Rachel Engler (right) and her partner Ava Chow (left)
The Rotary Club of Calgary North received the following fun email from a young lady named Rachel Engler:
Dear President Newel and Members of The Rotary Club of Calgary North, I am writing to thank you for contributing to the Calgary Youth Science Fair. My partner, Ava Chow, and I were awarded the Rotary Clubs of Calgary Environment Award. We are in Grade 6. We are very excited to receive the award! I thought you might find this story interesting. Rotary provided more than this award to me. My Dad was a Rotary Exchange student in high school. He went to Brazil. He stayed in my great grandparent's house and first met my mom [there], though they didn't get together until 24 years later, when he visited there again. Soon after, they got married and had me. So you see, if it was not for the Rotary Club I would not be here.
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Rachael's father, Steven Engler, was sponsored by the Princeton Rotary Club of B.C. in 1978–79 and was hosted by the Rotary Club São João da Boa Vista (Centro) (founded 1939). Steven's wife's name is Heloisa and they have two younger children in addition to Rachel. All the kids are dual citizens.
Steven tell us his exchange trip changed his life in other ways. He became interested in other cultures and is now a Professor of Religious Studies at Mount Royal University, teaching mainly Christianity and specializing in Brazilian religions for his research
We are grateful to Steven and Rachael for sharing their stories and letting us share them on this Web page. We are also grateful for every exchange student we have had the pleasure of meeting and hearing about.
