Rotary Youth Exchange - Nine Excited Students Prepare to Travel!
My most enormous thanks to the nine clubs in District 7070 that have stepped up to send a Rotary Youth Exchange student on the adventure of a lifetime in the 2018/19 Rotary Year! On Saturday, May 26, in Port Hope, I met the nine young people who have been carefully selected to represent Canada, Rotary, and our District around the world, including...
in Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Taiwan. Having spent some time with them, I can tell you that we will be very well represented by these incredible students who will Be The Inspiration to many, both at here home and in their host countries.
The Port Hope gathering was organized by our hard-working District 7070 Youth Exchange Committee for the outbound Youth Exchange students and their parents to learn more about the expectations and opportunities of the program and also to review practical issues like visas, passports, money management, language development, personal safety, and home sickness. The current inbound Rotary Youth Exchange students joined in the discussions part way through, and the whole group had a pool party and social time after the morning training.
A common theme was the amazing opportunity that the Rotary Youth Exchange Program provides for Canadian students to develop a variety of personal skills during their time in another country, including self-reliance, confidence, public speaking, problem solving, and interpersonal communication, not to mention mastery of a new language.
While I am delighted that we are sending nine students abroad in 2018/19, I would love for our District to be able to send even more students in the 2019/20 Rotary Year. This will require more clubs to commit to being involved, both to sending a student and to hosting a student. The cost, split over two years, is approximately $5200 (a little more in Toronto to accommodate TTC fare). If you are interested in learning more, please contact the Youth Exchange Committee ASAP! If you send an email to Brian McAdam at yep7070@sympatico.ca, he will make sure that you have all the information you need. In order to send a student outbound in July of 2019, a club must commit to the program by 1 October 2018.
Thank you to the Rotary Clubs of Belleville, Brighton, Campbellford, Cobourg, Picton, Port Hope, Port Perry, Stirling, and Trenton for sponsoring inbound and outbound students in 2018-19. And thanks to the Rotary Club of Markham-Unionville for hosting a student this year and sending a student next year.
Peace and Conflict Resolution is one of Rotary six Areas of Focus, and I can think of no more effective way of creating Peace Ambassadors in our world than by participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.
Please consider getting involved!
Mary Lou
Mary Lou Harrison, District Governor 2018-19