Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 20 October 2015 - Dr. Sabine Lehr, Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria.

Reporter:    Naida Hyde

President Heather welcomed everyone.

We sang ‘O Canada’.

President Heather announced that Rotary International President K. R. Ravindran has named six Rotary Global Women of Action for 2015. The honorees were chosen for their dedication and service which has improved the lives of thousands around the world.

“Every day at Rotary I see first-hand how our members work to change lives and make a significant impact”, said Ravindran. “Rotary’s Global Women of Action embodies Rotary’s motto, ‘Service above Self' ’.

The women will be honored at Rotary Day at the UN in New York on November 7. They will address attendees and lead discussions on various topics related to their work.

They are:

1.  Dr Hashrat A. Begum, Rotary Club of Dhaka North West, Bangladesh, who has implemented several large-scale projects to deliver health care to poor and underserved communities.

2. Stella S. Dongo of the Rotary Club of Highlands, Zimbabwe, who leads the Community Empowerment Project in the city of Harare. The project provides basic business and computer training to more than 6,000 women and youth affected by HIV/AIDS.

3. C. Hobgood-Brown, Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, who co-founded Hand Up Congo, a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates sustainable community-driven business, educational, social and health initiatives to underprivileged communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

4. Razia Jan, Rotary Club of Duxbury, Mass. USA, who has spent decades fighting for girls’ educational rights in Afghanistan. An Afghan native, she is the founder and director of the Zabuli Education Centre, a school that provides free education to more than 480 girls in Deh’Subz, Afghanistan. She was also recognized as a CNN Hero in 2012.

5. Kerstin Jeska-Thorwart, Rotary Club of Nurnberg-Sigena, Germany, who launched the Babyhospital Galle project after surviving the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. With a budget of $1.8 million and the support of 200 Rotary clubs, the project rebuilt and equipped the Mahamodara Teaching Hospital in Galle, Sri Lanka. The hospital has served more than 150,000 children and more than 2.2 million women.

6. Dr. Deborah K.W. Walters, Rotary Club of Unity, Maine, USA, a neuroscientist who has served as director of Safe Passage (Camino Seguro), a nonprofit that provides educational and social services to families who live in the Guatemala City garbage dump.

Anne Sims said Grace.

Guests: President Heather welcomed back Mark Bedford, a former member of Oak Bay Rotary Club.

Two guests were welcomed by the club:

Carleton ? from North Hatley, PQ, and Helen Duff who is to be inducted into our club.

Health of the Club

John Jordan reported that he had spoken to Mary Canty and that she is doing well recuperating at home.

Announcements:

• Bob Schelle announced that next week’s meeting, October 27, 2015, will be held at Oak Bay Rec Centre. He asked for a show of hands of how many will be attending. “The usual” was the answer.
• Jim Force announced that he had attended both Interact and Rotaract Clubs this week. He asked for donations of $20. to cover lunch costs for their members to attend our meetings.
• Jim also announced the Nearly New Sale and Christmas Market happening at the Monterey Centre in Oak Bay on Saturday, November 7^th from 1-5 pm, and asked for donations. Profits will benefit Rotary Club of Oak Bay’s Youth Services Projects.
• Pete Lawrie announced that the International Committee would meet in the Library following the meeting and that our guest speaker, Dr. Sabine Lehr would attend.
•  Pablo Diemecke’s Die Mahler chamber musicians will be giving concerts October 24, November 14 and December 12 at 2:30 p.m., in St. Mary’s Church, 1701 Elgin Rd., Oak Bay.
•  Jim Force announced that the Literacy Roundtable needs a rep from our club.
• Merrython meeting to be held 4:30 pm Oct. 21.
•  Eileen Lavigne announced that October 23 is the third annual World Polio Day celebration. Eileen said that she is a polio survivor and has a number of post-polio symptoms. See our club website for information about post-polio issues. Eileen reported speaking to a group of third year medical students who were enthusiastic about learning what she had to say about polio and her experiences. She belongs to the Victoria post-polio support group.

President Heather presented the club with the Chattanooga Hamilton Place, Tennessee, club pennant.

Helen Duff was inducted and welcomed as a new member of Rotary Club of Oak Bay. She comes to us from the Rotary Club of Ottawa where she was a member since 1999, serving as their president in 2005. She has been involved in Adventures in Citizenship and would like to continue this work. She is also a Paul Harris Fellow.

Celebrations Master Pete Lawrie 

Pete began by fining himself a toonie for both his name badge and pin missing and fined others who had one or other missing. A loonie fine was imposed for all Blue Jays fans.

Ron Cooley and Wolf Schopper collected fines.

Birthdays and Anniversaries:

Lori McLeod

Mary Canty celebrated both her birthday and 14 years in Rotary anniversary this month.

Sanjay celebrated 2 years in Rotary on October 23.

Happy Dollars

Eileen Lavigne for the celebration of World Polio Day.

Heather to mark son Alexander’s fundraising event.

David Sills has been named an Honourary Life Member of Victoria Golf Course.

Jim Force saw a Rock Wren on Monday, a rare species in this area.

Happy/Sad Joan Peggs described being told of cougar sightings as she walked her dogs on Sunday night. Short walk!

Helen Duff is happy to be back, and she saw an eagle.

Jenny Hildebrand sold a piece of her fabric art in the Sidney Art Show.

Anne Sims won the 50-50.

Guest Speaker

Jenny Hildebrand introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Sabine Lehr, Immigrant Services Manager at the Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria.

Dr. Lehr spoke to us about how Canadians can become involved in sponsorship of refugees. In answer to the question, “Who can sponsor refugees?” her answer was:

“All of you!” A Rotary club could become a Community Sponsor.

She spoke with compelling compassion, depth of knowledge, and breadth of experience of refugee issues,  struggles, pitfalls, myths and conceptions re sponsorship.

Mandy Lui thanked Dr. Lehr for her informative and inspirational talk. Dr. Lehr then attended the International Committee Meeting.

The meeting ended with the National Anthem of India.