Before I started all of this, I had no clue what Rotary or Rotary Youth Exchange was. So for all of you wondering, here you are.

Rotary International is the biggest and most active volunteer organization i have ever heard of. There are millions of members all over the planet working to make lives better for people.  Under the title of Rotary International there are Rotary Districts. Districts are kind of like states - they then include multiple clubs, like how a state includes counties.  Rotary has millions of projects, some are club projects, such as raising money for books for a library, and some are world wide projects.  Rotary's biggest project is eradicating  Polio.  Another project that is growing is the ShelterBox project.  ShelterBox is a box the size of a toy chest that is packed with essentials for survival of months after a natural disaster such as an earthquake.

Rotary International is all about looking past differences in culture in order to make the world a better place.  A huge branch of Rotary International is Rotary Youth Exchange.  RYE gives teens like me a chance to go to a foreign country to live and go to school.  Having the title of Rotary tagging along with you while you are an exchange student means several things. First, you are a person who is strong willed and wants to make a difference in the world.  Second, you are not on vacation - you are on a mission to discover a new way of life, to understand a new culture, to learn a new language, and all around better yourself and have the knowledge to better other peoples' lives by teaching them what you have learned.  Third, you are safe - when a earthquake stuck where 2 exchange students were, rotary had them out of the country before rescue crews arrived.

At the time of writing this, I have not arrived in Germany yet. I have been to 4 rotary events and I am already touched by what they are doing on this earth.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will not have a wonderful and successful exchange.  

For more information on Rotary International (RI) , or Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) , Click the links at the top of the page.

Turn New Generations into the Next Generation of Rotarians from Rotary International on Vimeo.