Paul Harris y los jóvenes
have been combined with telling effect.’
From Chapter XIII ‘How do Members View Their Privileges?
Page 73 of the PDF copy:
www.rghfhome.org/first100/
Paul’s message rings true today.
From Chapter XII ‘Is the Rotary Concept of a World at Peace Utopian’ pages 61 to 62 of the PDF copy:
“…One of the first organized efforts in this respect was the tour of the Young Australia League to the United States. The Young Australia League was founded by a member of the Rotary Club of Perth, Australia. One of the purposes was to provide “Education by Travel” to a select group of Australian boys, members of the League, through annual pilgrimage to different countries. Many of the boys were Sons of Rotarians.
In January 1929, one hundred and sixty of these boys undertook a trip to the United States, landing in San Francisco, traveling through the southern part of the United States to New Orleans, thence to New York, Chicago, and through Canada, embarking after five months from Vancouver for Australia.
The boys, as ambassadors of goodwill, were received and entertained by the Rotary clubs in the United States and Canada on their itinerary. After returning home, they wrote many letters to their hosts, proving that the tour accomplished its primary objective.
One of the young men of the League, while in San Francisco, was taken seriously ill with rheumatic fever. The contingent was due to sail for home in a few days and it was quite impossible to delay it until the youth recovered. Into the breach, stepped a San Francisco Rotarian and his good wife, who took charge of the lad, and after seven anxious weeks of fathering and mothering him, brought him to the convalescent stage, and soon after he was able to sail home to his parents, fully recovered. Who can express in mere words the extreme value of the service this Rotarian family rendered to an Australian family 7,000 miles away? It is certain that such kindnesses lavished by Rotarians and their families have planted in the breasts of hundreds of young men, seeds of memory that will grow into trees of goodwill, and produce much fruit of sympathy, tolerance, and understanding.
The leaders of the Young Australia League came in the spring of 1932 to the United States and organized a group of American boys under the name of Young America League for a return visit to Australia. This group—because of prevailing economic conditions—was not so large as the Australian group, but the members were splendidly entertained by Australian Rotarians in all cities that they visited
Excellent means of developing international understanding are contacts through sport. Realizing this fact, President Muller of the Rotary Club of Davos, Switzerland, has brought together teams from the following countries to compete in hockey matches at Davos: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden….”
Submitted 31 March 2009 by RGHF board member Tim Tucker, UK
See more at:
www.rghfhome.org/first100/