For a few years, while living in Fairmont MN, I was the Youth Exchange Director for that cities Rotary Club.

The purpose of the Youth Exchange program was to build bridges of friendship and understanding among the peoples of the world. We accomplished this by allowing high school students to live for a year in a foreign country, assimilating their host country's culture and language, and being ambassadors of goodwill while they are there. The students live with one or more appropriate host families, sharing in the life and love of each family, and attending high school or other pre-university schooling. As these students share of themselves and of their lives and experiences at home, the hosts develop bonds of friendship with these young ambassadors, and thereby with the people of the students' home countries.

In the Fairmont Youth Exchange program, students were both sponsored and hosted by its Rotary Club. They were known as outbound and Inbound students. We promoted the program at the Fairmont high school and, from applicants. While hosting we were responsible for the inbound students while they were on exchange. As hosts, we arranged to have suitable families to care for, house, and feed our students.