Rotary is Alive and Well all over the World

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Parry Sound
…for the week of July 20, 2009

Rotary is alive and well all over the world.

District 7780 (with 41 clubs and over 1900 active members from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine) is offering a GSE Exchange with India. Each club can select applicants for the GSE Team and submit them to the District.

Rotary Club of NewburyPort. One club in District 7780 is representative of so many others around the globe. The Rotary Club of NewburyPort meets on Tuesdays at 12:15 noon in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

• As a point of interest, to make sure that this club is having fun while they serve, they intend to focus on fellowship, fun and the family of Rotary throughout the year.

• They have even created a new Director position: the Director of Fun and Fellowship!

• One of their great fund-raisers is The Rotary Club of Newburyport's Famous Chicken Barbeque. Doesn’t that sound delicious? They even have a secret sauce and hand the recipe down from year to year – the best-kept secret!

Group Study Exchange

The Rotary Club of Newburyport also supports the Group Study Exchange. They have advertised for qualified applicants and accepting applications from qualified applicants for Rotary District 7780's Group Study Exchange with India, which will take place in January and February 2010.

The Group Study Exchange Program of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40.

The program provides travel grants for teams of participants to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries.

• For four weeks, team members will study the host country's institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

• Team members may come from corporations, small business, community organizations, medical and educational facilities, government offices, and nonprofit agencies.

The program is designed to have an invaluable impact on the career of a young professional in the increasingly global workplace.

• For employers, GSE enhances the international perspective, communication and collaboration skills, and global awareness of the next generation of young business and professional leaders.

• GSE team member applicants must be between the ages of 25 and 40; fully employed with at least two years of work experience in their chosen field;

• They must be in the early stages of their careers or professions; reside in or be employed in the sending Rotary District; be personable, articulate, cooperative and motivated team players who are enthusiastic about their vocations.

• Team applicants may not be Rotarians or the spouse or child of a Rotarian.

The Newburyport Rotary Club has recently hosted GSE Teams from Poland and the Philippines. Two years ago, the Newburyport Rotary Club sponsored local resident, Christin Walth, who participated in the GSE exchange to the Phillipines, and had a fabulous experience.

For each team member, The Rotary Foundation provides the most economical round-trip air ticket between the home and host countries.

• Local Rotarians in the host area provide for meals, lodging and group travel in their district.

• Each team member is responsible for his own personal and incidental expenses, including any personal travel arranged after the exchange.
In January 2010, four young professionals and a Rotarian team leader from District 7780 will have the opportunity to spend four weeks as a GSE team in Rotary District 3030 in India.

• District 3030 is in the state of Maharashtra and includes the towns of Nasik, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati, Chadrapur and Nagpur.

• Major attractions include wildlife sanctuaries, cave temples and carvings, and the world heritage sites of Ajanta and the Ellora caves.

Applications must be submitted through a local Rotary club, which then forwards the application for review and approval to the District Selection Committee. Additional information about GSE may also be found at www.rotary.org.

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For District 7020 –
District 7020 Team arrives in District 7610 (Virginia) on April 3, 2010
District 7020 Team returns home to Jamaica on May 3, 2010

More information will be forthcoming about District 7020 GSE teams as I learn it.