(Contributed)
Learning through exchange
By Chris CampbellPress Staff Writer
webstaff@johnsoncitypress.com
When Johnson City marketing communications specialist Chris Teague went to Brazil, he learned a lot. He learned about the culture. He learned about how his job is done in that country. Most importantly, he learned about himself.
“It showed me more about myself than anything else I’ve done before,” Teague said, discussing some of the differences in daily life and business practices that he noticed.
Teague went to Brazil as part of Rotary International’s group study exchange program. The program takes eight people from each Rotary district and lets them experience their particular vocation in another country.
“I wanted to learn how they utilize press and cause marketing,” said Teague, who works in marketing communications. “I wanted to see how well non- and for-profit organizations work together.”
In the United States, nonprofit organizations sometimes raise money by partnering with for-profit companies to sponsor events. In Brazil, Rotary International is the only nonprofit operating on a large scale, Teague said.
He said there are two types of people in Brazil, the rich and the poor — the middle-class is virtually non-existent. His team visited a clinic set up by the Rotary Club that provided free medical and dental care to people in need. Team members also attended a graduation at a Rotary school that catered to underprivileged children.
“It made every single one of us cry, because that is something that normally doesn’t happen in Brazil,” Teague said. “People aren’t normally able to achieve their dreams like they are in America.”
Experiences like this — cultural exchange in its rawest form — are what the Rotary’s exchange program is all about.
“You don’t just stay in a hotel,” said Shawn Weems, area coordinator for the group study exchange. “You get to see how people live in these areas, and they get to see how we live here.”
The program consists of a 4-6 week tour of a Rotary district. The teams, four vocational members and a team leader, spend a few days in one area giving presentations to local Rotary clubs and spending at least one day working with someone who has the same career. They move from area to area, learning and sharing at all of their stops. At the same time the local team is in another country, teams from those countries have the same experiences in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
“We want there to be a cultural exchange,” Weems said. “But the vocational aspect is a big part of the Rotary Club’s mission.”
Weems said a furniture maker from Mexico once came to the area through the exchange. The man said he sold most of his furniture to Americans, and he had used his time here to learn more about what the average American consumer wanted.
Applications are being accepted for the next exchange, which will take place in the spring. Four people will be chosen to go to Bolivia, and another four will go to Tasmania. Applicants must be between the ages of 25 and 40, and they must be stable in their profession. Weems said no job is too abstract to fit the profile as long as it is what the person intends to do for a career. Anyone chosen for the program will only be responsible for incidental and personal expenses, as the Rotary Club pays for the airfare, and food and lodging is provided by Rotary members in the host country.
The trips will take place between March and May of next year. Applications are due by Oct. 1 and may be submitted by calling Weems at 282-7615 or 557-6887. He can also be reached by e-mail at shawn.weems@morgankeegan.com.
The program fosters an understanding between cultures and provides another perspective on the duties associated with a career — important things for people and businesses who are trying to stay competitive in an increasingly global marketplace.
“They say you’re not going on a five-week vacation, and that is so true. Any employer who worries about losing an employee for that long needs to realize that the insights the employee will return with are worth it,” Teague said. “There are things you can’t experience hanging out in Northeast Tennessee your whole life.”