Today's guest speaker was Karen Parkhurst who recently completed her fourth journey to El Sauce, León, Nicaragua. She made this trip primarily to see the results of her Rotary Club’s (Victor-Farmington, NY) most recent project that supplied solar panels to some homes in the mountain community of Ocotal, in the municipality El Sauce. She stayed with Alita, who is part of the tourist cooperative of Sauce Aventuras.  Alita speaks no English and Karen speaks very little Spanish, but somehow they managed to communicate.  During her stay, she visited several homes including the home of Freddie, Christina and their two boys, Nelvin and Miguel, and their baby daughter. They proudly showed her the solar panels that now provide them with 5 hours of electricity a day for 2 outlets.
 
Karen is currently working on a RI Global Grant to provide water to residents of Sauce, Nicaragua.  The Rotary Club of Pittsford Foundation has agreed to participate in this project with a $1000 donation.
 
Craig Kunkle graduate with an Associated degree with emphasis on graphic design.  He was planning to be an architect at Broome Community College. Instead, he went to Niagara College with a Major in Psychology and minor in religious studies. After a 6-month stay in Hungary, he went on to complete his Masters degree in Divinity in Louisville, KY. In addition to English and Hungarian, Craig can understand ancient Greek and Hebrew. He met his wife in Graduate school and they lived in Pennsylvania where she was a minister in two small churches.  Craig has two daughters, 15 and 12. He is currently the director of Christian education at First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford.  Although a little rusty, Craig was a master magician, and he entertained the Club with one of his magic tricks.
 
Bob Vukosic saw Marie Mboko working at the Perinton Wegman's Store and spoke with her briefly. Their church is not providing any significant support. The family is getting some food support from social services. Marie is still seeking other employment opportunities that offer more hours and benefits.  Last August, the CClub Board agreed to assist Marie during the time that her spouse, Bertin Mboko is in England on a RI Peace Scholarship.  The funds are to come from the "Fellowship Dollars" aka "Happy Dollars." The contribution was $30 a month, and this week, Bob gave Marie a $120 gift card from Wegmans from those funds.