The international student program in Morden is currently short host families to welcome students into their homes from September 2017 to June 2018.

Janelle Kropp is the home-stay facilitator with Western School Division, and she's looking to fill some empty slots for the next school year.

"Every year, some families choose to leave the program because they've been doing it for many years, so it's always good to get new families in. It's always nice to have some back-up families, just in case," Kropp said.

A few years ago she became quite sick and couldn't properly host the international student living with her family at the time, so another host-family took over until she recovered.

"Times like that you want to make sure you have an emergency family," said Kropp.

Linda Menzies and her husband have been host parents for six years. They are currently hosting a young woman named Kamileh Quinonez from Los Mochis, Mexico.

The Menzies' joined the program when their son was in high school,

"He was an only child and found it very lonely in the home despite having very cool parents," Menzies said.

The experience was so positive for the family that they decided to continue, enjoying the energy another young teenager brought to their home. Through welcoming a stranger into their family, they learned to embrace uniqueness.

"You do your best to love them like your own child," she said.

Cecilia Galaz, who's staying with Kropp for the year, is also from Los Mochis. She said she came to Morden, partly because it was a safe community. Learning that she could ride a bike down the street was a revelation for her as that isn't advised in her city.

"There [are] bad people," she said about Los Mochis, "They can do bad things to you."

Galaz's older sister stayed with the Kropp's previously, and her sister's excitement about Morden was partly what helped Cecilia decide where to come. Kropp spoke about what it's like hosting different students.

"Every year it will be a different relationship," said Kropp. "Just like your own children, you have a different way of getting along with each of them."

"It's a parent-child relationship," she said.