Rotary Club of Oak Bay, 31 March 2015 - Tour of Disaster Aid Canada

Reporter and Photographer: Joan Firkins

Approximately 25 Rotarians and guests (Eileen Lavigne and Garon Gisler)) and 3 visiting Rotarians (Kris Zmudzinski, Prince George; Tom Kofin, Edmonton, and Christopher Causton, Victoria Harborside) met at 11:30 a.m. to tour the Disaster Aid Canada facility at 426 William Street, hosted by our very own Anne McIntyre. Anne is the Executive Director of Disaster Aid, formerly known as Shelterbox Canada. The description below is a brief overview of the good works done by Disaster Aid:

“Disaster Aid Canada provides worldwide aid to people displaced by a disaster. Immediate relief will be found with the Disaster Relief Kit.  It includes a 3 room tent, a tool kit, Hygiene Kits, warmth & comfort products and a water filtration system that will provide a family of 10, a years’ worth of drinkable water.

Our Soap for Hope program collects soap & shampoo from hotels which would have ended up in our landfills. The soap is re-packaged to form the Hygiene Kit.  Many illnesses in developing countries can be prevented simply by washing with soap. 

We also have the Little Dress for Africa program and Days for Girls kits. 

Disaster Aid Canada is governed and administered by Canadian Rotarians. We work in partnership with many Rotary Clubs to provide Disaster Relief Kits and Hygiene Kits to their International Projects.

Disaster Aid Canada is made possible by our generous donors who want to help bring relief to those who have lost everything. This gives them hope as they begin to rebuild their lives.”

               Anne answered a number of questions from our members concerning the recent disasters in Vanuatu and the Congo and she explained the relevance of the kits and the soap to each – they are all needed badly. 

Anne was asked what her biggest issues are at the moment and she replied that the restocking of the kits and transportation are a challenge. She then mentioned that a donor has kindly offered to double funding received in the month of April and she has a number of school fundraisers on the go to take advantage of the generous offer – several Rotarians stepped up to the plate and handed over cash to ensure it is doubled!

               After the tour concluded, everyone adjourned to Spinnakers for lunch and a raucous hour of fellowship was had by all! Our thanks to Anne for allowing us to tour the premises and also our thanks for all she and Disaster Aid are doing to make life just a little bit easier for those in need.

           

A future Rotarian found the tour interesting, but it was past his nap time! 

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 24 March 2015 - Rwanda Project Update by John Jordan

Reporter: Gordon Quigley

MC Jessica started the meeting on time at 12:15 p.m.   She began her introduction by reminding us that March is Literacy Month and that we should be grateful for our ability to read because literacy leads to many great things such as reading a book or even writing a script.  She then made a logical jump (or perhaps leap…) and announced that the meeting was all about her (more on this later).

Everyone sang O’Canada followed by Lynne Murray saying grace that included the ending – “…we should be grateful for the lessons of service.”

Janette Nation welcomed our guests including visiting Rotarian Kris Zmudzinski of the Prince George, Downtown Club and visitors Juliette Kajuga, hosted by Wolf Schopper and Coleen Force hosted by President Jim.

Announcements:

• Mary Canty asked us to keep Batya and David Westler in our thoughts as they are going through a difficult time and if possible to send them an email so they know we are thinking about them.
• Brian Lamb gave us an update on Mardi Gras Madness ticket sales.  We have 57 remaining unsold tickets with 45 days until the event that will be held on May 9th.  He said we are behind our performance of last year and we need to sell more than 1 ticket per day.   Tickets are $45 apiece so please engage to help us reach our goal.
• Heather Aked continued the Mardi Gras Madness theme by passing a round a sheet to badger (in a nice way) all those who had not yet provided a silent auction item.
• Heather Aked also reminded us that next week’s club meeting (March 31^st) will start with a visit to the Disaster Aid Canada Warehouse and then adjourn to Spinnakers for lunch. Disaster Aid Address: 426 William St, Victoria, BC V9A 3Y9     Phone:  250-595-5974 
• Neil Rawnsley announced that Ted Harrison’s memorial will take place on Saturday, April 4th at 1:30 pm at the University Club at UVIC.

 Celebration Master: 

Fines:  Celebrations Master, Dallas Chapple wasted no time in exhausting everyone’s supply of Loonies and Toonies by starting with group level fines for lack of pins and badges, not having shaken hands with Tom Croft (apparently this week’s appointed secret hand shaker), not bringing or taking any books, and not having yet signed up for the Disaster Aid Canada visit or the Spinnakers meal.  She then went to the individual level fining Ron Cooley for not having got over “Movember”, fining Jessica for the “this meeting is all about me” declaration and finally fining Lori McLeod for spilling a glass of water. 

Anniversaries: Everyone sang an enthusiastic rendition of “Happy Birthday” to Tom Lidkea, David Sills and Brian Lamb. 

Happy and Sad Dollars: This started interestingly with Tom Lidkea telling a joke about the bunny and the python (which frankly I did not understand) this was followed by Vicky Pitt announcing her son’s engagement, John Edgell announcing progress on the Mexican preparatory high school project (everyone keep their fingers crossed that the global grant is approved!).  David Philip fittingly wrapped up this section by telling another joke – something about a frog and a pimple (which again I did not understand– perhaps I was scribing too hard?) 

50/50: John Jordan won the 50/50 (but pulled the black marble).  He promptly donated his winnings to the Literacy Fund – this was a good segue into his presentation where more money would change hands.

Rwanda Project Update – John Jordan:

Lori McLeod introduced our speaker John Jordan, following Perry Bamji strict rule not to say “everyone already knows our speaker”, by telling us one thing that we did not know about John (this one thing cannot be reprinted here - to protect the innocent !!!!!!!).

John began by relating a story of how he met Elias, an 11 year old orphan boy with a tragic history, in

the shop of his friend, Wakazi.  John told of how his heart went out to the boy and how he wanted to help but then hit a mental barrier of what he could reasonably handle in terms of time and resources.  John told us he had been testing a new theory that goes like this: “there is always enough and nothing is ever too complicated”, that he is not alone but is in fact the advanced guard, that he had a network of supporters and that when he says "yes", it will turn out well and the resources will come.  John decided to take him in and soon after, Elias was invited to come home with one of John’s team who had two boys of a similar age. Elias now lives and attends school with his new brothers. 

John then gave an update on the core projects he and his team work on in Rwanda.  These core project are: 

• Rehabilitate 70-100 widows' houses per year. 
• Provide the nurturing environment of a boarding school to 65-70 students. 
• Introduce technology to provide benefits to a hundred that will multiply to benefits for tens of thousands.

This year, our club sponsored a $7000 grant to support widows' houses.  $6000 was spent on 24 houses at a cost of $160 per house.  The $160 per house provides a roof, water, a stove, animal, garden and health insurance.  They also provide a leased field for cultivation to earn enough to sustain them above a subsistence level.  $1000 went to build 6 composting toilets, providing fertilizer that can double the crop yield.

The first technology, the rocket stove introduced 6 years ago, has been a big success with over 10,500 stoves installed and over 100 people trained in their production. These stoves have reached an acceptance level such that they are now considered the standard.  The stove project has become self-sustainable and John and his team will now move on to focus on other new technologies. 

One very promising technology is reusable sanitary pads for girls as they provide a cost effective alternative to keep girls in school while also reducing waste disposal challenges.  John and his team have started local production of pads for sale, trained and hired teachers to present a thorough Reproductive Health curriculum, and built a “room for girls” at local school as a dignified place to change, wash or rest during menstruation.

John made an interesting point on the importance of technology.  In Rwanda, human labour is their only commodity.  Technology multiplies their labour and thus has a compounding effect that helps people raise their standard of living.  Stoves that reduce the amount of time they have to search for firewood and fertilizer from composting toilets, that double their crop yields, both have this multiplying effect.

In subsidising boarding school costs,rather than making it free, for 65 to 70 students per year, they are careful not to devalue education.  To that end, the students and their families sign contracts to pay for a portion of the cost.  They are given animals to raise to give them the income required to fund their portion of the education.  The education initiative is a big success as, for the first time, 4 of the 30 graduates received national merit scholarships to attend university.  This success has created a new challenge as the scholarships provide only for tuition and not for room and board.  Again, John is getting an opportunity to test his theory and has said yes to helping with 50% of these living funds for these students and providing support to help the students earn the other 50%.   To help provide the resources, John is invoking the Rotary tradition of “passing the hat”. 

To support John’s request, Perry Bamji has put together a CD commemorating 40 years of the Oak Bay Rotary Club’s history, for donations of $20 and up.  For donations above $25 John can provide a tax receipt.Please make out your cheque to:  InnovativeCommunities.Org Foundation

Words I will remember from John’s talk:  "There is always enough and nothing is ever too complicated” and “If you say "yes" it will turn out well and the resources will come.”

Peter Johannknecht thanked John by saying that he was touched by what John was doing and how it was a great example of “Service above Self”

President Jim then thanked John Jordan again and thanked Jessica for being the M/C this month.

We closed our meeting with “The Queen”

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting - St Patrick's Day - Flags Program

Reporter: Victoria Pitt 

Jessica Van Der Veen conducted the meeting today

President Jim reminded the members that it is Literacy month and that Orca Books will donate a book for each person who reads a book to a baby and takes a picture .  President Jim encouraged everyone to read a book to baby Ryan who was in attendance and to take that picture!

Win said grace in English and Latin in honour of the Saint’s day.

Rod Sim introduced visiting guests and Rotarians, not allowing any of them to sit down until all were introduced and welcomed. 

Visiting Rotarians:

Charlie Scobie from Sackville, NB

Kris Zmudzinski from Downtown Price George, BC

Baby Garon (sleeping, eating, and pooping)

Roteractor:  Joey Vaesen

Guests:

Eileen Lavigne  - guest of Steve

Alyson Hawksworoth, Margaret Parker, Loretta Dodsworoth, Anne Godin and Phillip Bourne and

Sylvia Bradley – all supporters of the flag program and guests of Joan Peggs

Lesley Ockermueller   - guest of Rod Sim

Health of the Club – Mary reported that David and Batya’s son is not doing well and remains ill in Israel.  David and Batya are in Israel to assist with his care.

Announcements:

Heather: 

• Sign up for the Vocational Visit to Anne McIntyre’s shop (Disaster Aid Canada) followed by lunch on March 31^st – today is your last chance.
• The list for silent auction items is going around to those who have not yet signed up – if it comes to you please fill it in and pass it on to the next person on the list!

Vicky: Please make sure to donate any spare Aeroplan  miles to the club’s Foundation. You can do this through your Aeroplan account on line and thanks to those who have already done so.

50/50 - David Maxwell after 12 years avoiding  it, did duty as the Celebrations Master.

Fines were levied for:

•  not wearing green;
•  for TomCroft whose picture was on the front page of the paper as councillor of our fair city but without a Rotary pin in evidence;
•  the loose Rotary Australia pin will cost the owner ( who was that?);
•  Sandy Curry for the write up about his daughter who is soon to be married because there was no mention of Rotary;
•  Janna and Ryan for doing the 2 for 1 thing;
•  Ron Cooley just because;
•  anyone who has never been to South America;
•  Questions from the Annual Report of TRF included:the number of clubs ( TAV knew!);where the grants went – ( disease prevention, Polio plus,  sanitation and water); Rod’s table did not know that the third highest per capita for giving to the Foundation comes from Canada at $168 per member (we are closer to $300 per member at OB)

Birthdays :  John Jordan was the only one present so he was properly sung to and put money in the pot noting it is the first birthday since he joined the club  7 years ago that he has been here rather than in Rwanda

Happy/Sad dollars:

Mary was happy to welcome Margaret Parker, a longtime friend, to the meeting.

Steve thanked Jack for doing his duty for him and awarded him with a gold star which he affixed to Jack’s lapel.

David Philip (aka Dr. Phil) said this was an auspicious day for Ireland but we should not ignore the Scots or the Welsh.  Scots keep the Sabbath (and anything else they get their hands on), the Welsh pray on their knees (and on their neighbours);, the Irish  fight well  even when they do not know what they are fighting for and; the English are self-made and so relieve the Almighty of any responsibilities. 

The winning ticket #5109 was held by Sandy – his first time winning the draw and he got the white marble as well.

Flags and the Flags Program (Joan Peggs): 

Phil Neroutsos  then introduced our own Joan Peggs to talk about Flags and the Flag program.

Joan introduced her topic by thanking all the subscribers were present and Joe who assisted with preparation of her PowerPoint.

There was a short Video about how Canada got her Flag 50 years ago

Joan also thanked the members of the Flag committee ( Rod, Lorna, Perry, Tricia, Sandy, Jim Force, John Jordan, Peter, Don O’Coffee,  Bob Schell and TAV) who are on the committee She also thanked all the installers( who are too numerous to list here)

Rod then explained the finances of the program which is doing well and making us more money each year so far.  We received the first 100 flags as gifts from the Edmonton club and are now trying to source and order any new flags locally.

We have been able to keep a large number of subscribers and garner new subscribers each year.  The current chair is responsible for about 30-40% of the subscriptions (thank you, Joan!)

Funds have gone to our International programs which are worldwide. Recent projects include: Rwanda, Malawi, Mexico, India and Guatemala.

Local Projects of the club include:

• Trafalgar Park (the look out on King George Terrace)
• Windsor Park Pavilion (contribution to rebuilding)
• The Rotary Teen Area behind Oak Bay Rec. Centre
• The Teen Centre ( Portable) which will soon be donated by us to the LG’s Literacy project once the new centre opens
• The Seeing Eye Cameras at the corner of Foul Bay and Fort St ( provide sounds for those who cannot see)
• The Water Park – this was initially the vision of a Rotarian and has been supported by our club since 1990, when we contributed $90,000 to its original construction.  Over the years we have done an annual maintenance party and contributed to the costs of upgrading and replacing equipment.
•   Bike racks at Cattle point and the Dorset S.t entrance to  Uplands park
• Climbing wall at Oak Bay Rec. Centre, used by children and adults alike.

Locally the club has also donated:

• $3,000 for a Pacemaker clinic to Victoria Hospitals Foundation;
• $52,000 to Eldercare to pay for a bath tub, a wide screen TV , a wheel chair swing and               many other extras in seniors homes;
• Helped with various schools in the area including George Jay, Quadra and Macaulay to             purchase needed items such as smart boards and projectors.

Many thanks to all the Flag subscribers who have supported the program and our projects

As an aside, one of the guests noted that he knew George Stanley, whose design was chosen for the flag.  He was a member of the Rotary Club of Sackville, NB.  The design was achieved by taking the flag of RMC, removing the middle crest and substituting it for a red maple leaf. The design, when submitted, was unanimously chosen by the committee and, the rest is history.

Totem Pole donation matching: 

President Jim informed the club that the Board has approved a donation of $1,000 to the totem pole project.  Anyone in the club who donates to the project will also have their donations matched by the club up to a total of $1,000.  Speak to Rod for details.

Win thanked Joan for her clear presentation and her work on the Flag committee.

President Jim then awarded “Light up Rotary” pins to Anne for driving two kids to RYLA and to TAV for his work at the district level. He also awarded bookmarks to those who have visited the  “ Start Early Facebook page” – Heather, Ron, Tom C, Joan Peggs, Janna, Steve, Joan Firkins, Jessica and Anne M.

The meeting then closed with the singing of “the Queen”  

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 10 March 2015 - Pacific Institute for Sports Excellence

Reporter:  Tav Macpherson

MC Jessica Vander Veen started the meeting promptly at 12:15 p.m.  She opened by extolling the value of literacy and the impact that it has on the lifestyle and standard of living of a society.  Standard literacy tests have been developed worldwide.  It appears that even in an advanced country like Canada, literacy rates are of concern.  22% of adult Canadians are not literate and a further 23% function at a very basic level.

After the singing of O’Canada, Cory Burger delivered the invocation.  

Guests: welcomed by Jack Petrie

From Rotaract: Lauren Askew, Jasmine Neville and Ferni Tunde-Oladepo attended.  In addition, Stacey Lund, Lindsay Player and speaker, Kelly Graham (all from PISE) and Sandy Richardson (CEO of the Victoria Foundation) joined us. It is always a pleasure to welcome the offspring of club members and Janna Malo introduced baby Garon and Alexander Evanchuk came along with Heather Aked.

Announcements:

• Mary Canty – the health of the club is good although Renate Gibbs is recovering from foot surgery.
• Heather Aked reminded us of DLTA to be held in Centralia on 27-28^th March.  She also reminded us of the 31^st March club meeting at which we visit Disaster Aid and then adjourn to Spinnakers for lunch. 
• Peter Lawrie gave a reminder of the International Committee meeting.

50/50: Professing to enjoy taking money from everybody, Celebrations Master, Dallas Chapple levied fines for not wearing tags and pins; sitting at the same table as last week; not giving or taking a book; not going to the “Second Best Marigold Hotel” movie; not paying a flag subscription and to Lorna Curtis for looking so good!  Happy and sad dollars were given by Alexander Evanchuk, Cory Burger, Rod Sim and Anne Sims.  Janette Nation won the draw but drew the black marble.

Guest Speaker:

Neil Rawnsley introduced our guest speaker, Kelly Graham from the Pacific Institute for Sports Excellence (PISE).  Last year our club contributed $20,000 of the proceeds from the car raffle to The Adaptive Physical Literacy Program which is administered by PISE.  The Victoria Foundation generously matched our donation. 

Kelly Graham is the Physical Literacy Co-ordinator at PISE.  She organizes 41 physical literacy classes across Victoria and has 23 leaders working with about 700 children.  Kelly holds a Bachelors degree in sport and fitness leadership and has an impressive list of programs in which she has been involved.

Kelly spoke of the Adaptive Physical Literacy program.  Setting the scene, she indicated that society has changed in recent years and children are not getting adequate physical activity.  Because "screen" time is increasing drastically, only 9% of boys and 4% of girls in Canada are meeting the guidelines for daily activity (60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical exercise).  Unstructured play is becoming extinct and walking to school and playing in the park are examples of activities that are disappearing.  The result is seen in poor health, both physical and mental, in our children.  Obesity, diabetes and diminished bone density are just a few of the indicators. 

Physical Literacy is the development of fundamental movement skills such as running, jumping, throwing, catching and kicking.  All these skills are important not only in sports and games but also in every-day living.  Confidence and competence makes every day living far more enjoyable.

PISE has a commitment to providing physical literacy programs to those who might not otherwise have access to them including vulnerable youth, children and teens with disabilities, aboriginal youth and low-income families.  These groups often face barriers.  Finances may be a problem but also a lack of information and input are adversities.  Schools rarely have the resources to teach physical education to the physically and mentally challenged and many programs are not user-friendly to them.  A high degree of creativity and empathy is required in establishing programs.

PISE’s vision is to be recognized as a passionate and innovative leader contributing to sport and physical excellence in Canada.  The program leaders start with a “yes” in mind when they are faced with a challenge and understand that they need to accommodate unique situations.  There are four unique programs for children with disabilities.

• I CAN have physical literacy, a partnership with the Canucks Autism Network, in which a number of different visual aids have been developed to held non-verbal participants
• Community Connections, a partnership with Community Living Victoria.
•  Power Play also with Community Living Victoria
•  Early Childhood Intervention, in partnership with the Queen Alexandra Centre. For further information, visit www.piseworld.com

Kelly concluded by thanking the Rotary Club of Oak Bay and the Victoria Foundation for their financial support and for the opportunity to inform us of the incredible work performed by PISE and the leaders who help youth gain physical literacy.

There was a question period followed by Heather Aked’s eloquent thanks to Kelly Graham on behalf of all those in attendance.

Lorna Curtis reported on the Rotary Car raffle.  Nine of the 11 local clubs have agreed to participate this year.  Thrifty Foods is offering incredible support by providing the vehicle, a Nissan Rogue, and assisting with the banners and marketing. The Victoria Foundation has agreed to partner in the program and the aim is to raise funds to form a collaborative  network with other charities for the distribution of food items that would otherwise go to waste. Lorna called for volunteers to administer the Car raffle.

MC Jessican Vander Veen closed the meeting after the singing of “God Save the Queen”.

(Editor's note - Dr. Perry Bamji provided the following report of events that happened during the week: As part of its on-going commitment to support the local community, the Rotary Club of Oak Bay recently donated $3,000 to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation towards purchasing a Blood Pressure Monitor for the Pacemaker Clinic at the Royal Jubilee Hospital. 

Heather Aked presenting cheque to Ms melanie Mahlman, Executive director of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation

An automatic blood pressure machine takes a patient’s blood pressure at scheduled intervals. Special features of this essential equipment include a heart rate monitor and a finger clip to measure blood oxygen content. This equipment ensures cardiac patients are closely monitored automatically and enables nurses to continue other duties and support other patients.)

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting of 3 March 2015 - Talk by Dr. Samaya Van Tyler on Kibera, a slum in Africa

As Reported by: Tom Croft

Jessica was Madam Chair. Anne and Kathleen were on the front desk. Greeters were Wolfe and Sabrina. Meeting started at 12:15. Dallas Chapple was Celebrations Master, Wolfe said grace, 

Jessica reminded us that it is Literacy Month. Check our Facebook page. Start early. What is the strongest predictor of longevity?  “Literacy”.  Katherine Arnason has donated 4 children’s books that will be auctioned off in support of literacy next week. 

O Canada was sung by the choir from Nova Scotia and many members joined in.

Guests:

Carl Rumseheidt, Whitehorse Yukon - guest of Sabrina.

Arif Shivji - guest of Joan Peggs

Samaya VanTyler (speaker)

Announcements:

• Jessica reminded us that it is Literacy Month. Asked what is the strongest predictor of longevity?  “Literacy”.  Katherine Arnason has donated 4 children’s books that will be auctioned off in support of literacy next week.
• President Jim played a video to remind us of the 1000 X 5. 

(Editor's note - Here is Jim's email: "March is Literacy Month for Rotary worldwide. This year, the Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria START EARLY Literacy Campaign has added a facebook page with the purpose of increasing the awareness of the importance of early childhood literacy and to support the 3 local 1000x5 Children's Book Recycling Projects. With this in mind we ask the following:Visit and "like" the START EARLY page: facebook.com/startearlyliteracy Invite your facebook friends to "like" the page and repost;Give the Gift of Literacy by reading a story to a child and then posting the name of the book and the child's age on the START EARLY Facebook page. For every post made during March, Orca Book Publishers will donate a baby board book to 1000x5. Our goal is 100 posts.To learn more about 1000x5 view our  YouTube Video)"

• Mary reported that Nils Jensen is having  eye surgery and had been threatened by a deer.
• Bob Schell reported on the March 31^st social and vocational visit at Spinnakers.
• Joan Firkins reported on ticket sales of the New Orleans, Mardi Gras Madness: 132 sold, 68 to go in 59 days!  Live auction and silent auction items are needed. Please contribute as  this is our major annual fundraiser.  We need to provide airline tickets, so donate your Aeroplan air miles on line. See Joan if you don’t know how. (Janette has previously emailed the link).
• Joan Peggs reminded us of  the Saanich Potted Easter Plant fundraiser, $18 each, and the Oak Bay Club's Flag Fundraiser.
• Bring a Book reminder.
• What made a difference for students in Fiji: iPads! Rotary Charity position 85 out of 100! 
• Peter Soo, was welcomed back.

50/50:

Anne Sim had a birthday and a rousing Happy Birthday was sung by all present.  Heather PETS this weekend and Alexander is refereeing his first game.  There were many Happy Dollars. Bob won the draw and lucky us, he didn’t win the pot.

Guest Speaker: 

Naida Hyde  introduced our speaker, Dr. Samaya VanTyler, who will speak to us today about her work in Africa. Her talk was titled:  Kibera, a Slum in Kenya.   Her mentor in Kenya was Winnie, who introduced Samaya to 9 women who were part of a co-op of women living with Aids.  Samaya introduced us to the 9 women through pictures.  She gave us the history of these women and their responsibilities in working in the community.

She reminded us of Umbuto as a philosophy that sustains these women and many other Africans and connects communities to their social roots.

Mary Canty thanked Samaya on behalf of the Club.  She was given the memorial Coffee Cup with the Four Way Test as a reminder of her visit to our Club.

Dr. Samaya Van Tyler, PhD. Walking with Lions: HIV and women living in Kibera. To read the presentation, click on the link: 

Speaker Series - University of Victoria

Jessica closed with God Save the Queen.