The Team


(Derek at the 7820 water project)


a larger shot of the 7820 water project


me with the kids from Ijebu Anglican College
(the kids who benefit from the 7820 water project)


Me at NIDs


me again with the kids from Ijebu Anglican College

Rotary International - Group Study Exchange 2005
(District 9110 Nigeria)

I was introduced to the Rotary International Group Study Exchange (GSE) by Rotarian Mark Brown from the Rotary Club of St. John's Northwest. I was intrigued by the program for a couple of reasons. First, I have always wanted to travel abroad and participate in a cultural exchange program. The fact that the GSE was also a vocational exchange was an added bonus. Second, visiting Africa has been a dream of mine for quite some time and the GSE was a great opportunity to achieve one of my life goals. As a result, I applied and was accepted within a period of about two months (late June to late August 2004).

The selection process of my sponsoring district (7820) was rigorous yet relaxing and enjoyable. It began on a Friday evening with an opportunity to meet the selection committee, as well as potential team members, over dinner. The following morning was the formal interview and by noon the team was selected. At every moment during the interview weekend, each potential GSE candidate was "on display." Having now completed the travel portion of the GSE experience, I can say with some confidence that this is a critical aspect of the selection criteria. GSE team members must be comfortable with being on display. Rotarians in the host district will expect you to mingle within entire parties and fellowships, where often the GSE team is the "guest of honour." This high level of comfort and flexibility being in the spotlight becomes even more critical in the last ten days of the GSE tour, when your energy level and patience tend to be running low. The host Rotarians and families that you meet in week four will expect you to be just as energetic and enthusiastic as you were in week one.

Once the team was selected, correspondence and communication between the team members, team leader and sponsoring GSE coordinator began immediately. In our case, four of the team members were from Newfoundland and Labrador and the team leader was from Prince Edward Island. While it may appear that this made our preparations simple, it is important to understand that District 7820 is quite large geographically. For example, a visit to the home of one of my fellow team members would require an 8 hour drive by car. As a result, our team met "in person" on one weekend in October 2004 to plan the trip. Luckily, we worked very well together and within the two days had quite thoroughly planned the trip down to the last detail. Each team member was given multiple tasks and a deadline, thereby ensuring that we did not have five people running off in the same direction! This face-to-face interaction also allowed us an opportunity to get to know one another on a personal level. Looking back, I can now appreciate just how important it was for us, as a team, to have had a significant level of trust in one another because we were traveling to such an uncertain, and often unsafe, environment. I think my team mates would agree that after our weekend together we were confident that our trip would be a success because we were committed to the task and most importantly to each other.

Our GSE to District 9110 Nigeria consisted of four weeks in Lagos and Ogun State. A full schedule of vocational days, site tours, participation in Polio Plus National Immunization Days and visits to schools, hospitals and children's shelters was put together by our host GSE committee, who worked tirelessly on our behalf. Most days began at 5:30 am. Traffic in Lagos is a formidable challenge to say the least and at its worst it can take almost 90 minutes to drive a mere six kilometers. As such, we were required to rise early to avoid the "go slow" and arrive at our meeting points on time. We visited approximately 28 Rotary Clubs during our tour and were prepared with a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation. Each team member had approximately 5 minutes to speak and share a small portion of their home/work/and family life with each club. Electricity is another challenge in Nigeria as the NEPA or National Electric Power Authority is not known for reliable service. However, we were quite fortunate in that most Rotary Clubs were located in hotels which also had generator power as a backup. Of course, temperature is perhaps one of the biggest challenges in Lagos. The Early Riser clubs were fortunate because the team was still quite clean in the early morning hours. By mid day, the temperature would rise to between 38 and 44 degrees Celsius…staying clean was a challenge! Evening clubs were not so lucky. However, we never let being sweaty and dirty hinder us and we entered every Rotary Club with smiles on our faces and in as good humor as possible. The majority of our days ended around 8:30 or 9:00 pm and by the time we returned to our host families, interacted with them and wrote in our journals, we were lucky to get five hours of sleep.

During my stay in Nigeria I had a variety of extremely different experiences, but the most rewarding would have to be participating in the National Immunization Days (NIDs) for the Polio Plus Campaign. Playing even the smallest role in such an important project simply blew me away. It has certainly altered my outlook on life and made me realize just how fortunate I am to live in Canada.

The GSE is really an emotional rollercoaster. Before settling in with a new host, it's common to feel nervous and anxious about meeting your new family. Once you settle in, however, these feelings fade and you begin to get comfortable with your family and your surroundings. Typically, just as this happens, it's time to leave and move to another host family. When experiencing these emotions, I think it's important for any GSE participant to remember that your host family is probably feeling nervous about meeting you as well. Keeping this in mind can help to ease the transition from one family to another. Ultimately, GSE participants should go to their host country with an open mind, positive attitude and a good sense of humor.

The GSE experience, for me, went above and beyond my expectations. On more than one occasion during the GSE I was extremely moved and humbled by the kindness and warmth of my Rotary hosts; people who were strangers yet accepted me without question as a friend. These wonderful people took us into their homes and lives and treated us as if we were members of their families. The GSE is all about good and bad experiences, ups and downs, laughter and tears. It is truly an experience I will never forget.

I am extremely grateful to Rotary International, District 7820 and the Rotary Club of St. John's Northwest for this phenomenal opportunity. I am also extremely grateful to Rotarian Mark Brown for putting me on the path to the GSE experience. I would also like to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of Ms. Stella Roy (GSE Outbound Coordinator) to our GSE team and to Rotary International. We love Stella and could not have done this without her unending support and encouragement. I finally wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to my teammates Rotarian Derek Key, Allison Lomond, Nikki Wright and Michelle Whittle whose friendship, support and sense of humour saw me through the toughest days.

June 16, 2005
Paul Glavine