Rotary Club of Wahiawa-Waialua

Volume 6 Issue 33 – April 25th, 20196District Governor
Winton “Win” Schoneman“Making a Difference in our Local and Global Communities”

President
Alexander “Alex” Kanamu

The strength of our Club lies in its members

Board Meeting
For AprilService Above Self – Making a Difference

Maternal and Child Health MonthBy Iuliia Mendel

Healing the Scars of War
In the mountains of Poland, 26 children
traumatized by violence get a chance to be kids
again at Rotary camp
Beneath the emotional scars of living in a Ukrainian war
zone, Mykyta Berlet flashes the same mischievousnessof any other 12-year-old boy headed to camp.
He wants to laugh, play pranks and on the last night ofcamp “we will cover everyone with toothpaste,” he says
excitedly.

Mykyta and 25 other Ukrainian youths headed to theresort town of Zakopane in the foothills of southern
Poland are naturally focused on fun. But their two-week
respite organized by Rotary members has a higher

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

Editor – PP Geoff Horvath

purpose: To help the children heal and cope with thetrauma they may encounter when they go home.
Each camper has a parent or sibling killed or injured in
the fighting in Ukraine. Psychologists at camp will guidethem along the way during an itinerary that mixes
escape and therapy.
Olga Zmiyivska, a member of the Rotary Club of
Kharkiv Multinational in Ukraine, has brought children
to the camp for two years and has witnessed its impact.
“After the trip, they are more willing to make contact
and open their hearts,” she said.

War Came into Their Homes
Thousands have died and millions have been displacedby the fighting between pro-Russia rebels and theUkrainian military in eastern Ukraine.
Growing up in the shadow of that nearly four-year
conflict, most of the campers don’t remember a life
without war. They tell unrealistic stories about battles
and keep silent about real horrors. Some are guarded
and hypervigilant. Others endure sleepless nights ornightmares. A few withdraw and emotionally shutdown.
In Zakopane, nestled in the scenic Tatra Mountains,
Rotary members give the children a chance to heal ina peaceful setting. The children sleep in comfortablecabins along a pristine lake flanked by green, rollinghills.
The program, called Vacation 2017 Zakopane: WellBeing for Ukrainian Kids, includes traditional camp
activities and field trips along with support from mental
health professionals. More than 100 children haveattended over the past four years.

The Rotary Club of
Wahiawa-Waialua

This year’s campers visited a mountain village to learn
about local traditions, toured historic Krakow, and saw
the castles, salt mines and hot springs of southern
Poland. The routine activities are simple but powerful.
Yuriy Paschalin and Vlad Tsepun, both 12, becameclose friends after their fathers were killed by snipers.
The field trips helped both boys start to relax and act
like typical, curious children.
“This program allows these kids to stay kids and to live
children’s emotions,” said psychologist and art therapist
Olha Hrytsenko.
“They will observe and absorb another culture,
attitude, and language, (and) will be able to compare
and make conclusions about what is good and what isbad. It will help them to find themselves.”“It always takes time to survive loss. This time is needed
to run the processes that we name ‘grief work,’ ” says
Hrytsenko.

Jackie Barnes

Breaking Their Silence
When asked about their families, the children often talkabout their parents, siblings, grandparents, and even
their pets. Then the looks in their eyes change. Glints ofchildish fun disappear, along with any fussing orfidgeting. Instead, there is obvious pain behind theirfaces. And silence.
Like many children, 11-year-old Dima Tkachuk doesn’twant to talk about his dad’s death. Talking about deathmakes it all too real.
His father was killed in a military conflict zone; Dima’s
mother also serves in the Ukrainian army and has been
sent to the same area where Dima’s father was killed.
“A person will always remember the loss of someone
whom he or she loved. The task is not to forget but tofind the essence of this loss and to learn how to be
happy after this.”

PP Geoff Horvath

Oli – PP Lilette Subedi

Olha Hrytsenko
art therapist

Dima, though, shared a glimpse of the stress on hisfamily. He explained that since their mother left to join
the fighting, his 18-year-old brother has turned tosmoking and drinking alcohol.
“Sometimes he does things that one cannot be proudof,” Dima said.
The psychologists and camp staff know not to pressure
the children to open up. Instead they build trust throughgroup games, outdoor activities, art therapy, andindividual counseling with psychologists.
Children are more vulnerable to the psychologicaltrauma of war, often causing them to withdraw, experts
say. Re-establishing emotional connections is critical tohealing. If left untreated, isolated children are more
likely to experience domestic violence, addiction, andjob loss later in life, research shows.
When a breakthrough does come, therapists listen or
just sit quietly as the tears flow.

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

Outside D5K
None
Within D5K
None

Ashton Kanamu – Guest of President Alex
Alexis “Lexi” Kanamu – Guest of Alison Kanamu

HINo Report

Hawaii Rotary YouthFoundation (HRYF)
PP Geoff briefed the Bard on the Club’s HRYF Status.
••••

Club’s giving for the first 6 months: $442.00
Some members have not met the minimum
contribution of $40 dollars, the District’s goal
per member.
April 30th is the 2018-19 HRYF contribution
deadline, if clubs want their contributions tobe counted for this Rotary Year.
All members who have not contributed areencouraged to do so by this weeks meeting.

Recognitions for the week ending April 28th, 2019.

None

Spouse’s Birthday

None

Anniversaries

None

None

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

Kate Butts gave a HI $5 for Jackie assisting her withthe dictionary distributions to Trinity Lutheran School.
Jackie Barnes gave a HI $5, being gratitude kindnesstoward and for the friendships she has developed. She
told us, that while she was contacting communityorganization (clubs) to become a member of, ours was
the only one that responded. PE Keoni was very kindand enthusiastic when telling her about our club andinvited her to our meeting.
Alison Kanamu gave a HI $5 in celebration of ourdictionary distribution art Trinity Lutheran School.
PP Lilette Subedi gave a HI $5 our women clubmembers, since they outnumbered the men at today’s
meeting!
Lynn Goya gave a HI $5 in honor of our Club HRYFScholars. She was impressed with their poise andimpressive talks.
President Alex gave a HI $20 for his Best Wife,Alison. Alex told us that not too may people takeadvantage of Alison’s giving spirit and her spirit to help
others. Alex told us about an incident that happened
last week regarding a friend that suffered two heart
attacks. He is only in his late 40’s! He called Alex tosee if there was something he could do to assist him.
Alex called Alison and at the drop of a hat, they bothwent over and had a long talk regarding health andhow dōTERRA essential oils could assist him in staying
healthy. All worked out great!
PE Keoni Ahlo gave a HI $5, thanking his wife,Nahoku, and us and all of those who are supporting
him in the purchase of his building and the progress heis making in purchasing the building his State Farm
Office is in. Everything from finances to cleaning up
the property is going great. He had a problem gettinga junk vehicle out of the barking lot in the back. Hehad a hard time finding the owner getting the ownerto move the vehicle. He finally called Alison andarranged to have the vehicle towed away. Keoni said
that the vehicle was so rusted, that by the time the carreached the yard, it was almost completely
demolished!
Keoni also told us that he is in the process ofbeautifying the area around his building. He told usthat California Ave has a revitalization project goingon but it seems that they left Kilani Ave out of theproject. So, to improve Kilani Ave, he is forming agroup Malama Kilani, a revitalization project to cleanup Kilani Ave. He talked to other business owners inthe area, and they got so excited, that they started
cleaning up their establishments and painting theirbuildings.

The Rotary Club ofWahiawa-Waialua

NoneTo Be Determined

ROTARY MINUTE
Rotary’s Image

May 4 – Wahiawa Pineapple Festival
May 17-19 – Rotary District Conference – Hawaii
Convention. Come and be inspired by motivation
speakers; make new friends and reconnect with oldones.
•A positive public image of Rotary enhances our ability
to do good in the World. As a Rotarian, our words andactions represent Rotary, and joining Rotary means
committing to live by Rotary’s values. Each of us also
has the ability to improve the public’s understanding of
Rotary by telling the Rotary story and why we’re proud
to be a part of it. By telling our stories, we make sure
Rotary is recognized for the good work we do. As amember, you can propose new members to your club.

No correspondence

None

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

Special Guest Speaker – Jennifer E. Jones, CEOodf Media Street Productions Inc.
• Keynote Speaker – Brian Rusch, Executive Directorof the Human Thread Foundation• Register on line at rotaryd5000.org/district
conference.
Jun 28 – Teddy’s Bigger Burgers Wahiawa
fundraiser. Teddy’s is hosting community organizations
to visit their business from 10am – 10pm to tellcustomer what your organization is all about and how
they serve within the community. In recognition of theseorganizations participating in this program, Teddy’s
will donate a percentage of their take for those 12hours! This contribution could be put toward our Al
Wonder Christmas party. Thanks to Rene Mansho for
passing this information to us.
Ongoing – Jack in the Box Fundraiser. Each memberwill be given 10 tickets ($100) to sell.

Apr 30 – All HRYF contributions for this Rotary Yearmust be received at HRYF HQ.
May 9th – Wahiawa Town Hall Meeting at Wahiawa
Middle School, starting at 6:30 pm with Sen Dela Cruz,
Representative Perruso, and Council Member
Tsuneyoshi.

•••
•
•
•

Membership. PE Keoni is requesting assistancewith membership. Keoni has some great ideas
for bringing in new members that he will bediscussing at a later time.
Members are encouraged to join a committee
New Member Orientation. PP Geoff has aNew Members’ Orientation presentation
ready to go.
Golf Fundraiser. We cleared around $7.8K,
with donations and contributions still coming in.
We are in the Black, financially.
Bali International Service Project Trip Oct 1318. Members are encouraged to go on thislifesaving mission. For more information, bo tohttps://rotaryd5000.org/bali.

Jackie Barnes signing in

Ace of Hearts

Guest and set up artist, Ashton Kanamu

No Ace of Hearts today!
(Go to our Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/96286297
3749303/ to view all pictures.)

Lexi Kanamu

Kate Butts getting ready for our Board meeting

Pineapple by

Alison Kanamu
Head Table

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

The Rotary Club ofWahiawa-Waialua

PP Lilette getting ready for the Oli

Jackie Barnes, PE Lilette, and Pres Alex getting Lunch

A mirror image

Alison Kanamu, Lynn Goya, and Jackie Barnes

President Alex

PE Keoni – WHAT??!! BADAH YOU!

PE Keoni receiving his Membership Pin for bringing in
new members

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

Kate Butts’ HI $5

Let the meeting begin!

Alison Kanamu’s HI $5
PE Keoni’s HI $5

PP Lilette’s HI $5
Marie and Grace Abatayo

Lynn Goya’s HI $5

Rotary – 114 Years of Service to the World!

Kate Butts handing out the Treasurer’s report

The Rotary Club of
Wahiawa-Waialua