Au Pair USA

Au Pairs are family companions who assist with child care in exchange for the experience of living with an American family as an "au pair" or as an "equal".
The Au Pair program offers a unique opportunity for international exchange and a legal, affordable alternative to traditional child care options.
It is a twelve-month intercultural exchange that gives English speaking young adults between the ages 18 and 25 an insider's view of American family life.

What Do Au Pairs Do?

Au pairs care for the host children up to 45 hours per week. Depending on the needs of the host family, an au pair might provide in-home child care for infants and toddlers while the parents work, she could take responsibility for getting older children to and from the school and after-school activities, or she can provide an extra set of hands for busy at home parent. Specific responsibilities might inglude:
· Interacting and playing with the children
· Dressing infants and toddlers
· Bathing the children
· Maintaining the children's belongings including play area clean up, the children's laundry, making the childrens beds.
Au pairs are responsible for keeping their own room neat and for doing theis own laundry. Light housework related to the children including vacuuming the playroom or cleaning up after a meal are routine

What Program Participation Provides:

The family welcomes the au pair into their home as a family member, not as an employee or boarder. The program provides the au pair with:
· the opportunity to live abroad, meet new people and experience new adventures
· placement with a carefully screened host family who has completed an application, provided references and has been interviewed by a partner agency of Lingua Tours in the USA
· a private room and full board in the host family's home
· a weekly pocket money of approximately $ 140 for 51 weeks
· an arrival training and orientation session held Monday to Friday in the city of New York
· free medical insurance to cover up to $50 000 in medical expenses during the year
· for those for whom English is not their first language, the opportunity to improve English
· an Exchange Visitor J-1 Visa, the only legal means for non-American citizens to participate as an au pair in the United States
· an optional 13th month at the end of the program year to travel in the USA
· $500 tuition allowance toward exiting educational opportunities chosen by the au pair
· two weeks paid vacation and at least one complete weekend of each month
· $500 Completion Bonus uponreturning to her home country after the end of successful 12 month stay

How Does an Au Pair Apply?

If you are:
· age 19 - 23 years old
· a person who enjoys working with and have practical experience caring for children
· able to speak and understand English
· a graduate of secondary school or University or a student of a Copllege/University
· in good health
· a licensed driver and have had a minimum of 50 hours of driving experience
· a non-smoker or are prepared to stop smoking if required by the host family
· of good character with no history of serious or illegal miscondact
· prepared to commit to 12 months away from home
· a first time participant in an au pair program to the U.S.
· prepared to follow the obligations outlined in the Au Pair Agreement which is included in the application packet.

please contact us at Lingua Tours Co. in Minsk for an interview. Note that you can need 5-6 months from the time you have completed your application file up to your arrival in the USA. Our telephone/fax number is: +375 (17) 281-73 73, 8 - 0296 - 106 102 e-mail: lingua@linguatours.minsk.by or you can refer to the
web-site of our partner organization in the USA - InterExchange,Inc. for more information : http://www.interexchange.org