Rotary Log: June 20, 2013 (Uganda and bees)

A packed agenda today, so let’s get right to it. While there were several notable Happy Dollars, one in particular impacted all of us:  John Bohenko announced that the City’s bond rating had been increased to AAA, its highest level ever. Bedford is the only other community in NH with such a high bond rating and the new rating will save taxpayers thousands of dollars in interest. Well done, John and City!

Bob and Ben presented our newest Paul Harris Fellow: John Pratt.  After ribbing him for being tight with a buck (he never dines without a discount coupon in his hand), Ben and Bob went on to list the huge charitable contributions John has made to his community, all too numerous to detail in full here, but they include:

·         Raising significant funds for the Clipper Foundation

·         Turning the Rotary Golf Tournament into a $100,000 endowment in 3 years

·         Strawbery Banke Board of Directors

·         Wentworth Home Board of Directors

·         Chamber Board of Directors

John was described as a leader in the spirit of the 4-way test with a “relentless desire to make things better” and as a “coach, mentor and motivator”.  Congratulations, John!

The Program

Bob Harold just can’t stop.  Your Editor assumed today’s program was on PolioPlus. It was not. Bob is much more than that.  Enabled by his daughter who keeps the practice going, and his wife who he described as his “soul mate”, Rotarian Spouse of the Year, and a Paul Harris Fellow, Bob went to Uganda to deliver beehives.  Yes, beehives. Uganda was terrorized for years by Coney’s band of thugs. Thousands of people were displaced. 300,000 were maimed or killed. Refugee camps sprang up everywhere. Eventually Coney was driven out of Uganda. The Government then began to close the refugee camps but many of the occupants knew nothing beyond life in the camps and had no idea how to support themselves. Enter beehives. Beehives can be a tremendous source of income for these former refugees from not only honey, but also candles, beeswax, antibiotics and other byproducts. The William Cash Committee donated supplies, Rotary has supported the start-up, and individual Rotarians donated beehives. Bob said if we just get them started, they will be self-sustaining. Bob showed us a picture of one bee farmer who built his house with proceeds from honey sales. Bob, his family, and Portsmouth Rotary have made real lives better for very many people with a simple but important concept.

Not satisfied with making lives better with the beehive project, Bob is now trying to get a Global Grant to build an 18 unit medical clinic which he saw a need for when he we performing medical services for those in need. And then there is Bob’s interest in a Cultural Exchange… If Bob has his way, we will be having African dancers performing in the dining room at Portsmouth Country Club.

Bob, thank you for all your efforts on behalf of those in real need in this world. You are both the personification of the ideals of Rotary and an inspiration to the rest of us to act now.