By the time you read this all of our Inbound students will have returned to their home countries. We had four international students hosted in District 9940 - Cris and Felipe from Chile, Maxime from France and Rebekka from Switzerland. We were lucky to get Cris and Felipe on a Chilean Consulate air freight flight at very short notice and it was a tight scramble for them to pack, visit their clubs and say goodbye to all their friends and families. Max and Rebekka managed to secure normal airline flights. Our Outbound student, Hila in Finland and Genevieve in Japan are continuing their exchanges and are being fully supported by their host Districts and their families. Photo: RYE students and committee members at District Changeover
I would like to thank our host & sponsor clubs, families, and mentors. Without you this programme would not function and this year especially you have supported the committee in ways we could never imagine. It has been an emotional rollercoaster for the students and everyone involved with them. I am sure that you will all have a well deserved rest from RYE. What will the future hold for RYE? All NZ Districts, including 9940 have suspended their Inbounds for this year and just one District is looking to send Outbounds away in January next year. For District 9940 this means that we will not be active with students for the next 12 - 18 months. We will however be taking the time to relax, re-energise and to build our relationships and knowledge with clubs to hopefully support the programme again when we will have Inbounds in July 2021 and Outbounds in January 2022.
At the District Changeover I was proud for two of the RYE committee members who received Paul Harris Fellowships for their dedication and service to RYE over the years - Gaylene Lines our Inbound Coordinator and Andrea Mackenzie our Treasurer. Both have shown total commitment to RYE and it is a pleasure to work with them.
All the best.
Lynne Phillips
Chair RYE