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With our ever-changing world, right now is the perfect time to let your patriotism show. More and more people are expressing interest in supporting local and showing their pride in being Canadian.
Our Outbound Youth Exchange student Eden Heckrodt in Brazil has sent a couple of letters outlining some of her recent experiences.
In late November, she moved to a new host family, and is now living with a Japanese Brazilian family of four. She has a new brother and sister!
After making a presentation to our club last July, the Days for Girls Kamloops Chapter requested monetary support for a proposed trip to Costa Rica to distribute Days for Girls kits to women and girls in marginalized communities. Our club donated $2,500 to support the group's endeavours. In November, we received a warm thank you for that support. Following are pictures and a portion of the thank-you letter sent by Director Terry-Lynn Stone.
The Salmon Arm Rotary Clubs' Inbound Youth Exchange student is Karen Taboada Santos who comes to us from
the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Recently she gave a presentation about her home and family to our club.
Our Youth Exchange student Eden Heckrodt arrived in Brasil in late August. Since then she has had many adventures. She has started school, met many new friends, helped her exchange sister prepare for an exchange to Turkey, tried lots of new foods, and spent a couple of weekends at a beach house in the jungle!
Started in 1984, Project Amigo is an organization based in Colima, Mexico whose mission it is to empower disadvantaged and marginalized children to achieve their highest potential. By offering comprehensive scholarships for formal education, school supplies, access to educational assistance centers, homework clubs, enrichment activities and healthcare services not otherwise available to them, it is committed to ending poverty through education, one child at a time. Our club is one of 12 in BC to sponsor students. There are currently 220 high school students (grades 7-12) in the program.
The cost of attending junior high and high school are beyond the means of many rural families. Without scholarships, schooling for the youth served by Project Amigo would end at sixth grade, and they would begin working in menial, low-paying jobs. In the above photo, Jesus, a former student sponsored by our club, holds one of some new computers that Project Amigo had acquired. Jesus is 3rd from the left at the back of the group.
The Guatemala Literacy Project is a network of individual Rotarians and the nonprofit Cooperative for Education dedicated to improving education for underserved students in Guatemala. Since 1997, over 800 clubs around the world have participated in the GLP. Guatemala has one of the most extreme combinations of poverty, illiteracy and inequality. 4 out of 5 indigenous Guatemalans live in poverty and 1 in 3 cannot not read or write. 
Sarah Sigurdson introduced Salmon Arm Mayor Alan Harrison who presented a City update:
The City - the main thrust is diversity and collaboration:
- Population increased an average 2%/year over the past 5 years
- Infrastructure is the prime concern
- Unique in its development of collaboration with non-profit organizations to benefit the city
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