How are things in Germany after getting back home? Any reverse culture shock so far?
Your message was forwarded to me as I have just been appointed to be an Inbound Co-ordinator for 2016-17. Although I was not in this position last year when you were our Inbound Exchange Student to our district, I am happy to do the investigation and help to respond to any complaints from the previous year so that we can continue to improve our program in 2016-17.
I appreciate your feedback about the Bus Trip to the South in March and have checked with the tour organizer regarding Pang-gna Bay Hotel which was not up to the standard as you mentioned. I also talked to YE Chair Napaskamon who went along on this trip with all of you whether she had learned of your complaints during the trip. To my surprise, neither of them received your or others' complaints from the participating YEs or Rotex about this hotel. They recalled the illness of one YE due to food poisoning and the heat at the time but did not recall other cases. After this trip, the YE Committee held our follow-up meeting as we normally did after each trip to listen to several reports from the Rotarians and Rotex who supervised the South trip. There were no complaints about this hotel in any of the reports. However, after receiving your message, I called the tour organizer and advised them to remove Pang-gna Bay Hotel from the list of hotels to be used for this year's trip. The tour organizer informed me that they will change to use a hotel in Phuket which is better equipped and more hygienic for the next bus trip instead. For your information, the cost of bus trip program to the South is usually higher than the North as it is more popular for all foreigners. Hotels and foods there are much more expensive than in the North.
As for the issue that no one responded to your e-mails, I also checked with our YE Chair and staff whether they had received any previous messages from you. They recalled that only monthly reports were received in the office. And when they saw that some concerned issues were raised in your reports, YE Chair herself usually called your club in Nakhonsawan to resolve them as quickly as possible. She also followed-up to see if things were improved but might not necessarily inform you directly afterwards. If you still have copies of those e-mail messages you had sent to us, please forward them to me so that I can check if they were sent to the right address or person.
Finally, I would like to thank you personally for your useful feedback. You are one of the most cooperative and outstanding Inbounds in 2015-16, and I remember how dedicated you were at the English camp. We don't take any complaints from YEs lightly and will strive to make YE program in our district a satisfactory and memorable one for all Inbounds. Various concerns and challenges come up each year, but YE committee of District 3350 is committed to tackle them. We do this because we love all the youths of Rotary.
Thank you again for your helpful input to our program. Have a bright and successful future, Clara.
Rotary Serving Humanity,