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Information for Sponsoring Inbound Rotary Clubs Sponsoring Outbound Rotary Clubs General Information Rotary Club # 25 |
The History of IBSTAR in the Rotary Clubs of Duluth
'How this program began'
The Rotary Club of Duluth has a rich history of international projects. It has embraced programs developed by Rotary International such as Group Study Exchange, Rotary Youth Exchange, District International Projects, and more recently the development of a medical clinic along the Amazon River in Peru. With this legacy, members of the club, in discussion with a Duluth resident who had been on an assignment to teach at a campus of National Louis University in Poland, conceived the idea of sponsoring emerging professionals from Poland who could benefit from the 'first-hand' experience of a U.S. economic culture and environment, and its practices. (This initially "Poland based" program has now expanded to other Eastern European countries.)
The idea was endorsed by the International Service Committee of the Duluth Club in early 1993, and plans got under way to sponsor six participants during that summer. The results were very satisfactory and it was agreed that a second group would be sponsored in the summer of 1994. Evaluation of each year's experiences resulted in a number of adjustments which enabled improving the program in subsequent years. A considerable amount of the Committee's effort is expended on seeking input from the students, the host institutions, the host families, and the involved Rotarians to continually improve and enhance the experience for all participants.
Following a few years of success with the program and its evolution to its present state, it was decided to expand to and seek candidates from other countries who had undergone the transition from centrally planned economies to market economies, and to seek additional sponsors from other local Rotary Clubs in the Duluth and surrounding regions.
Thus far, aspiring young professional from Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine have participated. Sponsoring Rotary Clubs in the region have included the Rotary Club of Duluth, Harbortown Rotary Club in Duluth, Skyline Rotary Club in Duluth, the Detroit Lakes Rotary Club, and the Superior Sunrise Rotary Club is hoping to sponsor its first participant for the summer of 2007 program.
