Rotary International is known as a premier youth exchange program in the world today. Post-exchange evaluations done worldwide have consistently indicated the highest degree of approval and success from participants in Rotary’s exchange programs.
The Rotarians and Rotex in District 5100 are eager to help our students have a successful exchange year. Please review all of the information provided in the following handouts/sections and direct any questions to your local Rotary Club or District Youth Exchange Committee. We are here to help.
Rotary’s Youth Exchange Program (RYE)
Rotary International’s long-term exchange program (LTEP) began in Europe in the years between the two World Wars. It has since expanded to include students and their families in over 120 countries.
The first documented exchange dates to 1927, when the Rotary Club of Nice, France, initiated exchanges with European students from other countries. Seeing the success of this program, clubs in other countries quickly followed suit. In 1939, exchanges between clubs in California and a handful of Latin American countries started to take place. Clubs in the Eastern US followed suit, starting in 1958. In 1972, the RI Board of Directors agreed to recommend Youth Exchange to clubs worldwide as a worthwhile international activity promoting global peace and understanding.
Administered by Rotary Clubs, Districts, and Multidistrict Groups, the RYE program today involves more than 128 countries and over 9000 students each year (Rotary International 2019).
What Makes Rotary’s Exchange Program Unique?
The most powerful force in the promotion of international understanding and peace is exposure to different cultures. The world becomes a smaller, friendlier place when we learn that all people – regardless of nationality – desire the same basic things: a safe, comfortable environment that allows for a rich and satisfying life for themselves and for their children. Youth Exchange provides thousands of young people with the opportunity to meet people from other lands and to experience their cultures, thus planting the seeds for a lifetime of international understanding.
- Â Communities all over the world have much to gain from the continued success of the youth exchange program.
- Students learn firsthand about the challenges and accomplishments of people in other countries.
- Young people mature as individuals as their concept of the world grows.
- Host clubs, families, and their communities enjoy extended, friendly contact with someone from a different culture.
- Exchange students return home with a broader view of the world and a deeper understanding of themselves.
- Young adults assume leadership roles that are shaped, in part, by what they learned during their exchange experiences.
Rotary Youth Exchange builds peace one young person at a time. Living in a foreign country has a powerful effect on a student’s maturing process. Their youth exchange experience will be priceless, something that can’t be replicated any other way. Â
Exchange students unlock their true potential to:
- Develop lifelong leadership skills
- Manage finances
- Make decisions on their own
- Confidence in speaking before groups
- Learn a new language and culture
- More tolerant of other people, different cultures and personalities
- Build lasting friendships with young people from around the world
- Become a global citizen
