Youth Exchange
Posted by Rita Gayle
CELEBRATING YOUTH EXCHANGE
Students from around the world are hosted in our community. Each year we send students to other countries to visit and experience a new place, a new language and a new culture. By sharing their own culture and embracing a new one, the youth exchange student helps to foster global understanding and learn a great deal about themselves and their home country in the progress. Some youth exchange students have become leaders in their field of work and a lot have become Rotarians.Today we celebrate the youth exchange program. Mary-Anne Tate hosted the meeting and invited several host parents (members) to share their experiences with youth exchange. Past host parents have had very good and lasting relationships. Some of them have become friends with the student and their family and maintain contact throughout the years. Host parents do not necessarily have to be Rotary members. People who have good standing in the community and are interested in hosting youth exchange students can apply to be host parents.
Hosting an exchange student can be an incredibly rewarding experience for your family, providing an international experience without leaving home. Host families provide room and board and share their lives with exchange students, involving them in family, community and cultural activities.
If you are interested in hosting an exchange student, please contact Mary-Anne Tate.
Photos- Left, Mari-Anne Tate, Youth Exchange Committee Chair and right Johanna Neujahr, Inbound Exchange student from Germany receives Birthday Cake.