RoteNotes 26 Aug 2021

     “It’s 7:02 and Les hasn’t shown up,” President Leon announced, so we knew he was aware of the time.  This was soon followed by, “Good evening, Les.  What time have you got there?” 

     “Time to get started,” replied Les.  “Well, we waited for you,” stated Leon, before opening the meeting with O Canada as performed by Ginette Reno.

Announcements:  City of Langley is opening their facilities in September so we may be able to meet again in person on September 9^th, mask regulations may affect our in person meeting (e.g speaker wearing a mask?); thank you to Leon, Allan, John and Nora who helped Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) with a Rotary Nicomekl Trail environmental clean-up on August 21st;

Les found a Rotary song book and would like us to sing some of the songs (we used to be a singing club); perhaps we could have a singing evening (with Peter and his accordion?); and regrets were received from Nav.

     Our guest speaker, Josh Lockington, a teacher in Abbotsford, has been married eighteen years and has three children.  He is anxious to get back to in person teaching, much preferring that to teaching via zoom.  He met his wife in Africa while on a mission trip, and moved from Ottawa to be with her and raise a family in beautiful B.C.  He told us the story of adopting his son from Lesotho, and how it took 4.5 years to go through the paperwork (red tape) to get his son. 

     Josh is serving as an ambassador for his son’s non-profit orphanage and has taken on the task to raise funds for the borehole (well) at what will be the new site of Beautiful Gate 2, a planned seventy bed facility for orphans.  In Lesotho 10% of youth under age eighteen are orphans, and the average life expectancy is fifty years.  A quarter of the two million people have HIV/AIDs and children age six and up are frequently forced into child labour or sex exploitation in next door South Africa.  The plans for the new orphanage located on 34 acres would include the kitchen and sleeping quarters, greenhouses, rental hall, and terraced fields for crops, especially root plants.  First they need to build a perimeter fence and guardhouse, and have a functioning well with a 10 000 L tank.  We found Josh’s presentation most interesting.    

 

​​​​​​Foundation Chair Wayne read the Foundation Moment for this week.

 

 

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