Our Mission
Ons Missie
The FSA Youth Exchange (FSA = Friends of South Africa / Freundeskreis für Südafrika) organizes a student exchange between South Africa and Germany since 1996 with the following objectives:
To give the South African youth an affordable opportunity:
* for exposure to the way of living and reasoning of a different culture;
* to be young ambassadors for South Africa and
* for personal growth and development.
Our History
Ons Geskiedenis
The FSA Youth Exchange was founded in 1996 by Lodie de Jager who was a German school teacher in the Free State from 1984. The FSA has its roots in the tours and exchange visits he arranged for his students to Germany. From 1991 – 1996 he was stationed in Germany from where he was responsible for the exchanges from and to South Africa. He returned to South Africa in 1996 to found the FSA. The FSA operates as a closed corporation.
FSA Youth Exchange has two offices in South Africa. The office in Naboomspruit (Alta Botes) organizes the exchange for South African pupils to Germany. The office in Boksburg (Suzanne Baker) is responsible for the incoming German pupils and South African host families.
In Germany the FSA office is situated in Bielefeld. The programme leader, Petra Jacobi, organizes the exchange for German pupils to South Africa, is responsible for the South African pupils during their stay in Germany and the host families in Germany. Although working together, FSA in South Africa is an own juristic entity independent from FSA in Germany.
The FSA Youth Exchange in South Africa has three programmes to Germany and three programmes to South Africa.
To Germany
1. June – July ( 4 weeks)
2. Nov – Jan (10 weeks)
3. Nov – Jan ( 6 weeks)
4. Dec – Jan ( 4 weeks)
To South Africa
1. Four / six weeks programme July /August. Four different date groups determined by German school holidays in different provinces.
2. Ten week programme from July to end September (term 3)
3. Four / six weeks programme December / January.
4. Ten week participation (term 1 or term 2). (individual dates as arranged)
A few German students get permission from German schools to visit on individual dates for one or two school terms.
From December 1996 approximaely 5 132 learners from South Africa were selected to take part in the exchange programme and approximately the same number of German learners took part in the programme.
Year Number of SA Participants
- 1996 55
- 1997 97
- 1998 158
- 1999 140
- 2000 144
- 2001 196
- 2002 265
- 2003 266
- 2004 278
- 2005 308
- 2006 285
- 2007 280
- 2008 275
- 2009 247
- 2010 206
- 2011 220
- 2012 233
- 2013 197
- 2014 202
- 2015 172
- 2016 186
- 2017 172
- 2018 167
- 2019 151
- 2022 115
- 2023 125