Partnership with Ciudad Sandino

Sarah Junkin Woodard , of the Rotary Club of Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, will join us as our speaker on April 19 via zoom.  Living and working in Nicaragua, with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Jubilee House Community Inc and its project, the Center for Development in Central America (JHC-CDCA), she is a founding member of the Ciudad Sandino Rotary Club, opening opportunities for international service connections between U.S. Rotarians and Nicaraguans, actively participating in both COVID-19 relief and broader issues of poverty.

Growing up in Taiwan, Sarah returned to the U.S. in 1968 for her college and post-grad education, then teaching public high school social studies and participating in a variety of peace and justice activities.  In 1979, along with Kathleen Murdock and Mike Woodard, also members of the C.Sandino Rotary Club, she was one of the founders of the JHC.  Originally serving the poor in Statesville, NC, the JHC began and operated shelters for the homeless and battered women, provided medical and legal advocacy on behalf of the poor, and joined with others across the Carolinas in Peace and Justice work.  In 1994, the focus of service moved to Nicaragua, where she has lived ever since. With this year's Rotary theme of Imagine Rotary, Sarah brings us an opportunity via ZOOM to see how our partnership has indeed built connections with Rotarians in Ciudad Sandino, and moved imagined dreams into realities.