LIFE exCHANGING !
Back row : Olivia Fransden , of Denmark ; Hamish Leckie , of Winton ( host ); Lise Gutleden , of Invercargill ; Katja Fredrich , of Germany ; Juliette Franzen , of France ; Mathieu Demarets , of Belgium ; Alex Schramm , of Germany , and Paulina Heck , of Germany . Front Row : Sharon Faul , of Invercargill ( counsellor ); Leo Schaller , of Germany ; Simon Zentil , of Switzerland ; Coline Dumont , of France ; John Faul , of Invercargill ( counsellor ), and Fena Zavala , of Chile . Lying down - Marvin Kempf , of Germany .
Rotary ’ s Youth Exchange programme is one of our organisation ’ s best – but too few clubs and Rotarians know about , according to District 9980 RYE Committee chair Merv Clearwater .
“ The programme is amazing , and can be really quite invigorating for clubs ,” he says .
A worldwide , one-year exchange programme between Rotary districts , RYE caters for students aged 15 to 19 .
“ Our district exchanges with eight other Rotary districts from Scandinavia , Europe and Chile . At the moment , we have six inbound students and seven outbounds , plus we have seven preparing for their exchange leaving in January .”
Our visiting students are : Marvin Kempf , 16 , of Germany , who is being hosted by the Rotary Club of Invercargill South ; Juliette Franzen , 15 of France , who is hosted by Dunedin club ; Belgium ’ s Mathieu Demarets , 16 , is a special guest of Dunedin South ; Invercargill Sunrise is hosting Olivia Fransden , 17 , of Denmark , and the Rotary Club of Winton is hosting 16-year-old Simon Zeintl , of Switzerland . Our exchange student , Fena
Zavala , 18 , of Chile , whose host is Invercargill club , is nearing the end of her Kiwi experience , and will return home in January .
District 9980 ’ s outbound representatives ’ overseas experience is also drawing to a close , and they will be home early in the New Year . We ’ ll be welcoming back : Merida Sowry ( Sweden ), of Queenstown , Invercargill ’ s Brooke Thompson ( Chile ), Islay Benham ( Switzerland ), of Dunedin , Queenstown ’ s Tom Bellamy ( Austria ), Jack Arbuckle ( Germany ), of Wanaka , Kate Cameron ( France ), of Queenstown , and Tessa Reid ( Belgium ), of Dunedin .
Students who come to District 9980 , Merv says , are treated to a once-in-a-lifetime journey .
“ They ’ re exposed to our culture , amazing scenery and fantastic opportunities thanks to their host families – generally each student stays with three or four different families during their year here .
“ As a committee , we also involve them in an exciting range of activities , including water ski weekends and tramping in Mt Aspiring National Park , which prepares
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