One of Rotary's six areas of focus is supporting education for all children and literacy for children and adults. The goal is "to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy." But why? Why did we just spend so much time and effort raising money for School District 11? Why do we send scholars like Kailee into the world? Why do we send and receive youth exchange students?
I think you would understand the answer to all those questions if you knew about Mestawot.
Mestawot lives in Holleta, Ethiopia, just west of Addis Ababa. She's a high school senior, set to graduate second in her class and earn a full scholarship to university. She would have had to drop out of secondary school without a $300 scholarship from a Rotarian because her family wasn't independently able to afford her education. I say her family, but I mean her mother, because that's all the family Mestawot has. But my point isn't to congratulate us for supporting Mestawot. That scholarship was a seed, but the watering has been left to other hands.
The power of Mestawot's story is that she used the help she was given to give help to others. She joined with friends at her school in an informal service club. They contribute one day per week of their transportation costs to help the elderly with their transportation. Rather than selling or renting their uniforms to poor juniors, Metawot and her group have organized a way to donate their uniforms after graduation to new students who truly need them. And who know what Mestawot will do with her university education to benefit herself and her community?
Literate adults are better able to participate economically in the development of their communities. They enjoy better health because they better understand the health information given through care provider instructions or medication directions. They are also better able to communicate with their children’s teachers and to help their children with school work. "The power of literacy lies not just in the ability to read and write, but rather in a person’s capacity to apply these skills to effectively connect, interpret and discern the intricacies of the world in which they live."
Everything we do in Rotary comes back to education. We promote peace through our Fellowships and Youth Exchanges, and the method chosen is education. Community education is a critical component in disease prevention and eradication and in the promotion of better sanitation. Community development cannot happen where there isn't adequate education.
Education is all, so thank you for all you do to promote education here in the Springs. Thank you for reading to school children. Thank you for sponsoring their concerts and buying them instruments. Thank you for opening your homes to youths from around the world on exchange. Thank you for providing children with hands-on learning experiences like the Planet Walk. Thank you for supporting scholarships for our student athletes, our outstanding seniors, and our peace fellows. Thank you for supporting the Rotary Youth Leadership Award. Thank you for your time, your talents, your financial support, and your mutual support of each other in this effort.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the 12th Annual Flight Gala a smashing success. We suspect that we may have broken several records in fundraising and community involvement.
The 2019 Flight Gala was held Saturday, September 14th at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Colorado Springs. Check in began at 5pm, but attendees started arriving in a steady strem at least twenty minutes before the hour. During the cocktail hour, attendees mingled and enjoyed music from School District 11 students as they perused and competed for the highest bidder on petite butterflies and other silent auction items. "Colorado in Flight" by Denise Hammond ultimately sold for $2,060. From there gala-goers moved into the ballroom and found their seats for a fabulous buffet dinner. Bidders eagerly waved their paddles in attempts to become the new owners of one (or more) of the 24 large original works of art (butterflies and dragonflies) skillfully being auctioned off by Sam Rush-Walton in the live auction. The highest bid of the night at $7,600 was placed on the large butterfly "Everyone Rusts" by Justine Woodard.
"Butterscotch", our raffle butterfly created by Al B Johnson, was won by Rotarian David Brockway.
All signs point to a record year of raising money that Rotary of Colorado Springs will donate to School District 11’s Arts and Science programs as well as the Community Service Fund for projects both local and abroad.
A heartfelt THANK YOU to our extraordinary flight committee members, sponsors, and volunteers that made our event a success!
Our area has a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Romania who is hosted by North Colorado Springs Rotary. Dori arrived in the U.S. in the first week of August and is attending Doherty High School in D11. She will need a new host family around Thanksgiving and into the first two months of the new year. If you would be interested, please contact Dennis Shoemaker at 719-310-2243 or hds8960@gmail.com
Know a high school sophomore who would like to spend a year abroad? Rotary Youth Exchange is in search of applicants for the 2020-21 school year. Here's a link to share with them -- http://mountainandplainsrye.com/applicants
