Monday, June 8th, we honoured the life of Ian Henderson and welcomed guest speaker, Jeanne Knopf DeRoche, who served as leader of the Education VTT to Ghana.
Monday, June 8th, we honoured and celebrated the Life of Ian Henderson. His friends described him as a gentleman who was humble but with a zest for life.
The group remembered Ian’s punctuality, “If Ian wasn’t early, he wasn’t coming.” He often showed up early to chat, have coffee and catch up with friends. He was loved by so many, authentic, loyal, generous and kind – the world has lost a beautiful soul.
He embodied the 4-way test, lived a life that served others. The speakers felt blessed to have had him touch their lives and call Ian, their friend.
The second half of the Monday meeting was presented by Jeanne Knopf de Roche, who served as leader of the Education VTT to Ghana.
Jeanne’s presentation featured a video of the construction of a village school, as seen through the eyes of a young student named Precious. Precious tells us that one day, a group called “Rotarians” arrived and said that they were going to establish a school in her village.
Until that time, classes were held under a large shade tree in the village. Precious takes us through the process of building the school and training the teachers who will work there. Rotarians provided books, art supplies and computers to help make learning more fun for children. The goal is that children learn to like school so much that they go on to high school.
Jeanne then reviewed the challenges that had to be overcome before local authorities were brought on board. Her involvement with this project started with the question, “Do you want to do something good for the children of Guo?”
The project gained an unexpected sustainability component. Teachers have trained other teachers; materials were adapted so that teachers can duplicate it themselves, a campaign was launched to build a new school in Gulpaala.
A question period followed the presentation.