The Group Study Exchange Program was (and still is) a Rotary Foundation educational program that provides funding for the exchange of small teams of (non-Rotarian) young business and professional people between paired districts in different countries. The goals were to enable them to learn about the corresponding businesses and culture of another country for a four to six week study period. Their travel costs were covered by the Foundation and the hosting district/s provided accommodation, meals and arranged business meetings, tours, discussions and cultural events. The sending Rotary districts provided a Rotarian team leader responsible for organizing and leading each team. As can be seen, providing this type of experience requires a very large effort on the part of both the sending and receiving Districts, the District Governors and their committees in terms of logistics and planning. Visiting teams would meet with local people and tour offices and places of business that corresponded to the interests of the team members. In return the other district would send a team to visit our District and we would do the same for them. At the end of the exchange each team was expected to provide a detailed report of their experiences and what they had learned from that experience to their sponsoring District. This Foundation program still exists today with some changes, team members are now all from the same profession and there are some changes to funding.
In the spring of 1991, our District 5360 (Alberta, Northern BC, Northwestern Saskatchewan and NWT) sent a team of five young professional women along with their Rotarian Team Leader, Hans Granholm from our club to a district in southern Sweden. The team was comprised of a constitutional Lawyer from Yellowknife, a Family Medical Doctor from Calgary, an Accountant from Calgary, a Graphic Artist from Spruce Grove and a YMCA Program Director from Edmonton.
The teams were expected to represent Rotary wherever they went so they all wore matching jackets in public. Their red La Fleche Tailor jackets were custom embroidered with the Rotary Wheel. Hans said that they looked quite sharp when travelling together.
The district in Sweden that they visited had recently been assigned by Rotary International to support the redistricting of Rotary clubs in Poland. The fall of the Berlin wall in Nov 1989 had opened up many countries, who at one time prior to WW II had had many active Rotary clubs. The district in Sweden had recently sponsored the opening of two clubs in Warsaw, Poland. Shortly after our Exchange team arrived in Sweden, they were asked if they would like to spend part of their time visiting with these clubs in Poland. Hans asked the team if they would like to do this and they subsequently spent three weeks in Sweden and two more in Poland.
Rotary would normally provide language training prior to departure but this was not possible due to the timing. Hans could get by in Swedish but not in Polish. As it turned out it was not a problem as almost all they came in contact with in Poland spoke very good English.
They visited clubs and places of business in Malmo, Eslov, the southern coast and Helsingborg as well as a few other areas in Sweden. In Poland they stayed with a very welcoming and wealthy businessman who had armed guards on the grounds of his home in Warsaw and visited with clubs in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland.
Hans said that they were very well treated by their hosts both in Sweden and in Poland. They were especially impressed by the living conditions in Poland being much better than they had expected. He also said that organizing the air travel was tricky as air travel in Europe was restricted due to trouble in the Middle East and they had to spend more time travelling than originally hoped. Overall they had a very informative and memorable time together.
In spring of 1992 another member of our club, Ron McCullough led a team from District 5360 (Alberta, Northern BC, Northwestern Saskatchewan and NWT) to District 9790 in Victoria, Australia. His team consisted of five men, a Lawyer from Grande Prairie, a Public Utility Public Relations Officer from Calgary, a District Agriculturist and Regional Crop Specialist from Stettler, an Office Manager from Grande Prairie, and a Supervisor of Technical Services for Edmonton Power.
Their tour was seven weeks visiting clubs in the State of Victoria in south-eastern Australia- Melbourne, Albury-Wodonga, Corryong, Bright, Beechworth, Wangaratta and Euroa. They travelled from one area to the next staying in the homes of local Rotarians and visiting many different types of local businesses. These included a utility company, a cheese factory, a law office, cattle and dairy farms, sheep farms, a woolen mill, an oil seed mill, local hospital management and many more. They were given a good overall picture of the local businesses and how they were run, which in some cases was quite different from the way the same business operates in Canada. They became somewhat local celebrities in articles featured in several local newspapers. They also gained contacts and made friends with people they otherwise would never have met.
Ron stated in his final report that they truly appreciated all of the work that went into organizing their travel and time in Australia. It was a very valuable experience of a lifetime for the young business people who took part in the exchange.
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