Meeting of January 6, 2021

 
 

Rotary E-Clubs: Exploiting the Online Environment for Bonding and Service.

At today's meeting, our guest speakers were Lillian Byakuta and Angela Ogang, from the e-club of Uganda Global.
 

Meeting details

We had 42 participants including 10 guests.
 
 
Chad Fink was the Sargent at Arms. Chad announced that January is Rotary month.
 
Lionel gave the reflection and shared a poem about being fortunate to be alive and reminding us to listen to others and be kind.

Happy Bucks:

  • Stephan was grateful that 2021 has arrived.
  • Walter told a joke.
  • Barb was happy to see the end of 2020.
  • Angela, our speaker, was glad to be here and happy for her parent’s anniversary.
  • Lillian, our other speaker, is grateful that the e-club of Uganda Global is on line and for her grandson.
  • Jim is happy for the opening of the outdoor ping-pong table in Lawrence Park.
  • Rae is also happy about the ping-pong table.
  • Romeo, our guest, is happy to have Lillian here.

Guest Speaker

Tim introduced our speakers, Lillian Byakuta and Angela Ogang, from the e-club of Uganda Global. He mentioned he was invited to speak to their group in August.
 
Lillian is a charter member and President of the e-club of Uganda Global, is a project management professional and lives in Charlotte North Carolina. Angela is also a charter member of the e-club, is a lawyer licensed to practice in Ontario and Kenya. The topic was E-clubs: Exploiting the online environment for Bonding and Service.
 
Angela spoke first and told us about her background in banking before getting her law degree in England and France. She moved to Canada and took her equivalence exams and took the Canadian Bar exam. While living and working downtown, she found it difficult to make connections and her father encouraged her to join Rotary. She started at the Toronto club but moved to RTE, where she felt more at home. She joined our club and was sponsored by Ron Denham and felt a good connection with many members. She left Canada to work in Kenya and had difficulty getting to Rotary meeting in Nairobi due to bad traffic and time constraints. Her mother suggested that she try the e-club when she moved back to Toronto and she became a member when the club was charted in December 2019. She thanked RTE, her parents, Ron Denham, Lillian and the rest of the e-club.
 
Lillian spoke next and told us about many people in Africa having challenges attending traditional Rotary meetings, including bad traffic and travel for work. E-clubs help to address these challenges.
 In 2001, the first e-club was given provisional status and by 2016, Rotary by-laws were changed to remove the distinction between e-clubs and clubs that meet in person.  The Uganda e-club was chartered in late 2019 with 32 members. They now have 54 members from 8 countries spanning 3 continents. Their membership is 60% female and the average age is 44. They meet using the WhatsApp as their clubhouse platform. They have speakers and education sessions as many members are new to Rotary. They have divided their members in to buddy groups to help with connection and to keep people engaged. Their members are passionate about service projects and are looking for international partners.
 
In celebration of the first anniversary of the founding of the club, they are raising funds for Family Health Day in April 2021 to provide medical care to underserved areas. They are also sponsoring youth through RYLA and helping with mentorship and guidance for the Rotarac e-club of Uganda Global. The club has received 3 RI citations and a District award.
 
Their challenges include finding appealing activities for a wide age range and inconsistent internet service.
Angela the spoke again about a WASH project in northern Uganda. Thanks to clean water, made possible by rotary and ownership in the community, girls can go to school rather than gather water and women can get paying work. A whole generation will benefit.
 
Chad thanked our speakers and congratulated their club on its first anniversary.
Tim Vermeulen Induced our newest member, Nan Campion into the club. David Chapman-Smith is her Sponsor. She works for Johnson & Daniel in the same office as RTE member, Julien Merry. Welcome Nan.

Announcements

  • There will be another Trivia Night on January 15th, hosted by Dawn.
  • This week’s Tuesday talk is on Public image.
  • There is a District workshop on membership on Saturday January 23rd, from 9:30-11:00
  • To celebrate Earth Day 2021, all Rotary clubs are invited to participate in the Great Lakes Watershed Clean up on April 24th, 2021. Each club will come up with their own mandate. Share any ideas that you might have for this with Lois.

Covid-19 Update

 
Joe provided a very brief COVID update. He is investigating how people will get the vaccine.

Other Business

Ron reminded everyone of a Global Grant webinar on Thursday from 7pm – 9 pm. Details from the WASRAG website.
David Chapman Smith’s son Tim, legal counsel for the Ontario Medical Association, will speak next week about challenges in the healthcare field due to COVID.
Sponsors