Bridge - Year???? Global Citizens Year - anyone heard of?

My son is investing a bridge year program through her new college that gives kids a fellowship to work in India or Brazil for a year before starting the first year of college. (Some college credit would be given.)

It is a fellowship, but the idea of him being at 18 alone with a host family, working across the world for 9 months makes me very uncomfortable. (Three months, fine, but 9 is a long time.). He would not be living with the other program students, but the program said he would be placed within an hour distance from them.

Has anyone heard of Global Citizens Year, the organization that actually runs the program for the college? Or known of a child who has done something like this?