GSE Team Prepares to Represent District 6080 in Central America

The District 6080 Group Study Exchange (GSE) team is in the final stages of preparation for what promises to be the international adventure of a lifetime – four weeks in Central America, learning about life there through the lens of their Rotary hosts.

Our team was selected in November and they’ve spent the past three months studying Spanish, brushing up on Rotary, planning for the logistics of international travel, learning about the cultures of Central America and preparing to be gracious guests on the receiving end of warm Rotary hospitality.

The team will depart April 1, beginning the day in Springfield and ending it in San Salvador, El Salvador. During the month of April they will spend one week in each of the four countries of District 4240 – El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama – returning home April 29 after the host district’s annual conference in Panama City.

Led by Rotarian Paul Reinert of the Rotary Club of Springfield, the team consists of:

Kim Greene, coordinator for dual credit at Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield.

Charles Parker, Jr., coordinator of diversity programs at the University of Missouri – Columbia.

Jimmy Stilley, vice president of commercial loans at OakStar Bank in Springfield.

Christi Sudbrock, agricultural business instructor and outreach coordinator for the Darr School of Agriculture at Missouri State University.

The Rotary Foundation’s GSE program is a vocational and cultural exchange for non-Rotarian professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers.  Team members will observe how their professions are practiced in Central America, exchange ideas and develop professional relationships. The team also will introduce their hosts to life in Missouri by making presentations at Rotary Clubs throughout District 4240.

You can follow along with the team’s experience by reading their blog at maytheroadriseblog.blogspot.com.