Posted on Mar 12, 2020
 
 
Author Will Portello
No Photos Until Cyberspace Meetings End
 
Get Up and Go.
3/20/2020
For the Second Gathering of the Great Pandemic of 2020, the masses trickled into the Zoom hall.  Shortly after 7:00 a.m. , President Tim hit the bell, and in the name of all that is holy, a cacophony broke out that broke the internet, scared my cat off the table (where he wasn’t supposed to be in the first place), and left my family goggle-eyed.   When I explained that the noise was really just “Smile” being sung at multiple pitches, on different times, with various amounts of buffering and screen lag, they relaxed.  Until we did America the Beautiful. 
 
As a preface, the author is currently locked down.  With ADD, and certain anti-social tendencies, he has lost his normal cherubic good humor.  He’s becoming a bit surly, and that attitude may be reflected in his writing.  If you choose to proceed, that’s on you.  So no whining.
We had quite a few visitors to our online meeting, including Anthony from Kenya, and Elizabeth from the Nakuru Rotary.  We also had Aldina from Engineers without Borders, and Julie from Kenya.
 
Moving into announcements, Don Winters announced he was trying to find a bunk bed for Marcel.  Because Marcel was the “replacement child” for a kid off at college, but said kid was sent home due to the pandemic, said kid and Bolivian Exchange Student were going to be bunkmates.  It has the making of one heckuva sitcom.
 
Andrew Newman’s drum circle/three-chord/76 trombone jam sessions are still going.  Details to follow on the interwebs.  You’ve been duly warned.
Marc Thompson hopped on with a thank you for the fluctuating 51-54 people in the Zoom meeting room.  He also noted that Meals on Wheels switched to delivering 2 days per week, and will not need the normal driver rotation.  MoW is planning on delivering three meals at a time, on a Tuesday-Friday schedule.  If you want to be a backup driver, contact Marc.
 
We then proceeded with virtual fines, assessed through the virtual world, via our virtual sergeant,  Andrew Newman.  Lots and lots of Happy Bucks.  All donations are considered to be $5.00 unless the reporter was actually paying attention, and wrote a number down.
Because of an inquisitive cat, the intrepid reporter’s notes on the first few volunteers were incomplete.  However, cryptic entries provided by Gretchen’s duplicate note-taking service helped fill in the gaps
 
Dave Murphy was happy for being able to get together with his family online.  Marc Thompson and Heidi are celebrating 23 years of wedded bliss in a trailer park, or something involving a camper van, or caravan. Or van.  Carolyn Stiver celebrated a birthday, either a 35th or a 65th (stupid internet audio!), but is disappointed on missing out on her Sunday night dinners.  Patsy is celebrating 48 happy years of marriage.  Brian thanked everyone who organized a video meeting, and gave happy bucks for his daughter Julia starting her career as a nurse in Florida.  Brodie was supposed to join his son’s family  in Bend at Christmas, but it was delayed because of a so-called illness.   So then they were going to do it again last weekend, but the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic apparently put the hammer down on that.  So now they’re just driving to Weed and hurling the presents into each others’ cars from an acceptably safe social distance.  I’m not even sure if they’ll downshift.  Rose gave happy bucks for disinfecting Swim America.  They’re donating the disinfectant if you want it.  It’s outside the S.A. door.  Jonathan Clay gave bucks that he expects the club to be happy for because Siris will be going to school in San Diego next year.  I’m not sure why anyone thinks we’d be happy about the Clays moving to San Diego.  Because we’re not.  So take your money and stuff it in a sack, Mister.
 
Dave Morse is on Day 1,256 of Quarantine after his cruise.  Freakin’ Gilligan got off easier than the Morses.  Andrew Newman thanked the City Leaders, and reminded members to support local businesses.  Of course. Had the City Leaders not closed the flippin’ golf course, I’d be happy to support my local businesses, while socially distancing.  But nooooooooo….  Fun is off the table. 
Vanessa talked about PETS.  She says it was really fun, and spent her time sanitizing all the tables.  PETS included clubs from Oregon to Tulare, the Nevada border to Hawaii.  Vanessa went to several discussions about auxiliary clubs, and our club was a big hit.  Interestingly, there were Webinars ahead of time, and breakouts at PETS to follow up.  When I went to PETS, they had butcher paper, crayolas, and we drank.
 
Lori then did an introductory quiz that involved all of Meaghan Likes’ languages (French, German, and Italian.  You can only speak French until March, then only German.  Spanish is neutral).  David Copp has either attended, been in residence, or taught at most of the schools west of the Rhine.  Patsy has done great photo curations on the Bracero Program, the Panama Pacific Exposition, and something else.
David, Patsy, and Meaghan were finally able to put on their presentation about their Kenya trip.  The main purpose was to network for Rotary projects.  They took 356 lbs in donations in 10 suitcases.  The trip involved 24 hours of flying to reach Nairobi, via Istanbul (“not Constantinople, now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople, been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople, now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night…”).  But enough of They Might Be Giants.
Most of the trip was spent in schools, although they did get four days in national parks.  Nakuru National Park had rhinos.  They also saw wild beasts, warthogs, lions,. cheetahs… and some baboons that they memorialized in poses reminiscent of the Discovery Channel after 10:00 pm.  It was like they channeled their inner Manny for the pictures.
 
They spent most of their time with the Nakuru Rotary Club, as well as the Milimani Rotary Club One of the first visits was with Joyce Kiptoro, a student the club is sponsoring at the Starehe School.  We have partnered with the Milimani Club for projects in the area, including the adopt-a-student program, library projects, and the latrines at St. Stephens’ School.
 
They also visited the Naka Primary School in Nakuru.  That project, using only $1000 in club funds, plus $3500 in member contributions, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Nkuru, has brought running water to the school.
 
They went to the village of Ichuni.  Ichuni is the site of a major water project to bring water to a town of 7500 people.  Using $28,000 in club funds,  and working in partnership with Engineers without Borders,  we secured $40,000 from the District, and another $54,000 from Rotary International.  There’s a lot of work to go.
 
They visited 19 schools in the area, distributing soccer balls, jerseys, and crayons.  They also spent a day with 60 students on a tree-planting project, planting 150 shade trees.  A bitter dispute broke out on Zoom at that point in the meeting between Patsy and Meaghan as to whether the holes for the trees had already been dug.  David Copp wisely sat that one out.
 
They also reviewed the Pads Project.  Each recipient is able to attend school an extra week per year, or two months over the span of the school year.  That project has moved forward in partnership with the Rotary Club of Nakuru.  Local sewing groups participate, allowing women in the groups to earn money.  The project itself cost only $3,382 in club funds, along with a District grant of $10,142.  Our intrepid explorers want to return in July or August, and help move the hygiene project forward.
 
The cost per-person was about $5,500, and required three weeks of time.  One critical expense was for a single full-time driver the entire time, allowing them to feel safe.  Because of the intensive nature of the travel, and the full time interactions, Patsy, David, and Meaghan became very close.
No Draw of the Day.  And if there are spelling or content errors, all responsibility is disclaimed.  The writer requested a copy of the presentation, but was blown off.