After the Rotary District 6388 Conference Rotarians for around the District came to Rolling Hill County Park for a Tree Planting. These photo's are from Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission's Facebook page.
Jay Vincent was our speaker at the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North Luncheon on April 3, 2018. Jay talked about his book called "My Story: United States vs Jay Vincent" and at risk kid's.
Jay told, us he played for Michigan State University under coach, Jud Heathcote, where he teamed with Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser to win the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
In 2010 Jay made bad decisions in his business in East Lansing and was sentenced in September 2011 to prison for 5 years and a half years.
Jay Vincent told a story about when he was in prison, he tried to act brave and climbed a slab and told the criminals how bad he was. He told them he was a third degree black belt and if anybody challenged him they’d be in trouble. Most bought the story.
One guy did not.
“You might be a third degree black belt but I am 10th degree crazy,” one guy screamed back.
Jay said, "he did not say anything about having a black belt after that."
Today Jay writes books and talks to kid's about his hard times, so others can learn from them and live better lives.
Jay told us about a young man, that was looking like he was going down the wrong path. Jay took him to a library and described his experience in prison. The man listened and is now living a productive life and has never been in jail.
Jay wants to tell his story to help anyone who needs it. He would be happy to come to any event and talk about at risk kid's.
"I wish to lift the depressed and energize & inspire the rest."
I was honored and humbled to serve as “Toilet Warrior” on March 31 and April 1 for Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North (RCAAN) and D6380, for a final site tour, inspecting and assessing the impact of two Rotary Foundation sponsored sanitation-focused Global Grants which are led by RCAAN as international sponsor since early 2016. The two host groups were D3291 Foundation (representing 39 Calcutta area Rotary clubs), and the Rotary Club of Calcutta-Midtown (RCCM).
The goals of both sanitation projects are to end open defecation and break the cycle of generational poverty by empowering rural women with safe, private sanitation facilities so that they can educate their children better, learn sustainable vocations to augment their income, and thereby regained their dignity.
Calcutta (population ~15 million) is the home of Poet Rabindranath Tagore, India’s Nobel Prize winner in Literature, and is also known as City of Joy where Mother Teresa (beatified in 2016 as St. Teresa of Calcutta) served the poor and rescued the sick and orphans off the streets. (Two past D6380 delegations to Calcutta were led by PDG Terry Youlton for Polio Eradication efforts in the late 1990s, and it is also the site of a 3H Grant co-funded by D6380 for a diabetes research hospital).
RCAAN and RCCM began Project Dignity in 2011-12 as a Simplified District Grant project for $18,000, and the successful implementation of 120 in-home toilets and lessons learned were used by RCAAN to organize these two new Rotary Foundation Global Grant projects, which have since engaged the financial support of Rotary Clubs of Ann Arbor North, Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor West, Chelsea, Ferndale, Milan, Novi, Saline and Ypsilanti Rotary Clubs.
I am pleased to report that both Global Grant projects have far exceeded their original targets of rural in-home toilets awarded to below-poverty-line villagers subsisting in the Sundarbans - a lush mangrove forest with high biodiversity located in the Ganges River Delta outside Kolkata. This achievement was possible due to frugal money management by our dedicated Rotary partners and project chairs in India, who used bulk procurement of raw materials and supplies, solicited free labor and services from local toilet awardees or providers, and leveraged with Exide India Battery Corporation which augmented Global Grant funds - all of these allowed RCCM, our Project Dignity partner Club, to add 80 more toilets over the original goal of 320 toilets. Each toilet costs approximately $210/unit and comprises of 2 composting septic tanks to store solid waste while microbial action prepares it in 3-4 months to be used as fertilizer for the farms.
(1) Global Grant 1527157 ($96k) with District 3291 Foundation and ~30 Calcutta area Clubs has completed 526 toilets (original goal was 500). I was graciously hosted for the review by D3291 Foundation Chair Rotn Jayanta Chatterji on March 31, 2018. See photo.
(2) Global Grant 1526428 ($84k + investment by Exide Battery) on Project Dignity undertaken with the Rotary Club of Calcutta-Midtown (RCCM), and 7 co-sponsor Michigan Rotary Clubs has now completed 400 toilets (as of April 1) with the NGO Sri Ramakrishna Ashram Nimpith (SRAN)...The project will conclude with 420 toilets by end of May 2018. Photos show toilets are named for each sponsor Club from D6380.
On April 1 early morning, I accompanied the ever energetic Rotn Rakesh Sahni, my Project Co-Chair of RCCM and 6 of his club members - Radhika Sahni, Ruby and Matoo Sikri, Samir Prasad, Joydeep Sanyal, and Sumi Agrawal Past-President of Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta-Midtown and our chief instigator for Project Dignity in 2009 - we toured for over five hours in ~105F steamy temperatures across a 2 km area in the lush biodiversity of the Sundarbans. We toured an area occupied by both Muslim and Hindu communities co-existing harmoniously, led by the Ramkrishna Ashram’s monks and two sanitation contractors, both, on foot and by vehicle over narrow, often precarious sandy embankments to inaugurate 20 new rural toilets. These toilets will empower rural woman-run households with health, hygiene and safety to enable them to take up sustainable vocations and thus, raise their living standards.
In conclusion, I am grateful to Rotn Ashish Sarkar of RC Ann Arbor for undertaking a site visit with RCCM members to the Sundarbans on February 5, 2018, when the previous batch of 20 toilets was inaugurated. Five RCAAN members also toured with me to inaugurate the first batch of 40 toilets completed in March 2016: John Copeland, Matt Copeland, Bryan Schindel, Laura VanSteenis and Tamra Ward. The following photos don’t do sufficient justice to portraying the harsh realities of rural life in the Sundarbans, which is highly vulnerable to climate change, or to the hardships and challenges of bringing sanitation supplies and training/followup to these secluded communities. The dedication of our local Rotary and NGO partners is commendable!
RCAAN’s third sanitation focused Global Grant 1635112 ($36,000) was awarded in March 2018, and will begin in May 2018 in Bungamati, Nepal with partners RC Chandragiri (Nepal), RC Singapore and Nepal Consul General’s Office in Singapore - the goal is to improve school sanitation and community hygiene with new toilets for 4 girls schools which are being rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 2015. A site tour is planned in October 2018. Stay tuned!
At the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North Luncheon this Thursday, May 3rd the speaker will be Jay Vincent talking about at risk kid's.
Jay Fletcher Vincent is a retired American professional basketball player. Vincent played at Michigan State University under coach, Jud Heathcote, where he teamed with Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser to win the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Vincent won the Big Ten scoring championship in his junior and senior years.
He was then selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 1981 NBA draft (24th overall pick), and he went on to have a productive 9-year NBA career, playing for the Mavericks (1981–86), Washington Bullets (1986–87), Denver Nuggets (1987–89), San Antonio Spurs (1989), Philadelphia 76ers (1989–1990) and Los Angeles Lakers (1990). He concluded his NBA career in 1990 with 8,729 career points, 3,167 career rebounds, and 1,124 career assists.
Jay Vincent now is an author and speaker. His objectives in his books are to lift the depressed and energize & inspire the rest.
Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North andGIVE 365of theAnn Arbor Parks and Recreation, put gravel down in the Butterfly Garden in Gallup Park on Saturday, April 21, 2018.
At Conference 2018 we’ll do more than listen—we will demonstrate how people of action can explore an issue and work to develop actions plans for real change. We will focus our attention on key issues, hearing from experts and expand the topics with content panelists. Then we will discuss the issues at our table to develop plans of action. You will leave the conference inspired and equipped with information you can use to develop projects that can generate meaningful change in our local communities and communities across the globe.
If you can not attend the Conference, but would like to attend the Tree Planting Event, we would love to have you. Please click HEREto register .
Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North donated 50 trees for our 50 year anniversary.
Date: Sunday, May 6
Time: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
We will get our location assignments on Sunday morning and then move to the parks.
The Rotary Club of Ypsilanti will be preparing our picnic lunch - hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, chips, soft drinks and beer will be available (Cost $10.00).
The locations are still being confirmed because of the rain over the past few weeks. Washtenaw County will be digging the holes and the trees will be delivered close to the site. Our jobs will be to move the trees to the pre-dug holes, fill in the dirt, add water, mulch, and if needed a gator bag.
Please bring shovels, rakes, and buckets. Wheelbarrows and garden wagons would also be helpful.
For now we know we will be planting trees inRolling Hills Parkand 3 areas in parks around the lake in Ypsilanti Township.
As the week moves forward - plans should be finalized. You will receive complete details and location information on Sunday morning. Plan to be in the ballroom of theMarriott at Eagle Crest, Ypsilanti no later than 10 am. We'll hear from a local tree expert and get our planting assignments.
Successful Site Tour on April 1 - Rotary Sanitation Grants’ Goals Far Exceeded - 1,170 Toilets Completed in Sundarbans (E. India)!
I was humbled to serve as a “toilet inspector” on March 31 and April 1, assessing progress with Kolkata Rotarians on two Rotary Foundation sponsored sanitation Global Grants led by Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North (RCAAN).
On April 1 early morning, I accompanied the ever-energetic Rotn Rakesh Sahni of RCCM and 5 of his club members - Radhika Sahni, Ruby and Matoo Sikri, Samir Prasad, Joydeep Chatterji, Probir Chatterji of Mississauga Ontario, and Sumi Agrawal of Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta-Midtown (our instigator since 2009!) - We hiked in ~105F steamy temperatures across a 2 km area in the lush greenery of the Sundarbans where these newest toilets are constructed.
We toured the area occupied by both Muslim and Hindu families together with the Ramkrishna Ashram’s monks and two sanitation contractors on foot and by vehicle over sandy, often precarious embankments for about 5 hours to inaugurate 20 new toilets. Our cars could only go so far!
These toilets will empower rural woman-run households with health, hygiene and safety to enable them to take up sustainable vocations and thus, raise their living standards.
The photos and videos I have uploaded don’t do sufficient justice to portraying the harsh realities of rural life in the Sundarbans, or can ever recognize the hardships and challenges our Rotary/Inner Wheel/Ramkrishna partners have experienced in bringing in-home sanitation to these secluded communities.
Look for photos acknowledging Rotary Clubs of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor West, Chelsea, Milan, Novi, Saline and Ypsilanti Rotary Clubs.
Both grant projects have far exceeded their original targets of rural in-home toilets awarded to villagers in the Sundarbans and areas surrounding Kolkata, thanks to frugal money management by our Rotary partners, bulk procurement of building supplies, and leverage with Exide Battery Corp.
The status of Global Grants is summarized below:
(1) Global Grant 1527157 ($96k) with District 3291 Foundation and ~30 Calcutta area Clubs has completed 526 toilets (original goal was 500). My meeting was held with Rotn Jayanta Chatterji on 3/31/18.
(2) Global Grant 1526428 ($84k + investment by Exide Battery) on Project Dignity undertaken with the Rotary Club of Calcutta-Midtown (RCCM), and 7 co-sponsor Michigan Rotary Clubs has now completed 400 toilets with the NGO Sri Ramakrishna Ashram Nimpith (SRAN)...
Add to these figures 120 toilets completed in 2011-12 under the leadership or late Rotn Paresh Rajda.
Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North Foundation received $8.68 from 01/31/18-04/30/18.
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Luncheon Day & Time: Thursday's at 12:00 pm | Luncheon Address: Holiday Inn Near The University of Michigan, 3600 Plymouth Road Ann Arbor, MI | Web Site:http://www.rcaan.org| E-Mail:rotaryclubaan@gmail.com| Phone: (734)224-4130 |
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