The Rotary International Foundation is one of the World's primary advocates for exchanges between countries and cultures. The Foundation sponsors several programs putting its money and members on the line doing so. One such program is called the Group Study Exchange through which young professional people of one Rotary District are exchanged with a similar group from another across international borders. The Foundation expedites and funds the international travel, and local Rotarians provide the hospitality, transportation and educational opportunities in their respective countries.
Rotary itself is an international movement dedicated to the principal of service; service to self, service to community, and service to the World. The fundamental organizing block for Rotary activities is the myriad of local Rotary 'Clubs' located all over the World. Clubs are organized into Districts, Districts into Zones and so on. The over-arching organization is Rotary International with headquarters in Evanston IL. Through regularly scheduled meetings at a club level, at which attendance by members is strongly encouraged, members share experiences, learn of problems and opportunities in their communities, and explore service projects at all levels. Through the discipline of regular meetings and the educational opportunities presented there, the individual Rotarian serves him or herself. By devising and participating in local projects in their communities members serve that community, and by supporting one of the many international initiatives or the International they help in service to mankind.
One of the most visible Rotary programs is the Youth Exchange through which high school-aged students are sent to be enrolled in schools in countries beyond their borders and are hosted in the homes of Rotary members around the world. It is one of the most basic of Rotary efforts with exchanges arranged by local clubs themselves. It is also the largest such program of its kind.
It is principally through its International Foundation that Rotary sponsors the major projects for which it draws support from its vast club-system network. The huge "Polio Plus" program, a $650,000,000 effort to wipe Polio off the face of the Earth is currently the most visible of such efforts. The Foundation also sponsors on-going cultural and educational opportunities of which the Group Study Exchange is one. In addition to Group Study Exchanges, the Foundation also sponsors the Ambassadorial Scholarship program for students seeking advanced degrees abroad and the Peace Fellowship Program located at 5 major universities around the World.
Group Study Exchanges are arranged between Rotary Districts. Rotary Districts are typically made up of a constellation of clubs in geographical proximity to one and other. Each District has its own hierarchy headed each year by a Governor. In the year preceding their governorship, the Governors Elect attend the annual meeting of the Rotary International hosted each year in different part of the World. It is at these meetings that the Group Study Exchanges are arranged.
This year, in May 2010, District 7190 in up-state New York will exchange a GSE team with District 1730 in Southern France.
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