My Life's Journey of Hope from Burundi to Appleton

Egide Nimubona, instructor at Fox Valley Technical College, discussed his journey to Appleton. Egide was born and raised in a poor village in Burundi. His family survived on substance farming on 3-4 acres of land to support 7 children. Egide’s education was made possible by his visionary father, missionaries and scholarships. During his education, he learned the Kirundi, French and Russian languages. Egide experienced the same level of poverty that thousands of school children in Burundi face today. Burundi is the poorest country in the world (per capita GDP). Ninety percent of the citizens work with hoes on coffee plantations that are run by the government and used for export. In Burundi, education is a privilege since only few can afford it. Elementary school (grades 1-6) is the path to prosperity despite the long distances, hunger, intestinal worms, snakes and hyenas. In 1978, only 10% of 6th graders were allowed into 7th grade. In 2010, it increased to 33%. Boarding secondary school (grades 7-13) were considered more modern with 3 meals a day, mattresses, sandals, toothpaste, etc. At the age of 20, Egide got a scholarship to attend school in Moscow from 1985-1991. He went back to Burundi to work from 1991-1994. In 1994, the civil war/genocide started and Egide went to the American Embassy to get a Visa to visit New York. He fled to Moscow, New York then to Montreal, Canada. Egide lived in Montreal from 1994-2002 where he went back to school to get his degree in mechanical engineering. In 2002, he came to Appleton where he plans to stay. In 2010, Egide became a United States Citizen.

In Burundi, kids want to receive an education. In 2009, more than 16,628 students walked over 12.5 miles to school every day. Over 128,209 students walked barefoot on rough country paths 6-12 miles. Four or five students share a book when available in high school. Only 47% of primary school-age girls attend school. Elementary schools have limited resources such as electricity, restrooms and clean water. Egide started the Burundi Education Fund, Inc. to provide materials and financial support to students and schools in extreme poverty in Burundi. The fund’s ultimate goal is to help children remain in school and eventually become self-reliant adults, leading to a break in the cycle of excessive poverty in their families. An entire year of education for one student costs $150: $45 school supplies and uniform; $38 transportation to and from boarding school; $29 tuition, room and board (which is subsidized by the government); $20 miscellaneous; and $18 for medical check-ups. This year, 108 students received equivalent of $150 each to cover all their school needs. For more information on the Burundi Education Fund, please go to: http://educateburundi.org/.

SAMP

The Sharing Around (The World) Medical Project will not be packing in November and December.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary's leadership training program for young people. RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to: demonstrate Rotary's respect and concern for youth, provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders, encourage leadership of youth by youth and recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities. Students from all over District 6220 participated in the conference from Friday, October 7 – Sunday, October 9 at Camp Manito-wish YMCA in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. Our Club sponsored 6 students: Maria Gonzalez (Appleton West), Vaja Abrams (Appleton West), Lisbet Aguilar (Appleton East), Gerardo Leon (Appleton East), Katie Agen (Appleton North) and Jacob Lu Maye (Appleton North).

Charles and Adele Heeter Outstanding Community Leadership Award

The Heeter Award is bestowed upon individuals of the Appleton/Fox Cities community who exemplify the Rotary Motto of “Service Above Self” by providing significant community leadership and/or service through the use of their time, talent or treasury. Today we honored Tom Berkedal. Tom’s accomplishments include: President of the Rotary Club of LaCrosse (1996-1997), President of the Rotary Club of Appleton (2010-2011), originated the All Fox Valley Rotary Presidents group, Paul Harris Fellow, major donor for The Rotary Foundation, started “A Dress for Success” a literacy program for young girls in India and is currently the Assistant District Governor for District 6220. Tom was hereby recognized with a Charles and Adele Heeter Outstanding Community Leadership Award and in addition the Club transferred 1,000 points to Tom making him a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.

Rotary Youth Exchange

Elinor Bell and Ella Proll

Robb Waugus introduced Elinor Bell who will be our Rotary Youth Exchange Outbound student for the 2012-2013 academic year. Elinor hopes to go to Hungary.

Raphaela Maria Pröll is 17 years old and is from Germany. Germany has a population of about 81,752 million people, is comprised of 16 states each with its own constitution and its capital is Berlin. Christian Wulf is the President and Angela Merkel is its Chancellor. Some points of interest include: Deutscher Reichstag and the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. Germany’s climate is mostly temperate but varies between its mountain and beach areas. Bavaria is a state in Germany and its capital is Munich. Traditional Bavarian clothing includes lederhosen and dirndls. The traditional festival of Munich is Oktoberfest – a 16-18 day beer festival held from late September to the first weekend in October. Traditional food consists of roast pork and dumplings, yeast dumplings and sulz. Albert Einstein, Johann Sebastian Bach, Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagens come from Germany. You can drive at the age of 18 and drink at the age of 16. Ella is from Friedberg which has a population of about 28,000 people and is 30 minutes from Frankfurt. Friedberg is in the state of Hesse. Ella went to a private girl’s school with 800 students. Her father is in the insurance business and her mother is a realtor. She also has a cat named Pfote. Ella enjoys golf, sailing, scuba diving and traveling. She hopes to go to the university to study medicine.

Holiday Celebration - Tuesday, December 20

The Holidays will be here before you know it and so will the Rotary Holiday luncheon, hosted by the Family of Rotary Committee. This year we will be entertained by the White Heron Chorale and the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel has again prepared a very special meal for Rotarians and their guests. So save the date, Tuesday, December 20 from 11:30 – 1:15 p.m. And please be sure to sign up at the registration table so we will know if you are coming and the number of guests you are bringing. We will be charging $12.50 for those members who have the status of “attendance not required” and guests as we have done in the past. Please join us for the festivities on December 20th.

Rotary Shines

Rotary Shines will be held on April 20, 2012 at The Outer Edge in Appleton. Mark your calendars.

Nominating Committee Report

Today, President Elect Dawn Doberstein presented the slate of officers for the 2012/2013 Rotary year. The membership has two weeks to present additional candidates. Additional nominations of directors and officers may be made within two weeks of such presentation by written petition filed with the secretary and signed by at least five members of the club. Such petition shall certify that the nominee has consented to run and will serve if elected. The nominations of the committee and all such additional nominations shall be published in the issue of the club bulletin next following such presentation and filing. At the first meeting in December, we will have our annual meeting and will vote for the candidates.

On behalf of the Nominating Committee, President Elect Dawn submitted this slate of officers and board members for the 2012/2013 Rotary year:

Immediate Past President Dan Nisler
President Dawn Doberstein
President Elect Peter Kelly
Secretary Deborah Wetter
Treasurer John Fuller
Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Hillmer

One Year Term Board Members
Greg Linnemanstons
Rich Redman
Susan Stockton
Jennifer Wanke

Two Year Board Members
Caroline Lasecki
Trey Neher
Mary Schmidt
Robb Waugus