The Rotary International Friendship Exchange Programme gives Rotarians and their families the opportunity to experience other cultures first hand, by participating in reciprocal visits with Rotarians from other countries and their families.
It provides Rotarians with the opportunity to form personal contacts and make long-lasting friendships while exploring different areas of the world. The exchanges are usually made up of 8 to 12 people and last for about 2 weeks. Our District Fellowship Exchange Committee arranges both inward and outward exchanges with other overseas Rotary districts and it is ever my hope that more of our clubs and members will participate in some of these international exchanges, to see just how worthwhile and fun they are! The Rotary Friendship Exchange Chair from Central New South Wales D 9700 and I first got in touch with each other on 30 June 2017 to start initial talks of setting up an International Exchange Programme. This eventuated recently when a group of 12 cheery Rotarians and spouses from D9700 came to our District on 24 February (staying till the 10th of March) this year for a New Zealand programme. District 9700 covers an area of about 162 000 sq. km (20% of the state of New South Wales) whose region supports mainly agriculture and mining. This District consists of 40 clubs, 1200 members. Of those clubs, members from Orange North, Orange Daybreak, Griffith Avanti and Wagga Wagga Sunrise club made up the group that has visited us. Participating Rotarian members who all helped to host this group represented clubs of: Wellington, Tawa, Masterton Rotary, Milson, Takaro, Marton, Awapuni, Terrace End, Hutt Valley, Wellington and Mt Victoria. During this particular Friendship Exchange programme, our committee was especially grateful to the kind assistance of our AG’s and PDG’s who were extremely helpful in facilitating a successful programme to the end and overcoming some unexpected ‘hiccups’ along the way. During these visits, their programme included: a traditional (iwi) welcome, Rotary projects such as Martinborough Fair, Henley park & Lake, Menzshed, sport & hospital rehab facilities, fund-raising initiatives, some tourist attractions and Anzac sites among many others.
Upcoming RFE programmes are:
15 – 30 March 2019: Inward exchange from Vancouver/Seattle (Washington, USA) D5020
10 – 19 April 2019: Outward exchange to Taiwan D3523
2 - 15 September 2019: Outward exchange to Central New South Wales, D9700
There are already some new interesting exchanges in the planning for the coming years, the first one starting in February 2020 as an outward exchange to New Orleans (USA) in time for their Mardi Gras (stay tuned!).
We hope to see more of you joining on one -or more- of these international exchange programmes, keep an eye on the District Bulletin for announcements of exchange programmes and Call of Interest to participate! There is an upcoming Call of Interest to visit the District where this group came from, their programme is scheduled for 2-15 September this year. And if you are interested in joining our RFE Committee, please let me know soon, we have been understaffed for some time.
Greetings
Anneke Wolterbeek
Chair D9940 RFE Committee