‘Neyla’ visits memories and her second family

Story by Tammy Witherspoon
Posted 10/17/23

She was only 15 years old when she found out about the AFS International Foreign Exchange program. It intrigued her. “It was the challenge of the unknown,” she says. “And I thought, ‘Yes, I can do this.’” 

So, in August of 1982 Neophytoula Kokkinou left her home in Cyprus to spend a year attending high school in Eldon. Before she reached her destination, she condensed her name down to Neyla, to make it easier on her Eldon family and classmates. 

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