News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine December 2, 2020
December 4 Club Assembly
President Ellen Niewoehner will lead a Club Assembly on December 4. The discussion will feature reports from a number of club committees and provide a chance to take a few moments to look forward. The program will provide an opportunity for more discussion than is usual for Friday meetings.
Michel Kanyambo Returns
Bruce Jones introduced returning member, MichelKanyambo, a lawyer and judge who grew up in a small village in Rwanda, "The Land of a Thousand Hills." He arrived in Maine in 2010 and began volunteering as a mentor at Catholic Charities in Portland which led to work as a translator—Michel is fluent in six languages, French, English, Swahili, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda and Lingala. He now works as the Legal Assistant and Specialist for the Affidavit of Relation (AOR) Program and the Central American Minors (CAM) Program with Refugee and Immigration Services at Catholic Charities.
Michel earned a law degree in 2004 in Rwanda where his first position was in the Rwandan Ministry of Education handling international education and scholarships. He moved to working on human rights issues before serving as a judge on the Rwandan District Court.
Michel received a second law degree in international law from Catholic University in Belgium in 2008. He completed studies for a third law degree from the University of Maine School of Law in 2014.
Michel lives in Portland with his wife and two boys, age 7 and 12. He plays soccer, enjoys running, reading and playing with his kids. He wants to learn golf and tennis and loves all things Maine, except wintertime. Michel said he was very pleased and excited to be welcomed again into the Portland Rotary family and has a strong interest in becoming involved in the International Services Committee. He said he refers to himself as a “wandering child who has found his way back home.” Bruce commented in his introduction, “we can’t imagine a finer new member for our family.”
St. Vincent’s Thanksgiving Tradition Continues
With some modifications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, members of Portland Rotary continued the tradition of providing a Thanksgiving meal to the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen on Wednesday, November 25. Dick Giles arranged for the significant contribution of food from Sysco.
Led by Community Services Committee chair Tom Ranello, Bruce Moore, Jan Chapman, and Dick Hall arrived at St. Vincent’s at 8 am to get the ovens going and begin food preparation. Ellen Niewoehner, Bowen Depke, Charlie Frair, Ralph Hendrix, Amy Chipman, new member Sam Silver, Michelle Disotto, and her coworker James joined later.
The team prepared and packaged 150 meals for distribution to those in need. “It was a seamless and very successful production,” commented Tom.
BITS & PIECES | by John Marr
President Ellen Niewoehner convened our gathering of 42 members and guests. Despite the quality of our speakers and the convenience of Zoom, we aren’t enjoying the online attendance we deserve. President Ellen is doing a masterful job of keeping the loose agenda going and getting us off to a timely start as well as concise 1pm conclusion. I’ve yet to hear anyone complain about the meal, the traffic, or being stuck at the “wrong” table. Every week the company is perfect and there’s no need to shout or explain the point you were trying to make. With that in mind, please try to attend and maintain your fellowship. While we always start around noon, we always have a few minutes of casual chatter to pick up tidbits of personal interest. There are always a few chuckles to be had, and realize our friends have not fallen off the face of the earth during our period of containment, even if we are hiding behind a mask!
This week's meeting, thanks in large part to the work of incoming District 7780 Governor Dick Hall, former DG Marty Hellman as well as Dick’s successor, Claudia Frost, attended to show their support and voice their amazement for our club having the distinction of successfully sponsoring Two Rotary Peace Scholars.
Cyrus Hagge shared a humorous reflection of the tech world by simultaneously lamenting and lambasting Zoom. No need to bow our heads but plenty of reason to shake our heads in laughter. Thank you, Cy, for helping us have a good chuckle at a world gone amok.
Bruce Moore introduced a guest, Ernie Arnold, who is in the employ of the Cross Center in Portland. We sure would like to see more of him and can’t wait for him to be busy bringing some fabulous shows to town.
Tom Ranello has been busy. He is heading up the Salvation Army bell ringing campaign that kicks off December 1st and is looking for volunteers who will practice physical distancing of six feet from the kettle. If you have an interest in participating in this tradition let Tom know and he will find a spot for you.
November is Rotary Foundation month and Amy Chipman is pushing to break the record for donations set last year. Contributions can be made online. As further enticement, members will receive email videos created by Laurence Furbush to show how much good has been accomplished with gifts to the foundation. Thanks to all who have participated and are willing to keep on giving. We make a WORLD of difference. Wouldn’t another Paul Harris Fellow pin be the best Christmas gift you ever gave yourself?
Jim Willey announced that while COVID-19 restrictions limit the Club’s program of meeting regularly with residents of Long Creek Youth Development Center’s Cedar Unit, the team worked with the staff at Long Creek to deliver sandwiches from D’Angelo’s. “We may not be able to socialize and play games, but we can still bring in some sumptuous turkey subs with gravy and cranberry sauce to show the kids there’s still someone out there that cares.” Thanks, Jim and the Cedar Crew for all that you do to help these young people remember that they aren’t forgotten nor forsaken.
Portland Rotary Peace Scholars
By Dick Hall
Brian Sandberg and Darren Wallach shared their experiences as Rotary Peace Scholars in the club’s observance of Rotary Foundation Month. Dick Hall introduced the speakers and coordinated their presentations.
Brian is a Peace Scholar who completed a two-year master’s program at the Universidad del Salvador (USAL) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to earn a Master of Arts in International Relations in 2009-2011. Since he lives in Buenos Aires, Brian prepared a video to discuss his work and give a taste of his life in the city.
Brian began and ended by thanking Portland Rotary, and Rotary International for the opportunity to be a Peace Scholar. He said the two-year program exposed him to students and faculty from around the world who helped him learn about all aspects of peace in the demanding program which focused on the attention to detail and organization necessary to succeed. He stays in close contact with his class and Rotary in Evanston. He explained numerous doors had opened to him because of the worldwide respect for Rotary and the Peace Scholars program. Brian said that having it on his resume gives a certain caché to everything he does. He feels that he now has the training and knowledge to help assist in some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Brian met his wife in Argentina and has remained there, and they now have a 9-year-old son, who participated in the video. Brian has a small translating services business, which gives him the income necessary to support his peace work. He is currently organizing Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to improve the life of those living in the slums in and around Buenos Aires.
Darren Wallach was our second Peace program participant. He completed a one-year Rotary Peace Fellowship in Bangkok, Thailand at Chulalongkorn University. This shorter program is designed for professionals who cannot take two years off from their careers. His 13-member class consisted of seven Americans and six from around the world. Darren is still in close contact with all of his classmates and regularly contacts them for advice and input.
Darren teaches social studies at Oceanside High School in Rockland, Maine. He spoke from his classroom and explained that teaching U.S. history consists of teaching about all the wars from the American Revolution through current conflicts. Darren wants to change that and include peace in the curriculum. He earned an MA from the University of Maine’s Peace & Reconciliation Studies program in August 2020, and plans a book for the high school and college classroom adapted from his thesis—Ways To Peace: Case Studies in Peace and Diplomacy- A Reader for High School & College Students. Darren solicited input from our club on how to get this book published so it can go beyond the copies given away to his colleagues throughout Maine.
Darren met his wife while in Thailand and now lives with his family in Brunswick.
Moment of Reflection
Thanksgiving for Two
By Marjorie Saiser
The adults we call our children will not be arriving
November 27 | NO MEETING
December 4 | Club Assembly
December 11 | Rich Cantz, President, Goodwill
December 18 | Greg Mitchell, Economic Development Director, City of Portland
