Rotary Youth Exchange: How one year abroad can alter a lifetime

 

By: Ryan Bradbury

 

On a mission to learn more about himself and the world, current exchange student Cole Chrapko could not be any closer to the action.

 

Chrapko, a Canadian exchange student from Edmonton, Alta., is currently seven months into his Danish Rotary Youth Exchange. For Chrapko, given the current state of the world, it has been an eye-opening experience.

 

“People are starting to see each other less as people and more as others,” said Chrapko. “Though, I think the exchange just rips that [tension] apart. Right now, I'm living with a half Irish, half Danish family. They're showing me their life and I'm showing them mine.”

 

Ever since the U.S. has expressed an interest in annexing Greenland away from the Kingdom of Denmark, there has been bad blood between the two nations. However, Chrapko hopes that the exchange can unite, rather than divide.

 

“You realize you have a lot more in common than you do different. I think if you can connect with people, which you're forced to do while on exchange, you really find out that people are not too different from one another.”

Ever since 1975, thousands of teenagers have lived abroad through Rotary to learn more about themselves and different cultures. Now, amid global tensions, organizers say this adventure is more important than ever.

 

The Rotary Youth Exchange program provides high school students the opportunity to experience life in another country, by living with multiple host families for the duration of one school year, attending a new school in a foreign language, and immersing themselves fully in the culture.

 

The current international political conflict has caused the average level of global peacefulness to drop for the 13th time in 17 years. Organizers state that through the Rotary Youth Exchange, students contribute to building an interconnected global community. 

 

Maria Rosario and her husband Gustavo Marques are a prime example. The Venezuelan Rosario and the Brazilian Marques met while on exchange in the United States, which taught them how to better understand other cultures, and gave them an acceptance for different opinions.

 

“I feel like the few people in the world that don't have empathy for immigrants and other cultures is because they've never really met anyone from another country that they care about,” said Rosario. “If you know one person that's from a different background than you and you care for that person, that's enough to have empathy for the rest of the world.”

 

Marques echoed her sentiment.

 

“Although we are unique, our customs and culture are not that different … I think that the more people see that, the more we see that our neighbors are not that different from us.”

 

 

Rosario and Marques have recently moved to Canada and made sure to acknowledge the impact that Rotary has had on their lives.

 

“Everywhere I go, the first thing I do is reach out to someone at Rotary,” said Marques.

 

“When I arrived in Toronto, I went to a Rotary meeting online because of COVID. When I moved to London, Ontario, I reached out to someone at Rotary and started joining and helping with their exchange group.”

 

With the Rotary Youth Exchange regressing since COVID-19, it has been harder to promote the program towards potential students.  [Editor's note: pre-COVID the annual global participation rates were in the area of 8000.  Post-COVID this dropped to just over 7200 in 24/25]

 

Despite the decline, Alida Campbell, a former Youth Exchange student who now works with the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour, dedicates her time to training the upcoming exchange students for their year abroad.

 

Campbell went on exchange to Germany in 2005, where her exchange taught her the valuable lesson of empathy.

 

“An exchange allows you to inhabit someone else’s shoes for a while and gives you the opportunity to understand where that person is coming from,” said Campbell. “It allows you to have a larger narrative and understanding of what's happening.”

 

In Canada, only 51% of people say that they feel close with people around the world. In the U.S.A, only a mere 35%. This separation between nations can often lead to larger conflicts.

 

Around 7,000 students take advantage of the Rotary Youth Exchange each year.

 

When asked if they recommended going on exchange, Rosario and Marques were emphatic in their response.

           

“Of course! Absolutely.”