Older Peace Corps Volunteer (Aired on June 15 and 16, 2019)

RadioRotary interviews Kathy Sanderson, who decided at age 61 to join the
Peace Corps after she became a widow “and the children left and the dog died.”
After preliminary training, Ms. Sanderson was stationed on the island of Vanua
Lava, among the larger of the 82 islands that make up the nation of Vanuatu in
the South Pacific, a 3-hour airplane trip west of Australia. Having been a
mathematics teacher in the United State, Ms. Sanderson’s assignment was to
teach arithmetic and algebra to about 200 middle-school students. Vanuatu is
part of the British Commonwealth, so classes were in English, although students
also spoke a form of pidgin English among themselves. Although she loved her
students, the actual school was not in very good shape and there were also local
hazards, such as centipedes and spiders. Because electricity was on and off, she
became used to rising at dawn and going to bed at sunset. A fascinating program
that may make you want to sign up for the Peace Corps, whatever your age.

Learn more:
Peace Corps Opportunities: https://www.peacecorps.gov/
Vanuatu: http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/vanuatu
Life on Vanua Lava where Kathy Taught: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6fxuecfr38

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June 28, 2019 · Posted in Aging, Education, International Programs, Travel, Volunteers  

Many Hats of Rotarian Greg Amato (Aired on June 8 and 9, 2019)

Lake Mahopac Rotarian Greg Amato in this program tells about several of the
community activities he has been supporting since his retirement as police chief
of the town of Carmel. He has been in Rotary for 25 years and works on his
club’s annual fundraiser of raffling off a new Corvette, a practice the club has
maintained for 35 years. The proceeds of the raffle all go to support community
projects by nonprofit groups, many of them part of the medical support of the
county. Another event that looms big for Greg and for the community each year
is the 4-H Putnam County Fair, the only 4-H fair in New York State that is its own
separate enterprise—winners in each of the 4-H categories will go to the New
York State Fair in Syracuse. Greg also has worked a lot for Rotary District 7210
and for RadioRotary, handling communications and websites. Another activity
brings together Rotary with the local Lions and Elks clubs to support the Red
Cross by manning emergency shelters.

Learn more:
Rotary Club of Lake Mahopac: https://lakemahopacrotary.org/
Putnam Country 4-H: http://putnam.cce.cornell.edu/4-h-youth/4-h-in-putnam-county
American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/
Mahopac Public Library: https://mahopaclibrary.org/

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June 28, 2019 · Posted in Disaster Relief, Events, Rotary Club Projects