Last weekend I went to Mackinac Island for the Rotary District 6400 Conference. I was invited as a speaker, and also had the opportunity to spend time with another presenter - María José from Nicaragua. Larry and Sarah Wright were the wonderful hosts who drove me and María José to the island.

Highlights:
I was very moved by California Rotarian Deepa Willingham’s presentation on extreme poverty. Deepa, originally from Calcutta (Kolkata), has developed an organization called PACE (Promise of Assurance to Children Everywhere). More news on PACE can be found here. PACE focuses on educating girls in the communities where they do their work, because they have documented that girls will grow into women that give back to their community. A woman will teach others new skills that they have learned, especially children. PACE has a very comprehensive approach to target the roots of extreme poverty.
On PACE’s website, I found a link to The Girl Effect, which has ideas along the same lines as Deepa and PACE’s (or vice versa). On the website it states that a girl will reinvest 90% of her income in her family, whereas a man will reinvest only 30% - $40%. Another enlightening fact pointed out by The Girl Effect project: Girls will decide four of the ten Millenium Development Goals: universal primary education, gender equity, maternal health and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Please go check out this enlightening website, and then support those who understand this philosophy, like PACE.
The Rotary Clubs of Trenton and Plymouth spoke regarding major fundraisers that their clubs have successfully undertaken. Having some experience, however limited, with fundraising and working for community service initiatives, I appreciated these presentations very much. It is incredibly difficult to plan, organize and execute large-scale fundraisers — I’m always impressed by Rotarians who decide to take on and follow through with these activities.
On a related note, Trenton was awarded the prestigious Dick Hedke Award for outstanding performance for the second year in a row.

Sue Goldsen introduced some interesting presentations on Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE). In particular was one video interviewing District 6400 host parents. It is impossible to continue RYE without the help of Rotarian host parents. The rewarding experience that these particular interviewees had came across clearly in the video. The Rotarian participants noted that hosting an exchange student reminded them what was important about their own country; it is inevitable that a host family will be asked questions about their community and culture, and many host families take their exchange students on trips around their area or state/province. Several of the parents were in tears speaking about taking their exchange student to the airport at the end of the year.
María José was my roommate and buddy during the conference, and has become a friend since we met last Wednesday. District 6400 was active in supporting schools for children in her native Chinandega, Nicaragua, where many grow up as garbage pickers in the local dump. Thanks to Rotary and other caring individuals, she was able to finish her elementary and high school education. Recently she graduated from a well respected university in Nicaragua with a degree in Accounting. She now works for a shipping company in the capital city, Managua. I learned a lot about Nicaraguan Spanish from talking with Maché (María José). Yesterday I showed Maché around Detroit — Mexican town, the DIA, Wayne State’s campus, East Dearborn and some other spots. I really hope that we meet one day in Nicaragua.
Aside from from conference activities, It was nice to see a beautiful part of the state that I’d never seen before. Mackinac Island has large, dated whitewashed houses climbing it’s subtle hills. The island has beautiful views from nearly every location - especially of the lighthouses, minor islands and famous Mackinac bridge just off the coast.


See more of my pictures of the weekend here.
I left the long weekend inspired and with a lot of ideas and plans spinning around in my head — just what the conference was meant to do!








