Dr Jennifer Neads
keeps weaving unique ties with Rotary. As
a teenager in the Auckland suburb of Birkenhead, she was selected as a Rotary
International Youth Exchange student and spent a year in Brazil.
Now living in
Greenhithe with her husband Raoul Stuart, Jennifer has seen her daughter Ella go
to Chile with the Rotary IYE programme in 2009. Plus next year, twin sons
Jeremy and David, who have been attending Pinehurst School, have been selected
as outbound IYE students to Germany and Sweden.
The twins will spend a year living with host families and attending school in
those countries. It is very rare for twins to both be selected as exchange students
to travel away at the same time from the same Rotary Club.
Rotary IYE students act as ambassadors, teaching
people they meet about their country, culture, and ideas. They help to bring
the world closer, and make some life-long friends in the process.
The Rotary Youth Exchange Programme has been
operating for over 75 years in more than 80 countries, and each year over 8,000
students participate in the programme, which is administered at the regional
level by Rotary districts, and at the local level by Rotary clubs who work
behind the scenes to handle the logistics of each exchange by arranging school
enrolment, tuition, and other educational matters. Students are hosted in the
homes of Rotarians and friends of Rotary.
This year Jennifer, Raoul and their family are
hosting Lotta Moisala who is in Auckland, NZ for 12 months with the Rotary Club
of East Coast Bays and attending Pinehurst School. Lotta is a 17-year-old student from Lahti,
Finland. Last year they also hosted Robin Guezennec, East Coast Bays inbound
student from St Nazaire in France.
Typically participants and their parents pay the costs
of the round-trip airfare, health and accident insurance, clothing, spending
money and other necessities. In-country costs are shared by host families (who
pay for room and board), the host community (who cover school tuition and
arrangements) and the host Rotary club (who offer a small stipend of usually US$50-100
monthly and cover events).
The Rotary Club of East Coast Bays has been an
active participant in the IYE programme, both inbound and outbound, for many
years. 2011-2012 President Peter Garnett
emphasised that club members really benefit in many ways being involved in the
programme. It has been a privilege to
host young people from many countries, to watch them grow during their year while
learning about their country and culture.
