Sat Nov 07 2009
Eliseo Mancevo hasn't even been in America for two months, but he's already having a "happy, emotional experience."
"This is my first time on such an amazing trip," Mancevo, of the Dominican Republic, said through a translator. "It's honestly something I appreciate a lot."
Mancevo is one of 20 students participating in the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships program at Kentucky State University.
The CASS program is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and is administered by Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and by the Land Grant Program at KSU.
Eighteen U.S. institutions receive grants for the program, but KSU is the only participant in Kentucky, said CASS Program Coordinator Jennifer Hubbard-Sanchez.
CASS scholarships are awarded to residents of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico, who are ages 18 to 25.
KSU has 17 students from Spanish-speaking countries and three Haitian students who speak French, Hubbard-Sanchez said.
The students will study at KSU for two years. Then, they are required to return to their home countries for at least two years.
The object of the program is for the students to take what they learn in America back to their "towns, families and their countries. It's not just for the student," Hubbard-Sanchez said.
The students at KSU are studying small-business management and marketing and will receive a certificate from KSU's school of business at the end of the two-year session.
Only some of the CASS students at KSU speak English, but all are taking 25 hours of "intensive English classes" this semester, as well as a math class and a business class, Hubbard-Sanchez said.
Next semester the English classes will be cut back to 12 hours and the students will take more classes in other subject areas.
Interpreters have been in the classrooms since the school year began, but starting Friday, "the students are on their own," Hubbard-Sanchez said.
For the first nine months, the students live with host families.
"Then, as they get into the groove of life in the U.S., they move into apartments," Hubbard-Sanchez said. "It's a growing process."
There are 12 host families in Frankfort, and some have two or three students, she said.
"We did struggle finding families," Hubbard-Sanchez said. "But those who are interested go through an extensive (application) process," which includes a background check, filling out a six- to seven-page application, a check to make sure applicants do not appear on sex offender lists and a home visit.
Harold Benson, KSU's Land Grant Program director, is the CASS administrator, but this year he is also a host parent to Mancevo and two other males " one from Mexico and one from Nicaragua.
"If you had asked me about being a host parent in June or July, I would have said, "Oh, you're crazy,' " Benson said. "But these are the most cooperative, polite, matured, lovable boys. They're already like family."
Benson said his wife is already asking why the students have to move out in nine months.
"(This experience) is already one of the greatest things in our life," he said.
Benson's daughter and 12-year-old grandson also live in the household. His grandson is taking Spanish and enjoys speaking with each of the students in their native language, Benson said.
"Someday my grandson might want to travel abroad and I can only hope someone would return the favor," Benson said.
The students hope to take valuable lessons back to their home countries, Hubbard-Sanchez said.
Nadge Lima, of Haiti, said she came to America to study and learn about different backgrounds.
"I want to go back to Haiti and help other Haitians who don't have the
opportunity to study," she said.
Mancevo said his time in America "means development for my family and my country."
While here, he hopes to socialize more and exchange culture with others, he said.
"I like to be able to share with people, to learn a new education system and to be able to count on well-prepared people," he said. "It's magnificent."
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