Youth Exchange
Rotary International is “a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” The areas of focus for this worldwide volunteer organization are: promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water sanitation and hygiene, save mothers and children, support education, and grow local economies. To find a project with Rotary is incredibly easy, the hard part is finding one that fits into just one of these areas of focus.
A big Rotary project that Peter Wells and his family have been involved in is called Youth Exchange. The areas of focus that it falls into are promoting peace and supporting education. Just like in the movies, this program is where students from around the globe swap places with each other for a school year to experience a whole new culture. During the 1999 to 2000 school year, the Wells family hosted a young girl from Venezuela named Laura.
Laura Isabel Marin Olivella was just 16 when she applied for the program, but she had big dreams that she hoped spending a year in the US would help her accomplish. Schooling wasn’t the best in Venezuela at the time, and when all was said and done, she graduated high school after five years instead of the regular four. She lived with her parents and younger brother and sister in a big house with lots of patios, green areas, and fruit trees.
Her father was a merchant who owned a small mall and a bookstore called “The Book’s Corner.” Her mother was a teacher. She played the violin and was interested in studying Industrial Engineering or Journalism. Laura described herself as neither shy nor nervous, and liked to speak in public. She played violin for the Juvenile Orchestra in Trujillo and considered herself friendly, gentle, neat and perseverant.
All of these qualities got her through the application process, as Rotary only grants the exchange program to applicants who are “in the top 25% of their class, have excellent study habits, are stellar citizens of their community and can become fine ambassadors of their country.” Students like this help Rotary to come one step closer to achieving the goal of world peace, especially since 8,000 students from over 100 countries participate every year.
Rotary has a list of guidelines for the program that helps the host family and the student make the most of their time together. The host family is asked to do a lot for the child like feed them, give them emotional support and more. The best way to summarize it would be: “to treat the student like one of their own.” The Wells family gladly and successfully did just that for Laura.
During her time here, she met other students from countries like Japan, Belgium, Germany and more. And through Rotary sponsored trips, she was able to see just about everywhere like the Poconos, Disneyworld, Six Flags, New York City, to name a few. She enjoyed her time so much that she was constantly telling her parents back in Venezuela how much she felt at home here in Park Ridge.
An October 1999 email from Laura’s family reads:
“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Linda Wells,
First of all I want to send you greetings on behalf of our family. We are very grateful for the warm welcome you have given to our daughter, Laura. She has told us on many occasions of the patience and help you have given her in learning about your culture, the English language, and her integration into your family. We know that at times things are difficult for you also, and we hope that things are going smoothly for everyone.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask. We have Jessie here with us this year, our exchange student from Maryland, to translate. Thanks to her, it is possible for us to communicate with you in English. We will write to you periodically to see how things are going.”
In no time, Laura had completed a year at Park Ridge High School and was able to bring all she learned inside and outside of the classroom back to her home country. It’s because of experiences like Laura’s that Rotary continues to work towards world peace through the Youth Exchange Program every year.