The meeting was called to order by club president David Chatson at 12:35 pm. Dave welcomed all members & our guest speaker then spoke of how well the Car Draw went at the Kitchener Rangers game on Fri. Nov. 17 and thanked the 14+ members that were able to come out. Special thanks went to Al Way and Wayne Beohler for their organization of the night.
Goes out to all members who participated in selling Car Draw tickets at the Aud on Friday, Nov. 17th and the Online committee for all their work, especially Al Way for providing the much needed warehouse unit at National Self-storage. Special note was also given to recognize 6 Satellite Club members for participating in the draw night at the Aud, WELL DONE!!
1. Jim Brown was happy to tell us he is celebrating 50 years in Canada and that his wife plans to work another few years.
2. Bill Proctor spoke of his Chef D dinner he hosted on the weekend with six friends. Since the dinner was a silent auction bid from In Vino; he requested each guest donate to the Rotary Foundation and he raised $100.
1. Wayne Beohler thanked all members who attended the Friday Car Draw finale at the Aud. Members collected $8300 towards the draw; a little less then previous years due to the 50/50 draw competition. He was pleased to see satellite members attend. The Draw Winner is Masty Rahim from Scarborough.
2. Bill Proctor outlined the remaining topics for our meeting for 2017; reminding members that Christmas and New Year's Days land on Mondays so there will no meeting.
3. Jim Phillips outlined the successes of the Online Auction this year. With daily reports, he was kept abreast of our progress. With 100 items up for auction from our group [an increase from 85] only 8 received no bids. These items will be placed on an extended auction to see if a minimum bid can be gotten. The auction now extends to Wednesday, Nov. 22. Total revenue reached $11,027 and increase of 19%. Distribution of items will take place on Sat. Nov. 25th from 9 am to 5 pm at the National Self-storage, 171 Webster Rd. in Kitchener. If any members are willing to assist with a shift of 2 or 3 hours please contact either Neil or Gary. If members have gift cards, tickets or small items to pick up they can contact Neil and he'll bring them to the next meeting. Please have receipt to show payment. Lastly, please bring any SIGNS back to our next meeting so we can store them for next year.
4. President Dave announced that Louise Gardiner's husband, Graham is not doing well and is in St. Mary's hospital. Graham has struggled with scleroderma and is now waiting to be placed on lung transplant list.
Introduction was made by Dave Chatson outlining Chris Tuckwood's role as executive Director of the Sentinel Project and local connections.
The Project offers assistance through improved communication facilities to areas threatened by mass atrocities around the world. It originated after the Rwandan genocide and its focus is prevention through direct cooperation within communities having issues and through innovative technology uses so communities can become more resilient during these times. The use of Technology, such as, HATEBASE, gathers data on rumours that help to create uncertainty and fear which leads to instability and violence. SARUS is the use of drones for humanitarian and civilian protection by offering an early warning system to communities regarding troop movements of hostile invaders. Chris spoke of the rise of “fake news” in the last few years where groups deliberately post misinformation to raise fears and rumours that disrupt communities. One such example he used was the Kenya Tana Delta region; a physically vast region with low population and varying terrain that inhibits communication between the two dominant ethnic tribes of Pokomo [cattle herders] and Ormi [farmers]. The UNA HAKIKA project [meaning: “Are you sure?”] was created due to ethnic violence between the two groups. The Sentinel group sent in a team to discover why violence had occurred and to build prospects for peace. The key issues were access to land and water [the Tana river]. They found that the rumours created an atmosphere of distrust because those surveyed had no way to verify the information. Their survey pointed out that locally information could be verified but the gap came at the county and national level. Those surveyed tended to believe the rumours [71%]; while 61% thought it was not completely true but 49% took no action to check and verify the rumours. So the UNA HAKIKA project strove to close the gap and help to either verify information or discredit the rumours. Their function was to first get the rumours reported. Once that was done then to have experts and trusted community leaders talk to community members. Site visits by team members were then to investigate and verify the rumours. Lastly, an intervention could be initiated to prevent violence and disruption in the community. Individual [word of mouth] and mass forms of communication [e.g. TV, radio, newspapers] could let the population know what was really happening. With a positive response and feedback about the rumours lessened their impact. The project now has 300 villages that use 450 community ambassadors to influence and distribute information to 16,000 subscribers. After 800+ rumours had circulated; 44% was verifies to be true. By building trust within the community; now 93% are highly informed and an increase of 13% more people are reporting the rumours.
Chris also outlined other countries that the Sentinel Project is helping: Myanmar where ethic Muslims and Buddhist groups have little contact which leads to distrust as seen in the recent Ryuinga exodus from Myanmar. As well as in the Congo where a local activist has asked for help. In Iraq where a local early warning system is in place to assist the population with ISIS and Kurdish forces clashing so they can move out of harm's way. Finally, in South Sudan where misinformation about refugees have created tensions between local tribes and the refugees. A transnational communication system [e.g. radio stations] has been instituted to combat rumours with real information. The Sentinel Project is largely funded by major charities in Canada, US. and the UK. A short Q &A followed for members to ask any questions.
Dave Chatson thanked Chris for his informative and inspiring talk and presented him with our certificate for 100 vaccination in his name.
Remember to contact Neil if you wish to have your auction gift card or tickets brought to our next meeting and if you can assist with the distribution of auction items on Sat. Nov. 25th from 9 to 5 [2 or 3 hour shift only].
Next week's meeting is at the Crowne Plaza with guest speaker Karl Allen-Muncey bringing us information from the Civic Innovation Lab at City of Kitchener.
Our CHRISTMAS social will be at the Registry Theatre on December 11, 2017. Start time will be either 5:30 or 6:00 pm and will be announced shortly!! Great eats, cash bar, entertainment and ANNUAL PIE AUCTION are all on the docket for a great social evening!!!
