To offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will greatly assist students development as young adults and will provide them with skills that will benefit them for the rest of their life.

The unique foundations of AFS lie in the American Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps formed in World War I and active through World War II. It was the ambulance drivers’ belief that personal interaction and friendships between people built international peace and understanding. This formed the basis for commencing AFS student exchange programmes in 1947. Aotearoa New Zealand was one of 11 partner countries and today there are 52 partner countries within the AFS network and over 350,000 students have been hosted throughout the world.

Student Exchange
Volunteer Overseas