Ambassadors of Goodwill from US arrive

“Ambassadors of Goodwill”: Forging relations for peace

Chandigarh is a great place to be and so far I have not got into the crowdy streets that everyone was warning us of back home, says Lauren Clark, who works with the city authorities in Dallas looking after traffic and other civic amenities.

Lauren is part of the Rotary’s Group Study Exchange from Rotary International District 5810, Texas, USA, who is accompanied by two other working professionals, Angela Chambers, editor of a community section of “The Dallas Morning News”, Sara Skinner, a marketing expert working with banks and financial institutions.

“I am eager to look at how the newspapers and other publications work here in India”, says Angela who works on special sections that cater to human interest stories of the large community. Though online media is cutting into the circulation of print media, there is no substitute to holding a newspaper and reading it at leisure, she adds.
Sara, however, keen to learn the saving and spending patterns of Indians and whether they use credit cards or prefer cash while spending.

Rtn. Mike Pugh, who is a Rotarian and an IT professional consulting various companies, commends India’s contribution to the IT world and looks forward to meeting with fellow professionals here in IT companies to learn more about their work and share his experience.

Rtn Mike Pugh, who has earlier been a leader of similar GSE team to Thailand several years back, said that there is nothing like forging links with people of different countries, living with them and understanding their culture, which becomes possible through this programme. Peace in the world is possible through person-to-person exchange which this programme of Rotary makes it possible, Mike added.

District Governor of Rotary International District 3080, Rtn Chetan Aggarwal, informed that the GSE members are being hosted by the Rotarian families in their homes and would be visiting various cities including Amritsar, Anandpur Saheb, Shimla, Paonta Saheb, Nahan, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Chandigarh and Mohali.

Rtn. Dr. B.S. Chandok, District Chair, GSE Hosting, along with other Rotarians have made extensive arrangement to make their visit fruitful and enjoyable.