Lisa Kammemer and Rotary Youth Exchange

Lisa Kammemer, the club's youth exchange student, cuts the bon voyage cake as host sister Sydney Van Bakel and youth exchange director Rob Reid look on. This is Lisa's last club meeting and her chance to say goodbye as her year long exchange with the club draws to an end.

Lisa started at the beginning, noting that her mother was an exchange student and encouraged her to apply. She left Austria and arrived in Toronto where Kathy and Keith Starodub and Rob Reid met her at the airport. After several days with the Starodubs she moved to her first host family, Shelley Hall mother of exchange student Emily who is in Denmark this year. Following that she moved to Lorraine Reid's and host sister and brother Nicole and Andy. She went to her first football game and spent time at the Reid cottage on Lake Erie. Her next host family was Francis Manias and Thie Convery from the noon club. During her stay here she had two weeks at a friends cottage in Parry Sound where she spent Christmas. Then off to her last host family, Marnee Marose and Daniel Yeulett. She got to Toronto, Niagara Falls and Ottawa.

When she first arrived in Canada she was scared but everyone helped her feel welcome. Besides her first football game she went to her first baseball and hockey game, ate her first peanut butter sandwich and rode the first time on a yellow school bus. She loved her Highland Secondary School experience.

The Rotary District 7090 Youth Exchange program has students from 17 countries staying for a year in Ontario and New York. The group of students meets several times a year: in Algonquin Park for a winter leadership camp, Jamestown and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Buffalo and a trip to New York City. Her Algonquin experience included a sauna and dip in the lake through a hole in the ice.

Lisa's English improved greatly from her first introduction to the club. She spoke fluently and it was obvious that she is able to think in English. She became a bit emotional through her presentation as she recalled all the great people she met and the good times she had. She thanked Rotary International for its youth exchange program, her host club, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club and everyone who took time to house, feed and make her feel welcome.

Bill Armstrong thanked Lisa for a great presentation, asked her to keep in touch and said goodbye on behalf of the club. He presented her with a book of Dundas, signed by club members. Use this link to see Lisa's presentation: 

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