Premier Alex Scott is putting out the call for Bermudian families to step forward and host Rotary Exchange students, calling the programme a ?cultural exchange of the highest order?.

At Camden recently, the Premier hosted the 15 young Bermudians who will be going on exchange this year: ?I have never met a more courageous group of people,? he told MPs in the House of Assembly last Friday night.

In fact, Mr. Scott is putting one student heading to Zambia in touch with an old roommate of his who lives there now.

However, Mr. Scott noted, as the Bermudian students leave other students from other Rotary programmes world-wide will be arriving in Bermuda for the year. ?Thirty-six host homes are needed,? he said.

Though he and his wife Olga Scott have never hosted a Rotary exchange student, he said they have hosted a student from the Bermuda College, and called the experience an ?enriching? one.

?I am asking on behalf of Rotary for those interested to contact Rotary to offer to be a host home,? he said.

Last week Barry Schaler said it was the first time that 15 students were leaving the Island with the Rotary Club.

?But with this, it means that we need more host families,? said Mr. Schaler.

?We need more host homes for the 12 Rotary students that are coming in.?

A few of the parents whose children are of to other parts of the world with Rotary Club said they would be willing to host students throughout the year, but there were still more homes needed.

Mr. Schaler said the Rotary Club had received a donation from PriceWaterhouseCoopers to help with incidentals like insurance and other expenditures of bringing the students to the Island.

He said the private schools, which included Warwick Academy, Bermuda High School, Saltus Grammar and Mount Saint Agnes Academy, had agreed to take the children on without charge. And CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley were taking on students as well.

This years students are Kamel Dickinson, Omar Lodge, Gaynete Edwards, Tiffani Simons, Taniesha Brangman, Vanessa Bean, Shay-La Whitter, Nicola Arnold, Sidley Carswell, Renae Black, Shari Scott, Karimah Moore, Jessica Palmer and Kyle James.

They are off to France, Bolivia, Brazil, South Africa, Venezuela, Thailand, Mexico, Taiwan and several other destinations.

Rotary Club exchange student co-ordinator Walter Saul said the Club had a record number of applications, with 32 applying.

?The most we have ever sent abroad at one time was ten,? said Mr. Saul.

?It was difficult to choose, because all of the applicants were so good.? An Argentinian exchange student Bel?n Buscemi, who visited Bermuda two years ago and attended the Saltus Graduate Year, is still in touch with host families and friends in on the Island.

?The exchange was a beautiful experience for me, and the people that I met, all my Bermudian families and friends, are still in my heart,? she said.

?I miss it so much ? I think about ways to come back to Bermuda all the time.?

Warwick resident Shari Scott, who is on her way to Cochabamba, Bolivia, said she decided to become an exchange student because her sister, Shanay, travelled to the Philippines.

?I know other Rotary exchange student, Paolo Odoli, who travelled to Ecuador, David Bean who went on exchange to Mexico, and Serita Ebbin just returned from an exchange to Brazil,? she said.

She is currently learning Spanish which will come in handy in the Central America country of Bolivia. She will be attending the Instituto Laredo, which is a music school.

?I was very excited when I heard that this was to be my school because it will allow me to continue my studies of the violin,? Shari said.

?I hope to gain an awareness of another culture, to give them an awareness of my culture, also to broaden my viewpoints, and learn new skills that will be beneficial to myself and others.?