Rotary Youth Exchange produces enduring value

In 1963, 17-year-old Danielle Baltus boarded a ship bound for New York City to start her yearlong Rotary Youth Exchange.

The trip across the Atlantic took two weeks, and it took another two weeks for her first letter to make its way back home to Belgium. “A month went by before my parents even knew I had arrived safely,” she recalls. Baltus remembers her year in Mission, Texas, as an immersion in American culture. She became a Rotarian in 1999, when she joined the Rotary Club of Lessines, Belgium.

THE ROTARIAN: You’re still involved with Youth Exchange. What is your current role?

BALTUS: Internationally, I am one of the members of the RI Youth Exchange Committee. In Europe, I am the immediate past president of EEMA [Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Africa] Youth Exchange. In District 1620, I’m the New Generations chair. In districts 1620, 1630, and 2170, I’m the short-term exchange program coordinator. In my club, I’m a member of the New Generations committee. More...