It was a trifecta of presentations to Kingston North Kitsap Rotarians at their Wed, Nov 13, noon meeting. First, six-year old Ari pitched Cub Scout wreaths and poinsettias.
Ari is a member of Cub Scout Pack 4555. The Pack, fund-raising off wreath and poinsettia sales, is sponsored by Kingston North Kitsap Rotary Club. Ari is its top salesman.
Next Suzanne Jenny, the Club's Membership Chair, presented new member David Fortune to Rotarians. David was offered his red badge, and a packet with blue badge membership instructions. Suzanne joke, "he's done a lot of this stuff already." Welcome to the Club David.
The third presentation of the day featured Paul Bauman of a group called Geoscientists without Borders (GWB). Bauman "zoomed" in from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to talk about the group, which supports humanitarian applications of geoscience around the world. GWB serves as a catalyst by bringing capable scientists together with communities in need to solve their challenges.
Specifically, Bauman and his colleagues have been working in northern Uganda to identify and bring to the surface, clean water in some 21 villages, where people live with less than five liters of water per day. Since 2015 GWB has trained villagers on aquifer identification and drilling techniques, all manual. Every drop of success means fewer deaths, as 1,000 people die there each week of Cholera, AIDS, Ebola, Malaria, and Dengue. Only 17% of households have access to good quality water, 97% share a water source with animals, and 53% of households get symptoms of waterborne diseases every 2 months.
In closing, Bauman thanked Kingston North Kitsap Rotarians for their support with a grant from the Club's International Services Committee.