Submitted by Will Arscott

 

 

The meeting was held in the Main Dining Room at the Saskatoon Club. The emcee for the meeting was President Jack. We were all greeted at the door by Avis Hardy. The meeting began with members singing O Canada.  Let’s just say it was a rather weak attempt and leave it at that. 

 

A short blessing was asked by Avis Hardy and it reminded us that we have much to be thankful for. Cashier for this meeting was Donna Gauthier. Paul handled technology and did a great job of managing our guest speaker’s Power Point.  He also welcomed Graham Pearson to the meeting by Zoom.

 

 

This was also handled by Avis. Our only guest was our guest speaker who was introduced later in the program.

 

 

There was no report.

 

 

The Board has decided to cancel our regular meeting on October 23 to encourage members to attend one of the meetings with the District Governor Peter Tonge. The DG will attend three meetings all to be held at the Parktown Hotel. There will be a noon and a supper meeting on October 22^nd and a breakfast meeting on October 23^rd.  Please try to attend one or more.

 

RAP is moving on from the Badge Shield and Star Dinner and creating a new fundraiser of their own. There is another community group who may be interested in partnering with us on the BSS. Jack and others will be meeting with them to see what might be possible. Stay tuned for further details.

 

Linda Petrow was present and brought us up to date on the Craft Fair. It looks very good with 73 out of 75 tables sold. Two more tables and we are sold out although a few more tables could be added if someone really wants to take part. Many details are falling into place. An advertisement for the event is out on Facebook. There is a poster available.  A sign to mark Rotary’s participation is being printed for the door. This sign comes at a very reasonable cost of $48 and can be used for other events. Door prizes and tickets for door prizes are being organized with the vendors.  Again, the event will take place November 2^nd at Prairieland from 10am to 3pm.

In a recent Email President Jack asked for members to help advertise this event and put out a call for volunteers to work the day of the event.

 

Donna Gauthier again reminded us that grocery cards are available from Sobey’s with Co-op cards approved and to follow shortly.

 

The second Annual Potluck Foundation Dinner will be held on Monday November 4^th.   Again, it will be at Mayfair United Church. There were sign-up sheets on the tables for members to indicate how many would be attending and what they were bringing. These will be available for several meetings, but Paul would be happy to know how things are looking ahead to the event. Everyone agreed that last year’s event was a great success.

 

 

 

Will spoke briefly about Rotary International and the situation in Gaza. RI has earmarked $500MillionUSD for Polio vaccinations in Gaza. This is not new money but part of the regular polio program for this year. To date there has been one confirmed case of Polio in Gaza but the concern is much larger. The polio virus is a naturally occurring virus and spreads when water is contaminated with fecal matter. With the damaged infrastructure in Gaza this is a concern. The program has two parts:  First, RI is undertaking a two-part vaccination drive in Gaza. The first part has been completed and had good support from both sides. There will be a drive to do the second dose in a few months. Second, RI is undertaking a testing program in Gaza. To date they have found little evidence of the polio virus. If things continue to deteriorate this could change and you can never be sure you are testing in the right places.

 

 

 

Nadera, a member of the Rotary Club of Saskatoon Nutana. was introduced by Avis Hardy.   

 

Nadera grew up in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. She was born during the first rule of the Taliban but spent her childhood under the more liberal regime that followed the invasion by the US. She has one younger sister, and both were able to obtain their elementary education and live a relatively less oppressed life. As a child she heard stories of how repressed things had been under the rule of the Taliban.

 

Her family suffered doubly in Afghanistan. First, there was the repression of the women in the family and second their family was a member of the minority Hazara community. The Hazaras are discriminated against by the majority. The family had lived in the beautiful village of Maidan Wardek. The village was destroyed by marauders called the Kochi. Many villagers were killed.  Nadera’s family were forced to move to Kabul.

 

The Taliban came back to power when Nadera was thirteen. At first there was some hope that things would not return to the way things had been under the first rule of the Taliban.  Nadera was always interested in pursuing her education. Most high schools would not accept girls. She found a high school that accepted girls and Hazaras and through her father and relatives was able to get the tuition to attend subject to getting scholarships. Nadera was a scholarship student. In high school Nadera learned of human rights and equality. The Marefat high school served as a beacon of hope to girls and Hazaras.

 

Nadera graduated high school. She wrote the very difficult exams for university. Eventually she was accepted into the Kabul Medical University and began studies. It was at this time that Nadera’s father died, and she not only had to study but had to work at a clinic to support her mother and younger sister. On August 14 2021 the government fell to the Taliban.Then the Taliban closed schools to women.

 

Under Taliban rule women who had attended school were not safe.  A program began with people from her high school to remove endangered people from Afghanistan. They were divided into prioritized groups. Nadera was put into the third group. The first two groups got out without incident, but their group had a long wait. Finally, word came that they were to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan. There was no time for good-byes, and it was a very harrowing trip through Taliban checkpoints with false medical documents. Nadera made it to Pakistan.

 

Nadera spent a year in Pakistan before coming on to Canada. While in Pakistan her experience along with the experiences of other women were published is a book called the ‘Waterlilies.’

 

Nadera now lives in Saskatoon. She works for the Truly Alive Foundation and is hoping to continue her medical education. Her mother and sister were eventually able to get to Pakistan and are safe for now. The government of Pakistan wants to rescind the visas of many Afghanis and send them back to their home country. Nadera’s mother and sister have been approved to come to Canada subject to some conditions such as there being money available to support them through their first year. Nadera is working with a Mennonite charity to make this happen. We all pray they can get to Canada and join Nadera.

 

Nadera was thanked by President Jack. This was one of the most emotional talks we have had at Rotary. Nadera broke down several times talking about her family and her experiences. She is very grateful to Canada. We can read the descriptions of the situation of women in Afghanistan and much of the Muslim world, but it is so much more real when it is personalized through an ambassador such as Nadera. This was a talk we will not soon forget.

 

Adjournment. Next meeting is on October 7.