I've been trying to use Skype to connect my Rotary Club back in the States with the Darjeeling Rotary Club. Last week, the call was dropped and then nobody in the US answered when I tried to call back.
Well, this time we screwed up from our side with the Rotary exchange I was hoping to pull off, but maybe we've got it figured out at last. We were supposed to meet all together yesterday at the installation of officers of the Interact club at Loreto Convent School. The meeting had been postponed from the week before. It was pouring buckets of rain, just pelting down, and I was up to my shins in puddles. Besides, my umbrella has stitching holes all down the ribs, so that in that kind of rain, I was getting drip, drip, down my neck and on my head. Nobody told me the meeting was postponed. Feeling a bit uninformed lately.
Is it any wonder I woke up this morning with a sore throat? My dear friend and scientist Marisa tells me that the weather has nothing to do with whether you get sick or not, but it's difficult to argue with Got soaked/Woke up with Sore Throat equation.
Anyhow, the club prez arrived tonight and was willing to do the intro thing right away, but our Stateside club wasn't finished with its program, so he just basically got on with his meeting and gave me the nod when they'd finished the various reports and letters and all sorts of business. By that time, people has already left for work in America.
One of the things I love about this club is that they are involved in so much. They are planning trivia quizzes in about three different locations to promote education. The members create powerpoints for the students with all sorts of information questions. This club has two Interact clubs it sponsors. They are getting ready for a visit from their District Governor, which involves putting together a booklet with all their activities. At the end of the month, they will do another health camp and the various doctors are actively recruiting other docs to participate. They have an active debate about whether to admit female members--they are an all-boys-network at the moment. They put on various events for the poor, including a party with presents on the occasion the equivalent of our Christmas.
When I was here before, they had also sponsored a Room to Read library and after-school program at a village nearby. They had ties to a Sisters of Mercy project for men with mental disabilities.So they don't have "programs" for their meetings. Their hour is taken up with all the stuff they're doing with progress reports from the various members and various committees. And I don't get the impression that they hold fundraisers, either. They work with various foundations and foreigner who want to contribute and work with them.
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