May 13, 2014 Club Meeting

reporter: Brian Lockwood

Meeting called to order at 12:40 by President Ron Sandidge

Pledge: Katie Mahan

Thought:  Lynn Grossi - Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn. (Benjamin Franklin)

School: New School Gabi Lozano , counselor, and students - Meila Cearaia and Sandra Arredondo

Guests: Herman Graham, [resident at Valley Heights, retired educator], Veronica Yat Tiu [Limitless Horizons Ixil], Katie Morrow [Limitless Horizons Ixil], Lori Butterworth [Jacob’s Heart]

                                                                                          A warm welcome today to Charter Freedom Rotarians, Fred Betz and Tom Sprague shown here with new meeting place announcement plaque at entrance

Correspondence and announcements:

Thank you notes were received from past grant recipients: Encompass, Dientes Community Dental, Haven of Hope, Grey Bears, Siena House, Children’s Hospice & Palliative Care

Patsy Gasca presented a community service grant check $750 to Lori Butterworth for Jacob’s Heart.

Red Cross Heroes Breakfast, May 14, 7:00 t0 9:00 am, Cocoanut Grove Ballroom, Santa Cruz

Rotary U – May 14, 4:00 - 9:00 PM, DoubleTree Hotel, San Jose

John Skinner: International Service Night on May 14, 5:30 PM at Portuguese Hall 124 Atkinson Lane, Watsonville – silent auction, dinner, live auction

http://www.clubrunner.ca/portal/home.aspx?cid=6762

Detective: Heather Geddes $5.00 fines for fire works trivia quiz to - Mark, Tom, Davina, Dave, Lynn, and Fred.

Raffle: Patsy Gasca had prizes for Heather [American Red Cross Cup], Karl [Safety Tube], Gloria [American Red Cross Cup], Student [Safety Tube], Veronica [American Red Cross Cup]

Program feature:

Speaking with us today about the Limitless Horizons Ixil are Isabel Veronica Yat Tiu of Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala and Katie Morrow, Limitless Horizons Ixil. In 2004, California social worker Katie Morrow formed a Guatemalan NGO and launched a scholarship and youth development program supporting 10 students and their families, and in 2009, LHI received 501(c)(3) status in the United States. Katie grew up in California and earned her Bachelor's Degree in Community Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz in 1998 when she was 18 years old. She subsequently traveled and worked around the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Katie went back to school to study social work with a focus on international communities, and graduated with her Master's in Social Work from San Jose State in 2002. She has spent much of the last seven years in Guatemala, and has long been working to relieve poverty by supporting sustainable community development, education, and human rights. Verónica is from Chajul, and now resides in neighboring Nebaj with her husband and three children. Verónica is fluent in Spanish, as well as indigenous languages - two forms of Ixil, and Quiché. Through hard work, the help of a scholarship and sacrifice from her mother, Verónica counts herself as one of the very few lucky women from Chajul to go to university and become a professional. She grew up and went to primary school in Chajul and finished high school in Quetzaltenango with a focus as a bilingual secretary. She studied Business Administration at a university in Quiche province. Verónica has extensive NGO experience as secretary, community organizer and case manager with Chajul’s health center, Con Tierra, Proyecto Ixil, and Save the Children. 

*LHI offers scholarships and programs to help children become good students and achieve in school. 

*Average education in Guatemala is through 3rd grade with a 17 % graduation rate out of middle school. 

*Through LHI’s program, the middle school graduation is 80 %. 

*LHI has worked to improve programs by creating a local public library and establishing study centers. 

* Most people in Chajul live on just $2/day                                                                                  

Veronica is one of the first women in the community to go to university. Growing up her family’s resources were limited, education was highly valued, but not accessible, 30 year civil war wreaked havoc on the community, inequality between males and females, particularly with respect to education.