UA Eller College's Management Information Systems program. Raju's interest in astronomy, guitar playing and his desire to learn about U.S. culture was a perfect fit for Langadas who now meets regularly with Raju.

"I learned so much more about American life than I would have otherwise," said Raju.    

Activities that friends organize for their students may include dinners, hiking or museum visits. These activities compliment social events that International Friends hosts for everyone, such as potluck gatherings at parks and an annual fall reception and fundraiser.

The needs of the international students can be very simple, too, said Obando.

"I have found that grocery shopping is a big deal for these international students. Most of them do not have transportation. It doesn't take much time but it means so much to them," Obando said. 

On Friday, Sept. 25, at 5:30 p.m. interested community volunteers have another opportunity to become familiar with the program during its annual Fall Reception for International Friends at the Joseph Gross Gallery on campus.

"The Fall Reception for International Friends brings together new international students, prospective, new and continuing volunteers for a reception, great raffles that serve as a fund raiser and some entertainment. It also gives everyone an opportunity to see the exhibit at the gallery.

"We also would love to have anyone interested join us for the reception and for the information session on Sept. 2," Obando added.

For more information about International Friends and an application to be a host/friend visit the International Friends Web site.