For the 12th year in a row, Rotarians in West Africa will conduct a project fair and every year Howard Travel of Oakland CA has organized a tour for Rotarians to attend. This year the trip will be October 3- -12, will include a polio immunization day and a “hands on project.” Total cost is $1,689, double occupancy and will include hotel accommodations, transfers, most meals, polio immunization exercise, hands-on community service field work, West Africa Project Fair registration, special Rotary and fellowship events, sightseeing, etc. The experiences you have stay with you forever, according to Jolene Bortz, manager of Howard Travels and past president of the Rotary club of Oakland Uptown. “ “You get up early in the morning, travel with local Rotarians to a village, health clinic or impoverished neighborhood, and for the next few hours, you change. Small children come up to you to say thank you. Mothers and fathers smile at you knowing that you are giving their child a chance for a better life. You meet with the leaders in the village to learn of their needs and their hopes. It is hot; it is dusty; it makes you uncomfortable; it is exquisite,” she notes. The West Africa Project Fair is endorsed by the Reach Out to Africa Committee (ROTA), which is trying to generate greater connectivity between the African and North American Rotarians to generate greater support of the projects of Africa. Your involvement in the fair would not only provide an opportunity for project support, it would also help your members to grow and to understand the benefits of being a Rotarian. Involvement in Rotary gives the ordinary Rotarian extraordinary opportunities to do things that they could never do anywhere else. This trip is just such an experience according to Ms. Bortz. |
