Woodside/Portola Valley Rotary - Newsletter

This Week's Program: Club Assembly/Retreat This meeting will be devoted to a discussion of the future of our little club. We need to find a way to attract new and committed members. As part of this discussion we will be talking about changes in day of the week, possibly even changes of time. Please plan to attend if you want your input to be considered.

Last Week's Program:   (courtesy of Last Week Editor, Dean Babcock) International Service Chair Ken Broome introduced his friend and neighbor David Sowerwine to speak to us about his work in Nepal.
             David spoke to us several years ago about his LED lighting project for families and schools. It used a bicycle generator attached to a frame with pedals. The Nepalese didn’t like the pedaling part so he has designed a new lighting system that uses solar cells and batteries.
             David’s major concentration now is on cable bridges across local rivers to aid children in getting to school and villagers to get agricultural products to market. The local rivers are shallow enough to ford during the dry season but are raging torrents during the monsoon season which lasts three to four months. David, with help from our club and others, has been supplying materials for these bridges for several years. Thirty four bridges have been built so far. When the project first started it cost $8,000 per bridge, now it cost $20,000 per bridge.
             David has been to the field two times in recent weeks to oversee projects. With our help, he hopes to continue helping the Nepalese school children and local villages.

Next Week's Program: Rotary and Micro Credit in Guatemala

Past-President Joan Fuetsch will introduce Patrick Hall of the Rotary Club of Pacifica. Patrick is the lead on a matching grant to provide micro-credit loans for women in Guatemala. The MG is already at $25K but can handle additional donations from clubs in our district. Hint! Hint!

Club News: There is a board meeting on Tuesday. Please let Sandie know if you cannot make the meeting. On the agenda are two scholarship funding requests which could then be approved by the Foundation board at Wednesday's meeting.

Coming Events:

Next Board Meeting: Tuesday, February 3rd, 7:30am, Church Library

Check Presentation to Genoa Services: February 4th, 2:30 Belmont City Hall

Rotary Means Business: Wednesday, February 4th, 5:30 pm Encore Performance Catering

District Assembly: Saturday, March 28th, 8:00 - 1:30, San Mateo Community College

District Conference: April 17th - 19th, Portola Plaza, Monterrey, www.rotary5150.org

Announcements: Have you had a look at the Rotary International website lately for what is going on in Rotary's world? www.rotary.org How about finding out about what is going on in the district? www.rotary5150.org