Rotateller Rotary Club of Owego, NY
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 Gary Williams, Editor

GUEST:

Vince Skovira, OFA Interact Treasurer

HAPPY 39TH BIRTHDAY TO PRESIDENT AL

MUSIC:

Carolyn led us in “Jingle Bells”

FINES: Al

• Judy, for wearing her badge home last week
• All those who have not finished their Christmas shopping

Bernie shared that they will be on their way south and she will not be back until next spring.

John Jones and the Williams family are all headed to AL for Christmas

Annette announced that there are still some free tickets to the Nutcracker at OFA on Friday evening.

Carolyn complemented Annette for the great job she has done on the RF drive

POINSETTIAS:

Bill announced that we were very successful this year. We sold about 780 plants thanks to Bill, John Spencer, Judy and Rob, and Al Sunderwirth.

WATER PROJECT:

Orv told the Club about the water project to which we have contributed $500. The money will go towards building a well in Malawi. (Which Orv told us is about the size -45,000 square miles and population -13 million- of PA, which gives you an idea of the size of Africa if you look at Malawi on a map). It parallels Lake Malawi which is also known as the calendar lake because it is 360 feet deep and 52 miles wide. In 1966, it became a republic after being a protectorate. The average wage is less than $1 per day. The average life expectancy has decreased from 42 years to 36 ˝ years.

This was a meeting which made you proud to be associated with this organization!

Annette announced that the contributions to RI from the members has surpassed $3000 for the year!

INTERACT:

Vince announced that Interact helped at the Christmas party on Saturday. They are also going to help the Salvation Army as bell-ringers, and will sponsor a “precise ball toss”. They are also getting organized to help the flood victims in Owego.

RIDES ARE NEEDED FOR MRINALINI AND SUZANNE FOR JANUARY.

CHRISTMAS PARTY:

Bernie announced that there were 100 more gifts this year than prior years and that they gave gifts to 448 children.

THE ADVENTURES OF MRINALINI:

who got locked out of her house this week.

SUZANNE:

was involved with The New Hope Center and attended The Christmas Story with Jim.

Laura gave gifts to both of the girls from the Club and a special gift of a skunk to Mrinalini.

PROGRAM:

Richard introduced Marie Lusens who was DG the year that Richard was president. Marie has visited a number of times and has shared her Rotary adventures with us. It was a shame that more people could not have heard her presentation and seen her photos. Marie has traveled to Ghana since she last visited us on a RI mission to deliver polio vaccine, measles vaccine, bed nets, and vitamin A. She took “The Africa Queen” to a village 2 ˝ hours out of Accra where 12 tribes were meeting. There were 3,000 – 4,000 people and only 10 white people.

Marie mentioned that children all across Africa who were immunized were given bed nets. One of the people she met there was an Ambassadorial Scholar from CA. There has been a severe drought in Ghana to further the challenges facing the people. She said that there are only 2000 physicians in Ghana and only 20 pediatricians. Most of the medical equipment is primitive. GE has donated millions of dollars to help with the premature children, but since there are few surgeons, many of the children die later because they do not get their congenital problems cured.

Marie was staying at the same hotel as Serena Williams and had some very nice photos to share. She spoke about the chiefs and had photos. Gold is an export of Ghana and the chiefs wore a great deal of gold. Some of the tribes are patriarchal and some are matriarchal. Many of the chiefs are very well-educated. While Marie was there she met with representatives of Boston’s Children’s Hospital. They are attempting to create a program which will bring surgeons to Africa instead of flying children to the US. This will enable many more children to receive care. She showed us a school for Muslim children. Everyone was neat and clean, but there were now books and no paper There was no light and no running water. The teacher holds a stick at all times. She also shared that 80% of the children have parasitic diseases.

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