As the District 9705 Youth Exchange Committee completed training 12 lovely young Australian students in 2019 to prepare them for their 12-month long term exchange abroad, none of us could have predicted what 2020 was going to throw at all of us!
The weekend of 6-7 February 2021 enabled all the Outbound students and parents to come together for a debriefing and celebratory weekend. They shared their experiences and how they coped and handled situations no student had ever had to cope with before. They all showed remarkable courage, resilience, problem solving and kept their sense of fun.
These young people were the first Outbounders to embark on this journey under the banner of the newly merged District 9705. They came from all over the District and were heading to all parts of the world: Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Taiwan, Brazil, and the USA.
In March, as we all now know, the COVID-19 pandemic hit! Some countries shut down their program immediately, some parents recalled their young person and countries all over the world went into various forms of lockdown or restrictions.
Our Inbound students also had to negotiate flights home, some on diplomatic flights and others when flights back to their home counties were deemed safe.
A Celebratory dinner was held on Saturday evening at which our District Governor, Michael Moore, and wife Helen attended as well as Nok Young and Rochelle Bird from Anywhere Travel, our program's travel agency. (Rochelle was recently awarded a PHF for the exemplary work she carried out in arranging flights to get these kids home – going well outside any normal work parameters!) During the evening, Michael cut the celebratory cake with the returned students.
Special mention must go to two students:
Saxon Perry – Sponsored by Nowra Rotary Club, who travelled to Denmark. Saxon was presented with the Most outstanding Youth Exchange student in Denmark award.
Hayley Chesworth – Sponsored by Harden Rotary Club who travelled to the USA.
Hayley's host mum in the United States posted the following on Facebook:
"Six and a half months ago we volunteered and opened our home to a complete stranger during a global pandemic. Little did we know this Rotary exchange student, Hayley, would become family. We have been dreading this day for months but tomorrow she goes back to her amazing family in Australia and starts an exciting new high school year. As this chapter closes, our lives are forever changed for the better because of you, Australia should be so proud of how well you represented your homeland. Hayley, you have so much grit and perseverance to take what many would have seen as a sign to go home in March – and thrived and experienced as much as she could in these circumstances while remaining as safe as possible. It's such a positive reflection of your wonderful parents. Thank you for letting us grow with you this year. We are forever changed. To all the people considering – opening up your home is one of the most rewarding things we have ever done. Not only me and Greg but Michael, Evelyn, Wesley and Tatum are forever impacted for the better because of your time here. We love you! It's not goodbye but see you later."
The YEP committee and the District should be so proud of all of these young people who have grown from their experience but impacted in a positive way of all those they came in contact with.
At the conclusion of the weekend, District Governor Michael presented the students with their certificates.
Rob Uhl
District 9705 Youth Exchange Chair