Many Rotary Youth programs change lives for both Rotarians and participants alike. Rotary Youth Exchange is one such program, and although it has hibernated since COVID-19, it is still playing a big part in Rotary by connecting people worldwide.
The Rotary Club of Berwick has had a very long and colourful connection to Rotary Youth Exchange by hosting students from around the world almost every year for 25 years (I will stand corrected on that, I'm just guessing from my comfortable perch in Germany). If you ask any RCB member who has been in Rotary over 5 years, they are sure to tell you all about those Exchange students.
For those unfamiliar with the program, Rotary swaps a student from Australia (Outbound) with a student from another country (Inbound) for 12 months. During that time, club members host the students and take them to school, outings, events, and other activities to show them what living in another country is like. Some students blend right in and make the most of the opportunity!
I am visiting Lisa Bayer, our Exchange student from Germany who lived with us in 2017. Lisa is still active in many of our lives and keeps contact with many people in the club. She has a long list of fellow exchange students she regularly visits. While I am over here, it was only fair that Lisa and her family showed me what it is like for me to live in Germany, so I have been having German lessons, eating traditional German food and looking at all the great history in the town where she lives. More from Lisa next week.
