Sarah Thomas Talks About GSE Experience
Posted by Tom Burson
on Jul 25, 2015
Sarah Thomas spoke to the club on July 22 about her experience with the GSE team to the Czech and Slovak Republics.
On July 22, Sarah Thomas spoke to the club about her experience as a Group Study Exchange (GSE) team member on their visit to the Czech and Slovak Republics. Those countries make up Rotary District 2240 and the exchange is a bi-directional exchange with our District 7390. Sarah was a member of the four person team from our district to visit from May 9 to June 6. As Sarah shared pictures from the exchange, she discussed the experience and what it meant to her and the team. She made it clear that it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience that gave her access to those countries in a way that would be difficult otherwise. Her hosts were Rotarians who generously gave of their time to take the team to places that even natives seldom see...like up-close and personal with a US Steel foundry with sparks of hot metal flying everywhere while they were clothed in protective suits. The adventure also sparked her interest in Rotary, and she will be joining the Keystone Rotary Club.
The GSE program is changing slightly for 2016 as it name changes to GVSE (Group Vocational Service Exchange) where a service component will be added. The outbound team will travel to Australia (District 9640) from April 15 to May 15 of 2016. The inbound team will be in our district from April 23 to May 20 of 2016. And they will be visiting in Group A,B,C (Cumberland, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties) from April 23 to 30. Our Group A will be responsible for providing host families. More info will be provided later in the year as plans develop.