The intern team just had an exciting weekend at the Asian Festival held at George Mason University. Despite the heat, there were plenty of fun activities to take part in at the festival. The food choices were endless, the singing and dancing was impressive, and the freebies were fantastic. It was also great to see people’s interest in our posters. We created a chart that compared AAI schools to the national schools. Schools in which AAI had intervened had both higher enrollment rates and higher graduation rates than national schools.
“It was super hot, but definitely a great opportunity to experience culture and show your creativity in fundraising events! Loved talking to the vendors and learning about their efforts to make a better life here in the U.S. in addition, to make contributions to the society! It was also wonderful to meet people who share the same vision as AAI does! Their personal experiences provide a different perspective that reinforces AAI's mission!”-Emily
“Being able to have a booth at the Asia festival greatly benefited the AAI team. Not only were the interns able to interact with different people outside the office and gain a good cultural experience (the different Asian music, merchandise and food), but they also raised awareness about the organization by talking to people in the local community. This outreach was a great way for interns to actively participate in increasing support for the organization.”-Francine
“It was HOT. Fortunately, we all had a nice shady booth to shield us from the worst of it. We also had the assistance of two industrious Filipino-English twins who were more than willing to run about on our behalf. We got to talk to a lot of interested people, and were able to solicit a fair amount of donations. Outside of our booth, the Festival was busy and exciting, with lots of things to see and taste. It was an excellent little slice of Asia.”-Nick
“Being able to participate in the Asian Festival was both a fun-filled and culturally enriching activity. I was not only able to know the different food, music, dance and cultures of other Asian countries but we were able to raise awareness in a creative manner about children and mothers from the Philippines that are suffering from cancer. It feels good to help raise funds for their treatment and at the same time share the wonderful works of AAI.”-Lalai
