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Isis Mejias

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Wind Nguyen

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Robin Charlesworth

This Rotary year has been so full of amazing events and service projects that time has absolutely flown by quickly. This is my final message as President and I invite you to join in our zoom meeting on Saturday, June 29, 2019, for a summation of the year as I reflect on the numerous deeds accomplished this year by dedicated members of our club. I am inspired by our members who share ideas to serve others and working together will find ways to take action on their ideas. Working together, respecting each other, we have grown in friendship. I know that our paths would have been unlikely to cross except for our common commitment to Rotary. Together we can create possibilities that may have seemed impossible if we attempted to pursue our ideas alone. Our e-club is still a “new” model of being in a vibrant Rotary club, and we are still learning how to really feel connected when we have a truly international membership. Yet, it also creates opportunities with feet on the ground in various states and countries. Our reach to others is expanded as we share club banners around the world in the name of the Rotary e-club of Houston. We have eyes around the world to follow-up on projects and see needs for new projects. For a variety of reasons, we are all busy with our lives and yet there is satisfaction and a sense of purpose being a part of Rotary International and giving back to others. Thank you, Paul Harris, the Founding Father of Rotary International, who on February 23, 1905, persuaded several businessmen to gather in downtown Chicago for the first Rotary meeting. Today our organization has about 1.2 million members worldwide. Below is a photo of Paul Harris and a quote which I feel is important in maintaining the success of each club in our organization, Rotary International.

As we have worked together this year, discussing, planning, and sharing, I feel that we are on the right road to build better friendships which will continue to build a bright future for our club. Join us to install our new officers for 2019-20 with Michael Miller, President. Share your thoughts, hopes, and dreams for our club and we will work together to make an effort to take action. It has been a great pleasure to serve as the President of the Rotary e-Club of Houston this year, and I look forward to the future of our club as we continue to work together as friends, helping others.

Yours in Rotary,

Robin Charlesworth

June Calendar

June 1-5 2019 Rotary Convention in Hungary, Germany

Please check our website soon for addtional June events.

https://rotaryeclubhouston.org/

June 8 - Books for the World Workday

June 15 - Join with Memorial/ Spring Branch Rotary Club to serve meals at Turning Point Community

June 17 - North American e-Club Leaders Meeting - 8 pm EDT - Topic "How to Engage our Members"

June 22 - Board of Directors Meeting @ 9:00 am

June 29 - Installation of New Officers - Zoom Meeting

Rise Against Hunger Food Delivered to Cucuta

Good news!! 356 boxes of fortified foods, Rise Against Hunger (RAH) (5,473.95 tons equivalent to 76,896 servings of food), were successfully delivered to the Food Bank in Cúcuta. The RAH food boxes are a donation from the Rotary e-Club of Houston to the Diocesan Food Bank COSPAS. Thanks to our ally Rotary Club of Cucuta 1, under the leadership of Diana Gamboa and our local coordinators Patrocinio Ararat y Mariness, for their commitment to facilitate and oversee the planning and implementation of this new project. This donation is destined to the Diocese of Cúcuta program that supports refugee and migrant families in vulnerable conditions who no longer receive the UN World Food Program (WFP) bonds. Thus, these families can cook their meals over wood fire since gas is costly in Colombia. This donation is part of the Hope For Venezuelan Refugees project.

Mural Work at the Garden Project

This is just the beginning of the mural project we are doing at the Margaret Long Wisdom High School in Houston.

Humanitarian Service Project of the Year

Congratulations go to our Rotary e-Club of Houston for winning Humanitarian Service Project of the Year in District 5890. Thanks go to chair Isis Mejias and Cristal Montañez for all their hard work! #Venezuela #HopeForVenezuela #Refugees

2019 Rotary Convention in Full Motion

Photos are starting to come in from the Rotary Convention in Hungary, Germany. More than 24,000 Rotary members from 170 countries are gathering at the Convention from June 1 to 5, 2019 to attend the 110th annual Rotary International Convention. Stay tuned for more photos as they come in on our webpage and Facebook page!

Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Caracas with Isis Mejias.

We partnered with the Caracas Club for the project Bear Hugs for Venezuela.

Welcome our Newest Member - Bhuvana Krishnan

Welcome our newest member - Bhuvana Krishnan! She is a physician in Houston and with her husband, GV, has been on the periphery of Rotary for some time. GV will soon be inducted as President of the Rotary Club of University Area. Robin and Ed Charlesworth met them on a Rotary Friendship exchange to South Africa. Bhuvana was in attendance at our District Conference in Corpus Christi last month, too. She has been a friend of Rotary and is now a Rotarian!

Rotary Alumni "Meet & Greet"

The alumni meet and greet was held on May 26th at Harold's in the Heights. Great to see and catch up with people!

Program: Roz Savage: Why I Row Across Oceans

Rotarians - People of Action

Rotarians share a unique passion for taking action to improve their communities and the world. Where others see problems, we see solutions. This is our chance to show others how Rotarians see what’s possible in their communities and to highlight what we can achieve when more community leaders join Rotary.

This campaign brings the Rotary story to life in a way that narrows the gap between public awareness and understanding.
The People of Action campaign communicates the essence of Rotary and reflects our values, such as:

We build lifelong relationships.
We honor our commitments.
We connect diverse perspectives.
We apply our leadership and expertise to solve social issues.

It tells our story in our own voice, which is:

Smart — we are insightful and discerning.
Compassionate — we tackle community challenges with empathy and understanding.
Persevering — we find lasting solutions to systemic problems.
Inspiring — we encourage others to take action, conveying hope, enthusiasm, and passion.

As a Rotarian, you’re also a brand ambassador. You can tell the story of Rotary and how we are people of action in communities worldwide.

Who are We?

Although the Rotary year is not yet over and we have a number of prospective members we hope will join us in our humanitarian effort and providing service to others, I want to give you a synopsis of where our members reside. Our home Rotary District is 5890 which encompasses the Greater Houston area in Texas, USA. We have members who live in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, South Caroline, and Wyoming. That is 27% of out total membership which is currently at 52 active members. Another 6% live in other parts of Texas and outside of our Rotary district. We also have 8% who are living and/or working outside of the USA in Bosnia, Cameroon, Sweden, and United Arab Emirates. That is 41% do not live within the boundaries of our home district.

For this reason, our meetings are held online (Zoom meetings) and we send newsletters with programs (most often Ted Talks). Our zoom meetings are netting small numbers, and we hope to improve our offerings of these meetings online for you to view anytime 24/7. We have a very active SocialMedia presence with 1,566 Followers on Facebook. Our award-wining international service project "Hope for Venezuelan Refugees" is actively posting on Instagram, Blog, and WhatApp. We encourage our members to join the club WhatsApp group for short updates on members. It helps to get to know each other as well as providing information about service projects and meetings. Projects may also be viewed on My Rotary in My Club Showcase.

Below the banner on our webpage is an Attendance form. We are flexible on attendance, although we encourage all members to participate in some form of service monthly (which counts as attendance, and it may simply be a donation), and hope that all members will find a committee or project to provide club service. Some jobs are quite simple and require only a small amount of time, and of course, others are for dedicated champions. On the attendance form you may also record your service activity.

We want to keep everyone engaged and feeling important to our club. We have begun a new newsletter activity with is termed a "Scavenger Hunt" activity to promote sharing small things about where we live and to compare results with other members. We hope you will enjoy this exchange and participate in sharing.

Career Village

At CareerVillage.org we use crowdsourcing to provide personal career guidance to students at massive scale. We do this through an open access platform that anyone can use to ask a question related to a career. Our web platform matches the career questions students ask to our volunteer corps of over 15,000 working professionals with relevant expertise and a wealth of experiences to share. The advice students get is tailored for them, it’s reliable, and it’s encouraging and inspirational. The more students from different backgrounds use it, the more young people are exposed to careers they may never have dreamed existed.

To truly level the playing field, however, CV provides additional services through partners in communities in which the lack of resources (information, networking, mentoring, etc) is the largest and where students are underrepresented in their desired career, face discrimination in gaining access to their desired career, or face huge hurdles outside their control which block their ability to get into their desired career. We especially work to support youth in low-income communities, students who plan to become the first in their family to attend college, students who are first generation immigrants, young people of color, and young women interested in STEM careers. Working more intensively in communities traditionally lacking the most access reinforces the power of the CV website, enabling the most underserved youth to find new pathways, ask better questions, and forge more connections with peers and mentors using the website.

Our club has chosen Career Village as our banner Vocational Project this year. We have several members who have registered on their website (career village.org) and they receive questions from students weekly. On the website, simply select "Sign Up" and then select "Professional" to begin your journey of providing information and advice to students as they plan their future. They will need your email and additionally a LinkedIn. Next, you will set up your Professional Profile so screening will direct appropriate questions to you for advice. If you do not have time to answer three questions, then simply answer one. Sometimes you may choose to answer more questions, or you may simply pass and someone else may address the questions. Like our club, it is 100% flexible. We do have the benefit of a monthly report on the time spent with Career Village and ask that you please complete our Attendance form on the website so we may track the time donated by our members.

Special thanks to Nicole Wycislo, Vocational Director, for bringing us this online program!

NEW - Scavenger Hunt for Our Members

New social activity for our club - As an e-club we often do not know each other or know much about each other. This is designed to build better friendships within our club we ask that you participate is a simple activity each month called "The Great e-Club of Houston Scavenger Hunt". We will see some similarities and some differences as we share a collage of the activity in the following newsletter. This is a new form of team-building united in service through Rotary.

Isabel Nordin will be the point person for this activity. Please email your photos to issanor@yahoo.com. She will arrange them for publication in the newsletters. Each month there will be a different small assignment.

This month we ask that you take a photo of a bird in your backyard. If you want to add anything interesting about the bird you may, but it is not necessary. Simply take the photo on your phone and send it to Isabel.

Registration for the RI Convention e-club Party!

Join us for a fun-filled Rotary e-Club party with clubs from all around the world! Please RSVP if you're going to Rotary International Convention 2019!

Where: Oma's Apotheke Restaurant, Hamburg Germany
When: June 3, 2019 6:30pm (18:30)
What: Food, Drinks, Music, Fun.

Ticket Includes: Dinner, Dessert, 2 Drinks
Organized by: Rotary E-Club of Houston - D. 5890 and Rotary E-Club 9920 Francophone.

All Rotary Clubs welcome! #RIcon19 #Rotary #FindingRotary

Rotary International Convention in Hamburg

The 110th Rotary International Convention 2019 will happen June 1-5 in Hamburg, Germany.

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

HAMBURG MESSE WI-FI ACCESS
Network: Rotary_Guest
Password: endpolionow

BADGE PICKUP AND ON-SITE REGISTRATION

Get your badge before you arrive at the convention venue. If you preregistered and paid in full, you can pick it up at the Hamburg Airport starting at 15:00 on Thursday, 30 May. Look for us in Terminal 1 or 2 at the baggage claim area. Be sure to have your photo ID and registration number. You can use your badge to travel on Hamburg’s public transit system beginning Friday, 31 May. On-site registration at the Hamburg Messe opens at 15:00 on Thursday, 30 May, in Hall A2. You can register additional guests, purchase tickets for Rotary events, pay any outstanding balances, and get your badge if you didn’t get it at the airport. The Registration booth is also where you can pick up all convention materials, including the program book, transportation guide, and convention tote bag, as well as interpretation equipment.

TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION

Rotary is giving every convention attendee complimentary rides on Hamburg’s easy-to-use and eco-friendly public transportation network, the HVV (Hamburger Verkehrsverbund). Use your convention badge as your ticket to travel on HVV’s extensive bus, rail, and ferry system. The badges are valid for the fare ring Hamburg AB (inside the gray circle on this map) and can be used Friday, 31 May, through Thursday, 6 June.

Learn more about the HVV and get help planning your travel in and around Hamburg. You can also download the HVV app to navigate Hamburg’s transit system on the go:
• In the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad
• On Google Play for Android

Rotary will not provide shuttle service between hotels and the convention center.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

There will be no currency exchange services onsite at the Messe. At the airport, currency exchanges are open from 5:45 am to 8:45 pm (Monday through Sunday) in Terminal 1 & Monday through Sunday 8am till 9 pm in Terminal 2. Most hotels offer currency exchange services, however, the rate is not favorable

All airport ATMs are accessible Monday through Sunday and most of them are 24/7. There will be four ATMs at the Messe. Three are available at the central entrance and 1 is available in B4 by the east entrance.

MYTAXI APP

If you’re taking a taxi to or from the convention center, you can order your cab using the mytaxi app on your phone and support Rotary at the same time. Mytaxi, Europe’s leading ride-hailing app, is donating 100 percent of its proceeds to Rotary for all rides to and from the Hamburg Messe during the convention, 31 May-5 June. These proceeds will support Emotions-Training for Autism, the Bees Pasture Project, and the Haiti National Clean Water, Sanitation, and Health Strategy. Download the app before you arrive in Hamburg so you’re ready to travel conveniently and support Rotary:
• At the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad
• On Google Play for Android

Join the Rotary e-Club of Houston and Help Make A Difference!

Ready to join a great Rotary Club? Click on membership application on the left side of the homepage. Please complete all fields on the application and press submit. You will be contacted soon by Nicole Bianchi, Membership Director.

On the membership application you will be asked if you have attended two Rotary e-Club of Houston meetings on-line. Look for the Weekly Program and either view the video or read the article, then go to the tab for Weekly Meeting beneath the banner of the page and submit the attendance form to receive credit.

To pay your membership dues: By credit card, please click on the PayNow yellow link on the left side of the home page. Thank you!

Rotary's Four Way Test

Posted by Rotary International

The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The test has been translated into more than 100 languages, and Rotarians recite it at club meetings.