Although I have lots to fill you all in on, I wanted to post a quick note about the luncheon I attended last Friday with my Rotary Counselor here in Ecuador. The meeting was important because the President of Rotary International, a nice man from Scotland, was visiting the city of Guayaquil in the south of Ecuador. Although the meeting was far away (about 10 hours in bus), we thought it was worth the trip--but we decided to fly! Round trip tickets were only $84! And I got really lucky. My host counselor, Maria Ellena, flew down and returned the same afternoon, but I had recently met a new friend in my school who has family in Guayaquil. Her parents and family are all from Guayaquil, but her parents moved to New York City when she was a baby. In terms of population, Guayaquil is the largest city of Ecuadorians...followed by Quito...followed by Queens. Seriously! Queens is either the 3rd or 4th largest population of Ecuadorians in the world. Anyway, my new friend, Catirina is from NYC and is fluent in Spanish, but is studying Spanish in my same school to perfect her grammar and a few phrases that are used commonly in NYC as direct translations, but do not make sense here. She enlisted in the Army after 9/11 and is currently living in Texas. The Army sent her here to polish her Spanish so she can train Spanish speaking troops...then she received an email a week after she arrived here telling her that they are sending her to Afghanistan when she returns. Her two year old son and husband will miss her much!
Anyway, my friend and I flew to Guayaquil together and I was able to stay with her family for the entire weekend. Friday, I met my Host Counselor at the Hilton Colon in Guayaquil for the meeting with the RI President. There were around 300 Rotarians from all over Ecuador in attendence, including the Vice President of Ecuador, who is an active Rotarian in Quito. There were a few introductory speeches...I am not sure who gave the first, the second was given by the District Governor, and finally by the RI President. He encouraged Rotarians in Ecuador to continue working toward the main goals of Rotary: eliminate Polio from the face of the Earth, reduce poverty, provide clean water, promote peace and good will. He especially emphasized the importance of education as the key to overcoming all of the other problems in the world.
After the RI President spoke, Vice President Moreno spoke. By this point, everyone was getting very hungry and anxious...one man at my table missed his flight! No one paid much attention to his speech after he gave the RI President an award...named after the wife of an important indigenous independence leader, Manuela Espejo. He gave the award in honor of the hard work done on behalf of President Kenny, especially due to his efforts to help the handicapped. This is really important to the Vice President, who was paralyzed from the waist down when he was in a car accident as a young man.
Anyway, my friend and I flew to Guayaquil together and I was able to stay with her family for the entire weekend. Friday, I met my Host Counselor at the Hilton Colon in Guayaquil for the meeting with the RI President. There were around 300 Rotarians from all over Ecuador in attendence, including the Vice President of Ecuador, who is an active Rotarian in Quito. There were a few introductory speeches...I am not sure who gave the first, the second was given by the District Governor, and finally by the RI President. He encouraged Rotarians in Ecuador to continue working toward the main goals of Rotary: eliminate Polio from the face of the Earth, reduce poverty, provide clean water, promote peace and good will. He especially emphasized the importance of education as the key to overcoming all of the other problems in the world.
After the RI President spoke, Vice President Moreno spoke. By this point, everyone was getting very hungry and anxious...one man at my table missed his flight! No one paid much attention to his speech after he gave the RI President an award...named after the wife of an important indigenous independence leader, Manuela Espejo. He gave the award in honor of the hard work done on behalf of President Kenny, especially due to his efforts to help the handicapped. This is really important to the Vice President, who was paralyzed from the waist down when he was in a car accident as a young man.
All and all, the meeting was interesting. It was great to learn that the Rotarians here have the same goals and dedication as those who funded my scholarship to study here. In both countries, I have been inspired to give back to the communities in which I live because of the examples they have set for me. I will always remember their examples and the goals and mission of Rotary. Thank you to those Rotarians reading this blog!
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