---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Scott Curry
Date: Aug 14, 2008 1:52 AM
Subject: Shi Xiao Han (Shirley)
To: shirley shi
Cc: "Ana Campideli (WWCE)" , Sharon Wu
- Hide quoted text -
Dear Shirley,
I'm sorry to hear that your experience in the United States has not been exact
ly what you expected. I have share your concerns with my colleagues at WWCE an
d UECE.
Frankly, I am surprised to receive such an email concerning WWCE and UECE. Bot
h organizations are very reputable and have nothing but the best interests of
our participants in mind. The vast majority of participants have had very posi
tive experiences.
Generally, many of your concerns are regarding issues that were made clear dur
ing the application process and orientation both in China and the U.S. Neverth
eless, please see my comments below.
If you would like to speak to me, please call me at 888-477-9622 ext. 4311 dur
ing business hours.
Regards,
Scott Curry
___________________________________________________________________________
Scott Curry | International YMCA | Director, International Exchange Services W
ebsite: www.internationalymca.org
5 West 63 Street | New York, NY 10023 | (: 212.875.4311 | 7: 212.724.2344 | *: scurry@ymcanyc.org
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From: shirley shi [mailto:shirley1988121@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 3:48 PM
To: Scott Curry
Subject: Shirley
Dear Scott Curry,
My name is Shi Xiao Han (Shirley). I am a Chinese participant in Summer Work &
Travel Program sponsored by YMCA and I am now working at Six Flags California
. Firstly I am very grateful to YMCA for giving me this chance to experience s
omething I have never been through before and learning from it.
I understand that YMCA sponsored this program as an educational exchange. Anyh
ow, I don't think it turns out as we expected. I come up with this conclusion
for following reasons from YMCA`s side:
1. Improper choice of your cooperation partner in China – UECE.
(1) UECE didn't inform participants in detail what the work & living condition
s in US would be like, or they just idealized them on purposely, which is even
more pathetic. We were asked to sign the contract without proper guide and ac
cepted many improper conditions we were not even aware about. As a consequence
, most of the Chinese participants feel they are cheated. With this negative e
motion, they could have difficulties enjoying their work & travel here.
[Scott Curry] You attended a joint program orientation conducted by WWCE and S
ix Flags in China as well as WWCE's orientation session in the U.S. You read a
nd signed an agreement. If you are concerned about the agreement, you need to
provide specific information.
(2) UECE enrolled too many participants, which directly and dramatically decre
ased the quality of this program. Since too many people are working here, the
working hours are decreased, with the pay hardly enough to pay the rent.
[Scott Curry] Six Flags was responsible for determining the number of students
it would hire, not WWCE and UECE. Nobody can control the economy and its affe
ct on Six Flags' business. In any event, I know that participants were paid fo
r 32 hours of work - as agreed - even if they worked less than 36 hours.
More importantly, since too many people flooded into the company, the training
and working quality also declined. It is quite obvious that for making more m
oney, UECE is running over its capacity and we are the only ones that are suff
ering for this right now.
Actually it turned against the original intent of YMCA which is described on t
he manual "give students from all around the world who might otherwise not abl
e to afford to …". Because this program is even not cheaper than other pure e
ducational exchange in China for UECE has already charged us about $2500 in Ch
ina and now we are still working hard to make the ends meet here in US.
[Scott Curry] Fees collected by UECE include international air fare and are no
t excessive.
2. Improper choice of your local agent WWCE(World Wide Culture Exchange)
(1) WWCE did too limited job here, hardly anything more than getting participa
nts expensive rental apartments ($112.5/week with a COMPULSORY $12.5/weel shut
tle fee which add up to $125/week).
[Scott Curry] I know for a fact that the WWCE staff works very hard for all pa
rticipants. Please understand that rent charged to students are calculated aft
er considering: 1) short-term rent is more expensive; 2) furniture rental is i
ncluded in the rent; and 3) location in a safe neighborhood may be more expens
ive.
One obvious reason is that one of my colleague was fired recently unconditiona
lly for a misunderstanding or a cultural shock. Anyhow, the representative of
WWCE didn't do anything to help during the whole process and what is even wors
e, the representative just visited him recently only for urging him to pay for
the rent and go back to China, RELENTLESSLY with very bad attitude.
[Scott Curry] Without the name of the student in question, I cannot comment. R
ent must be paid for the entire program, however, regardless of when a partici
pant returns. This information is in the agreement that all participants signe
d.
There are many more problems with rental apartment and working transportation
which I don't even talk about here because YMCA has already mentioned on the m
anual that we should identify what the real problem is, not the symptoms. I th
ink I already identified the problems.
3. Improper choice of your corporation partner in US – Six Flags
Apart from UECE and WWCE, I think Six Flags is also responsible for the proble
ms, especially the Human Resource. Why did they hire that many people out of i
ts capacity, of training and employment?
For the reasons above, I strongly advise YMCA to investigate in these issues a
nd make a difference on this, for it not only is harming the present participa
nts as well as it might will harm the future participants, but also is and mig
ht still will be devastating the reputation of YMCA. I am looking forward a fe
edback of my concerns as soon as possible. You can reply to my mailbox or call
661-250-7429 to leave a message. If you need further information, please let
me know.
