Photography Courtesy of Jerry Meshulam

Meeting

Our weekly meeting began when Vicki Johnston led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. "Where's the flag?" someone asked. Geez, someone forgot to step up the flag this morning! "Face where ever you'd like," Vicki said, so Jim Goodenough and Michael McGlothlin faced each other.

The thought for the day was shared by Mikel Cook, "only the mediocre are always at the top of their game."

Since baseball starts again in April, the song for the day was "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

The visiting Rotarians for the day included Frank and Kathleen Mayhew, Ken McHugh from the noon club, and Mike Ferguson from the noon club. Diana Curtis introduced her guest, Sylvia Mansfield, a friend visiting from Minnesota. Larry Pietrobon introduced his wife Allison. She was there to help with breakfast.

Announcements, Happy Bucks, and Recognition:

Julie Kidd reminded us all of the Food Drive, for the interchurch food pantry, next week. President Rod read us a note from the food pantry thanking the club for the seven boxes of food and money they've received. Tess Ostopowicz made an announcement to remind everyone about the blood drive that we are co-sponsoring with the Sebastopol Fire Department next Tuesday from 3 to 7. Michael McGlothlin reminded the group about the Community Service Committee meeting on Monday.

David Mark Raymond came to the podium to deliver President Rod a letter about the contest for the Rotary Foundation. Donations over one hundred dollars will be matched by the club over the next 3 months, up to $8,000. Marty Webb presented a Paul Harris Fellow award to President Rod.

Gail Thomas sang us all a very cute song about Guys Can Cook Too. She announced that all the wineries and professional chefs have been lined up and that tickets will be on sale soon. Jon Mann announced that we are in need of 25 more amateur chefs. He named some of the desserts being made for the event including Virginia whiskey cake, almond toffee crunch, and Mexican chocolate marshmallows.

Jack Griffin is happy because he's going to Japan tomorrow with the Sebastopol World Friends Sister City program. Terry Kelley thanked the club for the excellent turn out at the Spring Fling event last week. Rod was happy to run into Al Lustig the other day at the store. He enjoys knowing so many people through Rotary and running into them outside of the Rotary setting. Barbara Barney was happy because our exchange student, Eric did so well in the Analy musical and he had never even taken a dance class before he came here. Michael McGlothlin's happy bucks were for a three fish sighting. He's been having some problems with keeping fish in his new pond. The next happy bucks was for the exciting news about our exchange student for next year, a young man from Sweden.

Program:

Gail Thomas came to the podium to introduce the speaker for the day, Kathi Mayhew. She is the former president of our sister club.

Kathi described her story about a trip to Africa. She went to far eastern Uganda to help with medical care. She and the rest of the team packed up their bags with whatever they thought they'd need such as bandages, Neosporin, and vitamins. They purchased the drugs when they got to the camps. Two medical doctors, three nurses and several support people were part of the team. Poor health, early death, waterborne diseases, and Malaria were all issues they were prepared to deal with when they got to the village. The highest level of medical care personnel the villages had were the equivalent of a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). The first day in the first village, there were about 25 moms with their kids lined up waiting for them at 8:00am. On the second day, there were about 300 people waiting for them to arrive. She described how drastically different the idea of personal space is between our culture and theirs. The villages hadn't had any drugs delivered to them since October of last year. In the second village they went to, they treated about 800 people in two days. Her role for the trip was to be a pharmacist. The biggest issues they saw were Malaria, worms, and respiratory problems. She said there was a significantly noticeable difference in the prevalence of Malaria in parishes that had clean water and mosquito nets and those that did not. Kathi described how her teammate, Laurie, cleaned out an infected ear that probably would have killed the man had she not cleaned it out. On one of the days, a man came riding up to the clinic on a bike, carrying another man on the back of his bike. The man approach Kathi and said his friend was dying and asked her to give them a ride home. When she got to the man's home, she spoke with a pregnant woman. She was so grateful for Kathi's help that she wanted to give Kathi her two older children and her unborn child as a thank you. What a cultural difference! The medical records in Uganda consist of a little blue book that each person carries around with them. Most people there either have never seen a medical doctor before or they don't carry their book with them because most people were given new blue books. One woman came to them with Malaria and a 106 degree fever. They took her to a more advanced medical facility, but unfortunately the woman passed away the next day. There was a baby who was only 6 months old, but already had septicemia, Malaria, and meningitis. She described how frustrating and overwhelming the trip was because there were so many sick people it seemed like they couldn't even make a difference. But the Ugandans told them otherwise. They did make a big difference to the people they were able to treat and their families. Over the course of 4 days, they treated over 2,100 people.

They did have some fun on their trip. They went to Murchison Falls and a safari lodge. They took a boat ride up the Nile River and saw many giraffes. One of her other jobs on the trip was to check up on the micro loan projects. Kathi met one lady who makes hoof sauce. It is nutrient rich and helps to add moisture to the villagers' diets because much of their food is very dry. Her loan has allowed her to buy cooking equipment, build a cooking hut and has made it possible for all of her children to go to school. Another woman she met was given a micro loan to grow maize. She has repaid her loan, all her children are in school, and her business is doing well.

On a more personal note, Kathi told us all that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer even though her annual mammograms have all been clear and she still has not felt any lumps. She reminded everyone to remember that ANY change in one's breasts can be a sign of cancer, even in men.

President Rod joked that the bisquits and gravy we all had for breakfast was actually bisquits and hoof sauce. Eww!

The door prize for the day was won by Jerry Meshulam. Then Joe Gazdowicz led us all in Happy Trails as the meeting adjourned.