District 7780 International Service Committee hosted a meeting on April 11, an international Café on April 6, 2 sessions at the District Training Assembly on April 20, and will present two more Cafes in this Rotary Year.
The District had a presence once again at the Project Fair in Columbia and is hoping to have more participation by the District in 2025. They are also considering the possibility of a reverse Project Fair in the future. The remaining DISC meetings this project year are on May 16 and June 27. For more information about DISC and their meetings and participation in the Columbia Project Fair in 2025, contact Jeremy Gould at jeremygould15@yahoo.com . Most meetings are via Zoom.
On April 6, 40 people attended the International Café via Zoom.
First to present was Interact member Nellie Young who travelled to Peru with her Interact Club from the Marshwood High School in Kittery. At the recommendation of a Lima Rotary Club, they visited a Nursery School in Lima. The project is to build a new school to ensure safety and functionality, provide clean water and sanitation, supply educational materials and implement sustainability measures for long term impact. Nellie, daughter of Rotarian Maryna Shuliakouskaya, is partnering with the Kittery RC on this project which will coordinate with a Rotary Club in Lima to assure the project is implemented according to Rotary guidelines.
Presenting secondly was Jimmy Serugo, Kampala, Uganda RC. His project focuses on a hospital, which is now an outpatient unit due to displacement caused by war, in dire need of equipment and consumables. The Boothbay Harbor RC is supporting this project. They have raised $6,000 of the $60,000 being sought via a global grant.
The third presenter was Mateo Karczmarczuk of the Lublin Centrum RC in Poland. He spoke of his 26 years as a Rotarian and the accomplishments of the Lublin club. But the primary focus at present is working with Ukrainian refugees who have lost everything in the war and have come to Poland for help. The Poland outreach team will meet with Mateo and others as part of their journey.
The final presentation was by the Gregg Dowty and members of the Outreach team who were leaving on April 20th and returning to the District on May 2. They will be presenting preliminary findings at the Conference on June 29th at the Isles of Shoals.
A recording of this Café is available at https://vimeo.com/933379107?share=copy