Always the epitome of discretion, the bulletin will disclose no names, but today's Rotary meeting witnessed an escalating can-you-top-this chorus of shopping exploits by our members. It started innocently enough, with talk of a recent trip to Bellingham. Not to be outdone, one prominent member opined that the shopping was way better on a recent trip to New Orleans. From across the room came the saga of a member who just returned from a cruise the highlight of which was serial shopping sprees in various ports of Mexico. Our reigning Queen-of-the-Shopping-Aisle-Especially-If-It-Involves-Shoes-or-Purses (we all know who that is!) is busy packing as we read this, en route to some even-more-exotic shopping locale. Meanwhile, the male members are stewing for weeks over whether or not to splurge and pay $1.49 for a new toothbrush. Hmmmmmm.

Interrupting the shopping contest, President Ann-Shirley Goodell called the meeting to order. She was in a hurry to get to the Eggs Benedict and tried to skip the 4-Way Test but didn't get away with it. The reason the eggs were in short supply was that we had a full house: 18 members, 2 speakers and 5 guests. Assistant Governor Tom Smith from Tsawwassen was there, and Cecile Diaz (guest of Abigail Turner), and Ola Karpik (guest of Jim Clarke), and Joseph Miskclzi (repeat guest of Cam Scott). And, our Youth Exchange student from Brazil, Luisa Godoy, was with us again.

Club news

Luisa told us that she's been busy the last few weeks, including going up Grouse Mountain to see the bears and the fog covering the city below, and to a haunted-house Halloween party with the other inbound students. I spoke with the Assistant Principal at King George School last night and she said Luisa is doing well and is a great addition to the school.

The Board will meet next Tuesday at 7:30 am. DG Garry Shearer will be our speaker the next day.

Matthew Lynam reports that planning is well underway for the club's annual Christmas celebration with the West End Seniors. This will be at the Westin Bayshore Hotel on Sunday, December 15. Matthew would like members to arrive by 10:30 to help set up.

Rotary moment

Ann-Shirley let us know that the Paul Harris Society, which has been administered by the district, has now become a full program of RI. Society members are those who agree to contribute at least $1,000 a year to The Rotary Foundation. Anyone who has been doing that, or who would like to consider that possibility, should contact Ann-Shirley to ensure  that the Society list is current.

Today's program

Sonya Orr introduced our speakers who, like Sonya herself, work for TravelMasters to enable their international travel habits. Jan and Terry Umbach are Rotarians on the Sunshine Coast who started travelling to Kenya in 2007. The village of Ndandini is a 4-hour drive east of Nairobi, the capital, and is a remote, desert-like area where the people try to survive from subsistence farming. The Umbachs found that the only source of household water for this area was to dig in the dry riverbed to get brown-colored water that was often polluted.

Jan and Terry started to raise funds to help. A Rotary Matching Grant was awarded by RI and used to drill a well and install a generator, pump and storage tanks in  2010. Two years later, more fund-raising and a Global Grant provided a tractor, water tank trailer, and 6 storage tanks at the schools in the area. This allowed every school student access to fresh water daily. Next, donations were raised for a community garden, with greenhouse and drip irrigation, to enable local residents to grow more and better produce. In addition, solar lighting and power systems were installed in the 6 schools. Most recently, small academic scholarships are being offered to help pay for some students' high school fees, uniforms and books. 

To date, over $200,000 has been invested in these projects, with 50 Rotary clubs and 2 Rotary grants participating. Next, a grant application is being prepared to fund a Vocational Training Team to help this village develop needed skills like nursing, mechanical equipment maintenance, etc. Individuals and Rotary clubs are encouraged to support the efforts to improve the quality of life for the people of Ndandini and the area. 

For more detailed information and lots of photos, go to www.Ndandini.blogspot.com or email Terry at terryumbach@hotmail.com.

 

Time to go shopping. See you next Wednesday.

Rob