Our Speaker for Friday February 7, 2020 is Peter Bulut, Owner of Great Lakes Brewery.
We will be at the National Club. We think the autocorrect gremlins got us.
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Community Services Committee is working on a few opportunities to get us out into the community and seeing the direct impact of simple actions benefiting people in need. Meanwhile, we have 2 upcoming events in partnership with Robin Hood Army Canada:
Another wonderful lunch at The National Club. President Kevin mentioned the Crawford family would be pleased to have donations made to The Arthritis Society in his honour. A ‘In Memoriam’ was held for long time and loved member AL Crawford. Of note The Transition Team is hard at work discussing the new committee structure headed by Prince Kumar. RBC Capital Markets made a $5,000 donation to our Club as one of their charities they decided to support this year through Shorcan. More in next week’s Voice
New Member Robert Kinnear was introduced and we look forward to his participation in our Club.
Harry Figov delivered his LBP. He is a 31 year member and comes from a Rotary family.
Dr. Rajiv K Singal our guest speaker was introduced by John Lloyd. His list of accomplishments are impressive and too numerous to list. Suffice it to say that after receiving his board certification in Urology with Royal college of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1995 and after 24 years into his career he wished to share his reflections on Global Health. 5 billion people do not have access to health care. His work in countries such as Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda and China brings the basics to teach local health teams about Caesarean, Laparotomy, and Open Fracture. These are considered the most crucial surgeries to be taught in the developing world. Only 6% of world surgeries are conducted in the countries representing 1/3 of the world population. The world needs process training right down to instruments and sponge counts and infection control. This is part of a UN Millennium Development Goals. Canada sends new and trained Doctors to assist. This was such a massive topic and we all know how fortunate we are to have medical care in North America.
John Joseph Mastandrea selected The Ace of Clubs and won $4,600 in the 50/50 draw. Most excellent John!! We start again.
El Salvador Sweat Equity January 9-19, 2020
13 Rotarian and friends went to San Salvador to work with the Rotary Club of San Salvador Noreste. This group included Joyce and Brian Westlake as well as Annelise Taylor and her husband Alex. The task was to complete 5 homes in an underserved village.
Annelise Taylor provided the following article. She is a first time "sweater".
We arrived at the airport on Saturday, January 10th, 2020, outside of security to ensure we had room for all the donations we had packed in our suitcases. Most of the group we had met earlier at some of the planning sessions organized by Brian and Chris, but a few we met for the first time at the airport. Joining us on our journey were Brian and Joyce Westlake, Vicki Malo, Glen McArthur, Hellie Weller, Elizabeth (Widit) McLean, Rob Leek, Fred Chenoweth, my husband Alex Taylor and me. The remaining 3 members of our team would meet us in San Salvador. Unfortunately Chris Snyder was unable to join us for our trip, but he did come to the airport to see us off.
We had a direct flight on Avianca airlines, and upon landing we were greeted by Tito Mancia, who is a Rotarian with the San Salvador Noreste Club. The welcome wagon also included Paul Cusimano who helped orchestrate the trip and was our considerate and thoughtful leader, who along with his wife Cynthia and Tito welcomed us with open arms, helped us get through customs and onto our bus which would take us to our hotel. Tito co-owns Bazzini Nuts with his brother Miguel, and we were lucky enough to get a tour later in the week and to meet multiple members of his family and Rotary friends. Our bus driver Carlos became a welcome trusted friend and an integral part of our tight knit little group as well.
Mud homes in village
Foundations and posts were ready
At the hotel Paul and Cynthia provided us with a warm welcome, ensuring the restaurant stayed open late to accommodate us. We spent some time at the hotel eating, drinking and getting to know our fellow team members and then we turned in for an early morning. Mauricio Canjura joined us the following morning, as he arrived earlier to visit with family members, and then our group of 13 was complete.
Saturday we headed out to the job site in Talnique and we met the people who were getting their new homes and the crews we were going to be working with. We learned that through our contributions and several donations we were able to fund 5 homes. Since we had funded a total of 5 homes, the government of El Salvador was funding an additional 2 more homes for a total of 7 homes, which was incredible news.
Over the weekend we had the opportunity to see some of the beautiful country we were helping out. We visited a volcano, a coffee plantation, an open market in Ataco, ate some wonderful tasting meals at some amazing restaurants with breathtaking views and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for work to begin bright and early on Monday morning.
Each block weighs 35 lbs. The posts have rebar - reinforced iron. The men above would slide them down, the ladies made sure they stay straight. The top of each fits into the groove on the bottom creating a good seal without mortar.
The bus ride to Talnique took between 45 to 60 minutes, and we would often stop for necessities like water or tools and other supplies along the way. The route to Talnique was breathtaking and dangerous, driving up and down a road that had been carved into the side of the mountains, with places where the land dropped steeply away just at the side of the road.
Once at the site, we split up into groups and quickly got to work. Rob, Fred and Glen handed the 35 pound blocks to Mauricio and Alex, who then fed them into the concrete grooves of the posts that had previously been cemented into the ground. Vicki and I guided the blocks down, as Alex and Mauricio pushed on the posts to make more room for the blocks. We spent all of Monday and a good portion of Tuesday doing this, while some people traded jobs off to get a rest. After all the blocks had been laid, we were all assigned pointing jobs, which entailed pushing a thick mortar in between the concrete blocks by hand. We had to wet the blocks first to make sure the mortar would adhere and then we smoothed it out by hand so it was finished nicely. The pointing was a tedious job since it needed to be done inside and outside of all 4 homes. Those of us who had not been laying the blocks had already been pointing for a couple of days.
The new homeowners worked as well
Handing over the deeds to the villagers
After pointing we started parging the buildings with a watered down concrete mixture, which we painted on and finally on the last day we were able to add paint to 2 of the buildings, in the colour choice of the new, emotional homeowners, which in these cases were orange and turquoise.
The home owners worked alongside us, carting the heavy blocks to the house we were working on, sifting the mortar mix by hand using a large screen, mixing mortar with bowls of water and large shovels, as well as helping out any other way they could.
As we worked alongside them, we got to know them and their respective families and the friendships started to grow. Initially we found them a little detached, which we attributed to the hard, challenging life that they live and the necessity to protect themselves, but by the end we were greeted with smiles and tears as they came to understand that we not only cared about the project, but them as individuals as well.
We found Antonio, the Mayor of Talnique, very involved with his community and we came to understand that we would need someone in Canada to spearhead this type of trip, but also a champion on the ground in whichever country we were trying to help, which was Tito for this trip and then we need government commitment and support, which we received from Antonio.
Finishing the outer walls with waterproof paint - it is going to look like Lollipop Row in St. John's Nfld!
Soccer balls and uniforms were donated by Desmond Jordan of Make a Great Pass who is an Oakville Trafalgar Rotarian
The final day of the jobsite was very emotional. Kathy, one of the new homeowners and Antonio, the Mayor, both brought me to tears numerous times.
It is hard to reconcile with the little bit we accomplished and the huge job yet to be done, but Antonio spoke of the hearts of one who would travel to their small town and spend the time working to build a home for people they do not know, and bringing hope to the people and the community. We found that the people of Talnique and honestly all of the people we encountered in El Salvador had very big hearts and they spend much of their time just trying to survive, all the while always helping their neighbours and friends.
We were very emotional when we returned and we would have liked to stay longer and have made an even bigger impact, but we are looking forward to returning next year and continuing our Sweat Equity journey throughout the years to come.
Toronto Beach Charter Night, January 23, 2020
We welcome Toronto Beach back into the Rotary fold. Expect to hear more from this dynamic young group. They will be meeting on Wednesday nights at The Balmy Beach Club at 6:30.
We were well represented in our welcoming with Glenn Davis, Kim Hunter, Kevin Power, Neil Phillips, John Fortney, Brigitte Bogar and Infant-actor Victoria there to celebrate with the club.
Fellowship Events to get you through February!
Sunday, February 2, 2 pm to 5 pm.
FAMILY SKATING PARTY and WINTER WALK
Ramsden Park (1020 Yonge St at Ramsden Park Road)
Bring your family and our skates, or if no skates, some good walking boots for a stroll through the Park.
Parking available and good access to the TTC.
Winter fun followed by hot chocolate at June and Alex Brown’s Condo Party Room 15 McMurrich St
Cost: No charge! But you must RSVP!
Rotaract Club of Toronto Annual Fundraiser Tickets Are Now On Sale!
Date: Friday, February 21, 2020
Time: 7:00- 11:30pm
Location: Arta Gallery, 14 Distillery Lane, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
Theme: Summer Vibes in Winter Times (cocktail style)
Cost: $55
The Rotaract Club of Toronto invites you to come mingle with Rotaractors, Rotarians, friends, family and community members. All proceeds will go to support Skylark Youth and its programs. Your ticket gives you full access to the gallery, the chance to win a door prize, appetizers and your first drink is on us. There will be a silent auction and a cash bar.
Skylark is a leading Toronto-based charity dedicated to children, young people and their families struggling with complex mental health and developmental needs.
Mud homes in village
Foundations and posts were ready
Each block weighs 35 lbs. The posts have rebar - reinforced iron. The men above would slide them down, the ladies made sure they stay straight. The top of each fits into the groove on the bottom creating a good seal without mortar.
The new homeowners worked as well
Handing over the deeds to the villagers
Finishing the outer walls with waterproof paint - it is going to look like Lollipop Row in St. John's Nfld!
Soccer balls and uniforms were donated by Desmond Jordan of Make a Great Pass who is an Oakville Trafalgar Rotarian