Rotary Youth Exchange Program

The Rotary Club of Kelowna Sunrise became a supporter of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program several years after it was chartered.  The earliest record indicates that the first student sponsored by the club was Julie Mawhinney who spent a year in Belgium during the 1990-91 Rotary year.   That same year, Tugee Evirgen from Turkey was hosted by the club.

Since that time, 32 young people from our community have participated in the program, traveling and enjoying an exciting cultural and educational experience second to none. Our community youth have been to New Zealand (1), Brazil (3), Sweden (2), Japan (2), Mexico (1),  Argentina (2), Spain (1), Belgium (2), France (2), Finland (1), Germany (5), India (1), Ecuador (2), Australia (1), Bolivia (1), Italy (2), Austria (1) and Switzerland (2).

As this is an exchange program, our community has also had the opportunity to appreciate the inbound students that have arrived from many countries around the world. Since all of the students enrolled in the high school program while they were in the Okanagan, many local students gained new friendships with these foreign students and enjoyed many exciting experiences with them.  Thirty-nine (39) youth from Austria (2), Australia (2), Brazil (4), India (2), Mexico (3), Japan (2), Denmark (1), Germany (1), Turkey (1), France (4), Switzerland (1), Belgium (2), Spain (3), Thailand (1), Sweden (1), Italy (1), Ecuador (1), Finland (2), Philippines (1), Columbia (1), and Argentina (1) have spent a year in our community since 1978.

Each year, the club invests approximately $7000 in supporting the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

Click on the left side panel to see a listing of inbound and outbound students who have participated in the RYE program since 1987 and to learn more about our current inbound and outbound RYE students.