One of the often unknown gems of Rotary is Rotary Friendship Exchange. From time to time you have received an email that has been sent to all members in D9930 promoting an upcoming exchange and how often have you pressed delete before even reading it. Maybe if you knew a little more about what happens on an exchange, your interest may cause you to pause and consider.
Our most recent exchange was with D1180 North Wales and Greater Liverpool area. Several months before setting off on the exchange, team members gathered together in New Zealand to meet and prepare. Generally two meetings are held and the team members choose a Leader and a Treasurer to manage the group kitty. The programme isn't always known completely before departure but rest assured it will all come together in time and provide you with interest and variety. One part of our stay in Wales was deliberately unplanned until our arrival. They wanted to be sure that what was planned reflected our interests. This led to a lively exchange of ideas after dinner which greatly amused us all and was commented upon as being very Welsh in nature.
The night before the RFE begins the team book into an appointed hotel so everyone is together to start the very next morning. In this case we all met in Manchester to stay the night at the Alan Hotel before setting off the next day by train to Chester to meet our first hosts. After the meet and greet we were into cars and heading for lunch at Pontcysylite, followed by the opportunity to view and walk over this magnificent aqueduct. This was just one of the main tourist attractions that were organized for us but there is more to RFE than tourist attractions.
We are often taken on excursions that are not freely available to the tourist. For example one night in the heart of Welsh countryside we were taken to hear a successful Welsh Choir rehearse. The conductor, speaking fluent Welsh, was pedantic and entertaining, getting exactly the right sound from the choir that he desired. A wonderful evening that was enjoyed by all.
A day on a narrow boat negotiating the locks along the way was another activity organized by a local Rotarian. We all got to be involved with either managing the locks or steering the boat or just enjoying the ride on a section of the Trent and Mersey Canal.
Home hosting is a key feature of a Rotary Friendship Exchange. On this exchange we had four hosts in different parts of the District, spending four nights with the first three hosts and two with the last hosts. This provided an excellent opportunity to build new friendships and for some who had hosted members of the D1180 group who visited D9930 in February 2020, to build further on friendships made.
Friendship exchanges can be full on so good health and mobility is important.
We spent a morning walking around the village of Port Sunlight on a guided tour. After lunch, we had another interesting walk around the Ness Gardens. Neither of these walks were arduous but if you have difficulty walking then this would have presented a challenge.
Every RFE is different in some way as a lot depends on where it is and the people involved. There's a bit of adventure, a bit of the unknown, and a whole lot of goodwill, good fun, and good Rotarian fellowship. Next time you see an email about a proposed Rotary Friendship, just pause and consider.
From reporter Laurel Smith
photo attached:
The team with The Beatles, Liverpool Docks.
Laurel Smith, Christa George, Gail Dobbin, Caroline Lampp, Murray Smith, Bev Maul-Rogers, Paul Lampp, Wayne George.