The Helsinki District Court sentenced STS Kielimatkat to refund €6.505 (US$7.105) to Finnish Salla Rautiola due to unfair dismissal and numerous other breaches of contract in their exchange student program. Sallas case has been mentioned and partly presented in MOT documentary, «Vaihto-oppilas heitteillä«, «Exchange student neglect exposed». Let Salla’s exchange experience be a warning about what an exchange student year can be like in reality.
16-year old Salla Rautiola signed a contract in January 2011 with STS Kielimatkat for an exchange student year in the French-speaking part of Canada.
STS promises a carefully screened host-family, school placement and local representative and support persons in the exchange-country. They also promise to take into account the health information given in the application form when choosing the host family. Salla had reported that she is allergic to dogs, cats and pollen.
STS provided the host family information in July 2011, one month before the departure date, but withheld the information they had received the day before from STS CANADA that STS could not fulfill the French-speaking program. Instead, Salla would have to be placed with an English-speaking family.
IN CANADA:
As a host family, STS had chosen a 62-year old single Jamaican immigrant who for the most part socialized with her own relatives and culture and who spoke only Jamaican creole. The Canadian life-style or traditions were not present in any way in her filthy and moldy house. In the Helsinki District Court, as STS witness, a former male exchange student, who had lived in the same house a couple of years earlier, told the court that the host mother never cleaned. He witnessed that it was his and another exchange student’s responsibility to clean the house. At that time there was still a vacuum cleaner in the house. During Sallas stay there was no vacuum cleaner in a house with wall-to-wall carpet. This witness also told the court how the basement was used as a living room where they watched TV and used the computer. STS Finland country manager, Mira Silvonen, continued insisting that the condition of the home was suitable for an allergic person and gave up to seven different explanations (move, cellar, store etc.) for the pictures Salla had taken of the house. The shocked child protection officials in Finland stated that they would not even temporarily place a minor in conditions like that. Responsible for this host family’s approval as a host family for an allergic minor for ten months was area representative Sandra Hanniman/STS Foundation Canada.
Within two months, Salla started to get allergic reactions from all the dust and mold (picture). She could not go to school, but the host mother did not let the school know about Salla’s absence as required, something STS later blamed Salla for and issued her a warning about. Because of her strong allergic symptoms, Salla asked both the host mother and the area representative, Sandra Hanniman, to take her to see a doctor, but the host mother stated that: «The doctors don’t know anything» and the area representative said: «Let’s see». As parents we had to get the medicine here in Finland and mail them as express to Canada. Instead of helping Salla get to the doctor, STS Canada area director Kim Berry decided to issue a warning to Salla regarding her host mother not informing Salla’s school about her absence. Salla was invited to STS Canada office 14. Nov. 2011. Salla had written a four page complaint about all the problems and failures on STS’ part so far:
There was no school placement arranged by STS when Salla arrived. Salla was turned away from Gisele la Londe-school, because they had no knowledge of the exchange student. It took almost a week to arrange a school placement.
The host mother left for five days leaving Salla alone with the allergic symptoms. The host mother did not leave any contact information to Salla and strongly forbad Salla to inform STS about her absence.
The host mother did not check her mailbox despite Sallas request. Salla had no key to the mail box. The expensive medication we had sent from Finland lay in the mail box nine days before Salla finally got them.
The host mothers fierce mood swings raised questions. She could be laughing and dancing by herself, but in an instant lose her temper and throw dishes to the floor. Once Salla saw a ziplock-bag on the kitchen table and the host mother told her not to touch it and that it was marijuana. As parents we became worried about that and asked STS to investigate. Despite the pictures taken of the supposed marijuana bag, STS only threatened to issue another warning to Salla for spreading unfounded rumours. The local representative, also the host mothers best friend, stated that she did not believe it was marijuana. That was all STS did. Case closed. …
The rest of the article may be read at CSFES Norway.
A museum handyman has been jailed for life for the murder of a 15-year-old Danish schoolgirl on the Isle of Wight.
Richard Kemp, 53, from Gosport, Hants, was convicted of killing Camilla Petersen at Winchester Crown Court.
He had confessed to the killing but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Mr Justice Richard Gibbs said Kemp was a “serious and homicidal danger to children and young people”.
He said it was unlikely that Kemp, an odd job man at the Royal Navy Submarine museum in Gosport and a Salvation Army volunteer, would ever be released.
Camilla, from the city of Holbaek, was on a three-week exchange trip to England when she was killed last July.
Her body was found at Brading Down, a beauty spot near Sandown, where she had gone to sketch.
Kemp, who confessed to killing her in five letters he wrote after his arrest, has a long history of attacking children.
He was convicted of indecent exposure in 1970 and later spent eight years at Broadmoor hospital for sexually assaulting children.
He was convicted of indecent exposure for a second time in 1982 and was monitored by psychiatrists for another five years.
He began working at the museum in Gosport when he was discharged but continued his solitary lifestyle, making no friends at work.
Around 18 months before Camilla’s death, Kemp revealed in interviews with psychiatrists that his behaviour had regressed and that he had started masturbating in public and walking naked in woodland.
He had gone to the Isle of Wight on the day he killed Camilla to continue his habit of walking naked in the countryside.
But he was at a loss to explain why he had killed her in his confession letter.
He wrote: “I do not know why, she was alone, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why I murdered her I do not know, I could have let her go but didn’t.
“She was a nice intelligent girl, beautiful in fact. I wasn’t even sexually aroused.”
Murdered Danish exchange student Camilla Petersen was remembered at a memorial service on Sunday.The 15-year-old’s body was found in woodland on the Isle of Wight on Tuesday night.
The vicar of Christchurch, Sandown, the Reverend Howard Cunnington, said prayers and lit a candle in remembrance of her.
Worshippers will remember Camilla
Swedish students from the STS Language School with which Camilla was studying sang at the special service.
Mr Cunnington said afterwards: “The students sang a song in Swedish and English and the congregation, who haven’t had a chance to pay their respects, had a chance to say a prayer.
“Although the students were from STS they were not the same group as the girl who died.
“But some of them may have known her and they wanted to pay her respects.”
Camilla’s family flew over from Denmark to visit the scene where her body was found on Friday.
Maintenance worker Richard Kemp, 52, of The Mews, Trinity Green, Gosport, Hampshire, appeared before magistrates on Saturday charged with Camilla’s murder.
He was remanded in custody until 29 July, after the five-minute hearing.
To danske piger får hver 4.000 kroner retur for en sprogrejse til England uden kontakt til englændere.
Mere end 23.000 kroner. Så meget betalte to familier for at sende deres døtre af sted på sprogrejse i England med STS Sprogrejser.
Men rejsen levede ikke op til, hvad pigerne var blevet lovet hjemmefra. Derfor klagede de til Pakkerejseankenævnet.
»Værtsfamilie er den allerbedste måde at bo på, hvis du vil have indblik i, hvordan en familie lever i det land, du besøger. Du får mulighed for at bruge sproget hver dag …«
Sådan skriver STS Sprogrejser i deres rejsebrochure. Det lød som en god mulighed for at blive bedre til sprog, så to familier besluttede sig for at købe en rejse til England til deres døtre.
Men hvad der lød så godt i brochuren, var knap så godt i virkeligheden, skriver Forbrugerrådet på sin hjemmeside.
Seks unge i eet værelse
Da de to piger ankom til værtsadressen, skulle de ikke bo fire – som de var blevet lovet – men otte mennesker hos den engelske familie. Og ikke nok med det: Seks af dem blev henvist til ét værelse, som de skulle dele de næste tre uger.
Pigerne var kede af den totale mangel på privatliv og familiens manglende tid på grund af de mange logerende.
De hverken spiste eller talte med familien i løbet af dagen og fik slet ikke trænet deres engelske, som de var blevet lovet af STS.
Fik ingen sprogtræning
De ringede hjem til deres forældre og fortalte om situationen. Forældrene kontaktede STS.
STS fortalte, at pigerne selv havde takket ’nej’ til et tilbud om at blive flyttet til en anden familie, »hvor der, ifølge STS-medarbejderen, var for beskidt til andre elever, og hvor der ikke kunne tages hensyn til den ene piges madallergi«, og at de ikke havde andre steder at flytte pigerne hen.
Pigernes tre ugers ophold i England blev altså ikke den sprogtræning, forældrene havde betalt mere end 23.000 kroner for, så da pigerne kom hjem, klagede de til STS Sprogrejser.
Bureauet afviste erstatning
De afviste at yde erstatning med henvisning til, at det stadig havde været muligt for de to piger at tale engelsk indbyrdes og med de andre danske rejsende. Den begrundelse var ikke tilstrækkelig for pigernes familie, der tog sagen til Pakkerejseankenævnet.
I pakkerejseankenævnet fik familierne medhold i, at STS Sprogrejser ikke havde leveret det bestilte produkt, og at de to piger hver skulle have 4.000 kroner tilbage – cirka en tredjedel af rejsens fulde pris.
20. Mar. 2012 kl. 12:12 | Lagt på af: Niels Jacob Schøtt
DR-programmet Bag Facaden afslører i aften misbrug af danske udvekslingsstuderende i USA. Her DR-vært Maria Andersen i USA.
Hvert år rejser hundredvis af teenagere et år til USA på udvekslingsrejse, og det er en god forretning at sende unge på udveksling i USA.
Sidste år var der 11 godkendte organisationer, der arrangerede opholdene.
Men flere af de organisationer, der arrangerer sprogrejserne, er for dårlige til at undersøge de amerikanske familier, de unge skal bo hos.
Derfor er danske udvekslingsstuderende i flere tilfælde havnet hos en værtsfar, der har misbrugt dem seksuelt.
Misbrugt som 17-årig
En pige, der ønsker at være anonym, tog som 17-årig på sprogrejse gennem firmaet STS.
Opholdet udvikler sig hurtigt til et mareridt, da hendes amerikanske værtsfar lægger an på hende.
I løbet af opholdet bliver den 17-årige udsat for to grove seksuelle overgreb.
– Fordi jeg var så bange og fuldstændig alene så turde jeg bare næsten ikke gøre noget som helst. Jeg prøver at sige fra men samtidig er jeg dødsens angst fordi han siger, at han altid vil kunne finde mig uanset, hvor jeg er, fortæller pigen.
Organisationerne løber fra ansvaret
Det koster op mod 60.000 kroner at komme på udvekslingsophold i USA, og organisationernes rolle er blandt andet at finde værtsfamilier til de unge.
Og det ryster Børnerådet, at organisationer sender unge til USA, der ender med at blive misbrugt seksuelt.
– Det afspejler en form for kynisme, hvor pengene er vigtigere end børnene, siger formand i Børnerådet, Lisbeth Zornig Andersen.
Sagen med den 17-årige pige er ikke den eneste. Programmet Bag Facaden på DR1 afslører i aften, at flere udvekslingsstudenter er blevet udsat for seksuelle overgreb.
Organisation erkender fejl
Hos organisationen STS, der arrangerede opholdet for den 17-årige pige, påtager man sig det fulde ansvar.
– Vi har begået en fejl, det er der ingen tvivl om, og det kan jeg kun beklage, siger John Cedergårdh.
Mister godkendelsen
Det er Forskningsministeriet, der godkender organisationerne. Vælger de unge en af de godkendte organisationer kan de få 10.000 kroner i støtte fra Staten.
– Det er meget alvorlige sager, vi er blevet præsenteret for, og de organisationer, der har problemer med kvaliteten, vil også miste deres godkendelse, siger kontorchef i Styrelsen for Universiteter og Internationalisering, Mikkel Buchter.
CSFES Danmark 