• Recent posts

Feria del Libro and Midterms by Alethea District 5520 Rotary scholar in Argentina

2008 Four Way test award winner

IT’S DISTRICT CONVENTION TIME IN EL PASO, TEXAS By Jimmy Melver, District Convention Chair

Springtime plants & tips from the Deming RC

District 5520 update on health issues by Ken Campbell, District Immunization and Health concerns chair

Taos, New Mexico Interact Club Serves in South America by Yale Jones

Rotary Fellowship. By PDG Johnny Lane, District Fellowship Chair

Christmas at the Beach by D.5520, Del Norte club student exchange, Sommer

5520 outbound Ambassadorial Scholar by DGN Dick Jones

Crystal Darkness Campaign in New Mexico by District Foundation Chair Robert Bovery

D. 5520 very own moderating RI 2009 Assembly

Family of Rotary by Elaine McKinney, Rotary Club of Las Cruces Mesilla Valley

Job well done! - PDG Dan Schulte report on the Canadian Friendship exchange tour of District 5520

District CS Chair mis-adventure in RotaryLand

Foreign Exchange Program Apprehension. Uncertainty. Anticipation. By Stephanie VonAncken

District 5520, Club Service Chair Bob Rosenak communication, 8-2007

District 5520, Literacy Projects by Lonnie Leslie, 5520 Literacy Coordinator

Community Outreach by Ray Jecklin, Rotary club of Bernallilo Coronado president

The Four-Way Test: A Rotary Tradition by Ross M. Burkhardt Rotary Club of Las Cruces Rio Grande

Essay from Aletha Scally, District Ambassador finalist

Letter from Zelie Pollon, District Peace and Conflict Studies Program

Literacy Day, District Rotarians reading

Letter from the RC of Grant-Milan President

That Little Short Japanese Guy by the name of Jimmy Melver, would like to challenge you to Beat or Break the previous attendance record for the District 5520 Convention. Please join Jackie Morgan, our District Governor, by attending the convention from Thursday, April 24, to Sunday, April 27, 2008.

Where else can you go and get your picture taken at the World’s Largest Harley Davidson Dealership?

Thursday evening, April 24, 2008, is the opening reception which will be held at Barnett Harley Davidson, and we’re suggesting you wear your leathers or western wear. Friday evening will be home hospitality and this is where we need your help. Johnny & Hilda Lane of the El Paso East Club, at hjlane3541@aol.com, are looking for Southern New Mexico and West Texas Rotarians to be hosts. Let’s help by showing our warm hospitality to our visiting Rotarians to the Sun City.

The Saturday Night Gala will be the “Black Ties and Tennies” dinner. This is your opportunity to use your imagination and decorate your tennis shoes for a Special Prize for the best decorated Tennies.

Sunday morning will be our Memorial Breakfast to remember the District Rotarians who have passed away this last Rotary year. We ask you to submit the names of those individuals to Tim Parker at aussietp@yahoo.com.

John Colman of the El Paso Club is the chair of the Plenary Sessions. He has planned some very informative humanitarian and educational programs featuring outstanding speakers for Friday and Saturday.

Where else can you go and play golf on the historical Butterfield Trail? The Butterfield Trail dates back to 1858 when the Butterfield Overland Mail Company operated carrying mail and passengers across the country from Missouri to San Francisco. Part of the original trail still runs through the Butterfield Trail Golf Course, Please join Jeff Minor, President of the El Paso Club and chair of the Golf Tournament, on Thursday, April 24, 2008.

Please bring your club displays and show off your club’s accomplishments at the convention. Contact Ray Cox of the El Paso Club at rcox2@elp.rr.com, and he will be arrange space for your displays.

We are asking every club to bring one or more auction items and contact Gerri Wootten of the El Paso West Club at gtwootten@aol.com, for more information.

Are you ready for this year’s District Convention? You can register online at the district website, www.rotary5520.org, and take advantage of the Early Bird Special before April 4th.

Make your hotel reservation before April 10th to get the special discounted rate. Please Register NOW because we need you here. Rotarians from all over New Mexico and West Texas will come together for fellowship, fun, to learn about Rotary, and to share our accomplishments.

There is a lot of activity in our district this year by various clubs who are helping to improve the health of their communities. If your club is doing projects not mentioned here, please let me know so we can keep the district informed!

1. The San Juan Rotary Club and Paul McQueary are dong an outstanding job getting district clubs involved in a very effective program to combat methamphetamine use by children and young people.

2. Andrew Garrison and the coaltion on obesity are very active finding ways to educate and promote the use of best practices to battle obesity which is a marker for unhealthy lifestyles and other health problems.

3. Several new and improved vaccines for preventable childhood diseases have been released in the last year and more are coming. Several clubs are helping improve New Mexico's inadequate immunization rates. The Rotary Club of Albuquerque is providing a $4000.00 matching grant, half for books and half for promotional activities to support immunization events in the Albuquerque area. Because of this effort, Bill WAlsh a Rotarian and an employee of The NM Primary Care Assoc. secured additional donation of books from Scholastic Books making the total effort worth about $25000.00.

4.The Santa Fe Immunization Coalition, made up of Santa Fe Rotary, The NM Dept of Health and other healthcare providers has helped support a major back to school immunization effort, a Wal-Mart tax free weekend clinic, and we have received a grant from the NM Immunization Coaltion to do a pilot project involving the day care centers and daycare homes in Santa Fe County to help them improve their efforts to make sure their pre-school children are properly immunized.

5. The new Health Officer for the State of New Mexico is Dr. Karen Armitage. She was formerly the District two health officer and the co-chairperson of the Santa Fe Immunization Coalition. She is a great friend of Rotary and a Paul Harris Fellow. She thinks Rotarians walk on water. She is well aware of all Rotary does to support better health and is anxious help clubs all over the state to do more. The new NM immunization information system is working well and growing rapidly and helping to stop duplicate immunizations because of poor records.

6. Please send healthcare project information to Ken Campbell, district immunization and health concerns chairman at RotaryKen@msn.com 505-438-0525 2679 Via Caballero del Norte, Santa Fe, NM 78505-6528

Sixteen members of the Taos High School Interact Club of Taos, New Mexico, USA went to Peru and Bolivia on a service trip during the Christmas holidays last year. Taos Rotarian Maria Isabelle “Chavi” Petersen, a native of Bolivia, and Peruvian Rotarian Enrique Farfan organized the trip, which was supported by four additional adult chaperones from Taos. In 2006 many of these same students visited the impoverished Andean village of Maras, Peru as sophomores. They were deeply touched by the poverty there and the contrast with their own, more fortunate circumstances, so they promised to return to help the village school again.

In order to raise the money necessary for the 2007 trip, they worked hard for over a year, holding car washes, bake sales, a rummage sale, a silent auction, yard work, cleaning windows and giving tours of historic Taos. On the day before Christmas the Interact Club arrived at the Maras School. They had raised enough money to provide playground equipment, as well as food, cooking supplies and toys, which they gave to the village school. One of the Taos youth described “instant bonding” with these children. They were all touched by Sr. Farfan’s comment that “Every kid has the right to play, no matter how rich or poor, or their social condition.” Next they went to a nearby village, Mullakas, where a school had been built since their previous visit to the area. There, too they donated playground equipment, toys, food and supplies. Sr. Farfan told the Taos youth that they deserved some of the credit for the building of this school because their attention to the region in 2006 drew the government’s attention.

In Peru the students also visited Cusco, Machu Picchu, Puno and finally Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca, where they also gave toys to children. Then they crossed the border into Bolivia and traveled by bus to the capital, La Paz. There they visited a boys orphanage and gave them soccer balls, volleyballs, a blanket for each boy and clothing. Then they had quite an experience playing soccer with them at 3600 meters above sea level. Three of the students were able to visit a second orphanage in La Paz and provide supplies. Kahlil Oysler, a senior on his second trip to Peru offered this comment, which expressed the feelings of many in the Interact Club: “The experience was life changing. When we saw the children’s smiles, we knew that the playground equipment would be not just for them but for the next generation as well. Sam Rychener, a chaperone, summed up the life-changing experience of everyone on the trip: “The most memorable moments of all occurred shortly after we parked at the Maras school and walked around to the playground. We began to weep as the children who had followed our bus ran to the swings, slides and monkey bars that the Taos Interact Club had donated.

This was what the Interact Club had spent two years washing windows, throwing bake sales and soliciting donations for. We wept as a group and traced our fingers on the plaque that Cusco Rotary had installed at the edge of the playground. And the weeping continued as we inspected the classroom with the new treadle-operated sewing machines and saw the aprons the Maras children had made with them. That first fifteen minutes at the Maras school were moments I will always treasure even though I could hardly see them because of the tears in my eyes.” These young Taosenos had a powerful experience of “Service above self.”

PDG Bob Wootten felt that the 4 Way Test should be expanded to the 5 Way Test, the 5th being “is it FUN”.

Rotary realized that all work and no play (FUN) makes Rotary and Rotarians dull. One of the “funest” things in life is fellowship and, after all, that is what brought the 4 Founders of Rotary together.

Fellowship is still a big part of Rotary whether it is fellowship within the club or International Fellowship, which is fellowship between clubs and Rotarians, sometimes half way around the World. Fellowship programs take several forms, we will discuss the first one in this article. Global Networking Groups allow individual Rotarians from several countries to join together to focus on common interests. Through these groups, you can Share fellowship and friendship with thousands of Rotarians Meet other Rotarians with a similar hobby or vocational background Collaborate with Rotarians from around the world who are dedicated to a particular area of service.

There are two types of Global Networking Groups: Rotary Fellowship and Rotarian Action Groups.

Rotary Fellowships: Rotary was founded on fellowship, a concept that has been expanded internationally through the Rotary Fellowships, groups that bring together members from different countries and cultures to enjoy a shared interest. In addition to fostering lifelong friendships, Rotary Fellowship keep members active in Rotary sustaining their interest and further inspiring commitment. The nearly one hundred Rotary Fellowships encompass a variety of vocations and avocations, ranging from sports and hobbies to professional interests – all of which serve as a way to extend international fellowship, friendship, and service. In addition to offering members an opportunity to share their passion for a particular interest with like-minded Rotarians, many individual fellowship groups enable members to use their hobbies or skills to serve others. For example, the Fellowship of Canoeing Rotarians has organized cleanups of polluted rivers, and members of the International Computer Users Fellowship of Rotarians conduct training sessions for Rotarians and other people in their community on how to use electronic media. Members of the International Fellowship of Rotarians with Repaired Hearts-or the “Zipper Club”, as they call themselves – have provided life-saving surgeries to disadvantaged children with severe heart defects.

Rotary Fellowships began informally in 1928 when Rotarians with a shared interest in Esperanto joined together. In 1947, a group of Rotarian boating enthusiasts began flying the Rotary flag from their rafts, calling themselves the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians; this fellowship now boasts the longest continuous existence. The scope of Rotary Fellowships has changed much over the years, but today their common purpose is still to unite Rotarians in friendship and provide venues for enjoying their favorite recreational or professional activities.

Some examples of Rotary fellowships: Antique Classic & Historic Automobiles, Canoeing, Editors & Publishers, Motorcycling, Magic, Scuba Diving, Yachting, Amateur Radio, Bridge, Petanque, Cycling, Yoga, Rotary on Stamps, Internet, Marathon Running, Curling, Running & Fitness, Horseback Riding, Football, Fishing, Handicrafts, Nurses, Quilters & Fiber Artist, Mountain Climbing and Hiking, Heart Surgery Survivors, Convention Goers.

Rotarian Action Groups: Rotarian Action Groups conduct international service projects that further the Object of Rotary. If you’re interested in supporting a particular type of service activity, there may be a Rotarian Action Group for you. Examples: Humanitarian Service, Blood Donation, Hearing Regeneration, Blindness Prevention, Water and Sanitation, Health Fairs, Population & Development, AIDS, Microcredit, Polio Survivors (PSA), Interest, Dental Volunteers, Multiple Sclerosis, Mine Action. In following articles we will discuss: Group Study Exchange Rotary Friendship Exchange Intercountry committees (ICCs) Open World PDG

Happy New Year Rotary! Hello Rotary Del Norte! I hope that your new years has kicked off to a great start! It has been far too long since I wrote last, and a lot has happened. Now I'm in my second host family, and it is going really great. Moving was very hard. I really loved my first family, I got along great with them, had a lot of really good times, but I know it's a good experience to change. It's good to meet more people, learn to adapt (haven't I had enough of that already?), and learn more about the different lifestyles there are in your host country. Now I'm on summer vacation from my school. So far I've spent some time on the family farm, riding horses, eating strange fruits right off the tree, learning to make cheeses from the morning milking, and just relaxing in the company of my new family. Along with going to various concerts with friends and playing a lot of guitar.

This Saturday, I'm off with my host mom to Mato Grosso Do Sul, a state close to the border of Paraguay, to visit my host uncle, learn about the indigenous people of the region, and just see a bit more of Brazil. We may be going to Pantanal, which is like the Amazon but smaller, to see what that's like as well. We will be driving the whole way, about 18 hours, so I should be able to see a lot of the countryside on the way. The moment I get back from this trip, I'm off on another with my first host family to the beach. And then school starts again. Time passes fast. Already I am half way through my exchange year. And I hate to think about leaving Brazil. I honestly am loving it here. I've adapted so well to the culture, the people, and even the language, that some people believe I am Brazilian (that is if I don’t talk much). The Portuguese is still a little difficult, but no longer is it a constant restraint. I am understanding almost everything, and I can converse pretty smoothly. I have yet to dream in Portuguese, at least that I am aware of, but when I am speaking English, it is stranger for me then Portuguese. There have been times when I'm speaking with someone from home and I start speaking in Portuguese without even knowing it. I suppose that is a sign that I'm learning.

My homesickness has pretty much passed...probably because I'm just having too much fun here to remember what I'm missing, but the holidays were are little difficult away from home. I didn't feel so much in the Christmas spirit this year... It was about 95 degrees on Christmas day. The only way I knew it was Christmas was the lights that were up around the city. The customs here in Brazil are so different. The holiday is more a time for a party then a time for peace. No one stays in the house Christmas Eve. Everyone is with the entire family, opening gifts in a torrented mess and dancing until the sun comes up. Food is less of a concern. There is only one real Christmas food, which is a special bread with chocolate chips called panatone. They don't really make special cakes or cookies. Just a big lunch of turkey, rice and beans (it's a given), salad, and a chicken pot pie-like tort. The week before Christmas I went with my host club to deliver presents to sick children in the hospitals of the city. It was a good thing for me to see, although it was difficult. We went around the city on top of a firetruck, with the signal blaring (Brazilians..) and left gifts in each hospital. Each person had a Santa hat, and 3 were totally dressed as Santa. It was nice to see the faces of these kids light up when they saw us come in...but difficult to see children in this condition. I have a blog up about my realizations and such: http://sommerinbrazil.blogspot.com/ along with a photo website: http://picasaweb.google.com/sommerbrazil Well, I should be getting back to my immersion.

Thank you for this opportunity. I could not have asked for a better year, or a better opportunity. 2007 has been the year that brought the most changes in my life, but also, it has been the best year of my life. I can say that with certainty. And I'm so glad to be kicking of 2008 here in Brazil. This year will be just as good as the past, it will bring changes, growth, and many good experiences as well. I'm excited for what is to come, and glad to remember what has passed. This time I will never ever forget. This exchange year is in my memory forever. Best wishes for all of you in the coming year.

As they say here in Brazil, lots of health, peace, prosperity, love, happiness, and everything good for you. Tchau!

Your adoring exchange student, Sommer

Alethea Scally, District 5520’s outbound Ambassadorial Scholar, spoke recently to the Rotary Club of Santa Fe.

She will be leaving in February for Buenos Aires, Argentina to pursue a master’s degree in International Political Economics at the Universidad Torauato di Tella. In Alethea’s speech to the Rotary Club of Santa Fe, she stressed the importance of a proactive approach to reach out to educating area youth to Rotary’s youth programs.

Alethea said that in high school she was aware of Rotary’s Youth Exchange Program, but couldn’t find information on how to become involved. Prior to contacting the Rotary Club of Santa Fe, she learned of the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program through searching the internet. A 1998 graduate of Santa Fe High School and a 2003 graduate of St. Mary’s College in California,

Alethea first learned about Rotary’s Ambassadorial Scholarship in high school. But it wasn’t until March 2006, when she took it upon herself to learn about opportunities abroad for advanced degrees, that Alethea contacted the Rotary Club of Santa Fe’s Ambassadorial Scholarship Chair Joe Skubi. With the recommendation of the Club, Alethea’s application was forwarded to the District committee.

In August 2006, Alethea was chosen from a field of five highly qualified scholars. Ten years of education and numerous professional and volunteer experiences are included in Alethea’s lengthy resume. She is currently working as Arizona’s Congressman Raul Grijalva’s Senior Education Policy Advisor.

Her work is concentrated on re-writing sections of the No Child Left Behind Act. Prior to working for Congressman Grijalva, Alethea served as an intern for New Mexico Congressman Tom Udall. While living in Washington, DC Alethea was a member of the Rotaract club where she served as the Professional Development Chair. While serving in this position, she worked with members of the Washington, DC Rotary Club. Alethea also volunteered as an English as a Second Language teacher and as co-chair of a young professional networking group interested in International Relations.

During her year in Argentina Alethea plans to keep in touch with District 5520 by linking her blog and webpage to District 5520’s website. Additionally, Alethea can be contacted at alethea.scally@gmail.com

Crystal Darkness is a multi-media grassroots campaign to educate young people and parents about the dangers of crystal methamphetamine.

The purpose of the campaign is to prevent young people from trying this drug and to provide help to those people who are addicted. This drug is destroying lives. Law enforcement officials estimate that over 70% of all property and auto burglary crimes are committed by meth addicts. Over 75% of all identity theft crimes are committed by meth addicts. It costs over $100,000 to arrest, prosecute and rehabilitate just one meth addict.

Crystal Darkness Documentary Will Be Broadcast On April 10, 2008 in a Roadblock The station managers from KOB TV, KOAT TV, KRQE TV, WB19 and KASA Fox TV, are donating airtime to broadcast the Crystal Darkness documentary at 6:30 PM on Thursday, April 10, 2008.

The documentary will air in a roadblock, which means that Crystal Darkness will be the only program that they can watch at this time on those stations. In Portland and Las Vegas, Crystal Darkness received a 50 share, which means that over 50% of the homes with televisions in those markets watched the program. These ratings are comparable to Super Bowl viewership. Goal of the Campaign Because of the havoc that this drug is wreaking on our state, it is our goal to have the entire state of New Mexico watching Crystal Darkness on April 10th.

Because drug dealers are primarily targeting our youth, it is especially imperative that every young person watch this program. To accomplish this, we need to develop a delivery organization to reach every teacher, principal and school superintendent with the purpose of delivering the Crystal Darkness message to every child between the ages of 10 and 18. The initial task would be to distribute a one page flyer that promotes the program to every student. We would also need to distribute lesson plans to teachers so that they can assign watching the program as homework. The follow-up task would be to provide training to teachers, youth pastors, parents and students so that they can provide follow-up training. A Training the Trainer program was developed in Las Vegas, NV. Thus far they have trained over 23,000 trainers and Crystal Meth awareness and prevention sessions have been conducted throughout the city. A critical component to this training is a multi-page color booklet that explains the top 10 reasons why a person should never experiment with this drug.

How Rotary District 5520 Can Help - Involve clubs in a statewide organizational effort to bring all NM Rotary clubs into the effort. - Request every NM Club to donate money to the effort and ask each of them to request matching funds from the Rotary Region and Rotary International - Enlist all NM Rotary clubs to deliver the materials and lesson plans to the schools and directly to the teachers who will be assigning homework and leading the classroom discussion. The Cost Printing costs are estimated to be $50,000. However, if Rotary Club has some members who own printing companies, these costs can be lessened by in kind donations of paper, printing, etc. In Las Vegas and Reno, Rotary was responsible for getting all of the materials printed.

John Kenny, Rotary International President 2009 has named El Paso real estate executive, Sonny Brown, as Moderator for Rotary’s International Assembly in San Diego, California in January 2009.

As moderator, he and his wife, Ann, will organize the training for 530 District Governors and their spouses representing over 200 countries.

Founder of Sonny Brown Associates, a commercial and industrial real estate consulting firm he is member of the Paso del Norte Group and serves on its Membership Committee and its Bi-National Committee. He has served as director, El Paso Industrial Development Corporation, Commissioner on the Housing Authority of El Paso, and Vice-President of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves Rotary as Chairman of Rotary’s Leadership Development and Training Committee. He is Past President of the Rotary Club of El Paso, Past District Governor for New Mexico and West Texas and Past Vice President and Director of Rotary International, and Trustee of the Rotary Foundation. He is a co-founder of Rotary’s Institute for Leadership in the El Paso/Juarez area. For his service in El Paso and the Texas/NM Rotary District, he was awarded El Paso Rotary Club’s Distinguished Service Award. The District’s annual best business award is named the Sonny Brown Business of the Year Award. He is the recipient of Rotary’s “Service Above Self” award.

Think back to when you were first introduced to Rotary. Although there are many service organizations in each of our communities, what was it that attracted you to Rotary? Was it the friendliness of the group, how they made you feel welcome or perhaps it was seeing a group of individuals who were working together to help others. Whatever your initial reason, I know that once you became involved in Rotary you found a group of sincere, caring, and involved people. These folks soon became your “extended family.”

In addition to the friends and “family” that we see weekly at our meetings, there are other members of this “extended family” that we see less often. They are the spouses/partners and the children and grandchildren of fellow Rotarians or they are our retired Rotarians. Gradually, we extend this family of Rotary outward to include our student Rotarians, the Interactors, Rotaractors, RYLA campers, and all of the Exchange participants. If we are truly fortunate, we become involved in District Rotary, and beyond. The world is truly our playground and we, through Rotary, have “family” around the world! What an awesome thought! Yes, we are a family!

As a family we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, births, and successes. And, we share the sadness of illnesses and deaths. As family, it is our job to offer encouragement and support, to ask for and receive help, and to just “be there” when we are needed. To what degree do we do this with our “extended family?” President Wilfred Wilkinson asked that each of our clubs develop a plan to strengthen the support and involvement of the whole Family of Rotary. What is your club doing to promote the Family of Rotary? I would like to encourage you to develop a plan to strengthen participation, recognition, and involvement of all Rotarians and their families. Through this, our clubs will find a renewed commitment to Rotary, membership will grow, and we will retain existing members.

How can your club improve/expand the things you are already doing? Here are a few ideas:

• Establish a tracking system to maintain communication and involvement

• Contact “retired” and honorary Rotarians and issue a special invitations to join your club for a meeting, recognition event, or a social event

• Invite Interact and Rotaract members to special events

• Send birthday cards, congratulation cards and sympathy cards to members

• Share their grief and offer support during an illness and after a death in the family

• Issue a special invitation to spouses/partners to join in Rotary activities and fundraisers

• Invite spouses/partners to the Induction Ceremony or for special recognition

• Recognize Rotarians for their accomplishments and contributions (monetary and time)

Let’s push our recognition and involvement with our “extended family” to a new level this year! Please share your ideas by emailing me at elaine.mckinney@zianet.com. Let’s take time to nurture and grow our Family of Rotary.

Dear All:

Last night was the going away party for the Canadians held at the Brian and Audrey Haggerty's. The food, camaraderie and genuine fellowship was enjoyed by all and the parting was sweet sorrow. I suspect the Alb group felt the same sweet sorrow when the Canadians left there. In Las Cruces, it was apparent, when we picked them up for transport to El Paso, that the feelings of close friendship was overflowing. It was evident that parting , again, was sweet sorrow. Hopefully, and although the visit was very short, the Socorro group felt a strong kinship for this small group of Canadian Rotarians who showed a keen interest in everything they saw and in everyone they met.

While they were in El Paso, the group was very vocal in their praise of all the effort and coordination which culminated in their final five days. The visit to Alamogordo was definitely a highlight of their visit and the efforts of the Alamo WS RC, arranged by Nancy Words was beyond expectations. Vicki and her husband opened their lovely SW Style home rescuing us from the ravages of high winds and blowing dust. The group could not have been more pleased.

Other highlights of the trip were equally praised. The Balloon Ascension in Alb was apparently beyond description, and the trips to Acoma Pueblo and Santa Fe provided a real taste of our Southwest paradise. The wetlands near Socorro caught their interest and they were convinced that this was the proper place for Canadian Geese to visit. We were lucky to have great weather and warm days . Even the Sand Storm on Sunday was viewed as a great and natural event that strikes newcomers as a gift from the Gods.

Finally, we all agreed that the RFE group from Canada was impressed with us and our surroundings. Ed Korbyl, the coordinator for the group suggested we reciprocate with a visit of D-5520 Rotarians to his part of the world, Alberta, Canada the last two weeks of Jul 2008. He promised relative mild temps and sunshine. Toward that end, I am sure that a min of two couples and at least one single are committed to going - a great start.

Please convey this info to your hosts etc., and let's see if we can get a small group of ten couples to sign up. I would like to recognize everyone who had a hand in making this visit for our Canadian friends such a huge success. I plan to recognize everyone involved with a District Certificate of Thanks.

Please send your list to me as soon as possible and I'll ask our DG to sign them. Thanks again for your commitment and friendship. Dan

How I missed a Rotary meeting

I talked to our DG Jackie Morgan yesterday. She asked me to do her a favor. Well when the DG asks for a favor you have only two answers. Yes and Yes. All others are somewhat weak. She said that we had lost our district Public Relations person because he was moving out of the area. So would I please look around my part of the district and see if there was anyone who might be interested in filling this position. "No problem." I'll go to the meeting tomorrow of one of our clubs and see if I can talk to a few people who might be interested in the position. I have several ideas about the right person for the job.

So this morning I get dressed up in my finest district leadership team shirt and Rotary pin and off I go to the meeting. I arrive at the designated location about 10 minutes prior to the stated starting time for the meeting. I look around, hmmm, no Rotarians anywhere. Am I in the wrong place? No, I had checked on line and this was the right place, day and time. So I go to the front desk to ask about the Rotary meeting. This may not have been the brightest idea I ever had. I wait about five minutes while the only desk clerk registers two guests. Finally he gets to me. "Does the Rotary club meet here today?" I ask. "Let me see, I think so," is his reply. Let me ask and see. Off he goes, swallowed by the demons of the back room. He finally returns and says, "I think there is a meeting somewhere, we're not sure what hotel it's at but they aren't here today." Wow great observation. "What hotel," I ask. We're not sure, it's either, here he mentions a hotel or at another hotel. By now the time is 12 Noon, the meeting, wherever it is, has started and either hotel mentioned is at least a fifteen minute drive. I go home. No Rotary meeting for me today. So Jackie that is the reason I have no report on my idea. Beats the story of the dog eating my homework, you teachers never believed that either.

Did this have to happen? The answer is a simple no.

Here is where your club service director needs to be in action. Ask one of your members if they would be willing to sit at the regular meeting site and greet visiting Rotarians. They can direct them to the proper location for the meeting. I could have made it if someone had been on the spot to tell me where to go. For me it was not a disaster, and for most people missing a meeting is not the end of the world. However it is frustrating to get dressed, drive a half hour to attend a meeting and find there isn't one.So that's my thought for this month. Let's share Rotary with everyone but then let's be there so that when they visit we can welcome them.

“So what will you do if you are living in a household that eats mushrooms while saunaing in the nude?” I hesitated, sensing a note of sarcasm and laughed out loud with Sloan as she realized I understood her joke. On my Rotary application under the question, what are your dislikes, I had written one word: mushrooms. They have been the one and only food I have never acquired a taste for, and of course that came up at my first interview for foreign exchange.

At first I was filled with excitement; a year in a foreign country, learning a new language and customs, the idea is overwhelming. I was given a website where I downloaded the whole nineteen-page application.

Then uncertainty set in, the first interview in the tower of the interviewing process is with Sloan, Brad, and Dawn, youth exchange volunteers. They ask you the basic questions: Why would you like to be a foreign exchange student? Do you think you could handle the pressure of being without your parents for a year? What would you do in “this” situation? Would I make it in? After the first interview I felt as if I had finally finished one hurtle in the long race of applying to be a foreign exchange student. Now I had to move on to the next hurtle and meet the district interviewers. Applying and becoming accepted into the rotary foreign exchange program is intense. As a young girl I was quoted as regularly telling my parents how much I loved them and would never leave them, as any young child would. Our family friend, Michelle Frechette would come over after lunch with Rotary on her mind, she would ask if I wanted to be a foreign exchange student and visit another country for a year. My answer was always the same: “Never, I never want to leave my family and Corrales.” This idea amused my parents. She would always ask the same question and my answer never changed. She soon realized that I was “never” going to say yes so she stopped asking, until last September. We were sitting on the floor near the fireplace counting scrabble tiles when she asked her usual question, and I simply said “sure.” My Mom and Michelle couldn’t believe their ears, and to tell you the truth, neither could I. In my mind it sounded like a great plan. Why not go on an adventure, travel, and explore new things? But the idea that this was really going to happen still astounded me. I mean it’s one thing to think about leaving your home for a year, and a whole other thing to actually get up and take action towards that goal. I had apprehension about the idea of leaving home and now that’s what I was doing.

I made it through the interview and acceptance process, my application was bound for Finland and I was filled with more excitement; a year in a foreign country experiencing new things. I talked to everyone I knew that had any information about student exchange; parents whose children had gone on exchange, seniors who had been in another country their senior year, and inbound students from other countries. I couldn’t get enough. Every person I talked to gave me a different outlook on the idea. Many even knew a little information about Finland, which they graciously shared with me!

Freezing. Icicle hair. Winter. Mile after mile of vast, uninhabited, snowy land. The trees bend from the immense weight of the snow. The 95,000 lakes are frozen, dotted with hundreds of bundled ice fisherman sitting over their holes eating their noonday meal. Furnaces burning, people look forward to their daily time in the warmth of the sauna. Summer. People retreat to their summer cottages on the lakes. Boating, waterskiing, swimming. Fish, fish, and more fishing. People bustle through the once empty streets. Merchants are seen in the markets showing off their yield. Bright colors fill the towns as people emerge. Finland.

Though this application and interviewing process has been strenuous these last eight months, the reward is so much greater and I am filled with anticipation about the great big world of Finland, which is yet to come.

An open letter to all the Club Service directors.

Greetings to all of you club service directors.

Let’s fasten our seat belts and get going on a great new year in Rotary! Out of curiosity I looked up the club service information on the R.I. web site. Here is what I found: Club Service focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the effective functioning of the club. So what does this mean to you as Rotarians and especially to the Club Service directors? Just this, anything you want it to. Years ago I asked an attorney friend of mine what time it was, his reply, “What time do you want it to be?” So what do you want to accomplish as the Club Service director? I feel that it is still most important that you work with the program committee to bring good programs to each meeting. We have also found that an open meeting every other month is a good idea. We can take care of the presentation of Paul Harris Fellowships at this meeting, along with our local foundation awards. We can handle other club business and take care of “house keeping,” things that keep getting pushed aside during a regular meeting. Another part of your job is to see to the training of new Rotarians. Too many clubs induct a new member and they are on their own. A “SPUR” or Red Badge program is vital to the health of your club and its members. Don’t assume that they will, “get it.” A good way to involve a new member quickly is have them be a greeter. I like to come into a meeting and have someone I don’t know yet greet me and welcome me to the meeting. Furthermore a greeter is essential when you have visiting Rotarians. There is nothing worse than to walk into a strange club meeting and after you pay for your meal be totally ignored! Many years ago I was working our of town in a strange city for about four weeks, each week I attended the only Rotary Club meeting in town. Each week I paid my money and sat at a table. For three weeks no one sat with me. The members would come in and look at me and go to another table. Finally the fourth meeting I spoke up. I told them that they made me ashamed to be a Rotarian! I said no one should be treated as I had been. They were rude and unpleasant. My little tirade was a waste of my time and only showed my inability to contain my temper. Guess what? The next year I was back working in the same town. No Rotary Club! They had failed. I wonder why? This is just one way a Club Service director can do the job. Help make new members into Rotarians by training and getting them involved.

Bob Rosenak, District Club Service director

As with the previous three Rotary years, Literacy will be a priority this year for Rotary Clubs around the world.   District and International Goals include: every Rotary club participating in International Literacy Day on September 8th 2007 and Rotary Literacy Month in March 2008.  Every Rotary Club will be asked to participate in a Rotary Literacy project either at home or abroad.  Clubs are also encouraged to seek opportunities to work with other organizations and educational institutions in promoting literacy in their local community and throughout the world.

Some of the most popular literacy projects conducted by Rotary Clubs are:

Dictionary Projects:  Local clubs donate dictionaries to third grade children.  Members of the clubs present the dictionaries to the children in their classrooms.  A great dictionary is available from The Dictionary Project (www.dictionaryproject.org).  I recommend “A Student’s Dictionary.”  These are small paperbacks that would be easy for students to carry and are available for $1.45 each.  

Adopt-a-school or school partnerships usually involve a club partnering with a local school to provide reading buddies or mentors for students at risk.  Some programs serve older children or even adults.  These partnerships can evolve into other projects to help needy students.  See the article written by Mike Chittom on the Literacy page (www.rizones29-30.net) for an excellent example.

Four-Way Test projects come in many forms.  The most popular is a local or district Four-Way Test Essay Contest.  For an example see the Fort Collins, Colorado model (www.rotary5440.org/fortcollinsco-4waybrochure/)

Books as gifts for schools or babies come in many forms.  School districts are always in need for library books.  An increasingly popular idea is to present a book to a new born child and its mother before they leave the hospital.  Materials are given to the mother impressing on her the value of reading to her child from birth.   A good resource would be the Director of Instruction for your local school district. 

Books donated to Jails and Prisons meet many needs.  My own Rotary Club in Clovis donates used paperbacks to the local jail.  This meets the needs of prisoners and will make you popular with your spouse when all those paperbacks find a new home.  Our jail will not accept hard backs because they can be used as weapons.

I will be contacting club presidents and asking that a survey be completed listing literacy projects in your local club.  As you can see, there are many ways your club can meet literacy needs in your community.  For more information please take a look at (www.RotaryLiteracy.com) or contact Lonnie Leslie (lleslie@literacy5520.com).

Community Outreach

For anyone that enjoys a great night out: The Bernalillo Coronado Rotary Club is putting on a charitable event. It’s the night before the Wine Festival, at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort. We believe it a great way to start the weekend and possibly a great new tradition. Fortunately for us all, the Tamaya has made a commitment to the community for about a third of what it would normally cost to have a formal sit down dinner. That’s a great contribution!

1st Community Bank and a surprising amount of others have committed to buy tables at this event, maybe some of you can too? Or, you’re in need of a nice evening, just the two of you?   It's an effort to raise money for the purchase of a passenger van or vans, for youth programs in Bernalillo.

As the new President of the local Rotary Club I thought I should contact you, as our event draws near. This will be on Friday the 31st of August 2007 at 6PM, dinner at 7PM with Al Hurricane to provide 4 hours of entertainment starting at 8PM. The tickets are $100.00 per person with all after expense proceeds going to the purchase of transportation for after school programs. This evening is simply a very good value for all in our community.  

I have a short story on why I believe this is so important to the community at large. Where the focus is giving kids things to do, learn, accomplish, after school and during the summer months. Like Boys and Girls Clubs, Bernalillo has a fine after school program and summer programs, but not all kids can get to the programs if they do not go to school close by, hence the need for transportation.  

I've been in Rotary for some time and really never thought I'd fit, yet somehow in the Espanola Valley near our last home, people were very supportive at the community level. I found myself very involved with Rotary in Espanola, in a Rotary Club that has Siks, Muslims, Catholics, and Baptists etc. A very diverse yet at the same time very involved group of people. Rotary and what it stands for is a very strong worldwide organization for people that want to give back. This organization, for people in all vocations that own a business, manage a business, or as a professional in any line of work, provides an avenue where you can give back to the world around you. Former Rotarians like John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Prince Renoir and others like activist Gov. Adele Stevenson, several astronauts and many other well known leaders from all political persuasions, have choose to be either Rotarians or Honorary Rotarians in an organization that exists in more than 160 countries worldwide.   You get the idea; Rotarians are diverse and yet get along well doing very much for the community at the same time. In the by-laws of Rotary, Politics and Religion are not spoken, but people of all faiths and or cultures are! Not just tolerated but welcomed! Idealistic yes, but it works as I’ve seen on several Rotary Projects in other countries where all division stops when Rotary is working, simply because people know and have become aware of why you’re in their community. No organization is perfect but with Rotary, even in little known third world conditions, people know you’re there to feed, house, and educate many, that as Rotarians you bring about world peace and understanding. There’s a message in Rotary that we need today. This very inclusive organization can accomplish just about anything, with a scholarship foundation second to none. Rotary’s reach is far and wide and Bernalillo can take advantage of this.

There are matching funds available, there has been more money raised through Rotary to stop things like Polio than through any other organization, the UN included.  

When my family and I moved here from Northern New Mexico, I wanted to stay involved with Rotary, mostly because they take a stand on not being political or religious with a long standing motto of “service above self”. I found both Rio Rancho Rotary Clubs already very involved with many local needs. Living in Enchanted Hills, and having lived in Placitas for 7 years (87-94), I found the Bernalillo Rotary Club interesting. The Bernalillo Rotary Club was also in need of members, as many seemed to be retired and moving on. Bernalillo Rotary has a long history of community involvement. A history that must continue on building parks and supporting the community, as it always has. I know people in Bernalillo and since my family and I live in Enchanted Hills, I thought it would be a natural fit for me, so I joined the Bernalillo Coronado Rotary Club. Maybe you might want to consider the same? While living in the Chimayo / Espanola area I noticed the Chimayo Boys and Girls Club and how it makes a huge difference, in an area where Heroin use is higher per capita than anywhere else in the country. I saw where and how, locals really appreciated the club. How the boys and girls club was making a very big impact on the community, for the good of all. Good in any community because our kids all need somewhere to go, to learn, to play or just hang out with opportunities’ for sports, arts, literature, etc.   Because of all that, after having lived there 9 years, my wife and I decided to do their payroll free of charge knowing that as we work together, things change. We see the change when the youth have a place to go, something to do. We support that concept, which is why this event is so important. Bernalillo has a nice Youth Program, which can do much towards making Bernalillo a better place, so let’s do this dinner and improve our neighborhood!    

All of us grew up in communities that may or may not have been the best situations. Let’s make sure our youth are our most valuable asset, our future, our leaders and professionals of tomorrow. We want to keep them here, for our communities to be the best, giving them opportunity to stay out of trouble and accomplish their hopes and dreams. I saw this happening with the Chimayo Boys and Girls Club making a huge difference in an area with great disadvantage. This can make a much bigger difference than all the money wasted on jails and detention centers that so many of our counties get stuck with, leaving our youth, all too often to suffer the consequences. The last fundraiser for Chimayo B and G Club attracted part time locals Marsha Mason and Shirley McClain. The support was what it should be and they opened a branch in Abiqui. Why do I say this? Well there is a similar opportunity in Bernalillo for us to get involved, supporting youth programs that the city has been wise enough to implement over the years, and it needs more, more in the way of transportation for kids to get there and to build bigger, better facilities in the future.  

Basically, right here, right now, the after school program in Bernalillo needs passenger vans to get the kids in outlying schools transported to the after school program.  Since I have been involved in similar events in the Espanola Valley through Rotary, I thought we ought to try and do something here. After negotiation with the Tamaya, they gave our small Bernalillo Rotary Club a great rate for this event, which would normally cost more than we are charging per ticket with the entertainment. Again, This is a great value and you can buy online.   Because of the charitable support by the Tamaya, the endorsement by Mayor Chavez, Maria Rinaldi and the Wine Festival Board, we can raise a great deal of money through this event that happens the night before the wine festival.   What a great way to start the weekend, yes?   We are asking many local business people, concerned citizens and government organizations to get on board and buy tickets for an evening that can make a real difference in the community. Let alone great food and fun! We all understand what can happen if the kids have more to do outside school and how much more we all gain through a safer community.   I'm saying much here, but I know this will make a real change in the lives of many kids that have no where else to go after school. Because of the Tamaya and the great deal they are giving us, we all can have fun and see the profits from this event go straight to helping the youth in our own neighborhood.   It would be fantastic to see you there! You can read about, make reservations and purchase online at our dedicated websitehttp://www.dinnerforyouth.org Some business owners have already purchased an entire table, and yes that is of course is available. I am asking Rio Rancho and Albuquerque to understand the value of supporting their neighbors as well.   Will you pass this on? Help spread the word. This can be a wonderful step forward as a first annual event that can become a great tradition!  

Thanks for your time,  

Ray Jecklin     Bernalillo Coronado

The Four-Way Test: A Rotary Tradition

Rotary has a simple Four-Way Test

Known throughout the land from east to west,

North to south – all corners of the globe:

Four simple questions, engineered to probe

Our actions and promote morality

In dealings with the world. Essentially,

This quartet asks, “Is what you’re doing right?

Or should it be consigned to dark of night?

If the latter, why do it at all?

Should not your actions match a higher call?”

“Is it the truth?” These four words challenge me

To speak with honor and integrity,

Respectful of the facts, be what they may,

So that my words ring true throughout the day.

It isn’t always easy, but I know

That if I tell the truth where e’er I go,

I spend no time remembering what I’ve said;

Where truth prevails, no person is misled.

“Is it fair to all concerned?” Each deed

Should resonate and echo Rotary’s creed

As ripples, rolling outward from the start,

Touch all others fairly in the heart.

Do no harm, you might say, and it’s true

That doing good to others honors you.

If what you do is seen by all as fair,

The deeds you do require no repair.

Question three asks, “Will it build good will

And better friendships?” Is there greater thrill

Than working in the service of another,

A friend, a customer, indeed a brother?

Life is people; they’re the source of joy.

In their behalf, consistently employ

Your talents so that those who follow next

Will emulate your model as their text.

“To all concerned, will it be beneficial?”

Use your intuition – be judicial.

Recognize that you are but a part

Of something greater than yourself. At heart,

You are here on earth the briefest while,

So greet each one you meet with sun and smile.

They should know that what you do serves all

In ways both celebrated and quite small.

“Is it fun?” Rio Grande Rotary

Asserts that this fifth question is a key

To living life in joy and harmony.

If what you do brings gloom, I guarantee

That others will not follow in your stead;

Your cheerless message will remain unread.

So while remembering the other four,

Summon up some “fun” – it’s not a chore.

Rotary’s Four Way Test is, yes, a code

For travel anywhere upon life’s road.

If to these challenges we do adhere,

We’ll benefit all people who appear

Before us. So, as you proceed each day,

Remember to have fun, to laugh and play,

Guided by four questions – Rotary’s test

Of how you might live life and be your best.

© Poems For All Occasions 2007

Alethea Scally
Santa Fe Rotary Club
Essay # 1 / Ambassadorial/ Autobio

I have a hereditary wanderlust. My maternal grandparents immigrated to this country from Latin America, and my paternal grandparents from Scotland. Afflicted with a similar condition, my parents earned their college degrees in California and Boston and, as a young couple searching for work, immigrated to Quebec. The three years they intended to stay grew into fourteen.

I was that peculiar hybrid known as an "American-born-abroad." My childhood was populated with a lively array of Quebecois babysitters, playmates, neighbors and teachers; my home life, filled with Scottish lullabies and Spanish endearments, played against a background of American English, music, children's literature and Canadian'ehs." Short trips to the U.S. Northwest and California required that I adjust my ear to thick Scottish brogues and fine -tune my childhood French to my grandmother's lilting Spanish.

At the very least, this melange of four cultures has always provided good conversation. But more importantly, it has keenly shaped my interest in learning about a diversity of cultures, languages, and governments. A childhood in Quebec exposed me to a much different way of life from that experienced in Santa Fe as a young teenager. An exploration of my immigrant roots on both sides of the family sparked my interest in learning Spanish well, so that I could communicate with my maternal grandmother and savor the characters and stories of her generation. It also led to travel around Scotland and the United Kingdom in search of more family contacts and tales.

This inborn curiosity and love of learning carried over to my academic endeavors. At first I was focused on biology, then economics. At one point it was Chinese. But finally I decided upon Spanish and French because they are two of the most widely spoken languages in global business and politics. Moreover, I had always enjoyed a
love of reading and writing in a language other than English; so why not pursue three? Completing the Spanish Honors degree at St. Mary's College in Cuernavaca, Mexico proved invaluable. I not only learned a foreign language, but also unearthed different aspects of my ethnic background. Bridging the cultural divide through the native language allowed me to see Mexican culture with new eyes, not as a hyphenated-Americana, but as a rapidly developing native-speaker . This facility in language admits one to an exclusive group in which citizenship and ethnic background do not apply, only the fact that one can communicate and understand.

Throughout my life I have used these languages to share experiences with and help others. While at Dickmson College in Pennsylvania, I volunteered at a food bank called Project Share. I would often use my Spanish to translate a family's needs to the food bank supervisor. This task required little effort on my part, and at the time I did not fully realize the impact it had on others. I now realize how grateful the families were that their
basic needs could be understood and met. Their "gracias" radiated relief.
The same exploratory spirit that triggered my interest in various languages also influenced my academic career. I attended three colleges, each as different from one another as the cultures in which I was raised. In a manner of speaking, I moved through three distinct academic cultures. I began at Dickmson with a scholarship and
an opportunity to live on the East Coast, a far cry from the maverick mentality and landscape of New Mexico. I went to St. John's in Annapolis because I wanted to explore an alternative curriculum focused on the Great Books.

And I ended at St. Mary's College after discovering that a liberal arts education at a small college was best suited to my interests and academic focus.
At every college, I fostered strong ties with my professors in order to succeed as a new transfer student. The one-on-one learning through student-teacher independent study sessions has proved indispensable. By choosing to transfer, I forged my own social and academic path at every new school; and this ability to travel forth and meet the unknown head-on became a valuable trait both in studying abroad and in confronting various challenges in life. In a sense I welcomed and thrived on the role of outsider, whether to another culture, another language, or another college. Like Henry Thoreau, I sensed that in order to understand a place well I should eye it, at a slight distance, as a newcomer.
This inquisitive quality brought me to the nation's capital. After writing an article for my local newspaper on child care in New Mexico, I wondered why there wasn't enough money for those in need. How were federal dollars appropriated, and how were priorities set? Although at times disillusioned with the law-making process, working for the Congressman has proven a treasured experience. In my three years on the Hill, I've seen first-hand the positive impact of civic engagement and advocacy; I've also puzzled over how many of my peers outside the Beltway know so little of the complex organization of their government. These observations correlate directly to a career in the international arena, as I see a study abroad experience as a kind of civic engagement, one that all of us should undertake. It is our duty in this era of globalization to reach out and explore the cultures with which we seek common ground in trade and politics. I hope to gain that insight through living and learning abroad and by honing at an international level the skills I developed by working with so many disparate homegrown constituencies.
To this end, I plan to pursue a career that will allow me to draw on not only my various languages, but also my talents in negotiating and listening. I intend to pursue an MAMBA joint degree program through the University of Pennsylvania and the Johns Hopldns University School of Advanced International Studies-- the MA in whatever language I do not perfect through this scholarship, and the MBA with an international focus. An Ambassadorial Scholarship would certainly enhance my application to this program because it would provide me with a strong international experience from which to make my case. But more importantly, it would offer me the opportunity to experience as an adult a different culture, to master a language, and to create lifetime professional and personal relationships.
Throughout my life I have worked to enrich myself personally, academically and professionally. It is this desire to learn from first-hand, tangible experiences that drives my motivation to explore other cultures and live abroad. I possess the skill, adventurous curiosity, and perseverance to be an Ambassador of Goodwill in a foreign land. I imagine returning not just as an American citizen but as a global citizen, one who can share my experiences abroad with my peers and professional colleagues at home and who might just inspire wanderlust in someone else.

Dear Rotarians de Santa Fe and surrounding areas ­

Sawadika (hello) from Thailand! I¹m sorry it¹s taken me so long to send update on the Peace and Conflict Studies Program here in Bangkok. Any of my extra time and attention has been focused on my health, and trying to recover from a variety of lingering ailments, which have been plaguing me since the moment I arrived. Unfortunately, my status quo health state is just that: no better or worse than when I¹ve arrived. Perhaps I¹m just managing my energy better. So I¹ll fill you in a bit on how it¹s going so far.

Our group of fifteen met at the University of Chulalongkorn International House where we¹ve been lodged in lovely rooms equipped with CNN and BBC. A business center with internet is nearby. Just down the street is the most monstrous mall complex I think I¹ve ever seen: MBK, a seven-floor metropolis, packed with meandering mobs and stuff you never imagined you might need.

The participants are varied and of the 15 we run the gamut of conflict-prone areas from India, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Philippines, Korea, and Nepal. We come from every level of government and civil society: an Army general and a teacher, scientists and activists, and, of course, one journalist. The connections and friendships we make are a large part of the experience.

Divided into four modules, the program began with a conceptual overview of the study of Peace and conflict then moved onto structures of conflict. We¹ll get to methods of resolution by the final weeks. It also includes three separate field trips, each to cover a different kind of conflict. We traveled to the northeast of Thailand to look at dam building, then next month we¹ll go to the Burma-Thai border to look at the oil pipeline and the factors of resource-based conflict. Our third trip is to Southern Thailand, where people are being killed every day, to look at the ingredients of ethnic-based conflict.

I¹ll admit the first module seemed painfully basic and slow for me, having already studied concepts of peace. But by module two the information was new ­ and thrilling. Our lecturer was Erik Melander a professor from Uppsala University in Sweden, one of the preeminent research institutes for conflict tracking. Erik led us through conflict mapping and tracking exercises, showing us which components to consider when looking for options of redress and how to find common ground for all parties involved. He is one among many talented presenters, but I¹ll admit his clarity was welcome following Thai presenters whose accents, sadly, I could not yet understand. Those early days were a bit of a haul but the intonations and expressions are much easier now.

When asked to present to a dinner of Rotarians some of the lessons we learned during our first month, my observations were quite simple. That conflict, in almost every case, begins with inequality and a sense of injustice. Whether the injustice is perceived or real is irrelevant; the conflict will not go away until the root cause is dealt with. Now, finding a way to deal with the injustice can take any number of paths and negotiations ­ and it is never easy, though resource-based (eg. Land, except, of course, if you¹re dealing with the Middle East) conflicts are usually easier to negotiate than ethnic-based ones. The second most common factor is a lack of law (or UN resolution) enforcement, for example illegal salt farming in the Thai countryside, or forceful and illegal acquisition of land by warring countries.

A few other notable details: Historically, conflicts have lessened overall and have moved from inter to intrastate conflicts. At the same time the proportion of civilians killed to warring members has skyrocketed; today the safest place to be in the event of any conflict is in the military! One of the most important factors for me was acknowledging and looking at the benefit of conflict, that it can be a ­ if not the ­ most important factor in social change and should not be considered inherently bad. Armed conflict is what we¹re hoping to avoid, but after reviewing too many conflicts, it¹s clear to see how desperate and frustrated people can feel pushed to do desperate and violent things. When a child is hungry a mother will take up arms. She is capable of anything.

The organization of the program is excellent, down to the last detail. And as the initiators of Rotary¹s newest program we also realize that our recommendations, likes and dislikes, will help shape and sharpen the program for those who follow. It is an amazing project that can have profound impact on those of us already working with and interested in issues of conflict and negotiation. My kudos go to the inspired creators of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, and my great thanks go to my Rotary sponsors in Santa Fe, N.M. I hope many more Americans will show interest and sign on -- they¹re taking applications now! In the meantime, you can email with any questions.

All best,

Zelie

To celebrate Literacy day, The District 5520 Communicator asked a few Rotarian to share with District their best recent reading

Dear Readers,

“Service above Self” reflects the theme of Rotarians around the globe.  So what is Rotary Club in this community?  Members of the Grants-Milan Rotary Club took that theme to the extreme the weekend of July 14 like none I have ever seen…and I didn’t see this  either.  I was at a family funeral and then on vacation out-of-state. 

When the president of a group goes on vacation as I did, there is often a concern for things going smoothly.  Not for one minute did I worry because our vice president, Mac Juarez, was in charge during my absence.  As events unfolded, I was right.  He would take care of things far beyond what anyone anticipated.

With our Fire and Ice booth duties looming, we had wonderful cooperation with Sylvia Anzures-Gonzales and husband Pat gathering the items for sale and other Rotarians joining in the days of selling from our booth.  Everyone in Rotary who was available pitched in to serve the event and the community.  Walmart’s Sal Avalo and Sky City Enterprises’ Charlene Selbee, both Rotary Club members, donated all the items we sold. 

With the earnings, we would have money for service projects in the community and world, not anticipating some would be allocated very quickly in memory of a member from the last shift.  How strange that the booth became the least of our concerns before the rally concluded.

The last day of the rally, our Club Secretary, Ed Smith, Sr., showed up at his appointed time to work, but our vice president bid him go be with his family.  You see, Ed’s grandson Shay Smith, age 2, of Lovington, Colorado, had drowned in a Colorado lake the prior day.  To date little Shay’s body has not been found.

For the last hurrah of the rally, David Ogle and Danny Maldonado of Mesa Flooring here, worked with Mac and closed the booth about 3pm.  To relax after a successful service project in the community, David and Danny headed over to Route 66 Casino in David’s car to continue the camaraderie with some fun playing poker.  They took different tables.  When David collapsed to the floor with a heart attack, Danny heard the thump. 

Then Danny, a fellow Rotarian, did what members do.  He stayed with David in the ambulance ride to Albuquerque, he stayed with David as family arrived, he stayed with David as hospital officials said they could do no more for David.  Danny finally called one of his own family members to come and get him as he had ridden with David after their service to community   He then retrieved David’s car from the casino parking lot where they parked to have a fun afternoon together. 

What a turn of events and what a blessing it was that David was with a Rotarian brother.  I stopped to see Danny at his store when I returned as we knew he needed our support for what having walked the final hours with David.  He had attended the Tuesday meeting immediately following that Sunday and was surrounded by caring and concerned members, he said.

When Rotary met on July 25, members prayed for both Ed and his family and for David’s family.  Nestor Griego proposed that $100 of the Fire and Ice earnings go to the local Walk for Life in David’s name.  It was done along with a plant to the Smith family in Colorado.  Twelve of the 20 Rotarians attended David’s funeral.

What is Rotary Club, you ask?  It is “Service above Self.” 

Why are we members?  If it isn’t already obvious, it is to help humankind wherever we are needed.

In solidarity with Rotarians Internationally,

Sandee D. Kosmo, Grants-Milan Rotary Club President