Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
Sage
THE REMINDER NEWSLETTER
January 27th, 2017

12:10 PM Rotary President Bill Gilbreth welcomed Rotarians and Guests.

 

The meeting was called to order at 12:30 PM. President Gilbreth thanked Marty Babayco for leading the club with the flag salute. Al West was thanked for his invocation. Matt Clements, our Sergeant of Arms, was thanked for set up. The greeters, Suzanne and Michael Scar, were thanked as well as Yolanda Flores as roving mic and Tony Thacher for manning the front table. Ginger was was thanked for serving lunch.

 

President Gilbreth welcomed visiting Rotarians: Susan Weaver from E-Club of One World and Alexia Parks from the Boulder, Colorado Rotary. Guests were welcomed: Randy Rothermel, Dillon Rothermel, Shelly Rothermel, Stuart Crowner, Sheri Usher, Grace Story, Liz Spiller, Bryant Huber, Sidi Mahan and Botha Mohamed.

 

Mark Whitman presented the PEP Student award to Dillon Rothermel from Summit School. Dillon is the 3rd awardee of this award as his both his brother and sister were previous recipients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anouncements:

Dr. Fred Fauvre announced that the Living Treasures nomination forms are available online and in his office. Please feel free to nominate Living Treasures!

 

The Nomad Foundation invites you to the US premier of Born to Play Production’s Film: Road Trip to Niger.  Playing February 5th at 2pm at the Ojai Valley Community Church. For more info please go to: www.roadtripniger.brownpapertickets.com

 

 

Fining was skipped today as the Program Agenda was full.

 

Program Part 1

 

Mike Weaver introduced Leslie Clark.  Leslie Clark, founder of the Nomad Foundation, is an artist whose career has always included travel. After obtaining her master of fine arts degree from George Washington University she traveled to France for her first exhibition. Since then she has traveled and painted searching for new perspective and old wisdom.

 

Her first trip to Niger in 1993, was to look for exotic subject matter. She found that and a lot more. A chance meeting with Wodaabe nomads took her on a path that changed her life. After visiting this nomadic family the second time a year later and seeing the poverty they lived in, she decided to give them a gift of $200. On her return the next year the family explained that with the gift they had purchased a cow and because of that they were able to remain nomadic. The realization that this relatively small sum could transform a family’s life made her realize that she could make a difference.

 

 

In 1996 she opened the Nomad Gallery in Ojai, California to show her paintings of Africa along with the work of African artisans. The goal of the gallery is to tell the story of the indigenous people she paints and to help them support themselves selling the things they produce.

 

In 1997 she started the Nomad Foundation seeking to balance economic opportunity and cultural tradition. Helping people support themselves using skills they already possess. Cultural exchanges, bringing African musicians to the US to increase awareness of the beauty of the music and art forms have also raised funds for the projects. The foundation has always tried to work with the local populations to decide what it is they need and want to improve their lives.

 

Today the projects include nomadic schools, wells, women’s co-operatives, microcredit, cereal banks, health and nutritional support for people and animals. The experiences in all these areas have led her to their consolidation at the Tamesna Center for Nomadic Life.

As a result of her experience with the nomadic cultures and their terrain she has been sought as an advisor and guide on four National Geographic films in 1997 and 2005.

She was awarded the David Lloyd Kreeger first award in painting from George Washington University in 1984, has exhibited her paintings widely in the US, Europe and Africa, received the B’nai Brith Humanitarian award in 2004, Living Treasure of Ojai in 2007, and has been an honorary Rotarian in Ojai 2006-10. She is a founding member of the Agadez Rotary club, the first in the Sahara, founded in 2006.

In 2004 she started Nomad Adventures, Inc. to bring employment to her Tuareg partners, to take humanitarian expeditions to visit and benefit the projects and to share the beauty of the cultures and landscapes of the Sahara Deser

She has made her home half time in Agadez, Niger since 2004.

 

Leslie Clark spoke about the two men who have fought tirelessly for human rights and against corruption, against terrorism and for stability of their country of Niger: Sidi Mahan and Bouche Mohamed.

 

Two Past Presidents of the Rotary Club of Agadez who have since become Cabinet Minister of Budget, and then Agriculture, and Livestock and Mayor of Ingal. Through it all, Sidi has been the representative of the Nomad Foundation in Niger. Rotary Club and the Nomad Foundation have been working in partnership now for 12 years. All of the projects have provided a huge impact to the stability and prosperity of a relatively unknown but crucial area in the world: Niger. In Africa, their hometown of Agadez, Niger is ground zero as regards to migration, human trafficking and the threat of terrorism. One in 122 people on the planet today are refugees. Either fleeing their home to gain a better life for themselves or kidnapped to gain profit for someone who wants to gain from their misery.

 

Sida and Boucha personally know many people from Niger who have made the attempt to flee and migrate from this area. Some who have failed catastrophically. But thanks to the Nomad Foundation Program many stayed home or returned to Agadez!

 

The answer? Almost all refugees would rather stay home, but home is impossible for whatever reason, war, political oppression, etc. Leslie shared that you can’t impose stability from the outside - it has to grow from within a country, from the people who want it and need it most.

 

The Nomad Foundation has been working toward this stability by providing essential services and opportunities so stability expands organically through the population. Everyone wants the same things: to drink clean water, to have enough food to eat, to have educational opportunities for the children and adults to make a living. The Nomad Foundation have been working to provide these services and opportunities to the people it serves.

 

For more information on the Nomad Foundation Program please visit: http://nomadfoundation.org

 

President Gilbreth thanked Leslie for everything she has done along with the Nomad Foundation. Bouche was asked to come forward to receive a Paul Harris Award. He received a standing ovation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As nomads Bouche shared that they return the favor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Program Part 2

Kay Bliss introduced Felicia Muftic. Felicia is with the Rotary Club of Denver. Felicia shared an overview of the history of conflict, war, and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She talked about Promoting Basic Education and Literacy for Girls in Bosnia.

 

The Problem

Due to the 1990’s Balkan Wars (of ethnic cleansing), continued ethnic devisions in governing, and continuing corruption, Bosnia (Bosnia and Herzegovina) is now the poorest country in Europe. Poor, rural families favor education of boys, girls often drop out if school after the 4th grade. Bosnia is now the largest center for transit and source of human trafficking in Europe as those uneducated or struggling seek opportunities outside of Bosnia become easy marks for traffickers. Roma (gypsy) girls are illiterate, as are their mothers and most of their fathers.

 

Project Objective

To encourage girls at risk of dropping out of school to stay in school to get an education to provide a year of literacy training for Roma girls - to warn girls about the methods of recruitment and exploitation by both labor and sex traffickers.

 

Measurable Accomplishments

To meet the objectives for Canton Neretva, the sponsoring club, Rotary Club of Denver, raised funds from 9 Rotary Clubs, matched by involved Rotary Districts and the Rotary International Foundation. In Canton Neretva, workshops were held in 20 villages, reaching 1000 families, 15 Roma girls became literate, 20 university student volunteers mentored 80 rural girls for three years. The same is planned for Canton Sarajevo. Progress and media coverage is documented at: www.bosniaglobalgrant.com and a video interviewing participants is posted at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysbkarqst7y

 

For more information please contact Felicia Muftic: feliciamuftic@yahoo.com

 

Mike Weaver presented a check for $2000 for the Denver Club and another matching $2000 will come from the District.

 

President Gilbreth finished the meeting by sharing:

 

“Yesterday I got together with my brothers and sister to remember our late mother. Mom wasn't a Rotarian-but she was a life model of ‘Service Above Self’. Let’s all remember the mentors that lead us to service.”

 

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