"It is Not Better or Worse. It is Just Different"
The above quote is something that youth exchange committee members around the world teach our prospective students before we send them on their journey of a lifetime.
This year that quote has been particularly apt as the world has coped with the Coronavirus pandemic and it's continuing effects on the world.
District 9685 has not been immune to the effects of the virus with all face to face events cancelled from March 2020. The District Youth Exchange Team was able to hold its first (socially distanced, limited numbers) face to face event last Sunday afternoon to farewell our European inbound students who will start to make their way home to their families and friends over the next few weeks. We felt now was a good time to advise the wonderfully supportive Rotary Clubs in the district of the situation for the program going forward.
In the last few weeks, Rotary International has issued all Districts around the world participating in Youth Exchange with a set of COVID-safe guidelines for us to follow. The Committee in D9685 has taken those conditions onboard and will be compliant with all of the requirements suggested to us for the continuation of any part of the program. These necessarily take into account the situation world-wide, and we have been very fortunate here in Australia that the number of people becoming ill with COVID-19 has been very low.
At our June meeting, the District Committee made the very reluctant and difficult decision to defer our inbound and outbound program for the Rotary Year 2020-2021. This means that we will not be receiving any inbound students until at least July 2021 and we will not be sending any outbound students until January 2022. This decision was not made lightly as we have 5 very enthusiastic applicants who were not put off by the current crisis. We held a zoom meeting with these young people and their parents to discuss the risks and opportunities of exchange in the current climate.
The advice to these students was that as many of our partner countries have also taken the step to defer their future program and in some cases cancel their current program and return all students to their countries of origin we could not offer them an exchange that was viable even if the current health crisis changes. We are happy to report that almost all of these students and their families are happy to defer their applications until the 2022 program.
We are continuing to host 3 inbound students until January 2021, and all but 3 of our current outbounds remain in place hosted by wonderful Rotarians and Clubs.
It is hoped that during this reduction in the day-to-day work of student care, our committee can take the opportunity to promote the program throughout the district. There is no doubt that the current outbounds will have amazing stories to tell of their year away. We look forward to being able to visit your club soon to share this experience with you and your members.
The committee has worked extremely hard during the lockdown period to continue to support both our inbound and outbound students via regular contact with both the students and in the case of outbounds their natural parents.
You will no doubt know that the Capricorn Ramble (Safari) was postponed by the provider and has caused much angst for all concerning appropriate refunds. The District Youth Exchange Secretary Rtn Michelle Westlund has worked tirelessly with all the students and parents to ensure that as many students as possible were not left out of pocket. In the case of the students who had returned to their home countries before the original start date and were not offered any refund, we have been able to facilitate an insurance payout (if they were covered by Chubb Insurance) or assisted them to approach their banking institution for a chargeback on the credit card used to pay for the trip.
Given the unexpected approach and attitude of the provider in this moment of crisis, with whom we have worked over numerous decades and generations, the committee has resolved to also use the opportunity over the next 12 months to put provision of our travel services both inbound and outbound out to tender.
If you wish to discuss the contents of this letter, please do not hesitate to contact District Chairs John and Susan Wakefield on 0418 411 449 (John) or 0412146055 (Susan).