Rotary District 3280 Bangladesh

The Group Study Exchange (GSE) team of Rotary International District (RID) 3280, Bangladesh visited RID 5240, California, USA from October 15 to November 13, 2009. The four-week exchange program involved a Rotarian team leader and four non-Rotarian young professionals team members. The team was led by Rtn. PP. Syed Abu Sayeed, PHF of Rotary Club of Metropolitan Khulna and the selected team members were Syed Rabius Shams nominated by Rotary Club of Dhaka North West, Khondker Emdadul Haq (Sagor) nominated by Rotary Club of Dhaka South, Sajjad Haider nominated by Rotary Club of Dhaka North West and Shamim Azad nominated by Rotary Club of Dhaka Central.

The Districts were well matched, which was a very significant factory that would be continued to the success of both exchange visits. A similar team has been selected by the District 5240 and the team is preparing to visit Bangladesh from January 11, 2010 to complete the exchange.

In the vocational and cultural exchange program the team visited institutions related to team members' vocations such as School, Universities, Banks, Chamber of Commerce, Private Companies and Hospitals etc. They also attended various Rotary Club meetings, Rotary club Projects and specially the District Conference held on October 23 to 25, 2009 at Ventura, CA. The team also had the opportunity to tour different places of interest viz., Universal Studio, Hollywood, Hearst Castle, Historical Museums, Libraries, US Naval Museums of Armament and Technology, Sea Center, World Garden, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Pier, Presidential Library of Ronald Reagan & Air force One and Reenactment of Warfare etc. etc.

They had also the opportunity to exchange their nominating Club banners and give and take lots of varied token gifts to each other. The GSE Team received various Rotary Clubs and other Lapel pins. The Team had plenty of funs, entertainments and most enjoyable sight seeing.

The team stayed in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Arryo Grande, Cambria, Pismo Beach, Bakersfield, Ridgecrest, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. The team members were hosted by 42 families. All families were very welcoming and did everything possible to make the stay of their guests as comfortable as possible. Warm hospitality and caring of the hosts were really exceptional and unforgettable.

They attended 18 Rotary meetings and reception parties. They had the opportunity to visit 3 Universities, 3 Banks, Fire stations, Police stations, Local News media, Radio & TV station, 4 Museums, 2 Art galleries and many other places of tourists' interest.

The team gave presentations to various Rotary meetings & social gatherings and in the District Conference which was attended by close to 500 people. They also provided a five - minute video presentation captioned "Positive Bangladesh" at those events. The presentations of the group were highly appreciated. Rtn. Frank Devlyn, Past RI President was invited to the District Conference as key-note speaker while RI Director Rtn. Ekkehart Pandel graced the conference as RIPPR. The GSE team had exclusive interaction with them.

Luz Mario Ortiz-Smith, District Governor, RID 5240 California provided a high level of support to the team both prior to and during the exchange. The GSE Chair Tonie Valdez and Co-Chair Max Copenhageh put-together a tremendous show in organizing the conducting the program. They were always available to assist the team to ensure that the program progressed according to the plan. The co-operation and involvement of District Governor AKM Shamsul Huda, PHF and GSE Chair Syed Waseque Md. Ali, PHF from District 3280 was most valuable and it helped ensure the successful completion of the exchange program.