Jacob’s Mum gave us this news update on 7th April

After a long flight of 13hrs they arrived safely at Calcutta and Surinder was there to meet them.
Very hot so the first couple of days relaxing on the coast have been very welcome, and given them time to get to know everyone, they seem to be a great group. Yesterday they headed back to the Sunderbans tiger reserve stayed in lodges overnight and over the weekend will be heading up to the Himalaya foothills, Sikkim and area.

Will keep you updated if we hear any more.
Thanks once again for giving Jacob this wonderful opportunity.
Laura’s Mum told us on 9th April she had received a text from Laura

They are having cold showers at the tiger camp as there is no hot water but all part of the adventure!! leaving for Sikkim today. Some are now suffering from upset stomachs but touch wood Laura is OK, but it sounds like they are having a fantastic time (wish I was there!!)

Hello how are you? I have borrowed someone’s phone as there is no wifi.
We have just arrived in Peling in Sikkim. I prefer it here it isn’t as warm as it has been in Puri or Kolkata. Everybody is saying it is really cold but I am still really warm and sat in shorts and its 19:20. I have taken lots of photos! Today when we arrived at Siliguri station there were so many beggers it was literally like slum dog millionaire, some of the children were pretending to cry and then suddenly stop and start talking to one another. One was really cheeky, kept tapping on our window and laughing, we were taking photos through the window and then showing him them and he would just laugh, I filmed him doing a little dance and sticking his tongue out. Then he worked out how to open the door and they all starting doing it so we had to lock the doors. The drive up the mountain was over 5 hours long and really bumpy but I slept quite well

Update on 16th April….text from email to Surinder Singh, the Rotarian from India, who led the camp

We have just got home from collecting Laura and Jacob from Gatwick airport and it sounds like they have had a trip of a life time!!!  Thank you so much for organising what seems to have been a fantastic mix of culture, holiday, sightseeing and so much more.  It sounds like laura has made many new friends from all over the world and had a wonderful time.

She’s back to school tomorrow so I’m sure she will be reliving her time away again and again.

Thank you again for the time Laura has had in India

Helen (Laura’s mum)

The violinists, violist, hornist, flautist and trumpeter from UK & Ireland will enjoy in a series of individual masterclasses given by some of the top musicians in California and in rehearsals with other young people from around the world and then, supplemented by members of the San Diego Youth Symphony Orchestra, they will perform in chamber groups and in at least one public classical concert performance as the Rotary International Youth Symphony.

Following the concert on 28th July the participants will spend their last few days before returning home visiting theme parks and various sites of interest in Southern California.

Would you like to gain a place on the 2013 Camp?

Are you between 17 and 20 years of age? Are you a Grade 8 musician?

Don’t delay, complete a Registration of Interest NOW – it is never to early to apply!

“…There are parts of our world that, once visited, get into our hearts and minds, leaving a profound experience engraved upon us for years. For me, South Africa has to be one such place.

In the summer of 2011, I travelled over 7,000 miles to Durban on a Rotary New Generations Exchange. Unlike other youth and young professional exchange programmes, I had the flexibility to create the experience that I wanted within the time frame I had set out. My only prerequisite was that I wanted to see, and directly experience, Rotary in action. I wanted to see how Rotarians and extended members of the Rotary family were working together to change lives.

After over 15 hours of travelling, an airline chicken tikka masala for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I touched down in Durban, ready to let South Africa, and its people take and show me life first-hand. I wanted my preconceptions challenged, reaffirmed or disproved. I wanted to be captured by the intrinsic nature and rich culture of the rainbow nation.

If wordage permitted I could fill this magazine with my day-to-day journal entries during my three weeks in South Africa, and still I would only be touching the surface.

My exchange fitted into a window I had during the summer between finishing my Bachelors degree in Education and commencing my Masters degree in Civil Society, NGO, and Non-Profit Studies. I stayed with two of the most hospitable and kind Rotary host families, who treated me like one of their own. There was no formal or structured programme of events for my exchange, as was agreed with my hosts in advance. This, to some, may sound like a recipe for disaster but it was not. It gave me, and my hosts, the flexibility to tailor my experience to my interests. Nonetheless, those who are familiar with Africa will know structured itineraries are not always that effective, and why should they be when, as was in my case, there was so many unexpected opportunities that arose for me to jump at? In fact, looking back, it was the unexpected that had the biggest and greatest impact on my experience.

During my time on exchange, I visited and spent time with numerous Rotary funded and/or supported projects, like those supporting street children and victims of HIV/AIDS and other related diseases. With it being winter, I got involved in the annual blanket distributions to the poor, school feeding programmes, youth engagement and empowerment initiatives. Throughout, what was clear to me was that Rotary was taking on a whole new role here in developing countries and, in some regards, an NGO role in its own right. Their community projects are our international projects. It was a privilege to truly experience first-hand Rotary in action. I could not agree more with the sentiments that Rotarians working locally really do change and improve people’s lives in a way that many large, multi-national charities still fall short of being able to do. A bottom-up approach is the way forward in helping people develop, not top-down.

I had the unique opportunity to spend ten days on the Northern Safari Tour with South African-based Rotary exchange students who represented Brazil, Columbia, India, France, Germany, Australia and many more. Once again, a perfect and unique example of the global reaches of Rotary.

I must, again, thank all those involved in my exchange. Without your help and support, it would not have been possible to have such a great experience. There are too many names to mention but you know who you are – the true kindness of strangers. My exchange was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Canterbury Sunrise, District 1120, and hosted by the Rotary Club of Westville, District 9270.

Read more on Mark’s Blog at http://goo.gl/b0SEd

Welcome to our new look website which follows through the theme of our posters and trifold leaflets.

We hope you like what you see.

Explore the site and find out about the amazing opportunities available to young people through the Rotary Youth Exchange programmes.

Are you ready for the experience of a lifetime?

Two summer camps in Switzerland for biking and mountaineering, the San Diego Music Camp, which also takes place in the summer, and for the first time a tour in India arranged by the Rotary Districts in Himalaya region and which takes place just after Easter.

There are likely to be in excess of 50 invitations from around the world to send around 80 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 years from Great Britain and Ireland on one of these camps organised by Rotary Clubs and which are an amazing opportunity to make long lasting international friendships.

Invitations will regularly be coming to us between now and the end of March so if you think you might be interested in taking up the offer of a place then Register your Interest now. It doesn’t oblige you to go on a camp but it will mean that you receive notice of the invitations as soon as they are sent to us.

It could be your opportunity to open up a brand new world!

On 20th December we received the 100th expression of interest in a family to family exchange next summer. Most popular preferred countries continue to be France and the USA but requests have been received for exchanges as far afield as Brazil, Japan and Mexico.

Members of Rotary Clubs around the UK and Ireland are busy carrying out interviews and getting application forms completed so that contacts can be made with our Rotary colleagues in various countries around the world to find suitable exchange partners for our applicants.

If you fancy visiting the Pyramids, Luxor and all the places in the mysterious land of the Nile and Pharoahs register your interest here NOW!

Illustration by Gilbert Ford

Thirty years ago, I was a shy teenager from Gelvandale, a suburb of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The apartheid government had designated the town a colored group area, and many black families like mine were forced to relocate there.

My knowledge of life outside was limited. I lived with my parents and 11 siblings in a two-bedroom council house owned by the government. Though I dreamed of becoming a doctor, affording a university education seemed impossible. My family had little money. Mother taught us strong morals, the value of hard work, and the importance of believing in ourselves, but a future in medicine, the opportunity to travel, or even a college education were just pipe dreams. Then a Rotarian entered my life and changed everything.

In 1979, during my final year of high school, Bob Zeiss, president of the Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth West, gave a presentation at my school about Rotary Youth Exchange. There had never been a black Youth Exchange student from South Africa, and his club wanted to change that.

The opportunity sounded extraordinary, but I doubted the club would choose me. Although I excelled academically, I was timid and had few friends. The thought of speaking in front of a room of unfamiliar faces was terrifying. Nevertheless, Bob saw my potential.

Selection panel
I applied, and the process was tough. I had to explain to a selection panel why I wanted to be a Youth Exchange student. I remember praying a lot before the panel convened. I remember the faces of the Port Elizabeth West club members as I stood before them. And I remember everyone’s surprise when I admitted that the farthest I’d ever traveled was to Humansdorp, a small town on the cape, about 80 kilometers away.

That night, when Bob called to tell me they’d made their decision, I was convinced that they had chosen someone else, someone more confident and outgoing. He said they’d chosen me. I was speechless. I would spend a year in Canada and would be the first black Youth Exchange student from South Africa. It was a milestone for me, my family, and my country.

I was elated but anxious. There was much to do before I left. Bob volunteered to be my counselor and went out of his way to prepare and encourage me. Because I lacked confidence in public speaking, he arranged for me to attend a Toastmistresses’ course. The first session was a disaster. The Toastmistresses told Bob I was hopeless. I thought I would never speak in public again. Bob had shown faith in me, and I’d let him down.

I phoned him to apologize, but he said that at one time Winston Churchill also had a fear of public speaking and encouraged me to try again. Determined to succeed, I completed the course and gradually gained confidence in myself. In the end, the Toastmistresses told Bob they had come to see the talent in me.

Meanwhile, the Port Elizabeth West club secured financial assistance for me, including a donation of R3,000 from the Ford Motor Company for my flight to Canada. Because of the apartheid regime, the club could have faced many obstacles in sending me to Canada. But Bob and the others seemed unphased. They always treated me like any other exchange student.

As I prepared to depart, I met the rest of the outgoing exchange students from South Africa, all of whom were white. In a country where segregation was the law, I feared they wouldn’t accept me. But as we got to know each other, I realized politics wasn’t an issue, and we became friends. I remember standing in the crowd of Youth Exchange students in our matching green blazers, preparing to depart. At that moment, I felt shy Noelene disappear and a new confident, enthusiastic young lady emerge. All the while, Bob had been by my side, encouraging me.

It was a cold January night in 1980 when I arrived in Canada. Members of the Rotary Club of Timmins, Ont., were waiting at the airport to welcome me. It wasn’t just my first flight and my first trip overseas – it was also the first time I saw snow. I remember stepping outside, feeling the flakes on my skin. I was so excited to touch them, I forgot about how cold it was.

During the year I spent in Timmins, I lived with four Rotarian families. All of them made me feel like one of their own. They helped me overcome my initial culture shock and supported me as I entered my new school. Though the majority of the students were white, they welcomed me and invited me into their homes as they would any visitor. I traveled extensively throughout Canada and the northern United States and spoke at many Rotary club meetings. With every speech, my abilities improved until I no longer felt nervous. I always kept in mind that I represented my country as an ambassador.

Bob kept in touch with my host families and made sure I was financially secure during my stay. During one of our regular phone calls, he asked me what I wanted to do when I returned to South Africa. Although I held tightly to my dream of being a doctor, I knew medical school was out of reach. I told him I could pack groceries at Pick n Pay, the supermarket chain. That answer wasn’t good enough for Bob. “I asked you what you want to do, not what you could do,” he replied. I told him not to laugh. I said, “I want to be a doctor.”

The phone call had a dramatic impact on my life. With Bob’s encouragement, my dream seemed within reach for the first time. My time in Canada helped me grow spiritually and emotionally, and when I returned to South Africa, I was better equipped for the challenges I faced. Bob helped arrange a student loan for me, but the bank wouldn’t approve it without someone to cosign for it. Bob didn’t think twice. He guaranteed the loan.

Medical school
Finally, in 1982, I entered medical school at the University of Natal. Four years later, I graduated. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for Bob. I’m a specialist obstetrician and gynecologist at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital near Durban, which serves a large and impoverished community. Part of my work is to care for pregnant HIV/AIDS patients and to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease. I didn’t enter into a more lucrative full-time private practice because medicine and helping people are my passion, and I get so much joy out of the work I do.

Over the years, I lost touch with the Rotarians who had made such a difference in my life. But in 2007, I spent two months practicing medicine in Canada and used the opportunity to visit Timmins. Some of the Rotarians I’d met during the exchange were still there, and they welcomed me just as they had almost 30 years before. The experience inspired me to reconnect with the Rotarians from Port Elizabeth as well. In 2009, I contacted a club president there, and weeks later, I reunited with Bob and several members of the Port Elizabeth West club. I was overjoyed and thanked them for all they’d done for me. I explained how they had changed my life and told them about my eldest daughter, Kristil, who works in Geneva as a financial analyst; my daughter Angelica, who is in her third year of college and dreams of becoming a magazine editor; and my son, Justin, who is in high school and plans to study business science at the University of Cape Town. It amazes me still to think of how I have grown since Rotary gave me the chance to fulfill my dream.

I’ve stayed in touch with Bob ever since. Last year, I learned that the Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth West would be making him a Paul Harris Fellow. I flew to Port Elizabeth for the occasion to surprise him. The dinner was an emotional event. I sat next to Bob and his wife and presented him with the honor.

Last year, I also decided it was time I became a Rotarian. On 24 May, I was inducted as a member of the Rotary Club of Westville.

Now it’s my turn to make someone else’s dream come true.

In a debate on immigration which took place in the House of Lords on 21st October Baroness Coussins asked “Will the Minister be good enough to undertake to correct that anomaly and amend the relevant immigration rule, and perhaps consider granting highly trusted status to the Rotary organisation, so that children aged under 18 from schools in non-EU countries are once again able to participate in the full academic year youth exchange with state schools in the UK?”

In his summing up Lord Wallace, on behalf of the Government, said “….we need to talk further on this.”

Full text of the part of the debate as published in Hansard can be viewed here

Let’s hope that a way through the problem may soon be found.