Recently, I have been asked many times if I would write a page on what I consider my greatest accomplishment. While I did not have to think twice about that, it has taken me some time to get back to this blog because of other events.
For many years, I belonged to Rotary International, a world wide service organization. In 1986, Rotary selected me , through a competition, to lead a team of non Rotarians to Brazil for an exchange program known as a Group Study Exchange. The program was to take place April and May 1987. A group from Brazil came to the Ottawa/Montreal area in the fall of 1986, stayed with members of Rotary and studied various activities here in central Canada.
During the winter months, my team researched Brazil and we were given five days of Berlitz Portuguese in preparation for our trip south. Brazil is the only country in South America that does not speak Spanish. There was also other training sessions.
We departed Montreal on April 23, 1987 on a Brazilian Air Carrier for the long haul to Rio and beyond. Our home base while down there was to be the City of Porto Alegre, the capital of the State of Rio Grande Do Sul.
While there, we were toured all over the state, and were exposed to all sorts of industry, farming and agriculture. It was a full month of activity....and learning..
Now, in that state, in a city called Caxias Do Sul, (casheeas dough sool), there were an abnormal number of children that were born blind. They did not know the cause of this...at that time.
At a banquet the local Rotarians held for us before our return to Canada, I asked if there was anything we as Canadians could do to help improve the life of people in that part of the world. Without much hesitation, I was told that they would greatly appreciate any equipment that I could obtain, that would help to establish a school for blind kids. At that time, Brazil was just emerging from many years of military rule. During those years, nothing could be imported by Brazilians that could not be used to make items for export. Under those rules, anything for blind kids went to the bottom of the list and was ignored.
Since the trip to that point had not cost me anything, I told the local Rotarians to start looking for a space and planning the logistics for a school. I told them that I would guarantee some Braille typewriters and other equipment. I was prepared to buy these myself, if I could not sell the project to my club members back home.
As I expected, all 61 clubs in my Rotary District fully supported this project. I soon raised the money to purchase Braille typewriters from the manufacturer near Boston, and all sorts of other equipment which we purchased from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
Because of my connections with senior people in the Brazilian Airline industry, (VARIG), I arranged to have all equipment sent down at no cost, and other connections got it into Brazil without any duty.
Continued on another page;
Tuesday 8 March 2016
Saturday 6 February 2016
Explanation for Bangkok Photos Posted February 6, 2016...2 Pages
The photo with a lot of activity is of a night restaurant near my hotel. This place is really busy from sundown to after midnight. The next photos are of a Hindu Shrine, also near my hotel. In fact all these pictures are from within about three blocks of my hotel, The Silom City Hotel. The idea here is to give an overview of the architecture in this area of the world. In my view, some rather neat concepts.
The elephant is a sacred animal here, and this cement mother and calf are on the divider of a main street...they look real, even up close.
The remaining photos are of buildings in the local area.
The next page of photos will be the last of this series from my 2015/16 winter expedition. In a few weeks, I will probably go over my six hundred or so photos, and post some more but they will not be in the order my trip unfolded.
The first photo is of a local laundry. The dryer is in front of the bikes, while the washer is beside the van. All are on the sidewalk...that is where they stay. Pedestrians just go around these obstructions..they have no special privileges here. Don't even think of coming here in a wheelchair or a walker. This building with the holes is a modern hotel. The lights inside those holes change every few minutes. No, I did not stay here.
The next four photos show how a bust street can be changed into a night market in 30 minutes, starting at five P.M. That pile of gravel was here when I visited a year ago... too hot to work, I guess.
With the plane above the cloud, and sun setting, its "Good Bye", to Thailand. There are three photos of Tokyo Bay as we arrive, and the final is of the seat back monitor as we approach Toronto....back to reality.
Last evening, I updated my log book for all my flying. Since my first flight, way back then, I have logged every flight...aircraft type, from, to, time enroute, airline flight number if by airline, etc. I note the time the takeoff run begins, and also the time the wheels touch down. The total is 1935 Hours, 13 minutes. That is 80 days of 24 hours, plus another 15 hours....longer than some astronauts have been in space.
It is just one of those strange things I do....I am sure we all have something . I hope to post more in maybe two weeks.
The elephant is a sacred animal here, and this cement mother and calf are on the divider of a main street...they look real, even up close.
The remaining photos are of buildings in the local area.
The next page of photos will be the last of this series from my 2015/16 winter expedition. In a few weeks, I will probably go over my six hundred or so photos, and post some more but they will not be in the order my trip unfolded.
The first photo is of a local laundry. The dryer is in front of the bikes, while the washer is beside the van. All are on the sidewalk...that is where they stay. Pedestrians just go around these obstructions..they have no special privileges here. Don't even think of coming here in a wheelchair or a walker. This building with the holes is a modern hotel. The lights inside those holes change every few minutes. No, I did not stay here.
The next four photos show how a bust street can be changed into a night market in 30 minutes, starting at five P.M. That pile of gravel was here when I visited a year ago... too hot to work, I guess.
With the plane above the cloud, and sun setting, its "Good Bye", to Thailand. There are three photos of Tokyo Bay as we arrive, and the final is of the seat back monitor as we approach Toronto....back to reality.
Last evening, I updated my log book for all my flying. Since my first flight, way back then, I have logged every flight...aircraft type, from, to, time enroute, airline flight number if by airline, etc. I note the time the takeoff run begins, and also the time the wheels touch down. The total is 1935 Hours, 13 minutes. That is 80 days of 24 hours, plus another 15 hours....longer than some astronauts have been in space.
It is just one of those strange things I do....I am sure we all have something . I hope to post more in maybe two weeks.
Saturday 30 January 2016
Final Photos from Chiang Mai, January 30, 2016
There will be three pages of photos with this posting. The first one is just ahead of this page. These are pictures from along and around the canal. The one object in the dark is of a corner of the old wall on one end of the canal, lighted all night. Then as I walked, I saw this young man playing music on the opposite side of the canal.
There are three photos of one of my favorite eating places in Chiang Mai. One photo came out of sequence. This is a family run business, and they come in with everything on a small trailer. They set up, and open for service, selling several different varieties of soup....all with the one base. Just add chicken, pork or beef. Simple, yet good.
After these few pages, I will be off internet for about a week, probably doing another posting on February 7. I will be 50 kilometers out in the country, looking after my two youngest grand children, (13 and 16), for the week while their parents take a short vacation down to Las Vegas. Since the two girls like to cook and look after things very well, my main job is to just be there. I will drive into the city Monday, Wednesday and Friday for my volunteer work.
This site has had over 5700 contacts, ...500 since January. I thank everyone for their interest.
The next set of photos will be of the train to Bangkok, (note the seat backs), some rice fields at different stages of production...some starting, some ready for harvest....they have two crops each year. The fields are flooded to start toe plants.
That will be followed by the New Years eve street lights, fireworks and a few sights around Bangkok. The clock indicates 4 minutes and 17 seconds to midnight.
The third photo posting is of the architecture and street scenes around Bangkok.
There are three photos of one of my favorite eating places in Chiang Mai. One photo came out of sequence. This is a family run business, and they come in with everything on a small trailer. They set up, and open for service, selling several different varieties of soup....all with the one base. Just add chicken, pork or beef. Simple, yet good.
After these few pages, I will be off internet for about a week, probably doing another posting on February 7. I will be 50 kilometers out in the country, looking after my two youngest grand children, (13 and 16), for the week while their parents take a short vacation down to Las Vegas. Since the two girls like to cook and look after things very well, my main job is to just be there. I will drive into the city Monday, Wednesday and Friday for my volunteer work.
This site has had over 5700 contacts, ...500 since January. I thank everyone for their interest.
The next set of photos will be of the train to Bangkok, (note the seat backs), some rice fields at different stages of production...some starting, some ready for harvest....they have two crops each year. The fields are flooded to start toe plants.
That will be followed by the New Years eve street lights, fireworks and a few sights around Bangkok. The clock indicates 4 minutes and 17 seconds to midnight.
The third photo posting is of the architecture and street scenes around Bangkok.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)