Guests present: speakers Patti Quigley and Sarah Parjerm, Patricia Conway, Theresa Bulman, Susan James, Barbara Dakrymple, Mary Desmond and Beverly Westerveld.
Debbie opened the meeting at 6:30. Janet led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Joan led us in prayer. There was no correspondence. Debbie introduced Patti Quigley and Sarah Parker our speakers. Lucille had her guests introduced themselves.
Debbie talked about our Pancake Breakfast on August 5th. She has fliers for people to take and large signs to put up on different locations. There was a discussion about having the shelter box. It was decided we wouldn’t have it this year. Janet has tickets. If you buy them now they are only $5.00. $40 dollars a sheet of 8.
Next month’s meeting will be at The Meeting House. Lucille said to use the door facing the marshes and water. Park on Meeting House Lane. Meeting will be from 6-8. It will be a pot Luck with a sign up on line with e-mail on what you will bring. Discussion will be on the details of the pancake breakfast. Bring your own wine or beer.
Janet said we had two thousand in adds. They have been taken to the printers.
Debbie said the Rotary Night at The Paw Sox is at McCoy Stadium on August 20 at 6:30 PM.
World Polio Day is September 9th. The Rotary will do the community dinner on October 22 at St. Luke’s.
After Dinner Patti Quigley told us details about “ Razia’s Ray of Hope” school for girls in Afghanistan. The founder is Afghan native Razia Jan. In 2008 the Zabuli Education Center ,an all girl K-12 school provides free education. They now have 625 girls at the school. In 2016 they opened the doors to the Razia Jan Institute, the first women’s college in rural Afghanistan providing women with visible career paths. They have 22 students. She told us about Razia’s life how she came to US before the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and lived in Duxbury and president of the Duxbury Rotary. She is planning on moving to Los Angles to be with her family but plans to continue to visit her school in Afghanistan. She told us about the many problems in getting the school started and the hard times the girls had.
Patti is now Executive Director. Her husband died on one of the planes on September 11, 2001 and she was pregnant with her second child. She then became active in woman issues. She became aware of the vast different experience as a widow and the treatment of the Afghanistan widows. Afghan widows are highly vulnerable and live in poverty. She is a co-founder of “Beyond The 11th” In 2005 she joined “Razia’s Ray of Hope” to help Razia Jan fulfill her dream of educating the next generation of Afghan girls Patti lives in Wellesley, MA with her two girls. She and Razia were subjects in Beth Murphy’s documentary film “Beyond Belief”.
Sarah Parker is Development Director. She has done much in fund raising and organizing volunteers. She had severed as director of The Council of Woman World leaders in Washington, DC. She has worked in Ireland and Bosnia.
Joan Powers, Secretary
