Our July 26th meeting was a presentation on 9 years of student and Rotary service projects in Antigua & Barbuda by MSR Dr. Bill Hunter, Director, Fellowship Advising & United Nations Programs at Lehigh University. Bill has been directly engaged in these projects and has been instrumental in guiding the efforts of many Lehigh students in trips to the islands to participate in accomplishing many projects. These have been done with the Ministry of Education and support of the partner Sun Down Rotary Club.
Bill does Q&A
Sadly, last year Antigua and Barbuda, the sister island in its nation, were devastated by hurricanes. Fortunately Antigua with a population of nearly 70,000 was spared the brunt of the storms. Barbuda, with a population of around 2,000 was totally devastated.
While Bill went through the previous successes of Lehigh's projects, his focus was on the current state of the islands with a look to the future.
Possibilities
- Principal / Teacher Exchange this fall
- Lehigh-led Disaster Preparedness Center
- Graduate cohort in Education Administration
- Rotary Grant to support Autism detection and treatment
- Annual service trips expand to include NGOs, Youth groups and environmental sustainability projects
As Morning Star moves forward with its plans, we ask serious consideration be undertaken to find means to help these people recover and move forward. Global grant evaluations, partnerships with other clubs, etc. are among the opportunities.
For more click here for the video Bill shared.