Yours In Rotary,
Matt Hatty
President, The Rotary Club of Trenton, Michigan
Here are some pictures of the dental clinic we are expanding in Fosou, Ghana. This is a fantastic project we are a part of. Thank you, Noel, for coordinating the efforts.
Bill’s Adventures around the world on Zoom
by Bill Jasman
Once we found the world-wide database of clubs Zoom, we began a search for those clubs that held their meetings at times we could visit.
First stop was the Mount Lawley Club of Perth. There speaker was a PDG from Perth who was involved in Australia’s Interplast Project. This project drew resources from all 27 districts between Australia and New Zealand and sent Medical teams and during a two week stay, help train nurses, doctors and interns in the Pan Asia region as far north as Korea and as far wide to Sri Lanka. But with all good intentions, Covid has shut down their activities. It takes $40,000 US to provide one of these teams and people are on waiting lists to go. The club is also trying to help find jobs for those with disabilities. 29 Member Club.
Then there was our meeting were Chris Sorenson reviewed several scam scenarios that people are being attacked by. Thanks to the 31 people who attended.
Next stop was in the Putney Rotary Club of London. Just across the Thames from the Fulham and Chelsea neighborhoods. Their speaker was a Quaker Minister who ministered to people imprisoned in Wadsworth Prison in London. 1600 men are housed in this 100-year-old squalid conditions. She described it as big, old and foreboding. The prisoners spend 23 hours in a cell. Their one hour outside is shower, all meals and exercise. The structure of the prison, Government Officials have all the rights, Prisoners have no confiding, Chaplains can go everywhere and talk to everyone. There are also Catholic, Anglican and other beliefs. This Quaker minister picks up all those who don’t profess a faith on processing. The club is providing puzzles and games to the minister to help those prisoners. Another 29-member club
My last stop on Monday was Ottawa Metro Rotary Club which is an evening offshoot of the Daytime Club. They discussed problems they had with other clubs picking off their membership and they had lost half of their charter members. They asked about our club and what we have been doing for Covid. They were down to 10 or 11 members and addressed their need to help in the Covid Crisis and asked if they had watched the Rotary Telethon.
The Rotary Telethon is up on Facebook Live and still available to watch. On an Apple TV Box, it can be viewed on the Facebook Watch App. Then Search for Rotary.
On Tuesday, I jumped into the Grand Cayman’s Club Tuesday Night Club. A Club of 76 members. After a few minutes of chatting, their speaker got underway. It was the Chief Nursing Officer for the Cayman Islands. She spent 25 minutes discussing the Islands needs and also discussed the effect of the virus on the vocational side and the stress to the nurses who are working many more days than normal, along with a shift of their 4 on and 4 off 12 hour schedule, they are now working 8 hours a day with no days off. After the meeting, some of their board and I got together and compared notes and we are very similar. 76 Members, 17-18,000 in annual giving, $3000 for polio. Pretty cool Rotary Club if you ever find yourself in Grand Cayman Island. Also found a BREW Member.
Wednesday, I found myself in Bismarck, North Dakota, but I was welcomed. The Club fundraised 13,000 to donate to local nursing schools for scholarships in honor of National Nursing week. They had a Nursing Directing of a large Nursing home and assisted living center speak about her vocation and she talked about the shortage of nurses in North Dakota how Covid was affecting them and thanked them for the money they donated to the schools to get more nurses. Through the chat group and after the meeting, I solicited them for member for the BREW Association.
Thursday, I got into the Rotary West Kamloops Meeting in British Colombia. They are noon club like ours, but Pacific time, lunch is at 2:55 EDT. Kamloops West is one of 5 clubs in the City of Kamloops up in the Rocky Mountains. They lie 220 miles north east of Victoria BC. There were 31 people in attendance a very similar club in operations like our club. Their speaker went first. He was a Doctoral Candidate who is doing his research in Psychology on the effects on people of the Coronavirus lockdowns. We he has found to help is repetitive motion: running, walking, hopping, drumming have a very positive effect. Knitting coloring and clay sculpting help as well relieve stress. Organizing a part of your house and also volunteering to help others help. Another visiting Rotarian from near O’Hare Airport in Chicagoland. Chamburg Illinois club is a 17 member club with. District 5060, which Kamloops is in, stretches from North of Kamloops down to the Yakima Washington valley. I was also welcomed and got to let them know about our club.
We meet Thursdays at 7:00 PM
Click our Rotary Providenciales
Grace Bay, Providenciales TKCA 1ZZ
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Pros & Cons of Opening - Post Covid-19
Their first speaker addressed ow it would affect the Taxi business. Since most of the Taxi service is tied to the tourist industry, Taxi drivers are making no income, since the airport is shut down and the hotels are closed. Tentatively hotels and the airport are due to hope on June 1st, the first day of Hurricane Season and their low season. So they have come from a CAT 5 Hurricane last October to rebuilding, Open for 2 months and then 3 months of Covid shutdowns. Right now, it doesn’t look like they will be back to full utilization of Taxi services until November/December timeframe.
The next speaker talked about the economic impact of Covid. He felt the economic downtown is only beginning. With the loss of business so far. Hotels may start closing permanently by next tourist season. There has been a 50%/60% reduction in the economy of the Turks and Caicos Sanitizing machines are through the hotels. But June begins the Hurricane Season, the date for most hotels to reopen, so really the next opportunity for a full opening is November/December after Hurricane Season ends. No business that has been affected has only a 50% chance of recovery of the economy as of this time.
Schools are another are of concern. Some Government workers have to go back to work. It would be good for children to go back to school. How would schools handle social distancing. Normal behavior in small children is hugging, touching and sharing of pencils is a concern. Public schools educate 40% of the children, private schools 60%. The public schools educate most of the children of the Hospitality industry. Tuition has been reduced by ½ but most can’t afford to send their kids to school without the money from the tourists. Special concern was expressed for Kindergartens and special needs students. The Educational area also needs tablets. Apple or Android Systems are both acceptable. They are needed for at home school learning for research since many families cannot afford computers. Another part of the background is there is a big bottleneck with Internet Bandwith, since a lot of infrastruction was destroyed in the Hurricane.
From the construction aspect- Can’t find labor because they are still recovering from the Devasting Hurricane Dorian. So no new construction has been picked up.
From the Legal Standpoint
Employers and Employees both have rights. Government has ordered all employers to shutdown from work. Workers have legal rights to protect their employment from termination.
The conversation ended after 2 hours. No doubt there is still a need for help in the Bahamas. Especial the South Islands. I have included a few forecast and pictures from the aftermath to help everyone understand the dire emergency.
We finally ended up the week with the District 6400 passport club. It is a club for people who ca’t make a regular meeting on Zoom or You Tube at 9:00 in the morning on every Saturday. Sue and Bruce Goldsen have been getting some great speakers and we got a chance to meet our next RI President Holger Knaack, a dynamic, enthused leader, who has hosted many Youth Exchange Students and wants Rotarians to think strategy. Hold your strategic meetings on Zoom or Microsoft Team to continue the strategic planning. RIBI in Great Britain has an average age of 75. Our average is 59. We continue to have a gap of 30 and 40-year old’s joining our club. What is driving that gap? It was an interesting 1 hour discussion.
