ANNOUNCEMENTS

Jim Lisi reiterated the time and location of the holiday party which will be held on Wednesday, January 15th at the University Center at 5:30 pm. There will be an open bar, and the cost of each person's dinner is $70.  It is also expected that each guest brings an item that has a value of at least $50 for the silent auction.

Jim Lisi announced the Rotary District 5240 Foundation Gala that will be held on Saturday, January 25th from 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM at the Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach. The cost of attendance is $125 per person. You can register through this link: https://rotarydistrict5240.org/events/distric-5240-foundation-gala    

The accepting and announcement of open nominations for President Elect 2026-2027 and Treasurer 2026-2027 was introduced by Gil Garcia. Our nominees for the year 2026-2027 are Tim Hardy for President Elect and Marti Correa de Garcia for Treasurer. The nominations will be open until the 22nd, if you would like to nominate a club member for one of the positions, please inform Gil Garcia before the 22nd.

 

Mike Bergquist used his Megabuck to share that his son and his son's wife that married in France last year are currently visiting him for 2 weeks. 

Marti Correa de Garcia used her Megabuck to express her gratitude to new Rotary members Diana Monge and Jose Gonzalez-Perez.

 
Tom Jacobs used his Megabuck to honor Jimmy Carter, tributing the 39th President of the United States of America. 

 

GUEST SPEAKER – Gem Munro

 

The Amarok Society is a Canadian charity that serves various communities within Asia and Africa whose goal is to provide children with the opportunity of an education. Gem Munro and his wife Tanyss Munro established the Amarok Society on the principle that education serves as a tool of agency showing how foundational education is in the development and maintenance of communities. The Amarok Society has provided this form of agency through the empowerment of women as their method begins with educating mothers enabling them to be the teachers of their community. Having mothers serve as teachers promotes the accessibility of education as knowledge is not restricted to a single environment, rather it is something that can be supported and improved within communities. The class is a cohort of 25 mothers who have the responsibility of sharing their knowledge with at least 5 children. Amarok Society’s approach was inspired when Dr. Tanyss and Gem Munro were called by an international organization to address and improve factors present within Bangladesh’s school system. While in Bangladesh they were able to note that the lack of education was not the cause of a deficient school system rather the accessibility of these schools is what limited children from receiving an education. Acknowledging the difficulty in establishing and maintaining fully operating schools, the construction of schools does not equate to the development of communities rather it highlights the scarce resources present within these communities. The system that Amarok’s uses enables knowledge to be shared throughout the community. Mothers can begin the transmission process by teaching children, but the cycle continues as children begin to teach other children. The development and maintenance of educational communities are reflected in Gem Munro’s accounts of the individuals he was able to meet throughout his journey with Amarock. Gem was able to share a story of a woman in Bangladesh who felt that her life had ended when she became a child bride at the age of 12 but the introduction of education began her life again. This woman’s daughter came to pursue a medical degree and escaped the shackles of child marriage. 

 

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with Terry and Pat Straehley during this difficult time of grief as they mourn their son.