GAWLER and District College student Renee Chamberlain has returned home early from her exchange experience in Germany, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gawler resident arrived in Adelaide earlier this month and remains in isolation, having previously completed a 14-day isolation period in Melbourne.
She said the decision to return home was a difficult one.
“On the 30th March I found myself on the way to the airport after my parents and I made the extremely difficult decision to return home,” she told The Bunyip. “This decision was based on the declining health situation in Europe, recommendations of the Australian Government and the prospect of flights being not available or difficult to book in the future.”
The 16-year-old arrived in Germany three months ago, sponsored by the Gawler Light Rotary Club and hosted by the Rotary Club of Stuttgart-Solitude.
During this time she experienced life in the village of Filderstadt, located just outside Stuttgart, staying with a host family and attending a local school.
She was able to take a trip to France and Switzerland at the end of February, as well as meet-up with other Rotary exchange students in her district.
Miss Chamberlain said the Coronavirus sent Germany into almost a complete lockdown, with all of the other exchange students in the district returning to their home countries as borders started to close and air travel became more difficult.
“I am very grateful for the things I got to experience while I was in Germany and I am hopeful that I will be able to return in the future when the world is free of Coronavirus,” she said.
Meanwhile, German student Gesa Schuette, who was hosted locally by the Rotary Club of Gawler Light, has also since made the decision to return home.
Italian exchange student Sara Di Lauro has chosen to remain in Gawler, hosted by the Rotary Club of Gawler, instead of heading home early to Cremona, Italy, where a nationwide quarantine was
imposed on March 9.