Cultural Exchange Program

Student and classroom registration is now open for the Fall 2019 school year.

Why is Cultural Exchange Important?

At Change the World of One, we believe that the path to changing the world for the better starts with understanding and appreciating what other people’s lives are like. Stepping into another’s world with an eager mind and open heart allows us to learn about their experiences on a personal level, one that engenders empathy and compassion. Humanizing individuals and appreciating the context of their lives also allows us to appreciate their culture as a whole. This valuable understanding garners a sense of caring and the urge to help if it is needed.

Register Today!

WorldChanger Experience™ 4 Month Cultural Exchange Program (SINGLE STUDENTS)

Rated 0 out of 5
$80.00
Select options
WorldChanger Experience™ 4 Month Cultural Exchange Program (GROUPS)

Rated 0 out of 5
$200.00
Select options

61986068_818694548512202_1013886575647391744_n

61758967_590824078107556_2127534005946417152_n

Multicultural Perspectives for a Better World

Raising children today with a multicultural perspective in this ever-expanding and connected world helps them grow up with a deeper sense of understanding and appreciation for others and a better sense of how the world works and what their place within it can be. It is eye-opening, humbling, and fascinating for kids to step outside of their culture, their everyday experience, and learn about how others live. This allows them to appreciate their lives more deeply and opens up their eyes to realities far removed from their own.

This starts with the youngest generations, those who are currently preparing their minds and hearts to lead the world. Imagine a whole generation of children growing up with a sense of compassion and understanding for their contemporaries in disparate parts of the globe. Instead of existing within the bubble of what they experience in their immediate surroundings and view online and in the media, they will have a platform for understanding built within them stemming from the profound connection they safely made with complete strangers across the world during their formative years. Being able to ask questions and receive personalized answers from students in another culture creates a level of understanding that cannot be obtained through books or Google.

Join our newsletter!

How Does the Online Cultural Exchange Program Work?

Step 1: Get Paired & Meet Your Exchange Student

Students in the US are paired with students in schools around the globe. You can connect yourself, your class, scout group, homeschool, church group, family or any other group with a group or individual (usually a school or orphanage) in the country of your choice from the options we have available. Both sides will introduce themselves, sending their photo and whatever else they would like to share about themselves.

Step 2: Get Familiar with Our Online Portal

Get familiar with our online portal. We do this experience online so that you have a lot of time to get to know your exchange student. Using our interactive and fun online platform, you will learn about your global counterpart’s culture using our team’s extensive on-the-ground experience living in those cultures. We teach the global students about American culture this way as well.

Step 3: Share Knowledge!

Then comes the really fun part – you and your foreign friends teach each other! What would you like them to know about your life? What would you like to know about life in Ghana, Mongolia, Australia, or whichever country with which you’re connecting? This is your unique opportunity to ask someone just like you who lives in another country about their experiences. It’s also your chance to explain what it’s like to be a student in whichever part of America you call home. Using photos, short videos, fun activities and Q&A, you will be immersed in the world of your foreign friend without having to leave your own home or school.

Step 4: Raise Funds & Be a WorldChanger

A small amount to us goes a long way in the developing world. It is rare that children are able to actively make change as instantly and directly as this, and be a witness to that change. This is a powerful motivator that often instills a lifelong drive to help others and make change in the world. It feels good to work hard to raise some money and then see your foreign friends enjoying the fruits of your labor as they send you photos of themselves pouring over their new textbooks or playing a soccer tournament with new goals. Even simple things like repairing a water spigot or having a new desk change the everyday lives of these students in a world where survival and extensive daily chores are generally the main concern instead of extracurricular activities, good grades and entertainment.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the 2019 Cultural Exchange Program Fees?

Organized Groups ($200)
Plus a group fundraising goal to help change the life of your exchange class. (Recommendation: $200+ raised during the program.) Discounted rate for 2 consecutive programs: $150/program.

Individual student/homeschool ($20/month)
Plus a personal fundraising/donation goal to help change the life of your exchange student. (Recommendation: $10+/month)

2. How long is the exchange program? The cultural immersion program is 4 months. Students are welcome to re-enroll in the program to experience another country after they complete their first program.

3. What do the course fees cover? The program fee helps to cover the operating costs for Change the World of One so we can continue to offer and expand this program (and others!) around the world.

4. Do you only offer the cultural exchange experience with developing countries? Most of our cultural exchange programs link with students in the developing world. These partnerships are often the most eye-opening and heart-wrenching as American students gain intimate knowledge about what living within the context of endemic poverty is really like. However, cultural exchange experiences will be available in other countries where we have developed partnerships.

5. Do people have internet in developing countries? It is amazing that countless people in the developing world have access to technology and the internet even when many live in mudbrick homes or homes without running water or electricity. A generation ago our program would not have been possible but thanks to these widespread advances and the global infusion of technology and internet we can not only connect and learn, but we can help too.

6. Are there other fees in addition to the program cost? Our cultural exchange programs have an additional component where the U.S. students fundraise or donate a small amount of money each month towards a certain goal or small project for your foreign friend. 100% of your donation goes directly towards things like buying them school supplies, books, musical instruments, sports equipment. If your foreign friend lives in an area where CWOO is doing environmental conservation work, contributions may go towards habitat restoration or other conservation projects in their area. So not only are we befriending, teaching, and learning from our foreign friends, but we are also helping to change their world for the better, one small bit at a time.