When Several Clubs Co-sponsor an Inbound Student
It can happen that a single club doesn't have the entire financial or family hosting wherewithal to host an Inbound student even though much of the framework for the exchange exists. At that point one or more other clubs can join the first club contributing financially (helping with student monthly allowance) or socially (being one of the 2-3 Host families needed.
The joining together of these clubs is a great thing both for the clubs themselves and the opportunity that the Inbound student now has. Having said that, there are a number of things that the clubs need to agree on for the process to be successful.
Often there is a complex relationship of club BOD's, current presidents, presidents elect and Youth Service chairs that have combined to make the multi-club exchange arrangement possible. Problems arise shortly after the transition from current president to president elect at the beginning of the new Rotary year, which is also about the time when the new student shows up. Here is what happens for a club to make the new Inbound student a reality:
http://rotaryd5000.org/SitePage/sponsoring-exchange-students-1/sponsoring-inbound-exchange-students . As you can see, there's a lot to do so it's really necessary to start early.
What the clubs need to do as soon as they have decided to sponsor an Inbound student is draw up a document of some sort stating who will assume primary responsibility for the student (and what that entails) and what roles the secondary clubs will play. Looking carefully at the above link will give you a sense of what club positions are needed (club Youth Exchange Officer, Youth Exchange Counselors, Host families). This plan needs to be agreed upon by all those in all clubs who will have any financial commitment or social contact with the student and revisited at the beginning of the new Rotary year. After the student has arrived, regular meetings or emailings should occur among the representatives of each club to make sure that no club feels left out of the process.
Naturally all the clubs will want to get to know the student and arrangements need to be made for that to happen, preferably after the student has had a chance to settle in, i.e. at least a month to six weeks after arrival.
In principle there should be an island Youth Exchange coordinator for each island because of Department of State regulations (Code of Regulations 62.25 and more) to answer questions about the process. This is in place for Kauai, Maui, O'ahu and Hawaii Island. If you have questions not answered by your island coordinator, please contact David C. Hurd (808-238-2434 or kawika4rotary@gmail.com )