Garberville Rotary Club 383
International Report 2008
Karyn Lee-Thomas & Brian Walker (co-chairs)

Foreign exchange program: Our out-bound students this year are Heide Holterman going to Switzerland,  and Emily Totten going to Hungary. A few weeks ago, we had a great program presented by Luna Ivy, our returning student from Italy. Our inbound exchange student, Joao will arrive from Brazil in August. Member Chris Brannon is a member of the district exchange student committee.

ROTOPLAST: We have several members (Brain Walker, Dennis Bourassa and Chris Brannon) who continue to serve Rotoplast teams in south and central America. Last year they represented our club in Mexico (Oct 2007 and May 2008), and just recently in Venezuela (June 2008). In August 2008, Brian Walker will serve as quartermaster for the Peru Rotoplast.

GSE:  In April, Syd and Diane Lehman hosted a lunch for the visiting GSE team from Nigeria, and member Seth Johannesen transported the team to Ukiah.

SIBERIAN MEDICAL PROJECT: We continue to support the efforts of Dr Kim with a yearly donation of $500.

SAN PANCHO MEXICO: Many of our club members vacation in this small village 40 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. Our club donated $2000 to EntreAmigos, a local non-profit dedicated to uniting the community of San Pancho to work together towards positive change. A majority of their focus is towards children and education. Some of their projects include a library and computer center, a recycling program, education and outreach. I travel there in February 2008 to see where the money would have the best impact. We earmarked the money for tools to enable them to transform glass bottles into beautiful glasses and vases that could be sold. Something that previously ended up in landfill is now a means for employing local women. A program is forth-coming this summer.

CARBON-NEUTRAL CLUB: As global citizens we can be ‘part of the solution’ instead of part of the problem by leading the way for rotary clubs around the world to evaluate their carbon footprint and offset their emissions by planting trees. Last year we completed an internal audit to determine the amount of carbon we are responsible for adding to the atmosphere, and partnered with Trees for the Future to plant trees in Honduras to offset those emissions. I was to travel to Honduras this month to work with them for a day and be able to return with a program to present which would hopefully insure other clubs to follow suit. This trip has now been postponed to later this year.

FESTIVAL OF BROTHERHOOD: In November, our President and several members of our club will travel to Guadalajara in hopes of finding an international project that can be more “hands on”.

Garberville Rotary Club 383
International Report 2007
Karyn Lee-Thomas & Dennis Bourassa (co-chairs)

FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROGRAM: Our newest exchange student, Mariam Schaaf is from Germany and seems to be adjusting very well. Our out-bound student, Emily Morrell is in Belgium. Member Chris Brannon is a member of the district exchange student committee

ROTOPLAST: In April, three club members (Chris Brannon, Dennis Bourassa and Brian Walker) traveled to Guatemala as members of the Rotaplast team to do corrective surgery on kids and young adults with cleft lip and palate. They were able to see 183 patients in the clinic
and were able to operate on 96 with over 150 procedures. In September 2007 Brian Walker will serve as quartermaster for a Rotaplast project in Mexico.

GSE: In April, member Brian took charge to transport the GSE team from Eureka to Ukiah, stopping in Garberville to enjoy lunch at Calico’s with other club members.

SIBERIAN MEDICAL PROJECT: We continue to support the efforts of Dr Kim with a yearly donation of $500.

SAN PANCHO MEXICO: Many of our club members vacation in this small village 40 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. Our club just budgeted $2000 to be given to the EntreAmigos, a local non-profit dedicated to uniting the community of San Pancho to work together towards positive change. A majority of their focus is towards children and education. Some of their projects include a library and computer center, education and outreach, and a scholarship program. We are currently communicating with them to determine where the $2000 will best be spent.

BECOME A CARBON-NEUTRAL CLUB: As global citizens we can be ‘part of the solution’ instead of part of the problem by leading the way for rotary clubs around the world to evaluate their carbon footprint and offset their emissions by planting trees. We have submitted a simplified grant application to District 5130 for funds to perform the audit and plant the trees.