By: Emma Bodwell, DISC Chair, DG Nominee, RC of Bridgton-Lake Region
International Cafés:
Over 25 Rotarians participated in the December 10th International Café hosted by the District International Service Committee (DISC). The Café focused on the upcoming District Outreach Team’s trip to Zambia. The Team members, introduced in last month’s Newsletter, described their backgrounds and reasons for volunteering for the trip. DG Claudia, who will accompany the Team, introduced the Healthy Learners Project in Zambia, which will assist with introductions while the team is in-country, and then turned the meeting over to Lonnie Hackett from the Project.
Lonnie described the evolution of the Project, starting in 2011 when he was a student at Bowdoin and took a trip to Zambia. There he was exposed to the problems associated with access to healthcare. A person from the Zambia Ministry of Health joined the Project in 2013. While most such programs emphasize help to children under the age of five, the Project saw that school-age children were often overlooked. Thus, the Project has been training teachers to respond to the needs of their students by helping them access healthcare. Based on the success the Project has had in improving the health of students, it has been expanding, all with the help of Rotary, which has been involved since the beginning.
A recording of the Café has been posted on the DISC’s Facebook page.
The next International Café is Saturday, January 21 from 9:30-11:00 a.m. Do you have a project to share? Do you need some financial assistance to reach your goal? The International Cafes are a great platform to help share the info with Rotarians around our district, and beyond. For more information, contact me.
Project Fairs:
There is a Project Fair in Colombia in February 2023. I will be going and other Rotarians are invited to join me. Four Rotarians from District 7780 have already registered. Interested? Contact me. For more information about Project Fairs in general, see the article elsewhere in this newsletter by PDG Peter Johnson.
Rotary & Polio on Maine Calling:
District Rotarians Ann Lee Hussey and Mike McGovern were on the Maine Calling radio program on MPBN on December 13, 2022, talking about polio and Rotary’s role in its eradication.