One Thompson student is trading the subarctic climate of the North for the tropical savanna of Miranpolis in the interior of Brazil as part of a Rotary Exchange trip.
Zack Bennett, a 17-year-old student who graduated from R. D. Parker Collegiate in January, arrived in Brazil in the first week of August, where he will be staying for a whole year studying Grade 12 for a second time.
Bennett became interested in doing an exchange trip when he met an exchange student who came to Thompson last year from Argentina. After being accepted by the Rotary Club in Thompson, he had to fill out forms and go to the doctor for travelling shots.
He says during his time in Brazil with his host family he'll take part in a trip to the Amazon and check out some Brazilian beaches. Before Bennett left for August he was able to get to know his host family, who makes a living farming pineapples, via the internet with the use of a translator who was fluent in both English and Portuguese. Before he left Bennett could speak little of the language but was confident that he'd learn more in a weeklong camp which took place his first week in Brazil.
Bennett won't be the only Canadian - or even Northern Manitoban - student to be making Brazil their temporary home this year. He says there is one student from Flin Flon and another from The Pas that are also going to Brazil. After his Rotary trip Bennett hopes to go to the Memorial University of Newfoundland, but not before he takes a tour of Europe.
Another student who travelled to a completely different part of the world is Pedro Sandos, who came to Thompson in January of 2009 from Londrina, Brazil.
Sandos, who only spoke a little bit of English before coming to Thompson, is now fluent, and has fully enjoyed his time here, which will come to an end this January.
"It's really, really nice in Thompson. All the people are friendly, and they helped me to learn English," he says. "I think Thompson is a really good community."
While here Sandos attends school at R. D. Parker Collegiate and has travelled to Banff, Alberta; Jasper, Alberta; and Lake Louise, Alberta. He has also taken part in some uniquely Northern activities that he has enjoyed greatly.
"My experiences quadding, snowmobiling, the things that I never did before in my life, it's really, really good. Fishing, all kinds of different things. The snow, for example - I never saw snow before and when I arrived here it was really, really good."
Ted Smook has run the youth exchange program with Rotary for about ten years now. He says every year in the spring Rotary accepts applications from students and chooses one who will get to participate in the program, which can send students to one of 16 different countries, including France, Mexico, Denmark, South Africa, Australia and more.
Although Smook says interest isn't always huge for the program, the students who do take part in the exchange trips learn so much and come back with wonderful memories.
"It's a fabulous experience to go and live with a family or families and their culture, in another country, where perhaps another language is spoken that they'd have to learn," he explains. "It's something that they'd never learn in school and certainly is a life changing experience."
Smook says a student from Switzerland has just arrived in Thompson and will be staying for a year.
