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- [00:00]
A
This episode of the Rotary Voices podcast is brought to you by History Explorer. Learn more@historyexplorer.com. From Rotary Magazine, this is the Rotary Voices Podcast. I'm JP Swenson. The Rotary Youth Exchange program has been promoting international understanding for 50 years. The program enables young people to live and study abroad for a year or a shorter term. Rotary members can volunteer with the Youth Exchange program as sponsors, counselors and host family coordinators. In celebration of rotary Youth Exchange's 50 year milestone, we wanted to paint a picture of the program from the perspective of a longtime host and one of her exchange students named Simon. Later in the episode, we'll also sit down with Holger Knack, chair of the Rotary foundation trustees and a past Rotary president. But first, Rotary magazine senior staff writer Diana Schoberg speaks with Sabrina Barreto of Brazil about her experience hosting students with her mother Emanuele, since she was just a year old.
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B
Could you start by telling me a bit about where you grew up in Brazil?
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C
So I grew up in a city called Natal. The literal translation to English, it's Christmas and it's a city by the beach. Honestly, the most beautiful place on earth. It's a great weather. It's around 25 degrees Celsius all year long. It's an amazing city with lots of things to do and things to see. It is a small city though in the exchange student perspective, it's definitely what you think about when you think about Brazil. So this city coast lifestyle with, with nice people in very touristic areas sounds.
- [01:50]
B
Like a great place to be an exchange student. So your mother, Manu Bareto, has been hosting exchange students since you were a year old. What was it like growing up with different students from all over the world?
- [02:02]
C
Even though I was a single child, I definitely didn't grow up as one. It was always a nice, but a little bit of a sad cycle as well. So Christmas was always a first time experience because on most exchange students countries they had cold weather, snowy Christmas and for the first time they would have the 25th of December going to the beach and doing something very tropical. January, we would always switch family so everything would restart. And June was always a month that I knew I would be sad. So it was definitely a great experience. I have siblings from all around the world. If I want to travel, I can just go visit my brothers and my sisters. In the end, you always create a relationship, you know, because they come into your house, you're there every day, even if you don't have the same interests, the same hobbies you always find a common ground.
- [02:56]
B
So your mother had been an exchange student in the United States, right. And then when you were 12, you went and stayed with what would have been her host parents, kind of your host grandparents.
- [03:07]
C
Grandparents.
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B
What was that trip like?
- [03:09]
C
This trip actually happened because I was tired and I was trying to find ways to skip English classes. And one day I told my mom, I was like, listen, I don't want to learn English. I hate this language. It's useless. I'm not going back to school. And then she looked at me and she was like, no daughter of mine is going to grow up without speaking English. You have to go to my host family.
- [03:36]
D
And.
- [03:36]
C
And once they say your English is better than mine, then you can stop going to English class. And so I spent three months of winter in Philly, Bluebell, Pennsylvania. First week, I was amazed. There's snow everywhere. I met all of the exchange students that were there at that time. I did make some local friends that were really nice as well and very welcoming. And, yes, I think we created a bond that was deeper than being my mom's host parents.
- [04:07]
B
You've been deeply involved in Rotary Youth Exchange your entire life. Why do you feel it's an important program?
- [04:13]
C
Well, that's a program that changes your way of saying the word. I love how people keep saying that it's the best year of your life, but for me, it's really the first best year of life. During your exchange, you learn how to see things different and you learn how to act different. You have a different way to approaching problems and finding solutions and relating to other people. We are focused on having new experiences of meeting new people, of speaking the language. And if we just take that same approach that we have on our exchange year to the rest of our lives, all of those are going to be the best year. So the program really changed me in that sense, and I like being able to do that to other people as well.
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B
Taking a step back a little bit, how does youth exchange fit into Rotary's wider mission and goals?
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C
If you think about peace, it's all about not necessarily understanding, but respecting the differences, right? And when you send an exchange student to the other side of the world, how could you hate? How could you not accept? How could you not respect? I say quite often, I don't know if you know the term third culture kids. It's a term used when we talk about cultural studies, that it's kids from one culture parents, and the other culture parents, they become a third culture. And I feel that's Quite true in youth exchange as well. So I left Brazil. I was only Brazilian, and you could say Brazilian is a Catholic country. I go to Taiwan, where I have three different families with three different religions. And even though I don't believe them, I practice them because it's part of the culture. It's impossible for you to hate or not accept something that it's part of your culture as well.
- [06:18]
B
And taking kind of this idea one step further, how has Rotary Youth Exchange shaped who you are today?
- [06:26]
C
I am what I am because of Rotary Youth Exchange. From the moment that I said I didn't want to learn English, and Rotary Youth Exchange actually made that possible. Show me that it was actually the base of my future. It opened my life, it opened my eyes. It gives me a completely different perspective when I see people, when I see problems. I could 100% tell you that I'm a lot more comfortable after being involved with Rotary youth exchange for 10 years. I'm a lot more comfortable out of my comfort zone than I am in my comfort zone. And I think that that's really who I am. The way I communicate with people, the way I tell stories, the way I work, the way I want to continue my future, it was all shaped by my exchange and all shaped by the exchange students.
- [07:23]
B
Do you have any advice for people who are about to host their first exchange student?
- [07:27]
C
What do you say to a person who's about to have their first kid? Don't change your routine because of the exchange student. Don't make him feel like a visitor. We don't need to really shape our lives because someone else is coming. I can tell you for myself, my best memories of my exchange were definitely not the times that my host families took me out for a restaurant or make me feel more comfortable. It was really those small moments that they were on the living room, and they're like, come, do you want to watch a movie? And just being part of those small family gatherings and how I was learning a lot from them, but they also wanted to learn from me.
- [08:09]
B
It's interesting. We talked to Simon the other day, and he kind of said the exact same thing, that the best part of his exchange was just being a part of the family, not being treated as a visitor, but as someone who lived there. Can you talk to me a little bit about your experience hosting him? Like, why did you suggest we talk to him?
- [08:30]
C
So it was two, three years ago that we hosted Simon. And that year I looked at my mom and I was like, listen, we gotta stop. There's no more Hosting exchange students in this house. I'm tired of getting attached and then them leaving. I mean, we don't have the time. She was working, I was working. And we were actually the second host family of Simon. First, we hosted Charlie, and Simon used to come over quite often before moving. And after he moved in, Charlie would also come over a lot. So I cannot tell you that I host Joe. Just Charlie or just Simon, because they were a package gift. Simon as well. As soon as he arrived, he was already speaking Portuguese, and that was impressive. That was an impressive group, to be honest. He was always super polite and the perfect stereotype of Canadian. Always saying, thank you, sorry, thank you, sorry. And we just thought it was too good to be true, in a way. But then we also learned that he was actually a brilliant young boy. He was there to have fun. He would be the kind of exchange student that would say yes to everything. He learned how to surf. He joined a theater class in Portuguese. He was loved by, I swear, the whole city. And it was crazy to see when he left and everyone was indeed depressed. We were just like, there's something missing.
- [10:08]
E
My name is Simon. I am in my second year of university right now at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada, and I previously did a year on exchange to Natal, Brazil.
- [10:24]
B
I want to start by going back to 2017. You met a boy named Muhammad on your youth soccer team, the Halifax County United. Can you share that story with us?
- [10:35]
E
So we had a bunch of refugees come into our community, and one of my buddy's families was helping out, just getting them settled and everything. And so we met this student who came to my school, and I think it was grade five. And we never had anyone, really, who was from somewhere else come to our school before. And so it was a really, really cool opportunity to get to meet this person who was Muhammad. He's one of my really good friends. And it was definitely hard at first because of the language barrier and, like, cultural barriers and differences. But I remember the first recess, we went outside to play soccer, and, like, I saw him play, and I immediately was like, okay, well, this guy's going to be one of my best friends. I just told him, hey, you should come out and play with our club. So we brought him out, and it just went from there. Like a friendship built just on a little love for the game, Right?
- [11:29]
B
How did that experience influence your view of other cultures and travel?
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E
Something that I kind of learned at a very young age is that we're all just humans. And if you love something and someone else loves something you're most likely going to get along and have a great time. So I'm sure that that had a part in influencing the way that my exchange went and why it went so well. But, yeah, it's a very interesting experience that I had and I'm very proud to have Muhammad as my friend and to have built a relationship with him that I probably wouldn't have had if I had looked at it differently.
- [12:09]
B
Reuter, youth exchange is a multi generational pursuit. In your family, your uncle was a youth exchange student, right?
- [12:15]
E
Yeah, my uncle Steve. He did a youth exchange in Thailand as well. And it was great because we went to this rotary event in 2018 with my mom, and he actually came and visited and then we went to visit his host family from when he was there. And we got to experience like a little bit of his time there, which was really cool. And he was probably the biggest inspiration for me to go and do this exchange. And he gave me advice and helped me along the way and was always keen to talk about it with me. And so it was a big, A big part of my decision making in why I chose to do this and why, again, it went so well is because I had somebody who could, you know, give me personal advice and all of that.
- [13:01]
B
So for those listening who may not be familiar, tell me about how you went about applying for your trip to Brazil.
- [13:07]
E
So how it works is you basically say, hey, this is me. This is who I am, what I do, where I live, what school I go to, what I want to be. And then Rodri will send that out to everyone. And then all of the host families around the countries that you might want to go will look at it and say, oh, that's great. That matches perfectly with my family. So I want to take this student in. And of course, a lot of paperwork involved for like getting a visa and getting a passport and getting all of that. But I had, thankfully, I had a lot of help doing that and it was a really cool experience just to kind of feel. Figure out how to do that as well and not just, you know, have someone do it for me, but be able to have that experience and say, oh, I know how to go and renew my passport or I know how to apply for a visa now. Right. And so those were some pretty interesting. I won't say fun because it's a lot of paperwork, but it was, it was pretty, it was pretty cool to fill out all this and kind of reflect on myself and realize, oh, this is who I am, this is who I'M going to be showing the world too. Right.
- [14:12]
B
Do you recall how you felt or what you were doing when you received the news that a family had selected you?
- [14:19]
E
I remember getting the text and kind of like a home alone scenario. I was super excited. I went downstairs and ran around the house and waving my arms and said, mom, I'm going to Brazil. And she was super excited as well. And we spent. Spent the whole day looking up the region, like, where I was going to be and asking questions with the host family. And so it was a really, really surreal experience, for sure.
- [14:46]
B
Did you know Portuguese going into it?
- [14:49]
D
No.
- [14:49]
E
I did. I knew barely anything. I learned the basics, of course, but I remember when I got there, it was just like, oh, my gosh, I don't know any of these words. I don't know any of these signs, what these things are saying. And that was a real shock for me when I got there because my first host family, not Emanueli and Sabrina, did not speak any English. So it was a lot of Google translating and a lot of just kind of murmuring hand signals.
- [15:17]
B
Wow.
- [15:18]
E
But it was really cool, too. And that, of course, helped my ability to speak fluent Portuguese now comes from that. Even though it might have been a little bit scary, it was fantastic.
- [15:27]
B
Cool. Tell me about the day you left for the exchange. What was going through your head?
- [15:32]
E
So I remember I. We got to the airport, and I. I don't know why. I feel like I should have probably been more nervous, but I was just really excited. I finished high school, and I was ready to start something new. And so I was in the airport. I remember my mom was crying, and I was like, I. I didn't. I wasn't crying. And I felt kind of bad because I was like, oh, I don't feel like I'm missing you guys yet. But, you know, of course, by the time I got there, it was a whole different story. But I remember just being super excited, and I had my rotary blazer on, and I was just like a little. A little kid going out into the world. So it was a pretty cool feeling to have of really the independence and freedom to go and start new, I.
- [16:18]
B
Guess maybe Tell us a bit about everyday life in your exchange and how you created a bond with the people you met there.
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E
So my first host family, they had a furniture store, and we lived above the furniture store. So a lot of the days I had not a lot to do when I was not in school, and I was just, like, sitting around trying to converse and whatever. And then they were like, hey, do you want to help us put all this furniture back in? And it sounds like a kind of weirder, laborious thing to be doing, but it was super fun. Like I remember just hanging out with them and doing normal everyday working kind of things and just being a part of the, like, it didn't feel like I was an exchange student. It felt like I was their son. And they're like, hey, get over here, help us move this couch. That was something that I really enjoyed. And my host brother, he was there, he worked with them. So there's a couple times where him and I went on little journeys to go and deliver furniture and stuff. It was just. It sounds kind of weird, but it was a really, really cool opportunity. And like the first week I got there, there was like a little patio on the roof where you could see out into the street. And I remember looking out into the street and there was this old man with a big speaker on his shoulder, just dancing in the road. And I was like, oh, this is going to be a great, a great year for. Yeah, just stuff like that. Little things that you wouldn't really expect, you know, they really made the difference in having a really great time and appreciating where I was.
- [17:43]
B
That's awesome. Thinking about your story with Muhammad and you talked about how you had this universal language of soccer with him. Did you run into anything similar in Brazil playing soccer?
- [17:54]
E
Yes. So there was Charlie, who was the first host student of Emanuele, and also they had a short term student, Ignacio from Argentina. So we all became really close and I learned that Ignacio liked soccer and my host brother Miguel, he loved soccer as well. So he would, he had a little club that he would go to all the time and we pay like a little fee and we'd play on the turf and just with like older men and younger guys and guys our age, and we'd just go there and like have a really good time playing soccer and just enjoying it. And I'll be honest, we didn't do too well because we're not Brazilian. And they were all really great, but it was still just a lot of fun to be in that culture and really, really being accepted by those people too. And having them not see me as like, at first they said, oh, gringo, gringo, foreigner, right? But then they kind of said, oh, this kid's good. Like we, you know, and it became a really, really awesome space for me to just have fun and enjoy that.
- [18:58]
B
What were some of the challenges you wish you would have prepared for?
- [19:01]
E
That's a Great question. I think probably one of the biggest challenges for me was homesickness, which is a pretty classic one. Of course, being away from your family for a year is a tough thing to do. I don't know if I would say that I could have prepared better for it. I wish that I would have maybe dealt with it a little better. I know there was a couple of times where I would just be kind of sad and stay in my room and not want to do anything. And I definitely could have been doing more productive things with my time there, of course, because I'm in a different country, and it's awesome. I mean, that didn't happen often. I think I was pretty good for that. But there were a couple times that were specifically challenging, and that was around Christmas time and, like, Thanksgiving, New Year's, big events like that, where it's just not the same in Brazil. And so, yeah, that was pretty hard. But at the same time, I was grateful for where I was and who I was around, and that made it just a little bit better.
- [20:03]
B
Thinking about the language challenges, it sounds like you, by the end of your stay, language wasn't an issue anymore.
- [20:09]
E
Yeah, I'd say probably now, being two years later, I don't have the chances to practice Portuguese as much, so I'd say it's not perfectly fluent like it was. But I remember we had a rule, me, Charlie, and Ignacio, where we would not speak English to each other, even though all of us knew how to speak English. We were in Brazil, so we're going to speak Portuguese, and it might have been bad, but we still spoke it to each other regardless. And, I mean, that just was a great way to practice and to get better and to improve. And we weren't really afraid to make mistakes. And that way, people were able to say, oh, that's not right. Say it this way, maybe. And then we'd learn, and then next time we'd say it better. And so I think that definitely helped a lot.
- [20:49]
B
I know we've talked about a few of your stories while you were there. Are there any other kind of special moments or stories or things like that that stand out that you'd like to share?
- [20:59]
E
There was a moment when the three of us, Charlie, Ignacio, and I were in an Uber. We were sitting in the Uber and we were talking to ourselves, but we were speaking in Portuguese because of this rule we had. And so the Uber driver was hearing us talk, and then he kind of joined into the conversation at one point, and then we kept going, kept going, and then he Looked back at one point and he was like, wait, are you guys. Are you guys Brazilian or what? And that moment was just so, so great. We felt like we really were Brazilian citizens at that point. We had convinced this person that we were. That we were from there. Right. Which is a pretty cool thing. And I remember just talking with those guys after and saying, like, wow, that's a great milestone that we've got.
- [21:41]
B
Are there any stories from your relationship with Sabrina specifically that you might recount?
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E
There was one point where Sabrina was going to do a. I believe she was an ambassador at one of the delegations in Singapore for Rotary. And I remember she was super excited about this and wanted to write the best speech possible. And she came to us and she said, guys, can you help me with this? And I thought she was joking, of course, because, you know, it's an important thing. But she said, you know, I'm serious. My English is not perfect. You guys speak English. Can you help me with this? And so we were like, oh, yeah, of course. You know, we got to work making little edits and stuff. And then we thought we were super slick by adding a speech about how great we were and how great host siblings we were in there. But she ended up saying, no, we're not putting that in. She was always joking with us, always having really fun little games we would play with each other and pranks that we'd play on each other. And again, it was more so a sister than a host sibling. Right? It was more of a familial bond where you. You joke and laugh and pick on your siblings. And so that was really special. And, yeah, I enjoyed every moment of it.
- [23:00]
B
It's interesting thinking about other host families, that the things that really stand out to you are the everyday things, you know, like the feeling like a member of the family helping move the furniture, laughing at a joke. It's just like these everyday moments, people don't have to go to their way to, you know, show you the world. It's just being accepted for who you are.
- [23:20]
E
I think that that is a lot of what I got out of my exchange is not going and doing all the tourist attractions, but just being in a different place and living like the people that live there do, to kind of see a different perspective of the world and of life. If I had to tell anyone this is why you should do Rotary exchange, that's what I would say is it's not really about going and doing all these fancy things. It's about just going and getting a different perspective on where you're from on yourself and others as well.
- [23:59]
B
While we're on that topic, do you have any advice for young people considering taking a trip with ROTOR Youth Exchange?
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E
My younger brother right now, he's actually applying to do youth exchange. I said to him, you need to not set expectations and you need to be willing to go way outside of your comfort zone and be okay with that and allow yourself to take on these new possibly challenges and overcome that. It'll make you a better person. It will make you more independent. I went into this exchange with little to no expectations. I was excited and I was enthusiastic. And I think that's really important for anyone going on exchange is this is going to be great regardless, because I'm going to make it great.
- [24:41]
B
And now that you're home, what are some lessons you've taken away from your trip that stick with you?
- [24:46]
E
I would say probably just my view on Canada and on where I'm from. When I was going on exchange, I had the mindset a little bit of, okay, I kind of want to leave and try something new. I'm not super happy with, you know, this boring old country that I'm from. But when I went on exchange and came back, I realized that there's beautiful countries in the world, and I mean beautiful, but where I'm from as well, there's a lot to be said. And everyone that I love is here, everyone that I is part of, my family and my friends, they're all here. My essence of my being is from here. So I have to appreciate that. And there's a balance almost where you're excited to try other things, but also proud of where you're from. And I think that's something that I really realized when I came back.
- [25:47]
D
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- [26:22]
A
Holger Nock is the chair of the Rotary Foundation Trustees and a past Rotary president. I recently met with Holger to get a better understanding of how Rotary Youth Exchange builds peace and contributes to Rotary's wider goals. He and his wife, Suzanne, have hosted more than 40 youth exchange students over the years at their home in Germany. I started by asking him to set a scene of his hometown where they host their exchange students.
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D
The hometown is northeast of Hamburg in a very small city with 14,000 inhabitants. But the beauty of this city is really, it's on an island. So it's really my favorite place to live. And I'm really glad to live in this small city. If you want the big city, it's just 45 minutes to Hamburg.
- [27:10]
F
I'm curious how you got involved in Rotary Youth Exchange and why you decided to host your first student.
- [27:15]
D
I have not even an idea how that happens. It's 29 years ago I was involved in my Rotary club and I want to be more involved and my club take part in a youth exchange camp in northern Germany. So this is a brilliant idea. These are clubs in Hamburg, in Lubeck, in Ratzeburg. And all clubs are entertaining these young people and they are staying in families this time. And I think, okay, let's try that.
- [27:41]
F
Yeah. Was there anything that surprised you about your first time hosting? An experience that maybe you weren't really prepared for?
- [27:50]
D
No, I think we are prepared because we have very often relatives and other people around us. But in this case, our first student was amazing. He came from Slovakia. Oh, wow. And he was really keen to learn German. He was always running around and always taking notes and trying to learn the language. This was outstanding.
- [28:10]
F
Yeah, I mean, there's no better way to learn the language than to just immerse yourself in the culture. So you said that youth exchange enriches your life. And you've mentioned that it makes you and your wife feel young again. So I'm curious what you find most fulfilling about youth exchange.
- [28:25]
D
You know, we don't have any children but our own. And sometimes I'm saying, you know what, we are simply ordering some from Rotary.
- [28:34]
E
It's a good way to look at.
- [28:35]
D
It, but no, no, that's not the reason. But it really enriches our life. My wife Susanna always said this is really raising our level of tolerance. I think that's the major story behind that. And it definitely keeps you young because you're always confrontated with problem with young people. So we really loved it. And again, our last student was this year. So I would love to do it more. But if we become older, you see that the distance becomes larger and larger, but that's quite normal. But I really love to think about the last three decades.
- [29:12]
F
We talk a lot in Rotary about this gap between generations of older Rotarians and younger Rotarians. And a lot of people feel like they can be learning from each Other. So have you learned anything from your youth exchange students over the years?
- [29:24]
D
What I said, tolerance is probably the major point. The goal is, of course, to dive into form of youth exchange, the students to dive into the other culture. Our first goal is not the language. Language comes by itself if you're living with families together, but really diving in the other culture. And one of the jokes, we sometimes say, you're arriving in the other culture and in the other language. As a student, if you're able to make a joke on the schoolyard and you be sure that the others are not kicking you but laughing. So this is when you really arrive in the new culture. And for us, I think most important is you have to pick youth exchange students up where they are. And some people say we always pick them up from the airport. No, it's about picking them up from the other culture. Think that they are like you or understand everything. No, they are, of course, different. And you have to understand the other culture. And this is always the first step. And that's, by the way, also the first step for understanding among different nations. It's amazing how different they are and I think also how lovely they are.
- [30:36]
F
Yeah, I mean, it's one of the beautiful things about Rotary more generally is this mixing of cultures. Are there any experiences where you found it particularly challenging to bridge that cultural understanding or where maybe there was a cultural misunderstanding or miscommunication? And how did you ever.
- [30:54]
D
There are no bad youth exchange students. I always said to my district and my club, don't send anyone home because of his not behave. Send him to us and think we can make it. And we made it. Always. Suzanne, my wife, always said, you know, it's about love. You have to love your students like your own children. Love and understanding. And this works always. It's sometimes challenging, but hey, it's about giving them a home. I think what I said, they feel like being respected. Okay. And we have, of course, the advantage living at the seaside and having a lot of possibilities, especially in summer with swimming and a rowing boat and a sailing boat and a paddle boat and whatever you want. That makes it much more easy for us. But regarding understanding, probably a short story. One Rotary member sends his son to Taiwan and got another one from South America. And he was totally disappointed and upset that his son couldn't live in Taiwan like in Germany, because people are working. Both family members are working the whole day, and it's a totally different life. And he was also complaining about the exchange students he got because he was not like his son.
- [32:13]
F
Oh, my gosh.
- [32:14]
D
He was not closing the door and he was always too late. And that's normal. I said, yeah. And so at least we got this exchange student from Columbia and he was a nice guy. And it's quite normal. They sometimes forget to lock the door. They don't clean their room up, or they are always late. But that's okay. We have to deal with this. So this family didn't understand youth exchange. And so that's about, hey, they are coming from South America. They are different. They have a different time management than we are. And you can deal with that and then you take it with a smile. And that works always, right?
- [32:59]
F
Yeah. I mean, if that's the metric in order to stay at somebody's house, I mean, I'm guilty of all those things. So I certainly would have gotten kicked out. Zooming out a little bit. Looking at what youth exchange does for Rotary more generally, why do you feel it's an important program for Rotary to offer?
- [33:16]
D
One of our goals is to change people's lives to the better. And I'm totally sure that with youth exchange we are really changing the lives of so many people. 8,000 before the pandemic. The numbers went a little bit down after that. But that's amazing how we are changing people's lives and we are also changing our own life with this. Or we start the discussion exactly with that. And, you know, so many people and with so much fun. That's still. Even if I'm the chair of the Rotary foundation, it's still my favorite program. Youth Exchange.
- [33:50]
F
Rotary Youth exchange is often about lasting connections. Are there any students that you've hosted that you still keep in touch with to this day, maybe years later?
- [34:00]
D
Many of them, really many of them, we went to different marriages or weddings.
- [34:04]
E
Oh, wow.
- [34:04]
D
Like this year to two. One in Northern Italy, in Milano, and the other one in the Netherlands.
- [34:10]
F
Wow.
- [34:11]
D
So we have so many. And by the way, what is interesting, it makes not a difference if someone starts being two weeks in your house or for four months. It's really about the connection. And we keep connections. We went to weddings in different countries also. Czech Republic, Slovakia, South America doesn't work, but we have still connections with students over there. But it really works. And some of them still are calling us mom and dad, but most of them calling us Susan and Holga. What I really prefer.
- [34:44]
F
So tell me more about these students whose weddings you attended.
- [34:47]
D
There are many stories about that. I remember our first student. He became very successful in his career because of his German skills.
- [34:56]
A
Oh, wow.
- [34:56]
D
And his sister, he also is also were with us. So sister and son. And his sister is a medical doctor. And because of her German skills she learned with us, she started a career in Germany and then married a German doctor. And now she's married and living in Germany. But there's a very really interesting story about this family. When I was to this wedding, his grandmother came to me. She passed away right now and told me how thankful she is. And she talked in German and then I asked her why are you speaking German? And then she told me she was as a slave worker in the second world war in Germany and has to work in Germany. But nevertheless she's happy that her daughter, her granddaughter in this case were marrying a German. This is something or do you really think about what happens here? We are working really here for understanding among nations. This I still got goosebumps.
- [36:04]
F
Yeah, me too.
- [36:05]
D
Thinking of this story we had there.
- [36:07]
F
Yeah, I mean that really just emphasizes the global understanding and the past two piece. I mean really. So do you kind of just have people all over the world that you can stay with? Now if you're looking to travel, is that kind of one of the benefits of hosting or is it kind of something that you don't really think about and it just comes with the territory.
- [36:25]
D
It's not just the benefit of who is involved in youth exchange. I think there's a benefit of all Rotarians. If you're really open minded and make many friends in the Rotary. You can go as a Rotarian everywhere, stay in Rotarians houses and meet other people.
- [36:41]
A
Yeah.
- [36:41]
F
Earlier we talked about the challenges of hosting. But I'm curious if you have any stories or anecdotes about a particularly meaningful or funny memory with a student that you've hosted.
- [36:54]
D
There's one everlasting. So whenever they want something, because I'm very easy, say no first. Sure. So my wife Susan is totally different. She always say yes first. So whenever they wanted something to travel or to go on the party or asking us if we are picking them up in the night, they always ask Susan. She said never ever someone ask me and that it works. Brilliant.
- [37:17]
F
I mean it's a classic move. I remember doing that as a kid. You always go to mom Burke.
- [37:22]
D
You very fast figure out what is the best person to ask questions.
- [37:26]
F
Yeah, it's a good life skill.
- [37:27]
D
That was always Suzanne because she was amazing. But this year happened something remarkable. We hosted this year for a short term the son of our first student. I told you about this student from Slovakia who was so keen to Learn the language. And this after 29 years, his seventh year old son came to us and spent some time with us. We know him very long because they spent a lot of holiday time with us, with the family, with his wife, with his two kids, with his mother. So the whole family came already to us and now visited them. So I think it was quite normal that at some time this boy 70 year old came to us, to our house. We have a quite close relationship over the time. Our Rotary club supported him during his studies in university. It was quite normal. I think then.
- [38:20]
F
That sounds so surreal. I can't imagine. I'm hoping to give some advice to both students and people who might be interested in hosting youth exchange students. So starting with students, what is some advice that you would give someone who is about to embark on the journey of youth exchange for the first time?
- [38:43]
D
Be open minded. I think that's always number one. Don't have too many expectations. But also, especially if you are the first host family, you have to be quite strong with the rules because the first family always is setting the tone.
- [38:57]
A
Right.
- [38:58]
D
And we have a good tradition in Germany and I think nearly everywhere these are these so called first night questions. Oh, this is, you know, you have questions. Some of them are easy to answer, others not.
- [39:11]
F
So talking a little bit about safety as a concern of parents who are maybe sending their kids off on youth exchange, what can you tell them as a longtime host of Youth Exchange, what Rotary does for the safety of the students?
- [39:23]
D
First of all, we are doing everything what is possible. But I think the secret behind the Rotary Youth Exchange is you're a guest not of the host family, but a guest of the Rotary Club. And it's about trust as a Rotary member or non Rotary member. But you know that a Rotary Club somewhere on the other corner of this world is taking care of your kids. I think that's the major thing here. The youth protection policy, that's a different thing. So we have to and we do, following every rules we set for ourselves. And our goal is and was always in youth exchange to have the highest possible standard among all youth exchange programs. And we still do this and I really think we can be proud of that. It's about trust, a safe environment for our kids. And I think we are very successful with that.
- [40:23]
A
This episode of the Rotary Voices podcast was produced by me, JP Swenson. It was edited by Wen Huang, production by Joe Dissolt. If you enjoyed the show, please rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and share it with your friends. The Rotary Voices podcast is produced by Rotary Magazine, the official monthly publication of Rotary International. Thanks for listening.
- [40:52]
D
Sam.