Presiding: Caitlin White
Inspiration: Jim Wilkinson
Meeting Room setup/takedown and general problem solving: Tom Mangan and Ron Van Ekeren
Introduction of Guests: Talisha Mottinger
Guests: Todd Pearson introduced prospective member Brad Enzi
Humor: Terry Roark
Foundation Drawing: Larry Struempf won $10 with $750 in the jackpot and 33 cards in the deck.
O’Dwyers Drawing: Paul Heimer won a $20 gift card from O’Dwyer’s.
Announcements:
- Paul Heimer announced the United Way Business After hours tonight.
- Paul Heimer also announced that the Alibi will donate 15% of their business to United Way on Monday September 17.
- Rollin Abernethy announced that he needs 10 members to set up Dine and Discover on October 4th at 4:30 at the High School.
- Caitlin White announced that the club made a donation to support 1 acre of the Pilot Hill Project. She also reminded the club that the District adult Literacy Symposium will be held on Saturday October 6 at LCCC in Cheyenne and our club will reimburse members who want to register.
Rotarians of the Week: President Caitlin nominated Larry Struempf and Ron Van Ekeren for jumping in at the greeting table at the last minute.
Rotarians of the Month: Christie Roberts and Tony Hoch for their work on the Pilot Hill Project.
Special Presentations:
Songs – Jan Lawrence
Upcoming Programs/Events:
September 27th – City Manager's Office - Laramie's 5th Penny Tax on the Ballot
October 4th – Brooke Benson, Cathedral Home for Children’s Extended Families Program
October 6th: District Assembly in Cheyenne
October 11th – Shaye Moon - Employment First Program Consultant
Rotary 4-way Test:
Of the things we think, say, or do
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it Fair?
- Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?
- Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
Program: Dr. Maria Kidner, Rwanda LEAP Program
Introduction of Program: Jim Wilkinson
Dr, Kidner began with a brief recent history of Rwanda, a small country in south-central Africa. It is a rainy, equatorial country which suffered an episode of genocide in 1994 when the majority class Hutus, murdered about 10,000 Tutsis per day for 97 days. She says the country is healing, but they have a long way to go. Because of disease, Rwanda has a very young demographic structure, with 42% of the population being 0-14 years of age, with a median age around 18.
Her program: LEAP, stands for Leadership, Engaging, Accountability, Professionalism, which instead of directly helping people, creates leaders and teaches the people to help themselves. As a nurse practitioner, Kidner, started working primarily with nurses, and empowering them to believe they are important and can make a difference. She teaches them to work with patients to get their history and do physical evaluations. Kidner can’t do it all herself, so she has built a leadership team of hand-picked Rwandans including a nurse, a pharmacist, an engineer and an educator. What started out as a 5 day training course trained 124 nurses and nursing students, and 32 engineering students in 2015-2016. She also has support from the Rwanda School of nursing and Duke University, where she has also brought her leaders for more training.
She teaches nursing skills, but also skills of empowerment, self-confidence, and a sense of ownership, to truly help the country get on its feet.
She seeks to make the program self-sustaining and is working to find partners in the US to help get it going.
Dr. Kidner gave one of the most inspiring presentations of the year and we appreciate her time in traveling to Laramie to share her story.
Responding for the Club: Randi Downham
Response: The Rotary Club of Laramie will make a donation to the public library children’s book fund in the speaker’s name.
NOTE: We Do Not Donate a Book!
The classification principle of Rotary is a necessary concept in assuring that each Rotary club represents a cross section of the business and professional service of the community.
Like us on Facebook!
Website: laramierotaryclub.org
Spoke Editor: Tony Hoch, 307-760-9386 or tony.hoch@lrcd.net