Thank you to Peter Webb, MD for the photos!
Dick Bennett greeted all. The Pledge was given by Tony Villanueva. Kitty Lopez gave us the thought of the day, reminding us to sell raffle tickets.
Yours truly gave the newscast, noting that today is National Pet Day.
Bob Whitehill reported that Kristen Jensen’s daughter Gabrielle is in hospice care. UPDATE: We are so sorry to report that Gabrielle has just passed away. Plans for a celebration of life are underway. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, Kristin.
Oscar Lopez-Guerra introduced our only guest, Phil Cofill (sp?), mortgage broker.
Sue Lempert thanked the Community College Scholarship Committee members for spending three hours interviewing 40 students. The club will be awarding $20,000 to them. Sue, too, reminded us of the critical need for all to sell raffle tickets.
President Bruce called our attention to thank you notes from third graders who received dictionaries from the club. He showed a note from Jorge, who learned the word zeal, thanks to the dictionary. Jorge included a hand drawn pic of “cool guys”.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
And speaking of raffle tickets, Shawn DeLuna noted that 129 tickets were sold in the first week. Juan Raigoza and Yours Truly are currently tied at eight tickets each, with Allan Talansky at seven sold. You can all do it!
Mike Peterson then conducted the raffle for ticket sellers. President Beanie won a $250 gift certificate (plus jewelry cleaner) from Christensen and Rafferty, Dave Bennett won some Cuvee Wine (and possibly also Blue Cellars Port), and June Lamb won a $50 gift certificate for Hillsdale Shopping Center. (Tom Stucker and Jim Engel could have won that, but they were absent!)
President Bruce said Laura Bent could still use some volunteers to help with Samaritan House’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program.
Sheila Canzian announced that the Sweat Equity project will be planting trees in Los Prados Park on April 22 at 8:30 AM. She said it will be a two-hour project and asked all volunteering to help to bring their own gloves.
It was a Fine Day in San Mateo…
John Barrett joined the President’s Club (again!) because he was selected to be featured in Serra High School’s magazine. John was recognized for his great work with the Cambodian Academy. He noted that the effort started with our club and that Gary Hunt was with him on the first trip there.
Hal Fick and Mitch Postel escaped their “recognition” for the time being…
Barbara Evers joined the President’s Club because her daughter Lindsey was selected for the Charles Schwab CEO award—given to only 5% of their employees.
Angel Riley sold the last ticket to Mamma Mia to Nicole Cherok.
President Bruce expressed his condolences to Jeff Bass on the passing of his wife. We’re all sorry for your loss, Jeff.
Programs committee member extraordinaire Walt McCullough introduced our speaker William Ryerson of the Population Media Center (PMC).
Ryerson oversees all Population Media Center activity and travels around the world for current and new program development. Since 2008, Ryerson has also served as Chair and CEO of Population Institute in Washington, DC, which works in partnership with Population Media Center. PMC creates long-running serialized dramas on radio and TV, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience, resulting in positive behavior change.
Ryerson shared a great deal of information and many success stories. Here are some of the things he shared:
- Entertainment is what improves the lives of the audience;
- The reproductive age population of the world is 2.5 billion;
- 1.4 billion people are using modern contraception; 1.1 billion are not;
- In 1960, worldwide, 10% of the population used family planning. Today, 56% do.
- The total unmet need for family planning methods is .5 billion.
- 450 million men and women are not using contraception, but don’t want a pregnancy—it boils down to gender inequality, lack of education, lack of control for women (because of males in their family), fear of side effects from birth control, fatalism and religious opposition.
- Through radio and TV dramas, PMC is getting people from fatalism to efficacy, educating them through the lives of characters about the consequences of unplanned pregnancies, child marriages, gender-based violence, etc. Sub- issues addressed through the episodes are maternal/children’s health issues, HIV and domestic violence.
- PMC has produced 40 dramas in over 50 countries and reaches enormous audiences, generating demand for family planning and health services.
- In the case of one Ethiopian radio serial drama, 46% of the Ethiopians listened to the episodes and 63% of those listeners became new clients, seeking reproductive health services;
- When that series dealt with HIV testing, male listeners were four times more likely than the general population to seek testing and female listeners three times more likely.
- In Nigeria, the Zaria Rotary Club is heavily involved and runs an obstetric fistula clinic to serve the teenage mothers whose prolonged labor (due to their young age) rendered them incontinent. In many of these cases , the husband throws the wife out when she becomes incontinent, but thanks to the clinic, the women can be treated. There are approximately 80,000 women with unrepaired fistula.
- In the US, PMC produced a TV series called East LOS High. Following viewing the first broadcast of that show, 27,000 viewers visited Planned Parenthood for the first time within a month of that first episode.
- In the Hispanic community, 50% of young women are pregnant by the age of 18.
- PMC is supported by nine government agencies, multiple UN agencies, multiple corporations, multiple foundations and Rotary clubs.
