May 13th Meeting

Win introduced Portland Sunrise Rotarian, Jim Schmidt and his wife Jan. Also present was Dennis Robillard, District Chair for Crutches 4 Africa (http://www.crutches4africa.org/).

 

 

As a new Rotarian, Jim wanted to take-on an international project. Jan and he traveled to Kenya where they helped distribute 2300 mobility devices in 25 separate locations. Using both pictures and videos they provided us with a very moving presentation.

Leading the distribution of the crutches, walker, and wheel chairs was Dave Talbot, the founder of Crutches 4 Africa. He would climb out of his van on crutches! Most Kenyans have never a Westerner on crutches. In Africa most crippled are treated like social outcasts.

Traveling with Dave Talbot, they experienced staying in very Spartan accommodations. The money saved is better spent on the mission.

Dennis reported that this district has been the largest source of donated equipment. They encouraged us to consider taking on this project by placing a few collection bins around town. The Interact Club was encouraged to place a collection bin in the high school. Dennis would periodically arrange for pick-up