The meeting was chaired by our Past President (from many years ago) Gary who ably kept us on our toes and on time. Well done Gary!
Birthdays: Danne had his birthday before he and Kerry leave for their holiday to Europe.
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Gayle (with Linda) , Gary & Alan have struck a committee for an event to celebrate our Club’s 20th Anniversary in October/Novemer. She also has (and will have at this week’s meeting) RIBFEST volunteer cards.
Bill reminded the Club our cousins in the PoCo Club are again sponsoring the PoCo May Day parade on Saturday May 11th. Anyone who can volunteer contact Bill or Gaye Simms.
Alan K. reminded everyone to keep selling SFPP tickets we are 2 days out.
Gayle addressed our Installation night dinner coming Thursday June 20th. Members dinners are included in our annual fees. Plus 1’s are $55.00 per person.
Patty advised us the Rotaractors replaced plants/flowers in the big planters outside the main entrance at Eagle Ridge Hospital—well done you Guys and Gals!!
Happy dollars: thanks from EVERYONE to Claire who did an amazing job organizing and making happen the “Before I die Wall” and to Mike C. and Danne for painting lines etc.. It was opened to the public Saturday morning April 27th. Full coverage by both the Sun and Province. GREAT JOB CLAIRE!
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Dan announced that Rotary World Help would be loading their 400th container on Saturday May 18th going to the Ukraine (which is significant because the very first container sent also went to the Ukraine) . There will be a short celebration after and anyone is invited.
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Our Guest speaker was Cleone who was there to give highlights of her trip to Africa. This project connected with the WHISCA agency, Lugari School District, Days For Girls and other Rotary Clubs. It was to expand the opportunities for E-learning with computer labs but also to explore new opportunities for future trips. She was a c-planner of this project with her friend Kaiyanga and K’s brother on this trip who are the onsite coordinators for the ongoing projects.
Delayed flights, racing to catch connectors, and living without her own clothes (delayed) for a few days.—the joys of international travel.
In the E-lab to be set up they first had to work with a local handy person to build 42 tables with drawers to hold the equipment etc. (desk building 101)then, thanks to modern communication, they were able to access expertise from Michael B. from Vancouver and a Vancouver District Specialist to get the computers up and running. Gave hands-on training but the students were knowledgeable with E-Learning not RACHEL.
Books sent from our Club included stories, novels and text books from SD43 (weren’t sure if the kids would use them but they dug right in)
The school districts are all over crowded—too many students wanting to find a way to get ahead, with not enough facilities or staff. The trip included 1-3 days of training for teachers on the new I.T. Launch day was very busy. Cleone also took some hand held microscopes like the 1’s our Club supplied to the Natural Science Lab the teacher in Seaview which opened the eyes of kids and teachers.
Worked with School Districts too introducing the “Days for Girls” re-usable menstrual pads program designed to allow the girls to continue attending class during their periods. It is part of the reason the girls have difficulty keeping up with their school work as they have traditionally had to miss school for up to a week a month. The most important way to change the 3rd world dynamic is to educate the girls and women. 12 new schools signed up for the program going forward.
Cleone also worked on a water program which is something our Club can hopefully contribute to in future trips.
She also explored a potential Forestry Project . She found a space the district was prepared to donate and opened discussions on how the area could be developed—part with a Forest plantation (including exotic species), some as grassland, some bushland and a large portion to be teaching centre with buildings and market gardens to produce food for the communities use and to sell excess to fund the program.
Cleone worked with the Rotary Club of Eldoret
THANK YOU Cleone for your hard work and passion for the world’s ecology and for the people in Africa who really need and appreciate your work. It looks like you will have a potential for many other “missions” to Africa. Hopefully we can add some helpers to your Team for future trips!