"Rotary Youth Exchange is about World Peace through building friendships and understanding" said Sanan, the RCPI Youth exchange Officer as the four students met Rotarians prior to departing on the Rotary Youth Exchange Programme. The students will spend an academic year with a host family as far afield as South Korea where they will integrate into normal family life, learn the language and attend school alongside their host family 'brothers and sisters'. "It is a tremendous opportunity for young people to really experience another country from the point of view of a resident rather than a tourist" said Sanan, "Students learn a new language, discover another culture, and truly become global citizens.'
Our four youth exchange students with their families
Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) is a Rotary International student exchange program for students in secondary school. Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures. Currently, about 9,000 students are sponsored by Rotary clubs every year. The Rotary Club of Copenhagen, Denmark initiated the first Rotary exchange in 1927, and the Rotary Club of Nice, France followed suit soon after in 1929. Although exchanges today usually last ten months, the first exchanges took place during school vacations for only a couple of weeks. The year-long Rotary Youth Exchange program was created in 1958 in Lake Placid at a Rotary Governors assembly. In 1962 the first youth exchange involving Japan and Germany was arranged after tense relations between the nations following World War II. Since its conception 80 years ago, the Rotary Youth Exchange program has expanded rapidly to exchange 9,000 students annually between 80 countries.
Contact YOUTH@RCPI.CLUB to find out more.
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