Escondido Sunrise Rotary; “An African Trip; Climb a Huge Mountain, Care for the Impoverished and Enjoying the Wildlife”……October 17, 2019
President Brian led the meeting…
We honored our flag and our nation and thanked God for leading us to serve…
Visitors and Guests:
Bill Dallory was Past President Jim Ponder’s guest, and a fellow trekker on the African trip…
Birthdays:
No Birthdays this week
Anniversaries:
Past President Mark and Glynna Hoekstra will celebrate 22 Years on October 18th… Congratulations!!
Rotary Anniversaries:
None this week…
Dates to Remember:
October 26: San Felipe Rotary Club; Dedication of new Hospice Center Sponsored by the Rotary Foundation
RB Rotary’s Beer Fest is coming up on Oct 26th at Webb Park: Tickets are available online at www.rbfest.com.
November 9: Rotary Foundation Seminar, UCSD
23: Tijuana House Build; with Project Mercy, this is a project that really brings a great benefit to a family in one day… The Saturday project will begin with car-pooling from Cocina early in the AM…
January 11: A Saturday Night with the San Diego Gulls; tix are $80 for the on-ice suite… Get your tix from Past President Rich Aeling… only 10 tickets remain unsold.
Rotarians Having Fun and Rotary Events:
Photos of the Grape Day 5K… Community Event…
President Elect Chris Miller proudly announced that he and his daughter Sami were playing in a… Imagine this, a Kiwanis golf event benefitting Valley Center High School…
Sami was closest to the pin on a prize hole…
The other part of the photo shows the Grape Day 5K ‘Snow Event’ in Grape Day Park…
President Brian and Nancy enjoyed the Albuquerque Balloon Festival… Daily launches of 500 balloons fill the sky with color…
Hi Fives and Announcements:
Father Bill Dopp; now the ‘one-armed man’… thanks to an encounter with a stair railing as he tried to stop falling… announced his newest book “Sunday Food for Thought” is now available on Amazon…
Past President George Beitner was visiting his daughter and family in Quantico Virginia and found his way to the Jets game in New York… A crazy time had by all…
Final Announcements on the Grape Day 5K:
Our successful, 9th Grape Day 5K event was a grand success…
President-elect-elect, Mark Maus proudly announced that his nephew was the overall winner of the race…
We had 1,136 registered participants; the largest ever… And our Club’s fundraising efforts brought in $118,500… Great job by all who participated, served and raised funds…
Program:
Past President Jim Ponder was our program presenter as he described his recent trip to Africa… He completed his second submitting of Mounty Kilimanjaro; visited the Kibera Touch Foundation with Edwin Kotech, and enjoyed the beauty of Africa on an end-of trip safari in the Masai area…
Past President Jim Ponder presenting to Sunrise Rotarians…
The trip was not just a hiking adventure, but also a leadership development opportunity. Jim was accompanied by many corporate leaders; and as they climbed, they had the opportunity to discuss issues about personal development such as “When your mind is not busy, what are you thinking?”… Mind stretching and spiritually stretching for all the participants.
Bill Dallory, Jim’s guest at today’s meeting, also participated in the trek. Bill spoke about the challenges of the altitude impact on both your body and mind. Bill was not able to reach the summit; as he struggled physically, he commented that he was praying constantly. He turned back for a base camp at 16,000 feet, about 2,000 feet shy of the summit.
Photos of the hike including the difficult elements of the trail up the face of lava flows.
After the trek up Mount Kilimanjaro; Jim visited Kibera Town, the site of Edwin Kotech’s Touch Kibera Foundation. Kibera is a 2.5 square mile area of 500,000 people. Severe poverty, lack of hygiene, and a high incidence of trafficking young girls for prostitution so that families can have funds for food and living; the average life expectancy is 30 years and 66% of young girls are involved in various aspects of sex trade. The Foundation supports education for the young people and teaches them that there are other things they can do in life for themselves and for others…
After the visit to Kibera; Jim and his party visited the Masai area for a safari. They enjoyed a luxurious existence among some amazing wildlife…
President Brian shown with our presenters, Jim Ponder and Bill Dallory…
Next Week’s Program:
Escondido Union School District Superintendent, Anne Steffari
OpportunityDrawing:
Grand Prize: $216… Past President Jack Anderson had the winning ticket… Not so lucky Jack, thanks for leaving the pot to grow for another meeting…
Lunch Money: $17… Sergeant at Arms, Gloria Leffler had the lucky ticket…
