Messages this week from our Club President, Tracey Curtis
Events in this past week have demonstrated to me, yet again, that we are stronger than ever, together. Please look out for each other. Reach out to anyone who may need a helping hand or a friendly chat to uplift them. As you will see, fantastic things are still happening. We even received an application this week for a new membership!
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Lobsterfest 2020 last Saturday, September 26, was crazy amazing and went perfectly! Team Lobsterfest was out in force with tremendous energy and good spirits along with exceptional organizing. Just when it seemed our club might have to forego its 40th anniversary of this iconic event in Guelph, the team found ways to work around Covid and they successfully raised around $15,000. Huge, huge thanks to each and every one of the committee members and all the supporting Rotarians!
Other fundraising initiatives and club activities are taking shape too. Details to follow. It is fantastic to see some of our newer Rotarians actively involved!
Eleni Bakopoulos is working hard on creating Christmas Baskets for sale, to raise funds and also support local businesses.
Gisella Gazzola and Joanna Penfold are working with Ben McCarl to arrange another Paint Night, with Ben guiding up to 30 participants in an online art session.
Liz Sandals and the Children & Youth Committee are preparing for our club's annual Adopt-A-Family campaign.
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Last Wednesday, two more Honourary Paul Harris Fellowships were awarded, to Sharon Ireland and Barbara Woods, for their years of extraordinary community service. Both were nominated by Bill Stevens.
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A welcome global change is happening in Rotary International. A seventh "Area of Focus" has recently been added to the six we already have. The new one is Supporting the environment. Read more on our club website.
Bonnie Evans - October 5 - 19 years with our club, plus 5+ years as a member of the Fergus/Elora Club, for 24+ years total in Rotary
Program this week
Crossing Africa by Mario Rigby
Tracey explained how she'd been captivated by a TV documentary about a guy from Toronto who had walked the length of Africa, and his extraordinary experiences along the way. She had spontaneously taken a chance and written to his website asking if he would ever consider speaking to our club some time ... and here he was, Mario Rigby, having graciously accepted our invitation!
Nanita Mohan more formally introduced Mario based on his bio.
Born in Turks & Caicos, part of his childhood was actually spent in Germany, and then he came to Canada at age 16, giving him quite a "world view" before he even reached the age of 20. He excelled in athletics, and eventually established a fitness business in Toronto, but felt restless and in search of greater meaning in life, which led to his solo, two-year adventure covering the length of Africa from South Africa to Egypt, entirely by foot and kayak.
Mario began by showing a two minute introductory video about his trek across Africa. It can be viewed on his website here along with more details about his adventures.
Mario became intrigued by the African practice in many tribes to go out and explore the environment in survival mode in order to reach full adulthood, and he started dreaming of undertaking such exploration to test himself. He set himself an ambitious goal: to travel the length of Africa under his own steam, on foot and by kayak. And against all the odds, he did it in a two year period, completing the journey in 2018.
His extraordinary adventure pushed his boundaries to every physiological and mental level. Along the way, he was arrested, experienced animal encounters, insect bites, malaria, dangerous individuals and was even shot at. But he was also smitten with the feeling known as TIA ... This Is Africa ... a continent of 54 countries, some 4,000 tribes and languages. He met hundreds of tribes and appreciated how different they were from each other, yet sharing a common humanity. He experienced every climate and terrain as he moved through the seasons. He had to manage the logistics of visas and border crossings, the purchase or loan of kayaks when required, and critical management of food and water. He says he enjoyed incredible hospitality and niceness from strangers, and began to understand how Africans value life and success in terms of living and sharing, and not in terms of asset accumulation and authority which tend to define success in western cultures. Mario found himself experiencing and growing in UBUNTU, a philosophy of sharing and humanity towards others that developed a stronger feeling of purpose inside himself. He became friends with Masai warriors, spending several months with them, unexpectedly learning that their unusual and open expression of vulnerability was regarded as a strength because it made them calm and caring, willing to ask for and accept help, and able to share emotions with a communal way of thinking ... quite the opposite of how vulnerability is generally viewed as a weakness in the western male. In fact, when Mario left Africa and returned to the west, he says he experienced reverse culture-shock!
Having established a new path in life as an eco-explorer, combining exploration and survival of the environment along with studying society, Mario has since also Cycled Canada from west to east, is currently writing a book, working on a docu-series project examining the West Africa Slave Trade History and its long-reaching impact on the world and people like himself, and planning a study of climate change in British Columbia and the effects on the river systems and First Nations communities that reside there. Wow.
Mario truly enjoys sharing his unique experiences and lessons learned with others, including children, to say that "There are no limits! Anything is possible!" He encourages everyone to have a grander imagination and to care for our shared world. He was absolutely delighted to learn today that Rotary International has recently added "Supporting the environment" to its global service areas.
What an interesting and inspiring talk today. Marty Fairbairn thanked Mario for visiting and sharing with us. We will all be watching for news of Mario's next adventures!
Program next week
Our speaker next Friday, October 9th, 2020, will be Mike Lawrie, our current District Governor of District 7080.
Crossing Africa by Mario Rigby
Mario began by showing a two minute introductory video about his trek across Africa. It can be viewed on his website 
His extraordinary adventure pushed his boundaries to every physiological and mental level. Along the way, he was arrested, experienced animal encounters, insect bites, malaria, dangerous individuals and was even shot at. But he was also smitten with the feeling known as TIA ... This Is Africa ... a continent of 54 countries, some 4,000 tribes and languages. He met hundreds of tribes and appreciated how different they were from each other, yet sharing a common humanity. He experienced every climate and terrain as he moved through the seasons. He had to manage the logistics of visas and border crossings, the purchase or loan of kayaks when required, and critical management of food and water. He says he enjoyed incredible hospitality and niceness from strangers, and began to understand how Africans value life and success in terms of living and sharing, and not in terms of asset accumulation and authority which tend to define success in western cultures. Mario found himself experiencing and growing in UBUNTU, a philosophy of sharing and humanity towards others that developed a stronger feeling of purpose inside himself. He became friends with Masai warriors, spending several months with them, unexpectedly learning that their unusual and open expression of vulnerability was regarded as a strength because it made them calm and caring, willing to ask for and accept help, and able to share emotions with a communal way of thinking ... quite the opposite of how vulnerability is generally viewed as a weakness in the western male. In fact, when Mario left Africa and returned to the west, he says he experienced reverse culture-shock!
Our speaker next Friday, October 9th, 2020, will be 
