Rotary Short Term Exchange Program “East Mediterranean Culture & Fun Summer Camp” was held jointly by four Rotary Clubs in Adana, namely Adana RC (coordinator club), Adana Seyhan RC, Adana Çukurova RC, and Adana Güney RC. Nineteen students (13 girls and 6 boys) between the ages of 15 and 17 years participated coming from various European countries including Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Denmark, Czechia, Romania and Bulgaria. While the students were hosted for two weeks by Rotarians at their houses, the camp program was exceptionally busy and even demanding considering the extreme heat wave that swept through the region at the time of the camp.
The students met every morning in front of the historic Adana Central Station Building to take their private bus for the daily excursion and returned in the afternoon to be picked by their host families with whom they spent the evenings. Every day they visited cultural heritage sites, museums, open air museums, ancient castles and beautiful natural wonders such as canyons and fairy chimneys. They also had opportunities to relax and enjoy beautiful sandy Mediterranean beaches. The students also visited for Rotary Clubs. Flags were exchanged after the students gave presentations about themselves and their home countries. The camp was covered extensively by the local media.
The students were accompanied by Interact and Rotaract Club members and teenager children of host families as well as the Rotarians responsible for them during the camp. This way they formed very good friendships with each other and their Turkish pairs, got to learn the rich and impressive culture and history of the region and got acquainted with their host families. The camp came to an end with the Certificate Ceremony followed by an emotional good bye party.
Rotary Short Term Exchange Program Summer Camp is a unique and life changing opportunity for the students as well as the host families. It is also a perfect means to achieve Atatürk’s “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” goal.
