Youth Exchange in 7080
They have hiked up snow-capped mountains in Europe, rowed off the coast of Japan, gone on safari in the Australian outback, toured the diamond mines of South Africa and done a thousand other things on their way to becoming citizens of the world. Their curiosity, desire for knowledge, and their wish to learn how others live is matched by their willingness to understand modes of life that differ from their own.
Who are these interesting and intelligent voyagers? They are the many thousands of young boys and girls who have lived and studied in countries around the world and return to home as young men and women through opportunities provided by Rotary's Youth Exchange program.
Youth Exchange is a vitally important and dramatically successful part of Rotary's International Service efforts. Each year it sends some 10000 students between the ages of 15 and 19 to further their education in countries other than their own. In doing so, the program promotes Rotary's 4th avenue of service by helping advance world understanding, goodwill and peace by giving these young people the opportunity to broaden their understanding of themselves and others.
My son wrote this following his exchange in Thailand:
"I was picked up at the airport in Bangkok by my host Rotary Club, none of whom spoke any English, I speaking no Thai. After 3 months I was able to communicate successfully to the point of later in by exchange being able to answer the telephones in Thai at my host father's automobile dealership. As they wished me goodbye on my last day in Thailand, my host father embraced me and wanted me to come back to Thailand to marry a Thai wife."
District Governors are encouraged by Rotary International's Board of Directors to appoint district Youth Exchange chairs and committees to handle important aspects of the programme such as promotion, outbound selections and orientation of ins and outs. After attending the Youth Exchange meetings in Glasgow this past spring, I can, with modesty, attest that D.G. Charlie has one of, if not, the best Youth Exchange program in the whole of Rotary. Our committee consists of:
and 7 area co-ordinators, Deborah Kochhar, (Mississauga Credit Valley), Frank White, (Galt Cambridge) Ross Farrelly, (Palgrave). Eric Anderson, (Burlignton), John Wahl, (Waterloo), Elaine Eisen and Norm Bindon presently serving double duty.
We presently have 22 outbound students in 14 countries from Finland to South Africa, Japan to Brazil and 23 inbounds from the same 14 countries.
The role of the Host Family in Youth Exchange is an especially important one. The family has the responsibility of supervising the exchange student, just as the student's parents would. Usually the student lives with 2 to 6 families during the course of the year, giving a broader understanding of the culture of the host country than could be obtained with only one host family.
In addition to attending school, the student spends time sightseeing, learning customs and language, and sharing chores with other members of the new family. In nearly all cases, this bond -- and the feeling it brings of closeness to people in another land -- is deeply gratifying to the student and host family alike. Indeed, the impact of the exchange is often long lasting. Living and learning in another land is a journey in friendship. At the same time, the experience molds character and spurs personal growth. A new level of maturity shines out in these lines from a poem by an exchange student:
Exotic. Ancient. Mysterious as home could never be
I am sharply, sweetly, lonely,
Alone in a world of dark, round kindly faces, yet
not unhappy.
When came this strength?
This confidence? How did I become so peaceful,
self controlled, content?
Who is this new woman who was, not long ago, a child?
To see some of our Youth Exchange Students, both in and out, click here