Presentation given by Alan Wylie at the 2013 Youth Exchange Officers Preconvention Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

1. Impacts of Rotary Youth Exchange
Alan Wylie

2. Introduction
• Howdy ! “Right proud to be here”
• Happy today to share impact of RYE
– RI presidents
– Parents
– Host Parents
– Rotary Districts
– Inbound Exchange Students
– Outbound Exchange Students
• Reminders why we love this program

3. Past RI President Ray Klingensmith
• 200 SCRYE Rotary exchange students
conducted opening ceremony at New Orleans
– Flag Ceremony
– Singing songs:
• We are Calling Out Across World, Come Join Us
• Thank you for this Chance
• We Are the World, We Are the Children
• Happy Trails to You
• “Long” standing ovation from 25,000 Rotarians,
many with tears in their eyes
• See video at RYE booth in House of Friendship

4. Opening Ceremony at 2011
Rotary International Convention

5. Past RI President Carl Wilhelm
Stanhammer
• Not only a past RI president, but also a
former Rotary Youth Exchange Officer
• Gave presentation at RYE conference
prior to RI convention
• Gave an often quoted statement
– “If every high school student was RYE
student, we would have no more wars”

7. Reflections of a Host Family
• Bernie and Patricia Satterwhite hosted Marie
Kornek from Germany
• Bernie was tremendously impacted by
students saying thank you at host family
appreciation banquet
• He was motivated to write a beautiful letter
which I often share

8. Host Father’s Thoughts
• Special bond between Marie, Patricia, and Bernie
• Patricia and Bernie’s joy from Marie’s experiences
– Carrying German flag at district banquet attended by RI
President
– Having picture taken with RI President
– Successes on soccer field
• Parents’ pride
– in Marie’s dedication to school work
– Hearing Marie’s gratitude and love expressed at host family
appreciation banquet
• Final Comment (Reason for Letter):
– Host families have special opportunity to shape young people’s
lives and are richly rewarded by the experience

9. Rotary District in Australia
• Thankfully tragedy seldom happens, but Kristal
Quinn – while in Australia – went into cardiac
arrest 3 times
• Was in intensive care in Australia for 3 months
• Rolf from Ecuador – “We’ll keep a candle lit in
the window for her”
• Was lovingly cared for by Rotarians, especially
by host mother and wife of Rotary counselor
• Eventually sent back to Houston and recovered
after months in hospital

10. Australia, Continued
• Later our district sent Group Study
Exchange team to Australian district
• Australia allowed our district to surprise
Australian host mother and wife of
counselor with Paul Harris Fellow awards
at district conference
• Second surprise -- Krystal came out and
presented the awards
• Not a dry eye in the house

11. Esteban Castano to Thailand
• Esteban rated extremely high at district
interviews
• Wanted to make a difference
• Immersed himself in culture of Thailand
• Experienced amazing year
• Built video to music which RI shared on RI
web site (to be shown at RYE booth)

12. After Esteban’s Year
• Motivated 15 students to apply for RYE
• Following graduation, awarded scholarship to
Dartmouth University
• Later selected to attend School of Economics in
London
• Served as lead trainer at outbound camp for
past 2 years
• Eventually will be amazing Rotarian
• Classic example – the more you give, the more
you receive

13. Charlotte Thornton’s
Dream Classroom Project

14. Charlotte Thornton in Paraguay
• Wanted to improve the education at her high
school in Coronel Oviedo
– No textbooks; teacher recited; students copied
– Not good way to learn
• Approached principal about Rotary donating
laptops, projectors, screens for the 3 classrooms
– Principal’s face instantaneously lit up with joy at idea
of anything being donated

15. Charlotte In Paraguay
• Charlotte put together project plan – costs,
installation, maintenance, security, … and
approached West U Rotary for support
• Club quickly approved project
• Local club supported as well

16. Charlotte in Paraguay
• Equipment purchased in town 3 hours
away
• Big day when equipment presented to
school
– Television
– Guest speakers
• Charlotte with Rotary’s help has
revoluntionalized way of learning in
Coronel Oviedo for years to come

17. New Rotarians Active in RYE
• Ralph Gonsoulin – daughter to Sweden,
son to Turkey
• John Thornton – daughter to Paraguay
• Jay Taylor – daughter to France
• Roseline Curran – daughter to France
• Kim Scofield – daughter to Poland
• Brazilians – sons and daughters to
everywhere

18. RYE Impact on Rotarian
• My friend Kathy Meurin once said:
– The overhead with RYE is huge with all of the
paperwork now required
– No amount of paperwork will ever drive me
away from this program

19. RYE Impact on Students
• As said by Aleksandra Szczepanek from
Poland :
– How RYE has impacted me:
• I`m a Rotary Exchange Student so I`m the luckiest
person in the world.
• I’m a much better person
• RYE is something that I’ll never forget
– How RYE impacts the world
• Youth Exchange is a wonderful way of providing
peace in the world.