Alan's Angle
     A recap of our Feb. 20 meeting... 

Tuesday morning dawned overcast and a bit chilly for this writer. It certainly had the look of mid-winter break at our meeting this time, with the average age of attendees dropping with all of the guests that were brought. They included the ‘clan’ from the Fiske household (with our breakfast winning out over Woodland Park Zoo!), Gustav Z. two sons (who weren’t given a choice), and this writer’s young daughter, Rachel. Mr. President led us in the pledge, Mr. Duck led us in prayer, and Jorge’s Choir led us in rousing rendition of Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah. The choir certainly helped, but as I always say, “Don’t quit your day jobs!”. 

Nikita gave us a week in review, which included a dance last weekend. Dancing occurred from start to finish, according to Nikita. However, no examples were shown or lesson’s offered. A trip to Whistler, BC is on ‘tap’ for the coming week. Sounds like fun! Mr. President reviewed the activities planned for the coming weeks: 

v     Rotary Volunteer Day is March 10^th with a ‘make-up’ day on February 25^th.

v     The Friends of Boy Scouts Breakfast is March 23^rd @ Bear Creek Country Club

v     A Wine Tasting @ Monte Villa Farmhouse (an ‘educational’ experience, according to Gustav Z.) is set for March 13. Rhone blends, followed by dinner.

v     Charter Night @ Chateau St. Michelle is March 27^th.

v    The district conference in Coeur d’ Alene, ID is 4/20 – 4/22. Contact Giuseppe (Joe T) for further information. 

Eric G. had a light day in “fundraising” (fines to you & me), just John A. & Dr. Roger for their varied travels. Julian D. turned in his Red Badge for a Blue one (presided over by Mr. President & Tana B.). Congratulations Julian! 

Mr. President introduced our program for this morning. Lincoln Miller, Gail Romero, and Radha Friedman were from the Rural Development Institute (RDI). RDI is in the business of “micro-owning’. The founder of RDI, Roy Posterman, had a vision 40 years ago that the way for people to escape poverty is by owning their own property and working the land to become self-sufficient. With land, people of little means have hope and with hope, a progressive cycle of growth can be established. A benefactor of RDI, Henry Kravis, likes this program because is puts the “incentives in the right places.”. Without land ownership, there is no hope, and the regressive cycle of poverty is never broken. This cycle breeds desperation and violence.  An example of what micro-owning comes from Jiyappa in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. On 1/10 of an acre (which equates to about 5,400 square feet), he lives with his family of five, plus grows 42 Teak trees, 12 mangos, 8 neem, 4 bamboo, 1 sandalwood, 2 jambu, pomegranate, gooseberry, custard apple, and many, many other types of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Also, 20 chickens. Enough to feed his family, and earn the family about 6,000 Rupees. An enormous sum for a poor rural family.  Through micro-owning, RDI is able to stabilize the ‘unstable’ parts of the world. A vast majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas and the path out of poverty is through land ownership. 

Lincoln, Gail, and Radha, thank you for sharing your passion with us this morning. I hope in the near future, instead of hearing about violence and terrorism around the world, we will hear about peace and prosperity, with RDI at the forefront. 

Thanks to all for listening and I’ll see everyone next Tuesday and in these pages in the near future!

                                                                                                                                                               --- Alan Nelson, Newsletter reporter