Rotary Club of Kitchener

e-Newsletter

Sept. 28, 2020

Meeting Recording

Today’s meeting can be viewed at this You Tube link

President's Comments

President Louise let members know that our 100th Anniversary logo has been developed and that it is now in use and can be seen on the club website.  Appreciation was expressed to Cam, the grandson of Lew Ford for his assistance in getting the logo developed and volunteering his services.
 
 
President Louise thanked Mike Morrice for mentioning the History of Canada with accurate information about our Indigenous past online course being offered by the University of Alberta.  She is up to the third section and is thoroughly enjoying it.  The course can be reached at:
 
 
 
President Louise received a letter from KidsAbility highlighting former clients.
 
The brightest futures made possible by you!
 
Being a teen is challenging. Graduating from high school in 2020 is nothing less than remarkable. Ryan and Savannah are two KidsAbility alumni who demonstrate that with determination, effort and perseverance - and support from you - the future is theirs to explore!
 
Ryan Kokiw never lets his challenges stand between setting clear goals and achieving them. Born with cerebral palsy, he views his disability as a defining part of who he is. From his time as a KidsAbility Ambassador to now, Ryan continues to be a strong advocate for KidsAbility, openly sharing with peers that anyone can do anything with the right mindset. For his diligence, Ryan was named the recipient of the 2020 Carol Shantz Bursary Award.
 
Savannah Meadus has a dream to help others. It's fueled by her own childhood success with therapy at KidsAbility. As a young child and a twin, her pediatrician noticed she was not reaching age appropriate milestones. When her family discovered KidsAbility, she thrived from early intensive speech and occupational therapy. Savannah embraces her differences and credits her ability to overcome obstacles which could have held her back to becoming a high school competitive basketball player. She secured the Steve Kidd Bursary Award in 2020 and she is eager to bring her personal success story with KidsAbility to Fanshawe College's Occupational and Physiotherapy Assistant Program.

Guests

Mike Morrice, potential member
Marrisa Watkins, Friend of Rotary
Judy Proctor, guest of Bill Proctor
Cathie DeCoo, guest of Adrian DeCoo
Paula Rostrup, guest of Paul Rostrup
Mussie Girmai, guest of Lumi Mironescui
Sue Parker, guest of Gary Parker
Carolyn Martindale, guest David Martindale
Linda Kenny, guest of Jim Brown
Mike Ellis, Corporate Member
 

Visiting Rotarians

Allison Kingston, Rotaractor Club of Toronto
Graham Gardiner, Kitchener-Westmount
Elena Shpinel, Rotary Club of Moscow International
 

Happy Jar

Paul and Paula Rostrup were delighted to have a full family ZOOM meeting on the weekend.  Included members from Vancouver and their granddaughter in Toronto.
 
President Louise is very happy that her daughter is in the final stages of selling her condo in preparation of moving into her new home in October.  She was also happy to have had a walk along the nature trail at the rare Charitable Reserve just south of Blair (1670 Blair Road) and recommends it members.  Their website is raresites.org
 
Elena Shpinel was very happy to have been able to speak with her mother in Russia on the weekend and to also see evidence of the work of Rotary where she lives.

Club Announcements

Members are reminded of our upcoming Online Auction.  NOW is the time to be soliciting items and/or sponsors!  To be successful we need every member of the club to bring in AT LEAST $500 of products or sponsors.  Check out the supports that available under Member Documents on our website.
 

Program Highlights

Our program today was an update on our Rotary African Women’s Education Fund (RAWEF) by committee chair, Martin Jones.  Martin was introduced by Cheryl Ewing:
 
Delighted to introduce Martin Jones who has been a significant member of our club. Martin was the club rep on a Habitat for Humanity build some years ago. His impact continued for several years following that project. He is a Past-President of the club and continues to be involved in significant projects in the club including our recent Strategic Plan. About a decade ago we had to review and revise our Rotary Foundation to meet CRA requirements. Martin led a committee through that process then took on the role as President of the Foundation. He then stepped in to replace Dave Martindale on the RAWEF committee to carry it on through some significant developments solidifying its work. 
 
Here are the highlights from Martin’s PowerPoint presentation.
 
Rotary Focus Area:  Supporting Education
  • Supporting Education…one of Rotary’s 6 areas of focus
  • September is Basic Education and Literacy Month
  • Rotary International states…
    • More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.
    • Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults
 
Did You Know
  • The Rotary Club of Kitchener has a significant role in achieving the Rotary International goal of Supporting Education
  • This is achieved in a big way through the Rotary African Women’s Education Fund…RAWEF
  • To date, RAWEF has committed to fund full university education for 84 female students in Africa!
 
What is RAWEF?
  • Rotary African Women’s Education Fund
  • The Fund is administered through the Kitchener Rotary Club Charitable Foundation
  • The Fund is used to provide bursaries for selected women in East Africa to attend university
  • The students are generally quite poor and without these bursaries, would not attend university
  • Currently, we are supporting students in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania
 
The Students:
  • Generally from rural areas
  • Very poor
  • Often father has passed away; sometimes both parents passed away; usually AIDS related
  • Family survives on subsistence farming; perhaps a menial job
  • Students could not afford to go to university without assistance
 
Tanzania Student – Hosiana Mollel
“I failed…my grades were not good enough…there was not any support from my family…they knew only marriage awaits hence bride price will be lots of cows”
 
What do the Bursaries Cover?
  • The bursaries cover tuition, books, room and board, living expenses
  • The bursaries are for the full duration of the university program (generally 4 years but could be longer)
  • Bursaries are in the range of $1,000 to $3,500 per year per student
 
RAWEF Management
  • RAWEF partners with 4 agencies
    • Beautiful World Canada/Children of Hope Uganda (Lira, Uganda)
    • Caring Partners Global (Matangwe, Kenya)
    • Notre Dame Children Outreach (Nyalienga, Kenya)
    • Rotary Club of Usa River/Jifundishe (Arusha, Tanzania)
  • Agencies provide applications from potential candidates
  • The RAWEF Committee reviews and recommends students to be awarded bursaries, monitors our overall budget
  • The RAWEF Committee also maintains contact with the agencies, students, monitors their progress
 
RAWEF Committee
  • Dave Martindale (Founding Member)
  • Irene Sage (Founding Member)
  • Bill Carter (Founding Member)
  • Ray Taylor (Founding Member)
  • Jim Beingessner
  • Karen Redman
  • Darren Sweeney
  • Cheryl Ewing
  • Martin Jones
 
How did RAWEF happen?
  • Initiated in 2009
  • Key people from:
    • Rotary Club of Kitchener – Dave Martindale, Ray Taylor
    • Rotary Club of Kitchener-Conestoga – Bill Carter
    • Centre for International Governance – Irene Sage, John English
  • Knowledge, interest and experience in Africa
  • Incredible generosity of Rotary Club of Kitchener member Audrey Wipper – initial donation of $500K; plus balance of her estate…now almost $1.5M
 
First RAWEF Girls
  • Aboke Girls – Uganda
    • 130 schoolgirls abducted by LRA in 1996
    • 100 rescued; 30 were kept as sex slaves
    • Grace Acan, one of the 30, was one of the first students RAWEF funded
  • Children of Hope Uganda
  • Caring Partners Global – Sylvia & Stephen Scott
    • Matangwe
 
Update From 2018
  • We now provide a computer for each of the new students in Kenya
  • We provide an small administrative support amount to the agencies for each student
  • In Uganda, managed the transition from Children of Hope Uganda to Beautiful World Canada
  • Developed a relationship with the Rotary Club of Usa River in  Tanzania and funded our first Tanzania student through Jifundishe in 2019-2020
  • Audrey Wipper passed away in April 2018, and left most of the remainder of her estate to RAWEF
 
RAWEF Impact So Far
  • 84 students funded to date
  • 36 university graduates!
  • 39 students in progress
  • 9 new students approved in 2020
  • Students are in a wide variety of programs including Science, Business, Education, Engineering, Computer Science, Statistics, Agribusiness, Animal Science, Law, Medicine
  • In August 2020, cheques for this years’ student funding were issued to our Partner Agencies in the amount of $73,055!
 
Graduate – Linda Achieng Aruma
  • RAWEF/Caring Partners Global Student
  • Funded since 2012
  • Completed Bachelors Degree in Medicine & Surgery, January 2020
  • Posted to a one-year Internship as a Medical Officer at Busia County Hospital, March 2020
 
Next steps? …RAWEF Evolution
  • In the early history of RAWEF, the focus was on finding reliable organizations and funding education for the students
  • We are now trying to find ways to increase our impact, in ways such as:
    • Requiring more reporting from the students to help guide our efforts
    • Better tracking of student progress, both during as well as post-graduation
    • Trying to implement mentoring and grad preparation training
    • Trying to develop relationships with Rotary in Africa
    • Trying to get the students connected with Rotary in Africa
    • Trying to develop an alumni of RAWEF students
  • We are also looking to lever up our funds in various ways:
  • Potential for Rotary matching grants
  • Potential for fundraising in Canada
  • Better website information on the program, donor opportunities, and updates on the students to facilitate donations
  • Tanzania
    • Potential for funding more students
    • Potential for projects with the Rotary Club of Usa River
  • Uganda
    • Evolution of the relationship with Beautiful World Canada
 
RAWEF Student - Synaider Mutaka
  • B.Ed. – Math & Science 2023
  • Kibabii University, Bungoma
 

Closing Remarks & Reminders

October 5 – 12:00 noon, Caborca Update with Ross Newkirk
October 12 – Thanksgiving – No Meeting
October 19 – 12:00 noon, Online Auction Update
October 26 – 4:00 p.m. – Dom Cardillo Trail Clean Up
 
Speakers
Sep 28, 2020 7:00 PM
Rotary African Women's Education Fund (RAWEF) - RI Education & Literacy month
Oct 05, 2020 12:00 PM
Caborca Update
Oct 12, 2020
Thanksgiving Day
Oct 19, 2020
Committee Meetings to be Scheduled by Committee Chairs
Oct 19, 2020 12:00 PM
Online Auction - Update & Sign Distribution
View entire list
Birthdays & Membership Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Steve Lubczuk
September 10
 
Join Date
Adrian DeCoo
September 1, 1987
33 years
 
Tom Mennill
September 24, 2007
13 years
 
Sponsors