Students from Bangladesh, Poland find common ground during exchange stay in Hempfield

As Russian missiles devastate Ukraine, people around the world are yearning for the day when peace will return to Eastern Europe.

A hemisphere away, in Hempfield, two young men from disparate countries and cultures have achieved more than just peaceful coexistence.

Mansib Rahman, 18, of Bangladesh and Bartosz “Bartek” Zielinski, 19, of Poland — both seniors at Hempfield Area High — have bonded over sports and food while living under the same roof as part of the AFS (American Field Service) student exchange program.

“Sharing daily life with a teenager from another country and culture is a rich and rewarding experience and is a wonderful way … to build a more just and peaceful world,” said their host, Darlene Frederickson, a regional AFS official who has welcomed many previous foreign students into her Hempfield home.

“We can learn from each other,” she said. “It’s not right or wrong. It’s simply different.”

That same spirit motivated her two current guests to seek a stay in America.

“I wanted to try something new, see other cultures, get a different perspective,” Zielinski said.

The pair played soccer in the fall — Zielinski settling in as a midfielder with the Spartans, Rahman as a forward. Zielinski has since joined the school’s tennis team while Rahman is playing lacrosse. They were surprised to find such athletic activities offered along with academics.

“We have sports, but not associated with school,” Rahman said of his education in Bangladesh. “We have to join a private club or just play on your own.”

“Staying after school for sports is a difference in America,” Zielinski agreed.

Change in customs

Rahman lives in his country’s capital, Dhaka, a bustling city of more than 10 million. There, he attends an English-language school, where assignments are written in English, but he normally speaks Bengali.

One of the key annual dates in Bangladesh is Feb. 21. Recognized as International Mother Language Day, it is of particular significance for Rahman and others who speak his native Bengali tongue. It recalls a brutal attempt by Pakistan occupation forces to suppress the language in 1952.

“After many people died, they decided they were going to give Bengalis our language,” Rahman said.

In Poland, Zielinski has attended an International Baccalaureate school, where English is written and spoken.

On Nov. 11, a day of curtailed instruction at Hempfield Area, Zielinski marked his native country’s Independence Day from afar while his American classmates observed Veterans Day.

If he had been in Poland, he would have prepared for the Lenten season by celebrating on the preceding Fat Thursday — not Fat Tuesday.

“There is a competition to eat the most paczki,” he said. “It’s our own kind of doughnut.”

The exchange students have been able to adapt their palates to most American dishes.

“There’s no food that we disagree on,” Rahman said.

Still, Rahman, whose native diet is similar to spicy Indian cuisine, asked for some hot sauce to spread on his corn on the cob.

Zielinski said the pierogi available for consumption during Lent in most places in Western Pennsylvania lack the full flavor of those in Poland.

“They don’t really taste similar,” he said. “They cannot find the proper cheese. It’s something in between Colby cheese and bleu cheese.”

Both students turned thumbs down on kettle corn, passing on the sweet, sticky flavoring in preference for simple salt and butter.

When they arrived for the fall term at Hempfield Area, both found pandemic restrictions in Pennsylvania were less severe that what they had been experiencing at home. But they have missed the ready availability of public transit in their native countries.

Recalling the many cities he had seen depicted in U.S. movies and TV shows, Rahman was surprised by the reality of Westmoreland County’s suburban and rural landscapes.

“I’m used to seeing a lot of people on the roads and everywhere, but it’s very less populated in some places,” he said.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine has unfolded and refugees have flooded into Poland, Zielinski has been keeping in touch with his family to see how his homeland is faring. At least, he noted, his hometown of Gora and its 14,000 people are in western Poland, farthest geographically from the conflict.

“It’s 100 miles from Germany,” he said, “closer to Berlin than Warsaw.”

After the AFS exchange experience ends, each is considering another trip abroad to study for a career — Rahman in engineering, Zielinski in medicine.

Both received scholarships that helped with expenses during their stay in America, while Frederickson was responsible for their three daily meals, accommodations and transportation.

Program for peace

They are among 10 AFS students who are staying in the area this year, a step toward recovery for the program after student exchanges were canceled or curtailed by the pandemic.

“The kids who have met them will never forget them,” Frederickson said. “Years ago, when I was in high school, every school had an AFS club. It’s hard to keep it going, but I still believe in the program.

“You have to have world peace somehow.”

To keep AFS going strong locally, Frederickson is looking for families to host students next school year in Hempfield Area and in several other area districts: Greater Latrobe, Greensburg Salem, Jeannette and Franklin Regional.

Students arrive in August and depart in June.

Frederickson notes AFS hosts “should be eager and excited to share your life and activities while providing the same kind of care, support and comfort as you would to your own child or family members.”

”I’ve never been turned down once for taking a student from any particular country,” she said. “This state has a lot of backgrounds. We are a melting pot.”

Those interested in becoming an AFS host may visit afsusa.org/host or email rhayes@afsusa.org for more information. Frederickson can be reached at darfrederick@aol.com.