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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Aloha my fellow members,
Hope you all had a great weekend! Today is Monday, November 16th which means today is our first day of online silent auction in support of our local & global service projects. Please check out and share this link with your friends, family members and coworkers! There are lots of great items that have been donated by our members.
On another note, we had a great meeting last week, I would like to congratulate my friend, Andy Chamberlain, who was inducted as a newest member of our Club. Glad to see him joining our Ohana! He will be a great addition to our group of enthusiastic and passionate professionals who care about our community and would love to make a difference in this world.
Mahalo,
Ary Radnaeva
2020 - 2021 President of the RCHS
UPCOMING MEETING - NOVEMBER 19
Please join us for our weekly meeting. This meeting will be only on Zoom! Our usual informal happy (half) hour begins at 6:00 pm, and the bell rings at 6:30 pm to formally start the meeting.
Our speaker this week will be Robbieana Leung.
In 2016, inspired to live a life reflective of “service above self”, Robbieana Leung signed up for "the toughest job you'll ever love" aka the U.S. Peace Corps.
Graduate of Pepperdine University (B.A Int'l Studies, Intercultural Communication) and University of Utrecht (M.A Conflict Studies & Human Rights; Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar under the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset’s sponsorship in 2010), Robbie served for 28 months in provincial Cebu as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer.
Passionate about giving her students experiential opportunities, she taught English and literature courses and engaged students in environmental, literacy, library development and intercultural exchange programs in a remote town without libraries and bookstores.
Awarded Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn grant, Robbie encouraged her students to pursue a project they had feared and deemed "impossible" - writing and illustrating an original Bisaya-English children's book! They distributed 1000 free copies of their book to all 15 elementary schools in their town, and towns all over the Philippines and in 20+ countries to promote a love for reading in under-resourced communities. After the Peace Corps, Robbie volunteered to teach English on two voyages with Peace Boat, a NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, that charters a cruise ship to promote peace education and cultural exchange.
She is happy to share the stories behind her students' storybook: tales of bravery, Rotarian Fairy Godmothers and Godfathers, achieving milestones against great odds and 24 Filipino students and one Peace Corps Volunteer who dreamt with their heads in the clouds and feet on the ground.
To join the meeting via Zoom, please follow this link:
Dial by your location: +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma).
LAST WEEK'S MEETING -
NOVEMBER 12
Our Speaker last week wasTravis Tsukayama, a certified financial planner who specializes in working with retirees and aspiring retirees to help them avoid mistakes in managing their investments.
He told us that people make mistakes in their investments in three main ways:
Timing. Instead of staying put, they try to anticipate changes in the market. They end up buying low and selling high. Bull markets die on euphoria.
Distractions and disruptions. Investments shouldn’t be exciting. They should be boring.
Financial scams. In the current environment, there are many scams related to the coronavirus pandemic.
He told us that some actions to consider to help with investing include:
Take a “gut check” to understand your tolerance for volatility.
Rebalance the allocation of your assets. This is hard, but is very important. It helps manage the volatility in a portfolio, and limits the downside risk.
Harvest losses—sell off investments and take losses in taxable accounts to help offset gains.
Consider converting to a Roth IRA. Pay taxes on the money now, so it can be tax free later.
Travis can be found at Andrewsllc.com. Follow this link to a brief evaluation form of the presentation. Travis says that it would help him tremendously to get some feedback and see how he can improve.
CALL FOR TRIVIA!
IPP James Ham is preparing the Trivia game in preparation for the club's 25th Anniversary/Christmas Celebration event on December 17th on Zoom. Please share your responses on the following prompts and memail the to James at james.ham@gmail.com.
1. Random trivia or fun facts about you or another member.
2. Baby pictures of you or another member.
3. Random trivia or fun facts about our club’s history and charter members.
Every year our Club provides support to HUGS families. HUGS supports Hawaii's families with a child up to age 21 who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or disease. This holiday shopping event gives an opportunity to HUGS families to shop for personal items at Walmart as these families face financial hardships of caring for a seriously ill child. There will be 3-5 HUGS families in need that are invited by HUGS.
How: For COVID-safety purpose, shopping will be done in 3-5 groups with no more 7 ppl in total, including the family from one household. For each family we need 2 Rotarians to assist with shopping. Everyone must wear masks and maintain social distancing. No lunch will be provided.
Please sign up by emailing to the Project Lead - Community Service Chair, Glen Bailey, at baileyg001@hawaii.rr.com.
[CALL TO ACTION] Community Service Project - Donate Welcome Hygiene Sets for Women in Need Shelter
by Glen Bailey
Request all members of the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset donate at least 1 Welcome Hygiene Set before Christmas. The women that stay at the Women in Need Shelters come out of prison, domestic abuse situations, homelessness, or drug rehab programs. When they enter the facility, they, in most cases come with just the clothing they are wearing. For the past 10 years our club has provided Welcome Hygiene Sets that they give to newly arrived women entering the shelters. Here is a list of the items we are requesting you purchase and put in your donated set.
- Large Cloth Shopping Bag to hold the items
- One bath towel, 1 hand towel, and 2 face towels
- 1 large shampoo and a bottle of hair conditioner
- 3 bars of hand soap and one deodorant
- 1 package of women razors and shaving cream
- 1 hair brush and 1 comb
- 1 set of hair clips and/or hair ties
- I tooth brush and tubes of tooth paste
- Hand cream and face wash.
Our goal is to collect and deliver at least 25 sets but more will be appreciated. Once your donated set is completed you can give me a call at 808 392 7170 to arrange for me to pick–up or provide you drop off options. Thank-you!
UPCOMING COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT IN DECEMBER
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW! This year, join us as Rotary Gives Thanks by planting 5,000 Hawaiian Native trees to combat climate change!
Our COVID Strategy:
The planting area at Gunstock Ranch is 5 acres! This gives us ample space to socially distance in the vast, open-air area. Furthermore, each tree will be planted in a pre-dug hole that is 10 ft apart from each other! Planting will be coordinated with regards to teams and planting zones. The number of participants in a team will depend on the current guidance by the government (ie. no more than 5 per team). Only one team will be present on each planting zone and will be planting in the same direction as the other teams. This will decrease the likelihood of teams of being in proximity of one another.
What: Each person will plant 10 trees. These trees will never be cut down or sold for profit.
How: Holes are pre-dug! Training, equipment, parking, and directions will be provided.
Please sign up by emailing to our Club 's President and Tree Planting Ambassador Ary at radnaeva.aryuna@gmail.com& let her know about the shift preference and number of people in your group.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
New member Andrew (Andy) Chamberlain writes:
My story, short though it may be, began in Alaska. Well, I was actually born in Texas after my parents met at Texas A&M, but that is barely worth acknowledging since I spent all of three days there. My parents were well educated - dad was a statistician and programmer, mom was a concert pianist - but they gave up the professional opportunities of the "lower 48" when moving north (via Kansas and Washington). As the oldest of what came to be a brood of seven kids, I grew up a studious lad, with a strong interest in outdoor activities mixed in. Such homespun activities as berry-picking, orienteering, and collecting eight cords of wood every year for heating during the winter occupied a lot of my free time, when I wasn't reading or poring over old maps. During my late teens, I even spent a year working for a dog musher. At that time I couldn't imagine ever living anywhere but Alaska.
I started college as a civil engineering major in my early twenties, following my enlistment in the Army Reserve as a way of paying my way through. During the five years of study, I worked on various research and climate evaluation projects that took me to many remote areas of Alaska, including Utkiagvik, the farthest north point of the US. I discovered a passion for volunteering and led various engineering clubs. Meanwhile, I also completed a succession of Army development courses, including arctic and mountain training. Most importantly, I came away with two lovely daughters, Bethany and Karoline. And I started to see more of the world beyond Alaska.
After completing the engineer program, I felt the need to explore further and seek personal development on a more diverse stage. In pursuit of this urge, I applied for and was accepted into a graduate program at UC Berkeley. Berkeley - and the San Francisco Bay Area in general - is about as different a place from Alaska as you could expect to find within the US. Nonetheless, I ended up staying after graduate studies, found a job in Livermore, and lived in Oakland for four years after graduating.
In the course of my Army reserve career, I transitioned from enlisted to warrant officer in 2016. It was at this time that I first started travelling to Hawaii, being assigned to a unit on Oahu right after the transition. Over the next few years, I made about 20 trips between Oahu and the west coast as I developed my officer skills and took advantage of the chance to learn about the island culture. Finally, as 2020 dawned, an active-duty opportunity materialized that allowed me to mesh both my professional engineer career and my military career. I took leave of my county engineer position in California and moved to Oahu to start this tour.
In my current capacity, I am a staff engineer on an Army reserve task force conducting strategic operations throughout the Pacific Island region (Oceania). I have had the privilege of visiting communities in Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Palau, and Fiji in the course of developing engineer designs that will help serve those communities in the years to come. Not bad for a kid from the Alaska boonies who spent long days as a teenager ice fishing and reading about far-away places. And while this position is ultimately temporary, I am starting to feel a connection with the island communities and the unique challenges of living in Oceania. With this in mind, I look forward to making Hawaii a long-term commitment and continuing to find niche opportunities both to explore and expand my skill set, while contributing to a better future for the region by supporting sustainable development and climate resilience. I'm particularly passionate about water resources and hope to further incorporate that passion and my engineering background into projects that can provide long-term benefits for remote island communities.
As a new Rotarian, I am very much looking forward to participating in a club that is committed to supporting both local and global communities in new and exciting ways. I think that, whatever the context, people helping people is one of the most powerful ways to overcome challenges such as political turbulence and the current pandemic. I'm excited to see how Rotary will continue being a network for positive influence in the coming years.
ROTARY MOMENT
Rotary's newest area of focus is Protecting the Environment. All six of Rotary’s other areas of focus are closely linked to the environment.
PROMOTING PEACE: The connections between the environment and peace are many and complex. Good management of ecosystems can lead to cooperative, resilient communities. Poor management of the environment undermines both natural and social systems. The resulting scarcities and competition for water and other natural resources can lead to increased insecurity, climate induced migration, and refugees.
FIGHTING DISEASE: A healthy environment tends to lead to healthier people. Investing in environmental sustainability can promote our wellbeing. The degradation of the environment — the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and the ecosystems that sustain us — is responsible for an estimated 1 in 4 deaths across the globe.
PROVIDING CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION: Too many people in the world still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene — basic elements of health and dignity. Effective management and protection of the environment is critical for successful water and sanitation programs and can reduce risks to water supplies due to flooding, pollution, improperly managed sanitation, extreme precipitation events, and over extraction.
SAVING MOTHERS AND CHILDREN: Approximately 1.7 million children under five die each year from lower respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases. Cleaning up the environment reduces preventable and premature deaths, improves the health of the children who survive, benefits their mothers, and improves the well-being of the entire family.
SUPPORTING EDUCATION: Nature education creates better stewards of the air, land, water, and wildlife, which is critical for the sustainability of everyone’s health. Young minds in well-nourished and healthy bodies are better able to benefit from education and literacy.
GROWING LOCAL ECONOMIES: Prudent environmental practices support industry, agriculture, and services to meet both current and future needs of a community. Tapping alternative energy sources to reduce energy poverty and support local economies is essential for progress in all of the other areas of focus. For example, strategic microfinancing enables a community to install and use a solar-powered grid. Communities and their economies flourish when the air and water are clean, and nourishing food promotes health and well-being.
Pictures from the club's Christmas party in December 2012
RCHS’ President Ary spent this past Saturday planting trees along with a group of other volunteers! They planted 400 of them!
Our Club is looking forward to plant more of these native kou trees on December 5th! This is our joint effort to improve our carbon footprint and slow down our planet’s warming!
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Links
Check out the menu at http://www.himalayankitchenhawaii.com. To order take-out order, please call at 808-735-1122. Don't forget to mention "ROTARY" and email a photo of the receipt at rotaryhonolulusunset@gmail.com. By ordering food at Himalayan Kitchen, you are not only supporting the restaurant, but also our Nepal Global Grants for this Rotary year! See more information below.
NEPAL PROJECTS
by Arjun Aryal
Currently, there are three active projects in Nepal. One from the last year that has been approved and fully funded (GG1988399). Two of them (GG2117300 – Hospital equipment and GG2118290-Education focus) are almost ready to be submitted. These two projects will be sponsored by D5000 and will receive roll-over DDF from DG Naomi.
Fourteen D5000 contributing club payments, D5000 cash contributions (earthquake relief fund) and the local host club in Nepal already made the payments and all the contribution was sent to the TRF grant management center, Chicago. This grant will provide clean drinking water to 120 families who now have to hike over 4 hours to fetch drinking water.
2. GG2117300 - Dhading Hospital medical equipment and training (RCHS)
This Global Grant will provide Emergency Room and ICU equipment (ventilator, ultrasound, and other related equipment) to Dhading hospital. The hospital serves over 250k people of this remote Dhading district and 45+ Health posts and health centers feed into this hospital. This is the only hospital designated by the Government of Nepal to manage Covid-19 in this district but it has no proper equipment. Dr. Paul Maroz communicated with the hospital and verified the need and ensured that the hospital has expertise to use the equipment. Estimated budget is $60k
3. GG2118290 - Improving Basic Education in Nepal (D5000 sponsored)
This is a centerpiece of D5000 international service project sponsored by DG Naomi. This project will supply science lab equipment to promote career-focused high-school education and provide teachers training and adult science literacy. The focus is on so-called lower caste or untouchable children and seeks to empower them through basic education. D5000 Rotarians will have the opportunity to visit the schools and be involved in the project, tentatively in Oct 2021, assuming the situation will be improved). Estimated budget is $45k.
This is our joint effort to improve our carbon footprint and slow down our planet’s warming!
