On Labour Day, tears of joy flowed long and heavy as we said goodbye to our 6 International Rotaractors who came to visit at the end of August to experience the beauty and people of British Columbia for PACE. During their visit, they experienced everything from skating (who knew Fijians were so good on ice!), to biking, hiking, museum tours, historical walks, dragon boating, kayaking, and of course, poutine!
They also took a plunge into the lake at PDG Lyn’s! As it has always been tradition with this trip, they participated in two service activities while here - helping cook and served over 50 community members for the Burnaby Rotaract club’s Community Dinner, and helped mark drains at the Eagle Creek Watershed in North Burnaby. Their time together was filled with laughs, games, dancing in lines, the sharing of cultures and language, and the development of lifelong friendships - Christian from Germany even said everyone in the district can crash on his couch for Hamburg 2019!We’d again like to thank all of the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs who sponsored PACE, as this trip would not happen without their generous support:
Rotary Club of YaletownRotary Club of Prince Rupert
Rotary Club of MacKenzie
Rotary Club of North Vancouver
Rotary Club of Burnaby Deer Lake
Rotary Club of New Westminster
Rotary Club of Richmond Sunrise
Rotary Club of Vancouver Arbutus
Rotary Club of New Westminster Royal City
Rotary Club of Vancouver
Rotary Club of Burnaby
Rotary Club of Squamish
Rotary Club of Burnaby Metrotown
Rotary Club of Whistler
Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium
Rotary Club of Prince George Nechako
Vancouver Young Professional Rotaract
Burnaby Rotaract
Richmond Rotaract
Yaletown Rotaract
Vancouver Rotaract
Additionally, we’d like to thank everyone who served on the planning committee and made this trip happen: Connor Trelawny, Eric Young, Majed El Saadi, Thomas Turniawan (Burnaby Rotaract), Emily MacLean (Vancouver Young Professionals Rotaract), and Katheline Cao and Maryam Bawa (Richmond Rotaract).PACE testimonials:
“This was honestly the greatest travel experience of my life so far.” - Ratu, Fiji
“I can confidently say PACE has been my best trip (so far).” - Lauren, South Africa
“PACE 2017 was an unbelievably beautiful experience and I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of it!” - Christian, Germany
“I would summarize PACE as one of the best, if not the very best experience possible within Rotaract.” - Maria, Sweden
“PACE Rocks! Best Trip EVER.” - Amiel, Dominican Republic
“It’s a great journey that combines amazing nature, beautiful cities,countless number of fun activities, food, culture, knowledge, doing good, Rotaract and Rotary, and above all, open and warm-hearted people.” - Julia, Finland