http://news.aol.com/story/_a/exchang...00010000000001
interesting. When i read the story i thought that both sides were wrong. Something is fishy
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http://news.aol.com/story/_a/exchang...00010000000001
interesting. When i read the story i thought that both sides were wrong. Something is fishy
It happens- host familes pocket the food money meant for the student..same thing happened to me in Ireland..I was given a glass of milk and a bowl of cocoa puffs per day! When i complained, my host mum pulled out a bag labelled 'Glucose' and said I could have some. Um, yeah. I had enough money to buy my own food though.
And you don't lose 50 pounds like in one day - I could see it being pretty advanced before you realized it was out of control. But if a person lost a third of their body weight - there is no way they were looking after him.
The thing is that he was passive. He knew very well he could change houses or go home and he chose not to. I think he chose to staying that condition.
And that family shouldn't volunteer what they can't afford, if that part is true. The the family claimed differently.
The picture on the top of the article looks like he is sucking his tummy in. yes he would have been overly skinny anyway, but something is fishy.
He was 97 pounds and hospitalized for two weeks. There are other pictures - for example, look at the one of his legs. You cannot fake losing 55 pounds; there is no possible way that they fed him adequately or that he ate they way they said, unless he had another medical condition.
He chose to stay - like I said; you could be pretty far along before you realized it was a problem, and I thought the subtext was that they sort of intimidated him into staying - with the "other available placement is in a very bad neighbourhood" etc. Not to mention - he was a 17 year old boy. Let's not be too hard on him.
Well thanxs for posting this! It once prove some people are all about the money.
That poor kid. My brother is that age, and he's very shy, not very aware. You can be a very young seventeen, be in a foreign place, unaware of your options, determined to stick it out. That is awful. Assholes.
Sure, he could have left...but he was a 17 year old kid on his (presumably) first overseas adventure, in a new culture. I've been there- you put up with a lot because you don't necessarily know what's 'normal' and what's cultural. You also don't want to ruin your trip by complaning/leaving...I feel for the kid.
What shit... I don't knock the host family if they were just following their religious beleifs but lieing about it, how pathetic... It also sounds like he didn't have a lot of options either, I think I have to put the blame on whoever placed him.
One does not embark on a 200 day fast without first working up to it, ferchristsakes!
I'm sure the host family probably harped about how "fat" Americans are to make the kid feel bad for feeling hungry. Seventeen year olds need 3500-4000 calories a day if they are as active as it is claimed in the article. It sounds like he might of gotten 800 calories or so, per day.
On the upside, millions of Americans are looking for a way to shed extra pounds, maybe this host family could sell "spa Vacations" instead.:-X
Notice how they bitched about the money involved rather than promote their religion. They were starving him. I bet you that they took in the kid for money, expecting a rich American to bring something to the home, kind of like some people take in foster kids for the money and then just neglect them.
I was 15 when I left for a year to be an exchange student. My host family was not who they said they were. They took my passpost and program documents and treated me VERY poorly. They told me lies. I ran away.
So my point is that I understand. I do think most 17 y/o girls would have acted differently.
This Coptic Christian cult makes me absolutely sick. Hehe, you know the family isn't Muslim. A typical Muslim family will put 10 lbs of food in front of each guest and express disappointment when they only eat 5. They're so hospitable to their guests that you'll die of a heart attack with a smile on your face.
Poor kid
Ugh, I was an exchange student at 15, they sent me to a basketball-loving, actively christian family. Gross.