ROTARY CLUB OF OAK BAY MEETING 4 APRIL, 2017 - CHRIS LINFORD ON POST TRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME

REPORTER: Ryan Gisler

Child and Maternal Health month commences in April. 

Rotary Foundation funded midwife jeep in Central Haiti.

Jim Force's meeting for the Rotary Global Grant takes place after the meeting today.

Guests and visitors: We had a large contingent from former Royal Oak Centennial Club.

Crawford McLean; Jim Parker; Jim Hickie; Art Joyce; Laura Malo; Bruce Curtiss; Josh Wintoniak (Sunrise Club, Medicine Hat, AB and lone Albertan)Ceci Valdes;  Lt. Col. Chris Linford (Guest speaker) 

Celebrations Master: Janette had a table quiz. Everyone was bilked. 

Giles won 50/50 and used up his month’s good luck. 

GUEST SPEAKER: Lt. Col. Chris Linford

Chris gave a talk on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which he described as  “a family journey”

He wrote a book published in 2013, titled “Warrior Rising; A Soldier's Journey to PTSD and Back” 

He is an active participant in the Wounded Warrior program for PTSD.

He suffered 22 years of PTSD brought on by his military experience in Rwanda, as a trauma nurse in the medical unit for 200 Canadian soldiers. He became increasingly disassociated through assaults on his personal moral code through traumas evidenced during the first 100 days in deployment.

What he experienced was: fear, despair, sadness, stigma, uncertainty, isolation, loneliness.

He explained his depression was intense.and his family life suffered. He ultimately had suicidal thoughts. Counselling at the last moment diverted a dangerous spiral.

Chris began COPE (Couples Overcoming PTSD Everyday. There are 5 couples per session with a team approach. It has proved successful.

(Editor's Note: Lt. Col. Chris Linford's book is published by Friesen Press. A portion of the proceeds of sales will be donated to the Veteran's Transition Program. For more information on this book, go to this site: aWarriorRising.com)

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 28 March 2017 - Dr. John Cassidy from the Pacific Geoscience Centre on Earthquakes

Reporter: Peter Lawrie

Wendy Townsend – President Elect – called an unruly and raucous crowd to order at precisely 12:15. 

Mary gave the blessing and Lorna introduced visiting Rotarians and visitors. 

We had lots of visitors!! 

Rotarians – Gary Lunden – Walla Walla (Noon); Ron Hardie – Calgary Chinook; Nancy Singh – Downtown Victoria; Daljit Singh – Visacia, CA; Christopher Dietlein – Rotaract, Victoria

Visitors: John Cassidy (guest speaker); Katherine Singh - guest of Nancy Singh; Ravi Kaye - guest of Nancy Singh; Trond Holtbu - guest of club; Ethel Aked - guest of Heather; Alexander Ewanchuk - guest of Heather

We had two banner exchanges – Gary from Walla Walla and Daljit from Visacia

Health of Club – Mary reported that Tom Lidkea is mending well

Black Jack Petrie, our celebrations master, was greeted by a pounding  and resounding ovation! He then proceeded to shamelessly extract funds from all and sundry. Some members were reportedly weeping, one was heard negotiating new terms for their mortgage and another was heard to be opening a new line of credit. 

Among the Happy/Sad Dollars included:

• Mary was happy to host Jacqueline and David for dinner and catch up on Guatemala
• Lorna was happy to have returned in one piece after looking after 2 grandchildren for several days in San Francisco and also for the recent opening of the Victoria Food Safety centre
• Wendy was happy and sad – her son visited, then left, then got word his Calgary job was re-instated (after downturn) and he got a pay raise.

Lynne won the weekly draw but no cigar on the big pot! Only 3 marbles left! Everyone needs to invest heavily in the next week or so!

Wynn introduced our guest speaker – John Cassidy, PhD, from Pacific Geoscience Centre (Natural Resources Canada). John spoke to us a few years ago about the “imminent big one” destined to hit in our area. This talk was about “the other ones”! His opening line was “Victoria has faults ….”

John gave another very interesting presentation about the variety of quakes in our area and new research/technology focused on well-known local faults.

John gave us an overview of the numerous moving pieces and plates impacting our area. There have been >100 earthquakes in past 30 days and this is consistent with the normal ~1100+ per year. Only a few each year are “felt” by us.

The new technology John reviewed and explained included:

• LIDAR – air born (from airplanes)
• High Resolution Marine (ocean floor)
• InSar – from satellites
• GPS – from ground to satellites

The local faults being more deeply researched included Leech Creek (from Sombrio Beach through Esquimalt Lagoon to underwater and Devil Mountain fault which is from ~Mount Baker to just past Oak Bay. 

More information can be found at earthquakescanda.ca. John is actually the twitter source for “earthquakeguy”. 

The Institute of Ocean Science is hosting a Public open house in early June – Very Interesting Stuff!!

Wendy concluded a successful meeting at precisely 1:30 (Well done!!)

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 21 March 2017

Reporter: Corey (waiting for notes)

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 14 March, 2017 - Bob Mueller on "Finding Your Butkus"

Reporter: Heather Aked

President Lori opened the meeting with O’Canada

Perry gave us the invocation and Wendy introduced our visiting Rotarians and guests.

Rotarians:

John Picken – St. Catherines

Art Joyce – Royal Oak RC in Victoria

Don Patrick – Brandon

Guests:

Wendy Foster – guest of the Club

Bob Mueller – guest of the Club and our speaker

Trong Holtby  - guest of the Club

Ceci Valdes – guest of Pablo

Wade Hartwell – guest of Lori

Our Rotary moment focused on a water project in Peru

No announcements today.

Celebrations Master Jack Petrie brought the luck of the Irish with him today as he collected multiple fines for our lack of Irish knowledge.  Happy and sad dollars were donated by Wendy, Heather and Mary.   

Guest Speaker: Bob Mueller

Ron Cooley introduced our speaker Bob Mueller to talk to us about ‘Finding Your Butkus’

Bob is a motivational speaker with a unique story.  Through leadership and teaching, he inspires confidence, courage, and hope in others.  Bob is a 7^th Degree Black Belt, a businessman, an international teacher, and an EMMY Award winning artist and author.  ‘Finding Your Butkus’ is a film about the power of the individual. It is a motivational story about believing in possibilities and discovering your life purpose.  Find your Butkus crafts a playbook for life, using NFL football and martial arts philosophies to entertain, educate and motivate people. 

On April 29, 2008, Bob found himself in the office of Steve Sabol, the legendary NFL Films President. In an instant, Bob was rewarded for decades of decisiveness and determination as he accepted an Emmy Award from Sabol.  Bob talked about asking better questions, and about having a purpose – there’s a world of possibilities in what you don’t know.

"Have you ever had a perfect moment?

If you knew you couldn’t fail what would you do?

What do you want?"

Bob stated that everyone has a unique vibration, a frequency that draws things towards you, one true sound, one vibration.  Most of us are too busy to notice the perfect note.

The number 51 is Bob’s note (this was Dick Butkus’ number), in 2008 he was 51, when he moved to Toronto and opened a martial arts studio. It was at 51 King St., the martial arts studio he opened in Victoria is at 1551 Cedar Hill X Rd.  The number 51 has been in his life all this time.

“Wisdom – what you want you have to find on your own.”   

“Having doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know how to use it”

Bob entertained us with a story about Yoga and studying under Bickram and how painful it was and how he hated it – five weeks in a 120 degree studio!

In 2002 Bob’s childhood fascination with NFL Hall of Famer, Dick Butkus, was rekindled when he discovered e-Bay and began buying everything and anything relating to him.  He painted Butkus for 2 years…..this lead to the Emmy award.

Bob has written the "Playbook for Success", launched on Amazon on March 15, 2017.  In it are 6 plays for life, about finding the right vibration, and finding what your heart is about.

Dallas thanked Bob and presented him with the coveted OB Rotary mug.

Lori closed the meeting with an entertaining video from Walk of the Earth singing their version of Royals by Lorde. 

(For those who don't know, Walk off the Earth is a Canadian independent alternative, ska and reggae rock band from Burlington, Ontario.  They are known for their low budget music videos of covers and originals. The band is well known for its covers of pop genre music on Youtube making use of uncommon instruments such as the ukulele and the theremin, as well as loopng samples. The band's recorded music and videos are produced by member and multi-instrumentalist, Gianni "Luminati" Nicassio.)

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 7 March 2017 - Barry Denluk on Bee Keeping

Reporter: Heather Aked

President Lori opened the meeting with O’Canada

Invocation from Lynne Murray

Heather A. provided the week's Rotary Moment which was on this month's theme: Water and Sanitation 

Eugen Bannerman introduced our visiting Rotarians and Guests:

Matthew Lowe guest of Jim Force

Graham Hill guest of Ron Cooley

Barry Denluk guest of the Club and today’s speaker

Health of the Club: Mary gave us an update on Tom L. He is out of the hospital and resting at home. Recovery will take at least 2 months.  Feel free to reach out to both Tom and Margaret; it would be appreciated.  A card was circulated.

Announcements:

• Anne McIntyre announced that she was still looking for another 2 people to host the Aussie Rotarians that are in Victoria the weekend of May 20^th – following pick up Anne will host a b.b.q. at her home.  Lynne stepped up – thanks. Looking for one other home.
• Eugen announced that in two weeks, he will be our speaker and his talk will be on the ‘bucket list’.  If you have anything you want to share with Eugen prior to this talk feel free.  Lori commented that the only item on her bucket list was to win the lottery…..she keeps buying tickets!

Our Celebrations Master, Mandy, drained us with a variety of questions including celebrating International Women’s Day which is March 8^th.   Mandy had us guessing names of members based on the anagrams she posted on the screen. Lori was the best hands down and saved out table a dollar or two.  Ann Sims birthday was last week. We sang Happy Birthday.

Ron Cooley’s 50/50 ticket was drawn yet again but sadly for him, he did not pick out the black marble. Maybe next time Ron!

Guest Speaker:

John Jordan introduced Barry Denluk, today’s speaker.  Barry has been a master bee keeper for 15 years, has travelled to Rwanda twice (once with John J.) to assist bee practitioners there.

Barry gave a very interesting talk on Honey Bees.  He explained that as honey bees pollinate the food we eat, as the population grows and we grow more plants, the seeds require pollination.

What’s the difference between a honey bee and a wasp?  Honey bees have hair, wasps don’t, the ends of each hair are like a duster and carry an electrostatic charge as they fly through the air, causing pollen to attach.

A bees diet is pollen (protein), nectar (sugar) and water.  Yes, honey bees drink water. If you have a bird bath, make sure you put some stones in it so the bees can sit on them and drink (they don’t swim very well).  Did you know that beetles were very likely the first pollinators?

There are more than 20,000 different varieties of honey bees and they can be found everywhere except Antarctica as there are no flowers down there!  Honey bees have the most complex social behaviour of all bees.  They each have different jobs.   The queen can lay 2000 eggs over 24 hours.  The workers are undeveloped females; they don’t develop ovaries.  The drones (males) have a single function and that is to mate.  They live for 10 days and then die.

Iraq is the birthplace of the bee.  Canada imports about ¼ of a million Queen Honey Bees every year, an the life expectancy of this imported honey bee is about 3 months.  Her function is to get the hive started and then a replacement queen is introduced. 

In the summer Barry has about 60,000 bees per hive and the bees' single function is to produce honey. It was surprising to hear that an entire life’s work for a bee is just 1 tablespoon of honey, and they work all day, every day.  

A bee's hair gives it its colour . As they get older they lose their hair so they get blacker – so in theory we can tell how old the bee is.  When they are born, they are grey in colour and within 24 hours, they have their full colour.

It takes 21 days for the egg to hatch, the next 21 days are spent in the hive and the final 21 days are spent foraging.  Honey bees’ wing muscles do not have the ability to regenerate.  A winter bee will live 3 to 6 months and the queen bee will live longer as she travels less.

Did you know:

• That a honey bee can carry almost its entire body weight of pollen back to the hive
• In the first week of its life a bee doesn’t have a developed stinger
• Bees don’t like black
• Honey is a simple sugar and metabolizes quickly
• Honey bees sting to protect the hive.

Barry began beekeeping 15 years ago and finds it very relaxing.  As mentioned, he’s been to Rwanda twice (he has a whole talk about this which hopefully we will hear one day).  Some lucky people bought some Rwandan honey. Yours truly bought some wildflower honey which I can’t wait to try.  Check out Barry’s website for information about courses etc. etc. www.barrysbees.com

Ann Sims thanked Barry for his talk and presented him with the coveted Oak Bay Rotary mug.

Lori closed the meeting with a rap video on water and sanitation.

See you next week!

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 28 February 2017 -

Reporter: Janna

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:

Visitors: Geoff Pratt, Trond Holtbu (potential member), Courtney Sims, Cecilia Valdes, Kate Bishop, Doreen Westera. Rotarians: John Picken from St. Catharines and Joan Fisher from London South.

Celebrations Master: Jack P.

Happy/Sad Dollars

1. Heather A. expressed her gratitude for the attendees at Brian Lamb’s celebration of life
2. Joan F. Said that Lori and Heather made wonderful speeches at Brian Lamb’s celebration of life
3. Niel R. wanted to remind us that the Brian Lamb Food Rescue Fund has been established. Members are invited to donate and can do so online. Here is the link: https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/15332
4. Mary C. Brought news of Tom L’s surgery that was happening the day of the meeting. We all wish him well and a speedy recovery  

Trivia Questions for fines

• Which country has the most time zones? France
• What country produces the most Oxygen? Russia
• Which country has the least trees? Haiti
• Which country has the highest educated people? Canada
• What is the largest country in the world with no farms? Singapor

Guest Speaker:

• Joe P. introduced our speaker for the day
• We learned some valuable information about what to do with an idea. An idea can change the world and on average we have 10 new ideas per day. The trick is what to do with those ideas and how to turn them into action.  

Ending song: “Que Serra Serra”

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 21 February 2017 -Volunteering in India - Maggie MacLaren

Reporter: Dr. Eugen Bannerman

Members were greeted with a handshake and oodles of smiles from Greeter Naida Hyde.

The meeting was called to order by MC Jim Force, who had been visiting grandchildren in Calgary recently, and he read some humorous quotable quotes by children from a book.

O Canada was sung a cappella.

Naida Hyde introduced the guests:

Waheeda Esmail, hosted by Mandy Pui Trond Holtbu, a prospective member, hosted by Lorna Curtis

Cecilia Valdes, hosted by Pablo Diemecke

Joan Firkins presided over the Rotary Foundation moment.

She showed 4 short video clips of Foundation projects, in India, Haiti, and Africa. “They are examples of the power of what happens when we give to the Foundation.” To date, about 20 members have not yet made a donation to the Foundation for this year.

Joan handed out 3 Paul Harris pins:

Ron Cooley, Paul Harris + 2 pin; Jim Force, Paul Harris + 5 pin; Jack Petrie, Paul Harris + 6 pin

Announcements:

• A Celebration of Life for Brian Lamb, one of the charter members of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay, will be held this Saturday, February 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the Carson Hall of the Victoria Conference Centre (off the Empress Hotel). In his last few days, Brian had asked his family to help with the Food Rescue Project, and a BRIAN LAMB FOOD RESCUE FUND has been set up, through the Victoria Foundation. The program will see “quality perishable food re-distributed to food-insecure people living in our region.”
• Interact/International Breakfast this Thursday Feb 23rd at Youth Centre at Oak Bay High School, between 8:15 and 9:15 am.
• Club-in-a-Pub this Thursday Feb 23rd at 5 p.m. at the Penny Farthing on Oak Bay Avenue.
• Lorna Curtis has 10 tickets at $5.00 each, which gets you a lantern for the Food Rescue Centre Launch on Thursday March 16, at 10:00 a.m. at 808 Viewfield Road, Esquimalt. “Hors d’oeuvres... made from rescued food will be served” by Esquimalt High School students.

Celebrations Master Mandy Pui

Mandy took the microphone to applause: (“Look at my fans here”)

She fined those who sang the old version of O Canada, instead of the newly revised and gender-free, “in all of us command.”

A few questions Mandy asked: What is the theme of the month? Peace and Conflict Resolution.

Why does February only have 28 days? Goes back to Julius Caesar, when February was the last month of the year. To balance the total number of days in a year, a couple of days was taken off February.

Happy/Sad Dollars

Jim Force is happy with the progress his daughter is receiving with her medical treatments.

50/50 Draw was won by a surprised and delighted Bob Schelle.

Guest Speaker: Maggie MacLaren

Peter Lawrie introduced our Guest Speaker. Maggie MacLaren was born in Toronto... After a number of jobs, she became a hotelier. At some point, she asked herself “What would a life with deeper meaning look like?” She celebrated her 80th birthday by walking the Camino de Santiago, the trail in northwestern Spain, hiked/walked by millions as a kind of pilgrimage.

Maggie shared her experiences as an overseas volunteer. “My ‘Go Back Home’ is in Kaliyampoondi, at the Child Haven Home.” Child Haven was established by Bonnie and Fred Cappuccino in 1985, and has become an international organization consisting of nine Homes in four countries, with 1300 children, 150 women and 50 seniors. The Homes are run on Ghandian principles of respect for all religions, equality of the sexes, non-violence, vegetarianism, simple living, and no regard for caste. Maggie visited her first Child Haven Home in 2006, and “it changed my life.”

Maggie showed a video, from the Toronto International Film Festival, in which Fred Cappuccino, a Unitarian minister from Ontario, spoke. Fred and his wife, Bonnie, who have 21 children (19 adopted ones), received an award for their international humanitarian work of setting up homes for destitute children and adults. “I still get weak in my knees when I look at her,” Fred, 92, said about his wife.

The ripple effect from their work changed my life, Maggie told us. Rotary Clubs are a presence at some of these Child Haven Homes.

Michelle LeSage thanked the speaker “for showing us how important volunteering can be.” She gave Maggie our OB Rotary Mug.

Jim Force clanged the bell and another meeting was over, without any singing.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 14 February 2017 - Social Enterprise Co-op, Jakelina Listes

Reporter: Dr. Eugen Bannerman

President Lori  welcomed everyone to the Valentine’s Day meeting.

“O Canada” was sung with the newly approved gender neutral words, “in all of us command.”

Will Carter’s invocation included thanks for food, fellowship, and “having been in love.”

(He told us later, his mother’s name is Elizabeth Valentine O’Sullivan.”

Call to Lunch

Mary Canty introduced Visiting Rotarian, John Picken, St. Catherine’s Club.

Guests: Jean Lawrie (wife of Peter Lawrie), Sarah Lawrie and Logan (daughter and granddaughter of Peter Lawrie); Trond Holtby, (hosted by Club).

Health of the Club: Tom L will be having surgery this week; Mary Canty’s daughter will also be having surgery this week.

Wendy Townsend (President-Elect) presented a personal Rotary Moment.

Announcements:

Brian Lamb’s Celebration of Life will be held Saturday February 25 at 2 p.m. at the Victoria Conference Centre. A card for his wife, Carol, was sent around to be signed.

A Valentine-themed concert by the Die Mahler String Quartet and directed by our own Pablo Diemecke, will be presented this Saturday February 18 at St. Mary’s Church on Elgin Street.

Celebration’s Master Wynn Taylor:

This is the day of Love and Marriage. The questions had a theme of  love and St. Valentine's Day. Who was Valentine? One story says he was a Roman priest and martyr persecuted by Emperor Claudius. His death on February 14, 269 AD, is widely celebrated.

Happy $s:

• Tom C told the story of how he and his wife Jillian met, 45 years ago.
• Lorna C has just returned from 6 weeks in Australia and KL. Whilst in Tasmania, she met up with Janette who was there for 6 weeks. “It was a surreal experience to meet someone on the street you know from back home”, said Lorna.
• Perry  told us stories of why we need to take lots and lots of money with us when we go to a hospital in India. Everybody needs to be paid in cash. 
• Joan P thanked all those who helped move our Rotary goods to the new storage place last week.

Guest Speaker:

Sandy Currie introduced our speaker, Jakelina Listes, of Social Enterprise Co-op.

Jakelina Listes moved to Canada from Croatia 15 years ago, and has organized a MEETUP for local people, especially new immigrants. She herself is a social worker, military spouse, and artist. Since coming to Canada she is the initiator/co-founder of an immigrant’s women co-operative initiative, and leader of Sewlution, a sewing and textile recovery program for immigrant women.

The organization is about social networking, women’s empowerment, community outreach, social entrepreneurship, international friends, culture exchange, and immigrant support.

The organization has a Board of 7 members, and was founded May 15, 2016. The main goal is to offer alternative solutions to help those coming to Victoria and to do something a little different from traditional approaches. For example, to help immigrants with “soft skills” until they are able to get better jobs. They run a Culture Kitchen, a cafe and catering service as a social enterprise. Their logo is “around the world in a plate.” They also offer cleaning services. They are a new organization, looking for support from the community.

Jenny Hildebrand thanked the speaker and gave her a cherished Rotary Mug.

Closing Video: “Love the One You’re With”. Some members sang and danced to the beat of the music.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 7 February, 2017 - Joey Vaesen on the Connecting for Good Rotary Road Trip in 2016

Reporter: Alyx Valdal

What a cozy group we had! The sun was shining but the inches of snow outside (and yesterday’s road conditions) scared some members into staying safe and sound at home. We sang O Canada a-capella and have never sounded better.

Invocation: Lynn

Introduction of Guests: Alyx introduced our visitors: Cecilia Valdes, guest of Pablo; and Joey Vaesen, Rotaractor, and today’s presenter.

Rotary Moment: Joan Peggs reviewed the numbers for the Flag program. We have almost 350 subscribers for 2017 on our list - let’s make it 500 by the end of the year! This is Canada’s 150th birthday year, so a flag is a fantastic way to celebrate - tell your neighbours!

Announcements: 

• Lori shared an update to the sad news of Brian Lamb’s passing. A card for Carol was signed by today’s attendees. A memorial will be held Saturday February 25th at 2pm at the Victoria Conference Centre.
• Bill Burns donated $100 to the Brian Lamb Food Rescue program and put out a challenge for matching from Rotary members. Cheques can be made to the Victoria Foundation, stating the fund name.
• A cheque was presented to Joey Vaesens and Rotaract from the December Merrython Run.

Celebrations Master: Heather

Guest Speaker: Sandy introduced our speaker, Joey Vaesen. Joey is a Rotaractor and UVIc student who graduates in August.

Joey shared details of his “Connecting for Good” Rotary road trip last November. It sounded like a fast-paced work trip!

The team in the RV consisted of Rotarians and Rotaractors: Wulff (driver from Sonoma), Melissa (San Francisco), Abbey (Phoenix), Katie (downtown Victoria), Joey (UVic). Two Nicks followed or lead in the Rotary pace car. They volunteered at a number of Boys & Girls Clubs as well as various food banks on their tour. It was definitely a whirlwind working trip. Check it out at www.zone2526.org/tour/

We ended the meeting with a video on Peace, as it is Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution Month.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 31 January 2017 - Victoria Native Friendship Centre

Reporter: Bob Schelle

Photos: Bob Schelle and Joan Peggs

The Oak Bay Rotary Club met at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre for a presentation and lunch. Approximately 25 members and guests attended and listened to a very informative presentation given by Bruce Parisian, the Executive Director. The Centre employs over 90 staff and basically provides training and assistance for families and children who leave the reserves and live in the non-reserve world. The accompanying photos provide some understanding of their history and mandate. Three Aboriginal nations are serviced at the Centre and these nations are represented by the three poles mounted at the front of the Centre.

Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 24 January 2017 - Dr. Elizabeth Vibert: Victoria’s Colonial Legacies Field School in South Africa

Reporter: Sandy Currie

Paul Harris Pins:

The business part of the meeting opened with Joan Firkins presenting Jenny and Pete with Paul Harris pins. For Jenny, this was her  first pin. Pete received his pin for his exceptional service over the years. His pin is a Paul Harris pin+7.

RYLA recipients:

Jim Force then introduced Tara Mathews and Annika Weir who are students at Oak Bay High. Tara and Annika are co-winners of the Interact RYLA prize. Accordingly, they will be traveling together on an exchange to Mexico. While there, they hope to create artwork and discover ways to implement Rotary’s Four Way Test.   

Before leaving they will attend a session at Camp Pringle where they will meet other BC Rotary exchange students. While there, they will be instructed in Goal Setting (Terri Mack), Self-Empowerment (Christine deSouza), and Social Styles Awareness (Joan Ryan). This last learning component will provide the students with the tools needed to become aware of their own personality styles and how to use them effectively. 

Guest Speaker:

Our speaker was Dr. Elizabeth Vibert who teaches history at UVic and is an historian with a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University. Her main research interests are colonialism, food security and poverty. In1992, Elizabeth founded Victoria’s Colonial Legacies Field School in South Africa, through which she directs advocacy work for small-scale farmers. This was a year of a particularly severe drought in the area. 

This farm is called the Hieketani Community garden, and it is located in a small village called Jopi. This initiative, called the Community Vegetable Project, was started by a group of eighty two women who were market farmers. At this time there was a severe drought and widespread hunger across Southern Africa.

The three goals for this project are:

1. Building community
2. Providing ever-improving health services
3. Supporting and encouraging women’s autonomy and inter-generational relations

Over the years, these people have faced many set-backs and have persevered to ensure the continuation of this project. One example is when vandals destroyed the irrigation system, in 2014, by ransacking the metal piping. The women then managed to re-build it. It took two years but by 2016, they were irrigating their crops again. In addition, they had a new bore-hole well to provide a more reliable source of irrigation water. This was followed by construction of another storage tank for the water.

Currently they have their own nursery, and supply sustainably produced, nutritious vegetables to farmers’ households and community members. This very successful project also provides the local population with jobs such as farming, vegetable sales, and manure sales. 

Cory thanked Elizabeth on behalf of the club, and presented her with one of our cherished Rotary Mugs.