WELCOME!!
to this week's meeting of
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning August 28, 2023
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Rotarian Neil
One Sunday at church, we had a speaker. Her name was Dr. Edith Egar. Dr. Egar turned out to be a tiny woman with an incredible, larger-than-life presence. She was a practicing psychotherapist and professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego, and an Auschwitz survivor.
Being a survivor was the main focus of her message. She was in her teens when her family was forced into the concentration camps. She and her sister were separated from her mother.
They watched her disappear into a separate building. Later they learned that the ashes raining on their heads that day were from bodies being incinerated, bodies that included their mother.
Edith's sister fell ill from the horrible conditions. Edith knew she had to do something to save her sister's life. She risked death climbing over a razor wire fence to get carrots from a nearby garden. Although a guard saw her return, he averted his gaze.
When Allied forces liberated the camp, Edith had a broken back and weighed 40 pounds. She had learned a great deal about survival. She learned that everyone has the power to transcend their own bad situations. She consciously decided to reject the title "victim" and claim the word "survivor" instead.
She spoke about changing the present since you cannot change the past. Too many people dwell on the bad, and not on the positives. They accept victimhood and do not fight to free themselves. Then they sink deeper into despair and hopelessness.
I watched her interact with the congregation. I became aware that she had noticed me. Even while she continued speaking to those around her, she reached back and took my hand. When she turned her attention to me, it was absolute. Her caring was genuine.
I don't remember her specific words, but I do know that she turned my life from dark despair to one of hope and achievement. I am still a single mother. I am a successful, happy woman with a successful, happy son. We face our challenges, but they no longer dominate our lives.
Dr. Egar dedicated her life to teaching people how to approach life from a positive perspective no matter how dark the world looks. Nothing is as hopeless as it appears. Everything depends on how you approach life and how you view yourself: victim or survivor.
(Dr. Egar wrote an inspiring book titled The Choice: Embrace the Possible. –Ed.)

Following are some of the comments we have received. Would you please send us your comments?
July 24. Loved the wheelchair basketball video! Grace notes are an awesome idea - and the time to start is now, because we just never know when it might be too late.
-- Vicki Horsfield, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
July 28. I always learn something at our weekly meeting. I had never heard of "Roll clouds" prior to the meeting.
July 30. The story by Henny Lewin
recounting how she and her cousin survived the Nazi occupation in Lithuania
and, though separated by 6,000 kms, they are still friends 80 years later, was
very moving.
Hi Kitty, you included a video in the weekly meeting about James Davidson's travels to Australia and New Zealand in 1921 to start Rotary clubs down under.
The attached photo (above) is of a book I have about his journey written by a Red Deer Rotarian. And incidentally the Rotary Club of Calgary still meets in the same hotel, the Palliser, where James and Lillian Davidson departed from in 1921.
-- David Werrett, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
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Please feel free to forward an approx. 150 - 200 word message or any material suggestions in an e-mail, or in a Word document, along with a JPeg picture or two, to E-Club Administration Chair, Kitty Bucsko.
We'd love to hear from you!

The Rotary emblem above left was taken at Cabo da Roca and the photo on the right says it is the most western point in the continent of Europe.
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Click these links to learn more about how Rotarians can and do make efforts to help the climate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puRcVsXs8dA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Pfoc2IojU
https://esrag.org/lithium-ion-battery-recycling/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dCMLRH6sw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBFGN-VY0tE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDwgmTTSTjQ&t=105s
Tearfully she explains, “It’s the pharmacist. He insulted me terribly this morning on the phone.”
Immediately the husband drives downtown to confront the pharmacist and demand an apology…
Before he could say more than a few words, the pharmacist tells him, “Now, just a minute, please listen to my side of it… ”
“This morning the alarm failed to go off, so I was late getting up.”
“I went without breakfast and hurried out to the car, just to realize that I locked the house with both house and car keys inside… ”
“I had to break a window to get my keys.”
“Then, driving a little too fast, I got a speeding ticket… ”
“Later, about three blocks from the store, I had a flat tire.”
“When I got to the store, there was a bunch of people waiting for me to open up… ”
“I opened and started waiting on these people, and all the time, the darn phone was ringing off the hook.”
He continues, “Then I had to break a roll of nickels against the cash register drawer to make change, and they spilled all over the floor… ”
“I got down on my hands and knees to pick up the nickels, and the phone was still ringing.”
“When I came up, I cracked my head on the open cash drawer, which made me stagger back against a showcase with a bunch of perfume bottles on it… ”
“All of them hit the floor and broke.”
“Meanwhile, the phone is still ringing with no let up, so I finally got to answer it… ”
“It was your wife.”
“She wanted to know how to use a rectal thermometer.”
“Honest mister, all I did… ”
“Was tell her!”
In July, I became the youngest president in the history of my Rotary club, and the first president of color.
I’ve always advocated for transition in Rotary. I joined the Rotary family in 2007 as an Interactor in Nigeria, where I grew up. I didn’t even know it was called Interact. I just volunteered at Rotary projects, and we would meet informally to plan our own activities.
I joined Rotaract when I began college in Nigeria. When I moved to Cape Town to further my education, I became a member of the Rotaract Club of Blouberg. Four years later, in 2020, I joined the Rotary Club of Blouberg. I was the club’s first dual member of Rotary and Rotaract, the same year Rotary International elevated Rotaract to equal status with Rotary.
1. Annual Fund Contributions: Rotarians and donors make financial contributions to the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund.
2. Three-Year Cycle: Contributions to the Annual Fund are invested for three years before being used for grants.
3. SHARE System: After the three-year investment period, the SHARE system determines how the funds are allocated.
4. District Designated Funds (DDF): A portion of the funds is returned to the district where the contributions originated as District Designated Funds. Districts can then use these funds for local and international projects and grants.
5. World Fund: The remaining portion of the funds goes to the World Fund, which is used to support global Rotary Foundation initiatives and grants worldwide.
6. Global Grants and District Grants: The World Fund and District Designated Funds are used to provide grants for projects and programs, such as humanitarian efforts, educational initiatives, and community development projects. These grants are administered by Rotary clubs and districts and follow specific guidelines and criteria.
In summary, the SHARE system ensures that contributions made to the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund are distributed to districts and projects through District Designated Funds and the World Fund. This allows Rotary clubs and districts to carry out impactful projects and support Rotary's areas of focus worldwide.
Every week we'll have a draw and the lucky person will see their song featured!
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