Saint Paul, Minnesota, U. Saint Louis, Missouri, U. New Orleans, Louisiana, U. Kansas City, Missouri, U.
Lincoln, Nebraska, U. Portland, Oregon, U. Detroit, Michigan, U. Cincinnati, Ohio, U. Cleveland, Ohio, U. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U. Spokane, Washington; U. Providence, Rhode Island, U. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U. Salt Lake City, Utah, U. Duluth, Minnesota, U. Hartford, Connecticut, U. Des Moines, Iowa, U. Buffalo, New York, U.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U. Wichita, Kansas, U. Denver, Colorado, U. Joseph, Missouri, U. San Diego, California, U. Davenport, Iowa, U. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 13 April Rochester, New York, U. Omaha, Nebraska, U. Columbus, Ohio, U. Dallas, Texas, U. Superior, Wisconsin, U. Jacksonville, Florida, U. Syracuse, New York, U. Pueblo, Colorado, U. Toledo, Ohio, U. Students usually spend a full academic year abroad, although some clubs and districts sponsor short term exchanges of several weeks or months.
Approximately 36 percent of Rotary Youth Exchange students are hosted or sent by the clubs in the United States and Canada. European countries account for about 40 percent, and 12 percent come from Australia and New Zealand. Asian clubs sponsor 5 percent, and 7 percent come from Latin American countries.
Over 70 percent of all Rotary districts participate in Youth Exchange activities. Youth Exchange is a highly recommended program for all Rotary clubs as a practical activity for the enhancement of international understanding and goodwill.
Serving young people has long been an important part of the Rotary program. Youth service projects take many forms around the world. Rotarians sponsor Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, athletic teams, handicapped children's centers, school safety patrols, summer camps, recreation areas, safe driving clinics, county fairs, child care centers and children's hospitals.
Many clubs provide vocational counseling, establish youth employment program and promote use of The 4 -Way Test. Increasingly, drug and alcohol abuse prevention projects are being supported by Rotarians. In every instance, Rotarians have an opportunity to be role model for the young men and women of their community. One learns to serve by observing others. As our youth grow to become adult leaders, it is hoped each will achieve that same desire and spirit to serve future generations of children and youth.
The slogan accepted over 40 years ago is just as vital today. It is a very thoughtful challenge, "Every Rotarian an Example to Youth. Typically the aid goes to a developing community where the Rotary project will help raise the standard of living and the quality of life. The ultimate object of World Community Service is to build goodwill and understanding among peoples of the world.
One important way to find a club in some other part of the world which needs help on a worthy project is to use the WCS Projects Exchange, a list of dozens of worthy activities in developing areas.
The exchange list is maintained in the RI Secretariat in Evanston and is readily available upon request. It outlines projects, provides estimated costs and gives names of the appropriate contacts. Clubs which need assistance, or are seeking another club to help with a humanitarian project, such as building a clinic, school, hospital, community water well, library or other beneficial activity, may register their needs.
Clubs seeking a desirable World Community Service project may easily review the list of needs registered in the Projects Exchange. Thus, the exchange provides a practical way to link needs with resources. Every Rotary club is urged to undertake a new World Community Service project each year. The WCS Projects Exchange list is an excellent tool to find a real need, a project description and cooperating club in a developing area.
The job then is to "go to work" to complete the project, and at the same time build bridges of friendship and world understanding. Illiteracy of adults and children is global is a concern in both highly industrialized nations and in developing countries. The number of adult illiterates in the world is increasing by 25 million each year! In the United States, one quarter of the entire population is considered functionally illiterate. The tragedy of illiteracy is that those who cannot read lose personal independence and become victims of unscrupulous manipulation, poverty and the loss of human feelings which give meaning to life.
Illiteracy is demeaning. It is a major obstacle for economic, political, social and person development. Illiteracy is a barrier to international understanding, cooperation and peace in the world. Literacy education was considered a program priority by Rotary's original Health, Hunger and Humanity Committee in An early 3-H grant led to the preparation of an excellent source book on the issues of literacy in the world.
The Rotary-sponsored publication, The Right to Read, was edited by Rotarian Eve Malmquist, a past district governor from Linkoping, Sweden, and a recognized authority on reading and educational research. The book was the forerunner of a major Rotary program emphasis on literacy promotion. In the RI Planning and Research Committee proposed, and the RI board approved, that the Rotary clubs of the world conduct a ten-year emphasis on literacy education.
Many Rotary clubs are thoughtfully surveying the needs of their community for literacy training. Some clubs provide basic books for teaching reading. Others establish and support reading and language clinics, provide volunteer tutorial assistance and purchase reading materials. Rotarians can play a vitally important part in their community and in developing countries by promoting projects to open opportunities which come from the ability to read.
The following year, the board called for an approach that stressed service "with" the elderly as well as "for" them. With the substantial upswing in the worldwide population of older persons, their needs for special attention have greatly multiplied.
As citizen grow older, it becomes increasingly important for them to retain their personal independence and to remain in control of their own lives to the extent this is possible. Many Rotary clubs are seeking ways to serve the older persons of their community who face problems of deteriorating health, loneliness, poor nutrition, transportation difficulties, inability to do customary chores, loss of family associations, reduced recreational opportunities, inadequate housing and limited information about available social agencies for emergency assistance.
Some clubs have initiated a valuable community service to assist older persons in retirement planning and adjustment by organizing and sharing the wealth of information available within the club's membership. Other clubs have developed foster grandparent programs and other intergenerational activities that allow seniors to use their experience and knowledge to help young people.
Rotarians often can provide services which seniors can no longer do for themselves. The greatest need of aging individuals is frequently a mere expression of real caring and concern by thoughtful friends.
All Rotarians should seriously consider how they and their clubs may actively participate in programs for the aging. It is one area of community service in which there is a growing possibility that each of us may some day be on the receiving end. The planning process usually begins about four or five years in advance. The RI board determines a general location and invites cities to make proposals. The conventions are truly international events which 20, to 40, Rotarians and guests attend.
All members should plan to participate in a Rotary International convention to discover the real internationality of Rotary. It is an experience you'll never forget. Yet, among the more than one million Rotarians worldwide, an amateur-radio enthusiast or a chess player is bound to find others who share the same passions. But Recreational Fellowship members share more than just their common interest in sport diving or Esperanto; they share an interest in fellowship and service and in promoting world understanding.
As such, it's no wonder that the International Skiing Fellowship of Rotarians donates the profits from ski events to The Rotary Foundation or that the Flying Rotarians help ferry medical personnel and supplies. One has only to look at the types of Vocational Fellowships to recognize how they differ from their recreational counterparts.
Members exchange technical information and seek opportunities to employ their expertise in service not just to their own communities and countries, but to their professions as well. For example, the Ophthalmology International Vocational Fellowship organized a professional seminar on the subject of eye surgery in developing countries. This activity, originally recommended by the New Horizons Committee in , is intended to encourage Rotarians and spouses to visit with Rotarian families in other parts of the world.
It may be conducted on a club-to-club or district-to-district basis. The idea is for several Rotarian couples to travel to another country on the Rotary Friendship Exchange. Later the hospitality is reversed when the visit is exchanged. After a successful pilot experiment, the Rotary Friendship Exchange has become a permanent program of Rotary. The Rotary Friendship Exchange is frequently compared to the Group Study Exchange program of The Rotary Foundation, except that it involves Rotarian couples who personally pay for all expenses of their inter-country experience.
Doors of friendship are opened in a way which could not be duplicated except in Rotary. Rotarians seeking an unusual vacation and fellowship experience should learn more about the Rotary Friendship Exchange. Some unusual Rotary adventures are awaiting you! The Rotarians of Brisbane, who hosted the participants, were impressed with the quality of the young leaders. It was decided to bring youth leaders together each year for a week of social, cultural and educational activities.
Rotary still actively participates in UN conferences by sending observers to major meetings and promoting the United Nations in Rotary publications. Attended by ministers of education and observers from around the world, and chaired by a past president of RI, the conference was an impetus to the establishment of UNESCO in Interact clubs provide opportunities for boys and girls of secondary school age to work together in a world fellowship of service and international understanding.
The term, Interact, is derived from "inter" for international, and "act" for action. Every Interact club must be sponsored and supervised by a Rotary club and must plan annual projects of service to its school, community and in the world. Today there are over 7, Interact clubs with more than , members in 88 countries.
A major goal of Interact is to provide opportunities for young people to create greater understanding and goodwill with youth throughout the world. The new organization was designed to promote responsible citizenship and leadership potential in clubs of young men and women, aged 18 to In there were more than , members in more than 6, Rotaract clubs in countries.
Rotaract clubs emphasize the importance of individual responsibility as the basis of personal success and community involvement. Each club sponsors an annual project to promote high ethical standards in one's business and professional life. Rotaract also provides opportunities leading to greater international understanding and goodwill. Rotaractors enjoy many social activities as well as programs to improve their community. A Rotaract club can exist only when continuously sponsored, guided and counseled by a Rotary club.
The programs of Rotaract are built around the motto "Fellowship Through Service. Since a Rotary float has been entered 18 times including every year since The famous Pasadena, California, parade is seen by an estimated million people via worldwide television. Funds for the construction of the Rotary parade entry are voluntarily given by Rotarians and clubs in the U.
A multi-district Rotary committee in Southern California coordinates planning of the Rotary float and provides hundreds of volunteer hours of service. The Rotary float must portray the annual parade theme, usually depicting one of the worldwide service programs of Rotary International.
Each New Year's Day, Rotarians take pride in seeing their attractive float and realize they have shared in its construction by contributing a dollar or two to this beautiful public relations project. The Rotary Foundation had that sort of modest beginning. In RI President Arch Klumph told the delegates to the Atlanta Convention that "it seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.
In , upon the death of Paul Harris, a new era opened for the Rotary Foundation as memorial gifts poured in to honor the founder of Rotary. From that time, The Rotary Foundation has been achieving its noble objective of furthering "understanding and friendly relations between peoples of different nations.
In , 18 "Rotary Fellows" from 11 countries were selected to serve as ambassadors of goodwill while studying in another country for one academic year. The purpose of the Scholarships Program is to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries. Scholars are expected to be outstanding ambassadors of goodwill to the people of the host country through both informal and formal appearances before Rotary and non-Rotary groups.
Beginning with the program year, The Rotary Foundation offers two new types of scholarships in addition to the Academic-Year Ambassadorial Scholarship offered since The Multi-Year Ambassadorial Scholarship is awarded for two or three years of specific degree-oriented study abroad.
The Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship provides three or six months of funding for intensive language study and cultural immersion in a language other than their native language. Rotarians know that Rotary Foundation scholarships are very worthwhile investments in the future and one important step in seeking greater understanding and goodwill in the world. Since the first exchange between districts in California and Japan in , the program has provided educational experiences for about 25, business and professional men and women who have served on about 5, teams.
The GSE program pairs Rotary districts to send and receive study teams. One of the attractive features of GSE is the opportunity for the visiting team members to meet, talk and live with Rotarians and their families in a warm spirit of friendship and hospitality.
Although the original Group Study Exchanges were male only, in recent years teams include both men and women. In addition to learning about another country as the team visits farms, schools, industrial plants, professional offices and governmental establishments the GSE teams serve as ambassadors of goodwill.
They interpret their home nation to host Rotarians and others in the communities in which they visit. Many of the personal contacts blossom into lasting friendships. Truly, the Group Study Exchange program has provided Rotarians with one of its most enjoyable, practical and meaningful ways to promote world understanding. The 3-H Program is designed to undertake large-scale service projects beyond the capacity of individual Rotary clubs or groups of clubs.
The objective of these projects is to improve health, alleviate hunger and enhance human, cultural and social development among peoples of the world. The ultimate goal is to advance international understanding, goodwill and peace. The first 3-H project was the immunization of 6 million children in the Philippines against polio. As 3-H progressed, new programs were added to help people in developing areas of the world. Rotary members share ideas, make plans, hear from the community, and catch up with friends during club programs that fuel the impact we make.
While Rotary clubs are grounded in the same values, no two are the same, because each community has its own unique needs. At club meetings in communities across the globe, our members come together to strengthen their connections to friends and neighbors and their commitment to improving lives. Rotaract clubs bring together young people ages 18 and older in communities worldwide to organize service activities, develop leadership skills, and socialize. Through Interact clubs, people ages connect with others in their community or school and learn about the world through service projects and activities.
An editor of a popular Kenyan news site who connected with other leaders in her community to pursue her passion. A successful fashion designer who combined her passions for social responsibility and fashion with the help of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.
Your club connection gives you the chance to develop skills like public speaking, project management, and event planning. Some clubs conduct all or part of their meetings online, for members who have a busy schedule, limited mobility, or live in an area without an established Rotary club. Online clubs, sometimes known as e-clubs, meet regularly, carry out service projects, support The Rotary Foundation, and socialize, like any other Rotary club, without the cost that often comes with meeting in person.
Learn more about online club meetings. You can expand your club connections to the world by developing a twin club relationship, organizing a Friendship Exchange, joining a Rotary Action Group or Rotary Fellowship, or hosting an Open World visit. With more than 35, Rotary clubs worldwide, you have a friend in Rotary wherever you go.
Find more ideas for making an international connection. Twin clubs, or sister clubs, are two clubs from different countries that form a long-term relationship to promote international understanding and goodwill and carry out service projects in their communities.
When looking for a partner, consider clubs that:. Browse projects seeking resources and consider partnering on a service project as a first step toward establishing a twin club relationship. Explore new cultures and discover diverse perspectives by participating in a Friendship Exchange, a self-funded international exchange opportunity for Rotary members and their families.
Taking part in an exchange is a wonderful way to make new friends and establish international service partnerships.
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