Another education project made it possible for a young women to get a job that let her earn five times the salary her father earned. Education is helping to transform this family's well being now and into the future.
In addition to projects in Guatemala, she has worked on projects in India, Romania and Uganda.
In India the project was to provide solar power to a school and home. With power at the school more innovative teaching methods could be employed to teach students. Graduation rates are now much higher, and kids are staying in school for more than one year. Solar power in the home permits students to study more safely. Prior to solar electricity, children studied with karosene lighting. Karosene was poured into a bottle, a rag was inerted, and then lit to provide light. As you can imagine this was very dangerous at many levels. Again our donation to the Foundation have helped change lives.
In Romania, a micro credit loan program is permitting community members to be self-sustaining. They are paying back their loans which then help fund the next loan. She described how a tractor, and a computer repair business are changing the lives of two families in Romania.
In Uganda, a Rotary Foundation grant helped equip a cancer center and permitted a vocational training team from the USA to go to Uganda and a team from Uganda to come to the USA to learn ways to help improve cancer care in Uganda.
Throughout her talk, she provided quotes from Dr. Seuss. As our Foundation team asks you to think about making a donation to the Rotary Foundation, keep this quote in mind, "Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not".
If you would like to go to Guatemala in early February, Carolyn has asked members to reach out to her and she will get you information about the trip. Contact Marilyn Bedell for her e-mail address.
Again from Dr. Seuss, "You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so...get on your way!".
Our Speaker Carolyn Johnson
Carolyn Johnson is a member of the Rotary Club of Yarmouth, Maine, and has been a Rotarian since 2001. Her introduction to Rotary was as a spouse, but she soon decided it was much more rewarding - and fun! - to be a member of a club.
Professionally, Carolyn is an educator with more than 30 years experience. She taught and was a principal at the elementary school level. She was selected as a Distinguished Educator by the Maine Department of Education to assist schools in developing student support teams and anti-bullying programs. In 2006, she began volunteering with the Guatemala Literacy Project. This volunteerism evolved into developing a program to improve the quality of literacy instruction for indigenous children in Guatemala. She created and directs the Culture of Reading Program, which provides books, school supplies, and literacy training and support to rural schools in Guatemala. This initiative has grown from a single school in 2007 to now serving more than 4200 children in 38 primary schools.
Carolyn has addressed audiences at Zone Institutes and Rotary International Conventions on promising literacy practices in developing nations. She was a keynote speaker at the 2012 Northeast PETS (President Elect Training Seminar). In 2009, Carolyn was honored to be awarded Rotary’s Service Above Self Award.
Book given to the Children's Collection at the Kilton Library in honor of Carolyn Johnson was What Is Given From the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack
