Youth exchange

 

 

These two  August meetings were dedicated to providing information about the Youth Exchange Programme as we have many new members.

Norm Bindon spoke of the history of the exchange programme at the RC of Brampton. At one time the RC of Brampton hosted and sent out two students as well as a deaf student as part of the Deaf Exchange. Norm appealed to the club members to consider hosting, even if it is for a weekend.  The exchange programme in our district  has diminished from about 25 students to only 7 students, mostly  due to lack of host families. We also have fewer students applying to the programme, so we encourage you to promote the programme to mature students between fifteen and seventeen, who wish to attend school in another country.

We  had a trio of former Rebounds speak about how the exchange experience with their host families influenced their lives.

Branden Tate,  spoke about his three Danish host families, one with teens, one with young children and one who were empty nesters. He highlighted what he learned from each host family and how they modelled the ideal of service above self especially volunteering with their gift of time.

Elyssa (Dobson) Mountain spoke about growing up in Brampton and how living with host families in rural Finland influenced her desire to live in the country instead of the city, a dream she realized as she is living on a farm, growing much of her own food.

Jessica Santos Mocon, spoke of her time in Brazil and how it impacted her concern for the Amazon, an area which is very much in the news currently. Jessica has been the host sister to ten exchange students and now has friends around the world, some of which she has visited and travelled with since her exchange ended.

The willingness of students returning years after their exchanges to speak to the club shows how valuable the programme and the lessons learned last a lifetime.

August 19th Rebound Veronica Barnes, recently returned from her year in Italy illustrated the confidence gained in one short year as a Rotary Youth Exchange student.  A quiet soft spoken young lady when she left to go on exchange, Veronica is now an enthusiastic speaker, who felt comfortable speaking for thirty minutes to the club. Her frequent use of the word awesome and amazing showed us she really enjoyed her year, and how much travelling she did in Italy. Her pronunciation of city names and favourite foods indicated her mastery of the Italian language which she is continuing to pursue since her return. Rotary Youth Exchange really does provide wonderful opportunities for young people.

Our new Inbound Student " Jennifer" is from Taiwan - our first from this country. We hope that she will learn much about Canadian culture through her interactions with members of the RC of Brampton. Please consider ways you can help with this endeavour.