Non-profit ISI provides airport pick-up and home-stay for up to three days to international students, and also runs a friendship program to help international students smoothly transition in to the new culture, said Joan Lasche, ISI's Albuquerque ministry representative.
The distribution of furniture and other goods is slated to begin Jan. 5, she said, because it can be difficult for international students to settle into Albuquerque as soon as they arrive.
"We pick them from the airport, provide them free home-stay with host families and then help them find apartments," she said.
During the fall the organization hosted more than 400 students, she said.
"ISI is made up of hundreds of volunteers. Each one plays an important role: Some are really good at friendship, some at helping students, some at teaching English, some at hospitality and some at moving furniture," Lasche said. "ISI is what it is because of the many different people involved."
The organization was established in 1953 and is operating in all 50 states.
"Since 1953 ISI has been training Americans to meet international students' needs. These Americans befriend international students and help them adjust to American culture," according to the ISI website.
Ahmad Yar, a first-year Ph.D. student at the Department of English and Linguistics, said that he had a great experience with ISI.
"They were really helpful," he said. "It would have been difficult without ISI's help to find a place to live in and concentrate on my studies."
Yar said he was picked up from the airport by an ISI host family and he stayed with the family for three days.
"ISI not only helped me find a place, but also provided furniture," he said.
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The friendship partnership program helped him learn about American culture as well, Yar said.
Volunteering with ISI has been an intensely rewarding experience, not only for the international students but for the volunteers too, Lasche said.
"We have met people from all over the world and had opportunities to share life with them. I have a deep affection for many of the students we have hosted," she said.
Lasche said some international students develop life-long relationships with ISI volunteers.
"There are some students that they really connect with and continue a relationship for many years," she said. "Some of our host families even travel abroad to visit their former student friends."
The International Student Barometer (ISB), an online survey conducted by iGraduate, reviewed 27 institutions in the United States and 178 globally, ranked UNM arrival services — first-night experience, housing conditions, friends — second in the country and seventh globally.
Sayyed Shah is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at
assistant-news@dailylobo.com or on
Twitter @mianfawadshah.
