Group Study Exchange

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Parry Sound
…for the week of September 14, 2009

Rotary International provides great opportunities
- Group Study Exchange

By LINDON DODD - Local Columnist

…source - http://www.newsandtribune.com

As I awoke in the early morning light the sleep quickly left my eyes and I couldn’t wait to shower and exit into the cold morning. I awoke my room mate Matt, a stock broker from Columbus, to join me on my initial exhibition onto the streets of Amritsar, India. That initial stroll was around the small town (by India standards) of 8 million. My senses were overloaded with the stench, the never before experienced crowds of way too many people crammed into a two block area, and that almost surreal feeling that I was actually in a foreign country having just left Chicago less than 24 hours earlier.

My 28 days in India were among the most life changing of my lifetime. To experience another culture, albeit, really another world located on the same sphere as our own is something that cannot be adequately explained to the curious. It was all too mind numbing to process even for a while after I had returned home to Southern Indiana. And, for the most part, it was an all expense paid trip that altered the way I will see the world until I draw my final breath.

It seems almost impossible that I represented my city, the State of Indiana, and the United States almost 10 years ago. In some ways, it can all come back to me in vivid flashback memories while at other moments it’s hard to believe it really happened. Just like they found me and four other willing world travelers so many years ago, Rotary International is looking for a few people who want to have an experience of a lifetime.

Roger Fisher is heading up a committee for the Jeffersonville Rotary Club to seek out applicants for this year’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) team that Indiana will be sending to the Netherlands. In exchange, this year, Indiana will host a team from the Netherlands. The objective of the program is to foster a better understanding among the citizens of the world. Each international team brings along some of their homeland to hosts in a foreign country. Most of the 28 days will be spent living in the homes of gracious hosts.

This experience will definitely be a working vacation. During my sojourn to India our team attended as many as eight local Rotary meetings per day in 8 different cities. The five total strangers who left out of Chicago became pretty intimately acquainted before the month had ended, spending many hours on a van crisscrossing the Indian countryside. Days often began before sunup and very often ended well after midnight. It was at the same time exciting and exhausting- yet always immensely fulfilling and educational. At every meeting we were given time for a presentation to highlight our own small towns and cities from which we came. Everyone wanted to know, “What is it like to live in America?”

This year’s team will consist of 4 non-Rotary people to be led by a long time Rotarian who will act as the Team Leader for the excursion to the Netherlands. The requirements are pretty straightforward. The applicant should be a person of good moral standing between the ages of 25-40 years of age, male or female. Anyone chosen should have an open mind and a willingness to exchange fellowship with persons from another culture. An applicant who is chosen will have to pay for their own passport and an insurance policy that will provide for an emergency medical evacuation in the case of any unforeseen medical crisis. The rest of the expenses will be paid by Rotary.

A successful applicant might wish to take some personal spending cash but not much would be required. On my trip, we were lavished with many gifts from local residents and often if I insinuated I wished to buy something it was usually provided for me.

For anyone not familiar with the Rotary International group, it is one of the most widely recognized and respected organizations in the world. As such, when you are wearing a blazer adorned with the Rotary seal you will always be treated as a VIP. The access we had in 2000 was phenomenal. CEO’s of corporations shared lunch with our team. We had tea with the Commander of the Indian Army in a room literally feet away from the Pakistani Border during which time the two countries were actively engaged in a border war. In an unfortunate twist of fate we were running late on our arrival into Dharamsala which resulted in us missing our private meeting with the Dalai Lama. The access and opportunities that await a Rotary team abroad will allow for experiences usually reserved for such powerful people as heads of state or political ambassadors.

The Indiana team will depart sometime in April and return in mid-May with the exact dates yet to be determined. Serious applicants will spend a weekend (at Rotary expense) at the Bradford Woods retreat located north of Martinsville, Indiana. After a weekend of interviews and interactive activities the final team will be chosen from the applicant pool.

Roger Fisher invites all inquiries from anyone with interest. He can be reached during the day at Budget Print shop by phone at 812-282-8832 or by cell phone at 502-299-8832. His e-mail address is Budgetprint@insightbb.com.

Fisher points out that the people of the Netherlands are very much known for being at the forefront of modern engineering, architecture, future farming methods, and on environmental practices which are serving as working models for the rest of the countries around the world. Theirs is a small, closed society that due to size and population can quickly initiate new ideas and technologies. Anyone taking this trip might well find themselves taking a look into the future in some areas.

As a personal note I would advise anyone who can spare the 28 days from their everyday life and work and has interest to give the application process a shot. I remember thinking it all sounded too good to be true- and in some ways it was. I took a shot in the dark and one early morning as the sun erased the darkness from a faraway sky- I awoke in India!

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Lindon Dodd is an Otisco resident who is a freelance writer and can be reached at lindon.dodd@hotmail.com

The Jeffersonville Rotary Club is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. We have 105 members from very diverse business and personal backgrounds. Our membership is involved in all aspects of local government, business ownership, business management, and retired business leaders. We have representation in a great number of community affiliations, not-for-profit boards, and are involved with community events and activities.


Have a look at their website: http://www.jeffrotary.org