District Conference 7170

Saturday 1st May:

Today began with an excellent speaker, Deepa Willingham from PACE Universal. PACE stands for Promise of Assurance to Children Everywhere and the organisation has two missions;

*to nurture the education, health, nutritional, social and cultural development of girls in impoverished areas of India and other parts of the world.
*To build in Piyal Junction (outside Calcutta) the first prototype PACE learning centre complex to serve as a model of delivery of these services all over the world.

Deepa gave a very detailed and thought provoking presentation about the reasons behind the above missions and the further work that needed to be done to make them a reality. Her heavy involvement and blatant enthusiasm made both Rotarians and others think that they have more to do in helping others. The bar can always be raised when it comes to service above self.

Following this both the District 7170 GSE Team of 2009 and our team gave presentations.

It was interesting to see the perceptions that the American team had of the UK (high petrol prices, terraced housing and wonderful people) and to learn what they had discovered on their trip. Their presentation was excellent, although it was noted that they had sneakily used some similar pictures that we had in our presentation (however I did note that none of these were of Teesside!!). It was great to see them all again and we had a great catch up.

Our presentation went well and once we had got through the pre-presentation butterflies we were fine. We were glad with the reception that we received of our short picture slide show at the end, a lot of time and effort had been put in.

Following this there were four students taking part in the Four Way Test Oratorical Finals. All made excellent points on a variety of subjects and spoke with confidence and enthusiasm. If it were up to me, they would have all won.

They were followed by another excellent speaker, Eleanor Polley, the President of the Cortland High School Interact Club. She illuminated the massive amount of activities they take part in and organisations that they liaise with. Their excellent membership numbers proved that it is organisation that many people deem worth taking part in.

After lunch we had a relaxing afternoon, enjoying the sunshine and the facilities at the hotel.

We have reconvened at six o'clock for the next plenary session and dinner. During this we have had a motivational speech from the Rotary International Representative, Abe Clymer.

This was followed by the Candle Light Ceremony involving the District 7170 Youth Exchange Students. This was a very moving ceremony and gave a magical feel to the end of the evening.

We have then all trooped to the hotel bar to catch up further and for James and Chad to embarrass themselves with some awful dad-dancing. Spot the Oneonta Rotary Club President!!

Sunday 2nd May:

Today began with our last plenary session. We heard further excellent speeches from the District Governor Elect Orville Wright and the RI Represntative Abe Clymer and then the conference was rounded off by District Governor Sam Koury. I can speak for all of our GSE team when I say that we have had a brilliant time this weekend. Speaking with friends made on this trip (both old and new) was great and we definitely intend to keep in touch with those we have met on our trip.

After the conference has finished, we have all packed up and set off to our new homes with our new hosts.

Myself and Barbara are staying with Mark and Pat Kriebel in Endwell, who have already made us feel completely at home. When we got to our new address we sorted out our cases (mine had had a nervous breakdown when packing up at conference-the zip had broken and refused to open. I used my problem solving skills (i.e brute force) to remedy the situation.

Mark and Pat have then taken us on a tour of their local area which was great for us as it familiarises us with the locality and as they were a mine of information, will make me look extremely knowledgeable tomorrow on my vocational day.

We have then returned home for tea-it was absolutely delicious. Mark cooked for us and introduced us to a local cuisine called Speidi's (pronounced Speedy's). They are marinaded meat on a kebab, they are then transferred to a sandwich. I have not done them justice at all in this description, as they were very very tasty but you can see Barbara enjoying one below.