Dear Fellow Rotarians, visitors and guests!
WELCOME TO OUR E-CLUB!
Thank you for stopping by our club meeting! We hope you will enjoy your visit.
Our E-Club banner is shown at left! Please send us a virtual copy of your club banner and we will send you a copy of our new club banner in exchange. We will also display your club banner proudly on our meeting website.
Click this link to view banners we have received.
Although our E-club has Provisional status at this time, we hope you will find the content of our meeting enlightening and will give us the benefit of your opinion on the content.
May has arrived in Rotary!
Visiting Rotarians. Click this link to Apply for a Make-up. We will send you and your club secretary a make-up confirmation.
Active Members. Click here to sign in.
Happy Hour Hangout. We are adjusting the time of our Happy Hour Hangout to Saturday mornings - early enough so that you can join before your day gets away from you.
We meet for a live chat and sometimes business discussion. If you are interested in dropping by, please click the link below. Morning coffee is on the house! (Your house, that is...) Hope to see you there!
Please note: Now, attending our HHH will earn you a make-up!
The link to the Happy Hour Hangout for Saturday is at the bottom of this meeting.
Interested in joining us? Click the link Membership Application and Information.
Our Provisional President, Kitty, would now like to welcome you to this week's meeting. Please listen in...
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ROTARY E-CLUB OF THE CARIBBEAN, 7020
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ABCs OF ROTARY (Cliff Dochterman)
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| Cliff Dochterman RI President, 1992-93 |
The District Conference
Most Rotarians have never attended a Rotary district conference. They have not experienced one of the most enjoyable and rewarding privileges of Rotary membership.
A district conference is for all club members and their spouses, not just for club officers and committee members. The purpose of a district conference is for fellowship, good fun, inspirational speakers and discussion of matters which make one's Rotary membership more meaningful. Every person who attends a district conference finds that being a Rotarian becomes even more rewarding because of the new experiences, insights and acquaintances developed at the conference. Those who attend a conference enjoy going back, year after year.
Every one of Rotary's more than 500 districts has a conference annually. These meetings are considered so important that the Rotary International president selects a knowledgeable Rotarian as his personal respresentative to attend and address each conference. The program always includes several outstanding entertainment features, interesting discussions and inspirational programs.
One of the unexpected benefits of attending a district conference is the opportunity to become better acquainted with members of one's own club in an informal setting. Lasting friendships grow from the fellowship hours at the district conference.
The Presidents-elect Training Seminar (PETS)
The bylaws of Rotary International require that the governor-elect of each district, in co-operation with the current governor, in the early months of the year, schedule and conduct a training seminar for the incoming club presidents of the district. This two-or three-day Presidents-elect Training Seminar, commonly referred to by its acronym, PETS, is a motivational and leadership training session designed to prepare the future club presidents for the office they will assume on 1 July.
Among the subjects covered are the implementation of the RI theme for the incoming year as well as information about the new and continuing prorams of RI.
Time is also devoted to a review of district operations, planning club and district programs, and organizing other activities for the year ahead.
How to prepare a budget, goal-setting, time management, and new ideas for club meetings are just some of the useful skills that club presidents-elect learn when they attend their district's PETS. In some areas of the world, the PETS is conducted as a joint multi-district event.
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MEMBERSHIP - What do you know?
You can use the Manual of Procedure to find some answers. You can download it from www.rotary.org.
There are five standing committees within the Club Leadership Plan. Which committee is responsible for recruitment and retention?
a. Club Administration
b. Membership
c. Public Relationship
d. Service Projects
e. Foundation
Clubs may not elect a person to active membership from a classification in which the club already has:
a. Five or more members of the said classification
b. One member
c. Three or more members in the classification
d. 5% of the clubs active membership is already of the proposed classification
e. None of the above
What are the types of Membership that are recognized by Rotary International?
a. Active
b. Senior Active
c. Additional Active
d. Honorary
e. Past Service
The retention portion of the Membership plan is divided into four areas. Name all four areas:
a. Mentoring
b. Education
c. Involvement
d. Fellowship and Recognition
e. None of the above
f. All of the above
It is highly recommended that the Rotarian who sponsors a new member to the club automatically becomes the mentor for this new Rotarian.
True or False?
ROTARY CLUB FROM BARRIE, ONTARIO - A Haiti Project
An outstanding project, and outstanding video! Well worth the 20 minutes to watch in its entirety!
Here is another short video - an interview with Rea Dol (3 minutes):
For more information on this project and SOPUDEP, follow these links:
http://www.sopudep.org/
http://www.sopudep.org/story/letter (A letter from Ryan Sawatsky)
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SPEAKER - Get your heart out of a box
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DRUMMING INTERLUDE
If so, I apologize. But if you can view it, all the better. It's a fabulous show of skill!
Click this link to view the video. Click your browser's BACK button to return to the meeting.
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THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION - PORTUGAL
Click this link to view the promotional video. Click your browser's BACK button to return to the meeting.
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SPEAKER - Kakenya Ntaija - A girl who demanded school!
An inspiring speaker - you MUST listen to her!
Engaged at the age of 5, she was to participate in a female circumcision ceremony as a young teenager and then be married. But she had a different plan.
First, she negotiated with her father and willingly agree to be circumcised -- only if he would allow her to finish high school. Later, when she was accepted to Randolph Macon College in Viriginia, she negotiated with her village elders to do what no girl had ever done before: leave her village to go to college in the United States.
She didn’t leave forever, though. Deeply proud of her heritage and of her community, Ntaiya returned to the village after school and worked with her elders to establish a school for girls there. The Kakenya Center for Excellence was established in 2009 with 32 students. A primary grade boarding school just for girls, the curriculum focuses on academics, leadership and female empowerment, along with cultural preservation and life skills. While families that can afford tuition do, Ntaiya also works with donors to provide scholarships for others.
In addition to her work with the school, Ntaiya is also a National Geographic emerging explorer.
"For thousands of families in Kenya, seven cows are more valuable than a girl’s future ... Now, a building rises in one remote village that could change everything: The region’s first and only primary school for girls. Its creation an act of sheer will, stubborn persistence, and inexplicable optimism on the part of Kakenya Ntaiya. "
Click this link to view the video. Click your browser's BACK button to return to the meeting.--National Geographic
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SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SUGAR - Makes you think!
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RESOURCE FOR SANITATION
A Rotarian-led team of hydrologists, engineers, geologists, and other experts traveled to the Thane district of northwest India in October to help local Rotarians and their international partners design a global grant project to bring clean water and sanitation to more than 1,800 villagers.
The team, funded by The Rotary Foundation and a grant from the Annenberg Foundation, is one of the first of its kind. It’s the product of the Project Enhancement Process (PEP) pilot, which is designed to enlist the help of Rotarians with expertise in the water and sanitation area of focus so that clubs and districts can put together larger-scale, sustainable projects.
The PEP pilot runs through July and involves nine districts testing The Rotary Foundation’s new grant model. The Foundation also collaborated with the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) to produce technical guides that walk Rotarians through planning an effective water and sanitation project.
“This process is an excellent approach,” says Arvind Phukan, a civil engineer and member of the Rotary Club of Tacoma, Washington, USA, who served as team leader. “Sometimes districts don’t have the technical expertise or the experience to do a larger project. This approach helps them think bigger and promotes better projects that will have a more significant impact.”
After deciding to pursue a water, sanitation, and hygiene project in the Akre Gram Panchayat region of India, the Rotary Club of Thane North and its international partner, the Tacoma club, requested an evaluation team through the PEP Pilot to help them assess and plan their project. The project would benefit about 350 households in nine villages in the Supi River watershed, where villagers are trying to eke out a living growing rice.
Needs assessment
The team met with villagers to assess their needs and determined that many of the local wells ran dry during non-rainy seasons because the area’s shallow, impervious rock prevents water from seeping into the ground and replenishing the wells. In addition, some of the wells were poorly designed or damaged, and systems intended to funnel groundwater were inadequate.
As a result, many of the women are forced to haul water from the Supi River or one of its tributaries. The villagers use the same water for cleaning and bathing, and also share it with their livestock, all of which introduces contaminants into the drinking water. And since there is no running water, the toilets that do exist go unused. The villagers’ lack of good hygiene contributes to the spread of disease.
The team’s findings were the basis for recommendations that the Thane North and Tacoma clubs will turn into a global grant application with a budget of about US$333,000. The recommendations constitute a holistic approach to the area’s needs that includes installing bore wells with submersible pumps near several of the existing wells to pump water to storage tanks, with the water flowing by gravity to the villages, where it would be treated and purified. A variety of rainwater-harvesting structures such as check dams and surface ponds would be built to replenish the groundwater.
Sustainability
A cluster of latrines would also be built in each village, along with washing basins and cattle troughs. Trenching and diesel pumps would be used for irrigation so the villagers can grow vegetables along with the rice. Adults and schoolchildren would receive instruction in hygiene and its impact on disease and health.
Phukin notes that the process began by talking to villagers, a key step in making a project sustainable. “It all starts with the community. You must involve the community at every step of the process. You can’t just hand them things.”
Sustainable, large-scale projects also require a broad base of support. Phukan and team members have been helping to recruit other clubs and districts to join the Thane North and Tacoma clubs in supporting this project.
“When this is done, and it can be done in phases, it will bring lasting change to the community,” Phukin notes. “The villagers’ lifestyle will change for the better.”
Resource links below:
- Technical guides
- Project Enhancement Process
- The New Grants Model
- A video on Sustainability (shown in last week's meeting)
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CELEBRATING A MOTHER - Sunday, May 12 is Mother's Day
...from the Toronto Star online
TORONTO — Most people don’t make headlines for writing mortgage cheques, but a payment made by a 23-year-old Canadian has recently vaulted him to digital stardom.
Aba Atlas saved his entry-level military salary for two years in order to pay down the mortgage on his mother’s Ottawa home. His years of frugality culminated in an emotional presentation that he captured on video and posted to YouTube.
The “Dear Mother” clip has garnered 1.6 million views in the four days since it appeared online, a reaction that took its creator entirely by surprise.
“When I put it together, I didn’t think it would blow up like this,” Atlas said in a telephone interview from Ottawa. “I’m humbled by the response and I think it’s good that positive energy is going everywhere, but I don’t want to make it seem like it’s about me.”
The true focus of the video should be his mother, Atlas said, noting the gift she’s enjoying now doesn’t compensate for the grief she’s experienced over the years.
Atlas said his mother—who he declined to name—came to Canada from Eritrea more than 20 years ago and has toiled as a hotel housekeeper to make ends meet for her five children.
Atlas said he added to her burdens in his teenage years. He dabbled in drugs and alcohol, joined the military against his parents’ wishes and even dropped out of his family’s life around the time he turned 18.
When he resurfaced two and a half years later, Abbas said his mother greeted him with a smile, an offer of food and a total lack of recriminations for his long neglect.
“It doesn’t matter how long you’re gone, family’s family. That’s the kind of relationship we have,” he said.
The importance of that bond was reinforced months later when his father died unexpectedly at the age of 56. Atlas said the loss forced him to re-examine his own life and commit to making some wholesale changes.
He swore off booze and drugs, took up new hobbies such as dance and decided to do something that would compensate his mother for her sacrifices.
Scrounging a mortgage payment on the annual $30,000 salary of a Canadian army private was not an easy feat, but Atlas said the task was made easier by the fact that he was living rent-free in a military barracks. His army lifestyle also kept food costs to a minimum.
Still, Atlas said he passed on car ownership, eschewed restaurant meals and gave up other small perks in order to bring his plan to fruition. He declined to share the exact dollar amount necessary to pay down the mortgage.
“You just make sacrifices here and there, find out what’s important and just make the choice,” he said.
Atlas presented his mother with the mortgage cheque—he didn’t want to disclose the amount—on April 30, his birthday.
The video capturing that moment shows his mother opening the envelope in near silence, murmuring “wow” and exclaiming that he’s done too much before exchanging a tearful embrace with her son.
The timing of the gift was no coincidence, Atlas explained at the end of the video.
“I want to celebrate my life by celebrating the woman who gave me life.” Atlas said his mother is delighted to be free of a financial burden, but said she plans to keep working for at least a few more years.
Atlas himself said the satisfaction he felt after helping his mother has been enhanced by public reaction to his video.
“I know a lot of people do things for their parents all over the world and may not post it online or what not,” he said. “A lot of people emailed me telling me, ‘I went home and I told my mom how much I loved her.’ I’m grateful for that.”
View the touching video below. (3 minutes)
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To end our meeting, please recite aloud (on your honour!) the Rotary Four-Way Test of the things we think, say, and do.
Delma Maduro from BVI - recorded in Miami in February - leads us.
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
...and official close of meeting
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Thank you for stopping by our E-club meeting! We wish you well in the next week in all that you do for Rotary!
The meeting has now come to an end. Please do have a safe and happy week! If you have enjoyed our E-club meeting, please leave a comment below.
Rotary cheers!
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HAPPY HOUR HANGOUT
Please join our Happy Hour Hangout, May 11, 2013 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/402193392
Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +1 (805) 309-0010
Access Code: 402-193-392
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting ID: 402-193-392
I am a regular follower of Caribbean Rotary E-club the club is inspiring people around the globe to be more determined towards their goals .
ReplyDeleteInspirational Speaker
Thanks
Mark Duin