ABOUT AFS

(information courtesy of AFS website).

So, what is AFS? What does it stand for? What's it's history? For more information, definitely check out their website for more depth, however, I'll give you a quick overview of their history and how they became what they are today.

The American Field Service (AFS) was founded in 1914 by A. Piatt Andrew as a volunteer ambulance corps for the wounded French soldiers during World War I. It was set up in an auxiliary military hospital located in a high school building of Lycée Pasteur in Neuilly-Sur-Seine, Paris. By the year 1917 there were 2,500 drivers in 66 different French divisions that had carried over 500,000 wounded.

Between wars Stephen Galatti helped in the creation of the AFS Fellowship within French universities and raised funds for 222 scholarships between 1919 and 1952. In 1936 when A. Piatt Andrew passed away, Galatti became the Director General of Organization.

When World War II started in 1939 Galatti reorganized AFS as a volunteer ambulance corps once again which ran within France, North Africa, Middle East, and Burmia-India between 1940-1945). AFS helped evacuate Bergen Belsen, the concentration camp where Anne Frank passed away, two weeks after it was liberated.

After World War II Galatti and 250 of the AFS drivers pledged to sustain the tradition of international service and created the AFS International Scholarships. By the time Galatti passed away in 1964 the AFS programs included 60 countries.

In 1971 the multinationalization of the AFS program was finally realized and opened up to exchange between other countries other then just the United States. By 1990 AFS opened up its community service programs which reaches to 52 different countries.

Today, AFS works in over 50 countries with over 300,000 active members, with more joining everyday!