With a new year brings new opportunities and new experiences for our young people in District 9560 who choose to get out of their comfort zone, to pack their suitcase and jump on a plane to the other side of the world for “a Lifetime in a Year”.

Rotary Youth Exchange is a program for high school students in Years 9 -12. In District 9560 we offer two exchange programs: Long-Term (12 months) and Short-Term (12 weeks). All students require a Sponsor Club and a Host Club to make an exchange a reality, and we appreciate the support of all members and Clubs who continue to see the value of this program.

In July 2023 we welcomed six inbound students from Taiwan, Sweden, Italy, Germany, France and Brazil to Clubs and homes across the District from Hervey Bay to Clermont, right up to Cairns. These students live with host families (Rotarian and non-Rotarian), attend school and are encouraged to be active within their Host Rotary Club. By now, at the halfway point, some of them are speaking with an Aussie accent!

As a once-off in July/August 2023 we were also able to send out four Aussie students who had been patiently waiting to have their opportunity for an exchange, since the pause imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We negotiated a 6-month exchange agreement in France and Italy for two Outbounds who will return in time for their next school year in February. The other two students were able to fast track their schooling before they left and departed at the same time for 12 months in France and Germany returning July 2025. A big thank you to all clubs involved, including new supporters of the program, that made this happen for these students!

For fifteen more Aussie students who applied for exchange and were successful at interview, their exchange commenced on our shores with an Orientation Camp at Airlie Beach in September. This was an opportunity for all students In- and Outbound to meet, and by this time they knew where they were going on exchange.

Of these Aussie students, we had four Short Term students destined for Argentina, Brazil and Germany who departed for their exchange in November after the conclusion of final exams. They have been very well looked after by our partners overseas and have each had a wide range of experiences from learning to ski, to tasting traditional cuisines like Brazilian BBQ and Argentinian Dulce de Leche. The Short-Term program involves reciprocal family-to-family hosting and we have already welcomed our fellow Southern-Hemisphere Inbounds from Brazil and Argentina to Rockhampton, Mareeba, and Cairns. The reciprocal partner for our Outbound to Germany will arrive in June/July in line with their school break. Our Short-Term Outbound students are due to return to Australia in February.

Our eleven Long Term students heading to Japan, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil and Taiwan attended a second Orientation Camp on the Capricorn Coast in December. This was led by Rotary Youth Exchange Chair, Heather Sugget, and supported by ROTEX (returned exchange students) from District 9640 and volunteers from local Clubs. Over the week, the students challenged themselves on the high-ropes course, caving, rock-climbing and (even more nerve wracking) by each delivering a presentation in the language of their host countries. Everyone did such a great job! The Rotary Clubs of Capricorn Coast and Rockhampton Fitzroy also held a join reception BBQ for the students, where a special presentation was made by the local Federal Member of Parliament, Hon. Michelle Landry, wishing the students all the best and reminding them of the privilege of representing Australia overseas.

The Orientation Camps are an important part of the Youth Exchange programs internationally as a way of imparting important information, setting expectations and above all – to have fun! All students were also presented with their distinctive bottle green, blazers. Don’t they look smart!

All the Long-Term students (except our very patient Outbound to Sweden!) have now departed and are settling into their host families and school in their host countries. And before you know it, we’re doing it all again.

Applications are now open for both Long- and Short-Term Exchange Programs. To get the journey started, students can submit an Expression of Interest on the Rotary Youth Exchange Australia website. An Online Information Session will be held at 10:00am AEST on Sunday 25 February. For more information and to join the session, please follow the Rotary Youth Exchange -D9560 Facebook page.

Likewise, we will be welcoming more Inbound students to our District in July and now is the time to place them in Host Clubs, and match them with host families as these students are also keen to know where in Australia they will spend their year. In this next round of Youth Exchange, we are also keen to welcome students from new partner Districts including USA/Canada, Hungary and Poland.

Now is the time to please consider if your Club can Host a student. Hosting involves a financial contribution and providing a Club Counsellor to be the student’s support person outside of their host family or school network. Host families do not need to be Rotarians, and come in all shapes and sizes; nuclear family, single parent, empty-nesters, same-sex couples etc. All questions about becoming involved in the program can be directed to rye@rotary9560.org.

We know the benefits of our District’s amazing RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) program, so you can imagine if a young person is given the opportunity to develop their confidence, resilience, leadership, and communication skills over 12 weeks to 12 months in a foreign country, that the transformation is remarkable. I ask you to think outside the box and consider whether you and your club can consider investing in this Rotary Youth Program by way of financially contributing to this program, sponsoring an Aussie student, or hosting a student from abroad (or all of the above!).

Gabrielle Jeffs

Short Term Exchange Coordinator

Rotary Youth Exchange District 9560
Rotary Club of Rockhampton Fitzroy