Rotary District 5080 Fall 2010 Nelson Rotary Club the Queen City Rotary News Mother Health International Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. Nelson Mandela..page 3 Rotary International s 5 th Avenue of Service: NEW GENERATIONS Youth Service Events List Sept 15th Rotary Pointe Cleanup work party Sept 25th Nelson Municipal Library work party Oct 30th Halloween Dance Club Social On April 28 th, 2010 Rotary s governing body, the Council on Legislation approved an enactment to add a fifth Avenue of Service: New Generations. New Generations joins Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service as the foundation of club activity. Before starting a project, Rotarians are asked to think broadly about how their club and its members could contribute within each avenue. Dec 2010 Feb 2011 Christmas Tree Fundraiser Seafood Feast Fundraiser continued on page 2 District 5080 Conference in the Spokane Convention Centre, Spokane, Washington. June 9-12, 2011 Register on-line www.rotary5080.com
New Generations Rotary s Celebration of Youth Service The Avenue of New Generations recognizes the positive change implemented by youth and young adults involved in leadership development activities, community and international service projects, and exchange programs that enrich and foster world peace and cultural understanding. New Generations is the future of Rotary. The Nelson Rotary Club has always had a strong commitment to youth of our community actively participation in programs such as Youth Exchange, Adventures-In, and Scholarships for high school students. Recently the Club pursued the idea of sponsoring an Interact Club. Marg Stacey and Noreen Lynas have been the champions of this new direction. Only in it s formative stage as a Youth Service Committee, it was felt that the Club should take baby steps to see how much interest was out there. The Youth Services Committee has already had one hands on project at the local library with one possible international project in the works. Discussions have been taking place regarding partnering with the Kelowna Sunrise Club, participating in their Soles for Souls Program which supplies shoes for the people of Haiti. The Committee is on the lookout for other hands-on projects to keep the kids busy in the upcoming year. Bring your ideas forward, the kids would love to hear from you. In celebration of New Generations month managers of the Nelson and District Youth Centre were invited to talk to the Club. Christine Schmidt has been the manager of the NDYC for over 5 years and her passion for working with youth has led her to a variety of training and work experiences. Christine has developed youth led crime and violence prevention programs, the Keep it Wise women s empowerment program as well as facilitated youth sexual health projects. Christine believes that youth are a valuable part of our community they remind us to change, adapt and have fun. Nelson Rotary Club s new Youth Services Committee 2 moving mountains of books Students from L.V. Rogers Senior Secondary School, along with the Nelson Rotary Club and staff members of the Nelson Municipal Library moved a mountain of books on September 25 th, 2010. Librarian June Stockdale thanked the students for moving the 15,000 books of the children s reading area from the main floor to the basement. The Youth Services Committee members helping included Christie Musa, Hannah Petkau, Danielle Solari, Tessa Exley, Kate Exley, Linday Fleming, Michael Underwood and Luca Sattler -Youth Exchange student from Germany.
Mother Health International The mission statement of Mother Health International (MHI) is to create a bridge between high technology obstetric care and the excellent outcomes provided by the low technology, hands on midwifery model of care in the impoverished and disaster stricken countries. Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. Harriet Tubman Guest speakers Kelly Dunn and partner Josh Sarvis presented their involvement with the mid-wifery clinic in Jacmel, Haiti. Kelly Dunn is a graduate of the University of Oregon with a double major in early childhood development and women s studies. She was a counselor for physically and sexually abused women in Eugene, Oregon. Kelly then went into midwifery school and graduated in 1998. She then started working with women in impoverished and underdeveloped nations in childbirth. She helped start two clinics in Indonesia and was on the ground one month after the tsunami helping women and children. Josh Sarvis, Kelly s partner has worked in the building and construction trades on all levels, from homesteading to building with alternative building materials and eco designs. He has developed an interest in midwifery with Kelly while she was attending school in Eugene. Josh has always attended classes and births. Fusing midwifery and building clinics for Mother Health International seemed like a natural fit. When the earthquake hit in Haiti, it only seemed natural for Kelly and Josh to go there and help the women and children. MHI is the only birth center and women s educational facility in all of Haiti. The MHI clinic has only been opened for four months. They have received generous emergency funds from individual donors as well as generous financial contributions from organizations such as Direct Relief International to help establish the clinic during the disaster relief phase. The expected estimated births in the upcoming months are between 75 and 100 births per month. The numbers of births is expected to climb once the women of the Jacmel region become aware of the clinic. All women are seen and no one is turned away. Now is the time to maintain the MHI clinic on a monthly basis. There are currently 19 Haitians on staff who maintain the clinic on a daily basis. They depend on these jobs to support their families and rebuild their lives after the earthquake. The World Community Service Committee of the Nelson Rotary Club has donated $3000 to the Mother Health International birthing clinic to help sustain this midwifery modeled birth clinic that is desperately needed in Haiti. 3
WORLD POLIO DAY Jen Cowan Sunday, October 24 th has been decreed World Polio Day by the United Nations. It is time for Rotarians, the WHO, Unicef, the US Centre for Disease Control and the governments of countries still impacted by polio to reflect on the success of the Global Polio Initiative, but also to address the huge amount of time, energy and resources that are still required to finish the job of making the world polio-free. The efforts of these international forces is threatened by an $810 million funding gap of the $2.6 billion budget to fulfill the goals outlined in it s strategic plan to eliminate polio by 2012. Polio is still endemic in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Nigeria, in central Africa is now considered the greatest risk to the polio eradication efforts as polio outbreaks have occurred in an expanding area. There is concern that there may be a spread of the wild poliovirus to Angola and the Congo due to inadequate outbreak response and gaps in the surveillance program. Many Rotarians travel each year to participate in the National Immunization Days (NID). Some travel as part of the Friendship Exchange teams that home stay with host families. Other Rotarians travel as part of the District based tours that stay in hotels and visit Rotary projects and travel throughout the country. As Rotary s dream of creating a polio free world inches forward and members are encouraged by the declining numbers of new cases worldwide. Rotarians are working hard to achieve the goal of raising $200 million to fund eradication activities. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match money raised by Rotary. Rotarians will be given a special opportunity to double their contribution value in Paul Harris points by donating on-line to the Rotary Foundation the week leading up to World Polio Day. Rotarians in Nelson will be hosting the 3 rd annual Seafood Feast at Selkirk College on Feb 5 th 2011. An iron lung will be on display in Nelson during the first week of February 2011. About Interact Interact is a service club for youth ages 14-18. Clubs benefit from sponsorship by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance. Interact has a membership of over 250,000 youth in more than 11,000 clubs worldwide. It is one of Rotary s fastest growing programs. Interact Clubs are self-governing and self-supporting and can be either school or community based. Interact s name is a combination of the words international and action. With clubs in over 120 countries and geographical areas, Interact is truly an international phenomenon. Interact s global youth network is dedicated to community and international service. Every Interact club project, great or small, has a lasting impact on society worldwide. Brazil, India, the Philippines and the United States boast the highest number of Interact Clubs. Isn t it time for you to Reach out to a community in need? Work with youth in another country to develop a service project? Serve your local community? 4
Behind the scenes - the other Avenues of Service.. CLUB SERVICE Membership The Club welcomed new member Russell Stocks Manager of Nelson Ford. Russell s sponsor, Peter Taillon was a bit annoyed at the Club for not inducting Russell sooner. Peter was finding it difficult absorbing the cost of Russell s lunch. The Club officially said good-bye to Kim Adamson who relocated to Vancouver. Members Brian Levin, Christina Garvin and Dave Duncan resigned from the Club for various reasons. Circle Foundation The most generous Rotarian of them all, Ken Muth, donated $10,000 to our Club s Foundation. Money from the Circle Foundation sponsors scholarships for students attending high school. Special thanks to Ken. COMMUNITY SERVICE Rotary Park a work party to clean-up the Centennial Pathway was organized by Roland Daniels and Cindy Koch, of the Partners group. Completion of the restoration project will take place in the springtime of 2011 due to a change in design. Proposed Wharf Project Chair Chris Fairbank will make presentation to the Nelson City Council on Monday, October 18 th, to discuss the estimated $75,000 upgrade to Rotary Park s public wharf. VOCATIONAL SERVICE Group Friendship Exchange in partnership with the Morning Club, the Club hosted a GFE Iowa Team for three days, traveling around portions of the Selkirk Loop. GFE New Zealand will be departing in late October. Bob Nuyens and Norm McCarvell will join Team Leader Dave Simpson of the Morning Club along with ADG Linda Krahn of Castlegar. GFE Australia is scheduled for next year. Contact Sheila Hart. Award of Merit October is Vocational Service Month. Each year we award a non- Rotarian with a Certificate of Merit for their contributions to the community. Last year s recipient was Barry Taylor of the City of Nelson s Parks Department. The Club is still looking for a nominee. Presentation of the award to take place October 29 th. Youth Exchange student Luca Sattler from Germany has been staying with the Lynas family and appears to be fitting in well. Luca was involved in the Youth Services Club project at the Nelson Library. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE World Community Service Committee has already spent their allotted funds on projects this year. The committee was successful in its bid for a District Simplified Grant in the amount of $1000. Projects funded this year included: wheel chairs for polio survivors, Nigeria $1200; Community Health Development Society, Nepal $500; stoves, Guatemala $2050 including DSG of $1025; Mother Health International birthing centre, Jacmel, Haiti $3000. Market Children Chris Chart informs us that Club members sponsored 61 children. Costs for sponsoring a student in Honduras range from $100 for Grades 1-6 up to $250 for a grade 12 students. Technical school students can be sponsored for $250 and University Student can be sponsored for $300-$350. Contact Chris for all of the details regarding sponsorship of a student. 5
District 5080 Nelson Rotary Club News FALL 2010 Random presidential thoughts The task of becoming president of the Nelson Rotary Club seemed daunting at first. After some thought I figured that accepting the job as President was the only sure way of getting out of the job as Secretary, without uttering the word NO. Remember, as good Rotarians, we aren t supposed to utter that two-letter word. Uttering four-letter words is a different story eh. Mr. Fairbank. I was quite flattered when I had been approached previously to take on the job, this time I was quite flattened when Norm McCarvell asked. Norm, rather than asking politely, threw me to the ground, sat upon my chest and would not arise until I uttered the word YES. Remember, as a good Rotarian, you always say yes. I am quite honored to be President and I offer to do my best. The President-elect Training Session was a wonderful experience and after having discussions with other PE s from the various Clubs in our District, the Nelson Rotary Club is one of the most active in all facets of Rotary. We have a Club that we can all be proud of. We have a Club that is well respected in Rotary District 5080. I would like to thank those who volunteered for this year s Executive; Dawn, Rose, Marg, Jen, Gioconda, Howie, Corey, and Margot. I may not be able to pronounce Margot s name but I can sure type it. Special thanks to Norm McCarvell, for his on-going support. My only request of you as a member of the Nelson Rotary Club is to attend the meetings, lend a hand, join the work parties, go to a social, give to the Foundation, have some fun and try to avoid getting fined on Friday. I m not asking a lot. Kevin