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Project Launch - 2nd Week of RFE

Rotarians from RC Cataraqui and other District 7040 Clubs from Rotary Friendship Exchange were among the guests of honour at the launch of a water and sanitation project co-sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Madras and Chennai Chola. The inauguration 80 eighty new public toilets at Kannan Kottai Village was celebrated. In this area of India public defecation was common as there were no toilet facilities available even at schools. This lack of sanitation is a health hazard, as diseases like Polio, which Rotary has worked so hard to eliminate in India, are passed through infected soils and other means. Lack of sanitation in schools is a major impediment for young girls to get an education. Many choose to stay home rather than risk issues with menstruation in a public space. The entire project will see over 300 public toilets built. Thanks to Cataraqui Rotarian John Gale for spearheading this project, and congratulations to John as he was the guest of honour at the launch event.

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Annual Report 2017-2018

John Gale

Mar 19, 2019 7:00 AM

Potential Project with Pathways of Kingston - Week two

Paul Elsley

Mar 26, 2019 7:00 AM

Rotary at 100 in Kingston - What's Coming Up

Janza Giangrosso

Apr 09, 2019 7:00 AM

An OPP officer in Pikangikum

Caulette McBride, KFL&A Health Unit

Apr 16, 2019 7:00 AM

KFL&A Public Health Fall Prevention Ambassadors - preventing falls for seniors

Kraig Everard, Program Director, WPBS Watertown

Apr 23, 2019 7:00 AM

Your local PBS televison station, WPBS

Jeffrey Hodgson

Apr 30, 2019 7:00 AM

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)

Karenna Chen

Jul 09, 2019 7:00 AM

My Year as a Rotary Exchange Student in Denmark

View entire list...

John Gale - Pathways to Education Project

Posted by Heather Kembel on Mar 12, 2019

John Gale, International Service Director, presented the club with an opportunity for a Rotary Global Grant/ Centenary Project.

In brief, it would involve partnering with Pathways to Education to fund a “guidance counselor” to assist students, principally from Kingston's North end, to transition from high school to post secondary education or the job market. Pathways has already seen a marked improvement in the retention rate with the assistance of a counselor, and this would build on that. Through District, Foundation, and International partners’ funds we could fund a three year position which could have a far reaching benefit to the community. In addition to our monetary contribution, there is the opportunity to establish an Interact Club at the new High School, and a Rotaract Club at St. Lawrence College – enlisting the aid of Queen’s Rotaract and the Kingston Club. There is also the opportunity for members (and past members or Friends of Rotary), to serve as mentors to students who may not have family support. The full proposal will be posted for members to peruse and consider, and there will be time for questions at our meeting of March 19.

The full presentation can be accessed by copying the link below into your browser;

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=2b49c0ed29&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1627829958663187210&th=169736b908dbab0a&view=att&disp=safe

Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE) to India Report

Posted by Edward Thomson

After returning from a hugely successful RFE trip to India, team co-leader Greta assembled a presentation for the club this morning.

As Greta explained, the focus of the trip, as organized by our hosts, was definitely on projects undertaken by the various Rotary Clubs from Chennai and others from the same District. Additional presentations on projects looking for international partnership that our club might be interested in. The team were guests of honour at the dedication of a water and sanitation project for the Rotary Clubs of Madras and Chennai Chola. The team also visited the Avarvind Eye Hospital in Chennai, and the MIOT Pediatric Cardiology Hospital in Chennai (for more on this wonderful hospital, visit https://www.miotinternational.com/centers-of-excellence/miot-institute-of-cardiac-care/childrens-cardiac-care/). Here they saw the cardiac intensive care unit, with the youngest patient being 6 days old.

Fellowship is of course a big part of RFE. Apart from being hosted by Rotarians, who kept them extremely well fed (judging by the pictures of a typical breakfast), the team attended many Club meetings and fellowship sessions, giving out all of the Club banners that we took with them. Our club was present and participated in the 90^th anniversary celebration of the Madras Club, a wonderful and special event. The team also got to visit a textile factory, a "happy accident" as Michelle put it, because the originally scheduled activity was unavailable. Here they watched weavers using hand looms to wave beautiful fabrics for garments, some of which just happened to end up in the team suitcases for the trip home.

It wasn't all business though. An important part of RFE is the chance to see the sights and absorb the culture of the country. The team spent the last 4 days spent touring the countryside and going to the many different temples in the state. Tamil Nadu Province was one destination, especially interesting was Pondicherry, a French oasis in a country largely influenced by the British. Also visited was Trichy, the city of temples, named because it has so many..yes you guessed it.. gorgeous temples. Also on the agenda was a visit to host Ravi's farm, where the workers proudly showed the contribution of the farm to the good of the community. The team also got to visit a temple at night in the city of Thanjavur, a different experience.

Greta relied on all of the team members present to reflect on different aspects of the trip. John Gale spoke of how the Rotary Clubs in India think big when they talk about projects, a philosophy he would like to see here in Kingston. Ed reflected on the delicious food. Michelle showed of some of the beautiful textiles that were purchased and the factory visit. Heather reflected on the architecture of Pondicherry, and her disappointment in not being able to walk the streets more because of the condition of the sidewalks. President Rick reflected on the intensity of everything, the surprising lack of spoken English, and the rather novel ideas on building construction. Ana reflected on the graciousness of the hosts, and Greta spoke in her presentation about the crazy traffic, where your car horn is your best friend and no one ever wears out their turn signals.

All in all the trip was great. We can hardly wait for the return visit of friends from India. Let's show them some good Kingston hospitality!!

Thanks to Greta and Ana for acting as co-leaders. President Rick thanked Greta for putting the presentation together, but gifted the loaf of bread to Mara Shaw, who was back from Loving Spoonful today.

The happy team!

MOIT Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

One of many Rotary Club meetings

The famous Indian breakfast

Weaver in the textile shop

The ladies in their finery at the Rotary Club of Madras 90th Anniversary

Trichy, city of temples

Workers on Ravi's farm

The team and their hosts

Karenna Chen - Update from our exchange student in Denmark

Posted by Heather Kembel

Hi Heather and Rotary club of Cataraqui Kingston,

It's been quite a while since I have sent an update, my apologies for that. I am coming up to the last stretch of my exchange already – time really does fly. I have just moved into my last host family's house. I was quite sad to say goodbye to my second family but I am looking forward to getting to know this family better. I have been incredibly lucky to live with these families, they are all so kind and helpful.

I have been attending Rotary meetings as much as possible and coming up is our Rotary Inspiration day. I will be singing with my new host brother for the gala in the evening.

School is going well, I will be travelling with my school's choir to Dresden, Germany for a week and then shortly after I will go with my class on a school trip to Barcelona! I am looking forward to seeing some sun while I am there -- Denmark is quite dark in the winter, although spring is coming and the sun is shining more.

Spring is on its way and hopefully the rain will stop soon but even with the bad weather, I have had an amazing time here! I have attached a few photos as I don't post much on Facebook. I hope things are going well back home and for everyone in Rotary.

Best wishes,

Karenna

Karenna's 18th birthday with the traditional Danish cake.

At the opera house.

Skiing with her host family

Mara Shaw - What's New at Loving Spoonful

John Farrow introduced our Guest Speaker, Mara Shaw from Loving Spoonful. Mara's Daughter is our outbound exchange student this year, so Mara started by sharing some photos of Karenna in Denmark, and pledged to keep pitching Rotary Exchange to everyone she knows.

Turning to today's topic, Mara started with Loving Spoonful's new Mission Statement: Loving Spoonful connects people with healthy food. They are working toward a healthier, more connected community and providing programs and championing policies affecting food security, poverty, social inclusion and community health. Since their inception, Loving Spoonful has delivered $1.7 Million of good food! (About $300,000/year). There are about 2 dozen agencies included in their distributions, including agencies like The Mess and Lunch by George, familiar to us all in the club. Mara also noted and thanked us for the information pamphlets that we funded - they are now distributed and are helping out! Loving Spoonful has recently launched the FoodRescue.ca app. Stores, restaurants, etc. can post what they have available and agencies can check on their phone and run pick the food up. Kingston was a pilot city last year and had the most number of ‘hits’ using the service. As a result of this success, FoodRescue.ca is now going national!

Other programs under the Loving Spoonful umbrella are;

Affordable Meat for Shelters – Loving Spoonful now has an app launched with local butchers to provide 50% off meat delivered to shelters.
Grow a Row Program (private gardeners set aside a row of their garden) – Lots of participants and greens delivered directly to agencies.
Microgreens with Micro Gardeners – programs in daycares with kids 3-5: singing, stories, growing plants from seeds to connect children with food.
The GROW project – 17 school gardens teaching over 660 students a year about the food system, cultivation, collaborations and community. Four more gardens are being added this year, so they will reach over 800 kids. A year from now their Trillium grant ends, so we may see Mara again……
Kingston Community Garden Network – expanding and now including orchards. C-K Rotary has helped support these initiatives.
Circles Around the Table – a 16 week process to help folks plan to get out of poverty. Loving Spoonful holds weekly meetings to support the implementation of the program.
Cooking Connections – a Mental Health and Social Inclusion program including good food! This has taken a Clinical program from Queen’s and added the sharing of a healthy meal and casual community.
The Rest of the Menu – lots of different cooking classes: Autism Ontario; Manly Meals; cross-cultural; ReStart, youth diversion; Medicine Wheel cooking (native language education around food); One Roof (street-involved young women).

Mara remarked the new Canada Food Guide is awesome! It includes suggesting eating more with people and not alone! And be aware of food marketing! She also noted that Friday night they are bringing in a guest speaker from the US: Andrew Fisher, author of Big Hunger, to speak about the commercial influence has on the way we think about hunger. Mara also suggested that club members may want to volunteer to help us with the Manly Meals program barbeques in July!

Questions:

Ana Sutherland – We would like to invite you to be a Friend of Rotary with our Club!

John Farrow – Really happy to see free and healthy food for people AND pets in your brochure. Thank you!

Bill Egnatoff – how can we work with you – perhaps through our social media – to assist you further and be more involved in your success? Let’s talk! Elizabeth Cohoe will email Mara and pass on details of Manly Meals program.

Heather thanked Mara on our behalf. Did you know that Rotary started with 4 business men who decided to get together with their bag lunches!

Project Launch - 2nd Week of RFE

What is Rotary Friendship Exchange?

Posted by John Farrow on Feb 12, 2019

In the absence of a regular club meeting this week, here is a look at Rotary Friendship Exchange.

On February 9th, 12 Rotarians and partners left on a Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE) trip to India. President Rick Fiedorec, Greta DuBois, President Elect Ana Sutherland, Past Presidents Michelle Chatten-Fiedorec, Heather Kembel, and John Gale, and member Ed Thompson, along with Jeri Mooney and Gary Kembel, are representing Cataraqui Rotary. Barry and Nicole Rowland, and Matgaret Shibley are representing other District clubs. During their exchange the team will visit other Rotary Clubs, visit projects that we have participated in funding, and talk to other Rotarians about Canada. They will even squeeze in some sightseeing as time allows. During their stay the team will be billeted by volunteer hosts from the Rotary Clubs in India. RFE is a great way to travel to another part of the world and see the work that Rotary does. Its unique structure of Rotarian hosting also makes it more affordable. Soon an RFE Team from India will make a reciprocal visit to Kingston, and there will be plenty of opportunities to connect with Rotarians from another part of the world.

From the RI website;

Edwin Bos and his family have visited India, Nepal, and most recently, the Philippines, through one of Rotary’s unique programs, Rotary Friendship Exchange. This exchange program gives Rotary members and their families the chance to experience new cultures — and make lifelong friends — by staying in the homes of Rotarians in other countries.

Bos, assistant governor of District 6250 in Wisconsin, USA, led 13 Rotary members and their families on an exchange to the Philippines, where they stayed with Rotarians in District 3850. While there, they visited several projects, including a depository for shoe donations, a library’s computer literacy program, and a clean water initiative. Participants also enjoyed local festivals and learned about ecotourism in the Philippines.

Rotary Friendship Exchange fosters interclub collaboration, with the goal of advancing international understanding and peace through service projects and spending time together.

Bos’ district has worked on several international service projects, including a global grant project with the Rotary Club of Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines, that provided clean water.

“Participating in the exchange was the best decision I’ve made as a Rotarian,” says Ellen Waldmer, of the Rotary Club of Jefferson, Wisconsin, USA. “I had the opportunity to see a water project our clubs and others helped fund and celebrate with the children and families it benefited.

“We’ve made so many new Rotary friends while visiting our host families and clubs. It’s an experience we will treasure for years to come,” she adds.

Please enjoy some of the photos that have been shared of our RFE Team.

Club Meeting of February 5th, 2019 - Updates from National and Membership Committees

Posted by Bill Egnatoff

This morning the spotlight was shared by our National and Membership Committees.

National Committee Update

Ana Sutherland presented two videos and a slide show of a project that we participated in with Focus Forward for Indigenous Youth. It was a shared presentation by Evan Barianrd (spelling?) from Focus Forward for Indigenous Youth. The Friendship Exchange Team will take this presentation to India, and speak with them about sharing a project with them. Included were interviews with the teachers and the students on benefits to them and their community. The greenhouse will support the growing of vegetables including several varieties of corn. It is a life-changing project for youth involved.

The Greenhouse Project, Wikwemkoong First Nation Greenhouse for Change is a way to provide learning opportunities for youth and food for the community. This sustainable project taught the local Indigenous youth on Manitoulin Island how to build greenhouse, working in greenhouse, planting, harvesting, composting, and making pellets for pellet stoves through harvesting forest left-overs. There are many opportunities for growth and development, and interviews with the high school students reflected their enthusiasm and the new skills they learned, from planning, constructing, and managing the greenhouse . This can really change a Nation, a village.“Not a lot of kids to have the opportunity to go out and build another part of their school, their community.” a student said. Food will will be planted in the ground, in boxes, and aerially. The greenhouse will be heated with a pellet stove. Only the south side is exposed to the elements, saving energy.

The project video will be posted soon. Kudos to Robert and the National Committee for their great work.

Membership Committee update

Ana gave details, almost finalized, of the new membership category, Friends of Rotary. The guidelines include the privilege of attending Rotary meetings, pay as you go breakfast, participation in fundraisers, soliciting funds for Rotary projects, wearing a special badge, orientation etc. Once the terms are in final form, they will be brought forward to the Board and the Club. Dues will cover insurance and other marginal costs. Limitations: A Friend of Rotary will not be a club member, will not be a voting member of any committee, will not hold office, won’t wear the Rotary wheel. Friends will have separate name tags and badges. Being a Friend is a great beginning to Rotary, part of the continuity of being involved in Rotary. It can include corporations and other groups.

Q: Would a Friend qualify to go on a Friendship Exchange? (good discussion), but no definitive answer.

Q: Fee. A: $150/year

Q: Could they evaluate project proposals? A: Input would be welcome but no ranking of projects would be permitted.

The Membership Committee would welcome whatever input Club members would have on this issue.