Call to order at 12:30 Everybody is happy! Absolutely.
Pledge of allegiance led by Karen Anderson.
Inspiration from Doug Brent: Have a bias toward experimental thinking.
Guest Rotarians: Ramesh Hariharan and Peter Tanner
Guests: Steve Malkos, friend of Andrew Howard, and Eric Beckstromarchi, potential new member, architect
News
We will bring back the greeters to our meetings. Look for them with the special Zoom background.
Anniversaries: 11 members are celebrating membership anniversaries this week.
Rotarian spotlight: Tom Dodge
In memoriam: Al Blood passed away a few weeks ago. He was our club president ‘96-97. Members shared memories and tributes, everyone agreeing he was a kind gentleman.
Amy Potts gave a tribute to the women of Rotary in honor of International Women’s Day.
Look for a 10 question survey that will be emailed out to you soon. Please fill it out to help our membership committee!
New Member Schmooze coming up on 3/18 at 5pm for all members of less than 2 years. Others welcome too. Email Lisa Cheskin if you need the Zoom link.
Patti van der Burg is coordinating LG Rotary collection of bicycles for Good Karma Bikes in San Jose (Willow Glen). If you have used bicycles to donate let her know. Avis and her truck will pick up from your porch on Saturday morning March 27. We may need a second truck. Gather bikes from friends and neighbors too! Check out the amazing work Good Karma does in the South Bay community.
- Good Karma Bikes is a San Jose non-profit social enterprise full-service bike shop.
- They reinvest earned revenue into programs targeting at-risk and emancipated foster youth as well as those whose bicycle is their primary means of transportation.
- They take donated bikes and train homeless and others to service them, offer free bike repair, and sell bikes to keep the program going. For each bike sold, one is granted to someone in need.
- Here is 3 minute video that explains their mission.
The founder of Good Karma Bikes James Gardner is a downtown San Jose Rotary member.
Thank you to our St. Lukes volunteers this week!
Fun Stuff
Members shared their favorite college mascots, and congratulations to Amy Potts’ daughter who just committed to Gonzaga University for next year.
20 for 20: Barry Cheskin pledged $60 for Astronauts representing Rotary Club in the TV show “For All Mankind”
Guest Speaker
Peter Tanner and Marte Fishman speaking on RACHEL
Peter joined Rotary 6 years ago and wanted to do an international project. So he started working with the Rotary Club of Barillas in Guatamala. He went to visit in 2017 and found a community in the jungle: roads were bad, medical access was difficult, water access was rudimentary (carry from cistern to house). They asked for medical equipment for the clinic and RACHEL. Luckily, he already knew about RACHEL.
RACHEL is a digital wifi router which gives schools a massive reference library, basically providing a pseudo internet in Spanish for kids who have no access to the internet. So this opens worlds for them.
He started putting RACHEL and laptops in schools. These are remote rural schools where the adults don’t speak Spanish. By 2020 they served 26 schools.
The project doesn’t just give equipment. They also teach the teachers. Schools commit to store equipment in a lockable room and send 6 teachers to training. Teachers learn to research topics on RACHEL and give presentations on what they learn.
Peter plans to do 16 more schools there after the pandemic. (Price of laptops skyrocketed during the pandemic).
He also plans to expand into a new area in Peten, Guatemala. Sparsely populated and very poor, they had 2 hurricanes go through this past year forcing people out of their homes to live under tarps. He is looking to serve 50 schools there.
He is also teaming up with SERnina to help empower young girls and reduce teen pregnancies by putting SERnina curriculum in RACHEL content.
Marty updated us on our Los Gatos club helping Santo Tomas la Union where Marty does his eye clinic. We deployed 5 schools in 2019. We are ready to equip 5 more schools once Covid restrictions ease up. The town also asked us to provide RACHEL in the town square for adult town residents.
Peter said It is extremely rewarding to watch the children learn to use computers. You see them screw up but then figure it out. That process of ‘unscrewing up’ is the sign of real learning.
RACHEL comes in 3 languages. French and English mostly for Africa, and Spanish for Central America.
Thank you Peter and Marty!
Andrew closed with an inspiring Elizabeth Gilbert quote and adjourned the meeting at 1:33.