‘It’s not safe.’ Italian foreign exchange student in KC told she must return home.
Erminia Marino has started to pack some of her belongings, preparation for a return home. The call could come this month. Or maybe this week. Heck, she might even get word tomorrow.
She desperately does not want to go. Her mom doesn’t want her home, either.
If only their preferences mattered.
Marino is a 17-year-old foreign exchange student attending Lee’s Summit High School, at least before classes there were suspended. Her home is in Italy, the belly of the coronavirus pandemic.
And the last place she wants to be.
“I haven’t seen my mom in a really long time, so both of us wish to be together, but the best decision is to stay here,” Marino said. “As you know, it’s really, really bad in Italy. It’s not safe. My hope is being safe. Taking the flight now would be even worse. It would not be smart.”
She fears it might not be her choice.
Her host parents have been told it’s not her choice.
AFS, the international organization that oversees the youth exchange program, has already made the decision to cut short students’ programs here and abroad because of the global pandemic. On Monday, AFS sent a letter to inform host families that some students have returned home; others are in the process of doing so; some have travel arrangements in the works; and a few will remain in their current environments if they are unable to travel.
The last line initially offered hope. But the note then outlines a list of countries to which AFS will “begin the process of returning students” home later this week.
Italy is on that list.
The message passed down to Marino and others like her: Be ready.
“It’s been exhausting. It’s been very stressful and very taxing,” said Shawn Kalwei, who along with her husband, Bryan, serves as the host family for Marino. “I’ve worked every single day to gather every resource at my disposal. We’re committed to honor what her mother wants. Why AFS cannot honor her natural family’s wishes is something that we’re struggling with.
“We do not feel it’s safe to put her on a plane. We do not feel like we can in good conscious send her back to Italy. I believe we have to fight it with everything we have.”
A message left at the AFS offices was not returned.
Through local AFS volunteers, the Kalwei family has received instruction that Marino’s departure is mandatory, not optional. If she does not leave, she’s been told, her health insurance will be void, and her J-1 Visa, required for exchange visitors, would be immediately expired. She would also face punishment that included a future lengthy ban from returning to the United States.
“We are fighting for her, but we are fighting against the clock,” Kalwei said. “Her mother wants her home, but she wants her home safe.”
And that’s another obstacle in the scenario. Marino’s single mother lives in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy. The city, from her understanding, is on complete lockdown. Written permission is required to go to the grocery store or pharmacy, with police roaming the city as enforcement.
No one out.
No one in.
Marino is told she would be flying into Rome, which is a seven-hour drive to Reggio Calabria — if she’s allowed to make it.
“We’re told they have plenty of volunteers and she will be taken care of, but we’ve received no specifics of exactly what would happen,” Kalwei said. “We assume she would be quarantined, but would that be in a hotel? Would she be forced to share a room with someone?
“We’re sending her into the unknown. If we have to keep her here, we can keep her in a bubble. We’re not leaving our house. We know she’s safe.”