A Rotary group from the Philippines - hosted by members of Cromer and Sheringham Rotary Club - has just spent a week in North Norfolk. The week was the first of a four week intensive tour of East Anglia as part of a unique Group Study Exchange programme.

A Rotary group from the Philippines - hosted by members of Cromer and Sheringham Rotary Club - has just spent a week in North Norfolk. The week was the first of a four week intensive tour of East Anglia as part of a unique Group Study Exchange programme.

The team, led by a lawyer Rotarian and former Rotary district Governor in the Philppines, was made up of four young professionals, selected from hundreds of applicants, to benefit from the different culture, traditions and heritage of another country.

The 12 hour daily programme took in visits to different Rotary Clubs, events and places of interest but, in particular, provided an opportunity for the team to spend time with their counterparts learning how a similar job is done in the UK. Highlight of the week was a get-together at The Dormy House Hotel, West Runton attended by over 60 Rotarians and friends. Here, each of the team introduced themselves with visual presentations covering a different aspect of life in the Philippines.

One member is a schools' counsellor during the day and became a well- known radio disc-jockey in the evenings. One of the two girls is the Information, Education and Communications Specialist for a government-funded electrification project in a remote and poor region in Mindinao in the far south.

The week was co-ordinated by Sheringham Rotarian, John Dunsire, who described the week as a unique experience for both hosts and visitors. 'With their enthusiasm and old-fashioned courtesy rarely seen these days, they have made friendships which will last for years', he said.

During their trip to the Rotary Club of Holt the group visited Gresham's Schoo land in the afternoon Charles Simeons arranged a visit to the Holt Medical Practice when Dr Peter Harvey explained to them how the NHS was set up, and in particular Primary Care, was paid for.

Afterwards they toured coastal villages ending up at Holkham Hall .

The President of Holt Rotary Club, David Frost accompanied the team on their local visits.

They now move on to a week each in Newmarket, Cambridge ending up in Yarmouth, before flying home at the beginning of May from Norwich airport.