Rotary Log for March 5, 2015, updated

Posted by Russ Grazier

on Mar 10, 2015

Portsmouth Rotary Club Log Report for Thursday, March 5, 2015 by Russ Grazier, Jr.

On Thursday, March 5th our meeting began with a few special announcements. President Trish disclosed that we will provide $3,500 to the Seacoast Food Pantry's Summer Meals for Kids program. Additionally, we are partnering with the Brentwood Police Society on a road race that honors the memory of officer Stephen Arkell. Arkell was killed while on duty in 2014. The club will be providing administrative support for this race. Rotarian Leo Gagnon also requested ideas for future social activities for club members outside of our regular meetings. If you have any ideas - ballgames or other events - please reach out to Leo directly.

Bill Hurley introduced our guest speaker, Sheila Rollins, who will be our next District Governor. Sheila gave a heart-wrenching, thought provoking presentation titled "Facing Up To Slavery."

Shelia explained that slavery has been illegal worldwide since the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. But it is still a major issue. Underground trafficking of slaves still occurs in great numbers, especially in India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and China. There is even a significant slavery problem in our country. More than 14,500 people are living enslaved in the United States.

Slavery is present in many industries, including farming, manufacturing, mining, and the sex trade. The chocolate industry uses slaves in many countries. Sheila stressed the importance of seeking out Fair Trade chocolate and other items. We can only know international products are not produced by slaves when the Fair Trade stamp appears.

Sheila became involved through a Rotary Action Group. RACSRAG is an acronym for Rotarian Against Child Slavery Rotary Action Group. They work against the slave trade by proving information, education, and technology. They work with governments that are saving children from slavery, providing education opportunities. Schools4Freedom is one of their projects. They see their work as both preventative and restorative. They work to prevent children from falling into slavery through education and vocational support, and use the same methods to restore former slaves to their communities. They sponsor a hotline to report slave trafficking and are working hard to bring slavery to an end.

Sheila says we must ask ourselves "what is a child worth?" She issued a call to action and encourages all Rotarians to consider joining a Rotary Action Group. Most of all, she would like us to be aware that slavery remains a major issue to this day, here and abroad.

Log reported by Russ Grazier

Photos by Jim Rini