Last weeks meeting
Repeat from last week: All meetings in July will be held in person at the Riverside Banquet Hall Ballroom at 14431 Knox Way at 7:00 AM. Members may also attend by Zoom. President Debbie S. reminded members to sign up for Sergeant at Arms if they have not already done so. Thanks to the Ghirra's for providing the venue and the continental breakfast.
Presidents Report
This was President Debbie's second meeting and there was no insurrection. All went well for the second meeting with 9 zoomers in attendance. Debbie announced that Kathy could announce that the speakers committee was looking for input from members for possible topics or guest speakers. And Kathy did!!! So if you have an idea please let Kathy know.
Please direct any questions to me or a board member of your choosing and we will discuss any and all questions or concerns during our board meeting.
Be kind and be calm...
Because it is a good way to be.
Visitors
Ryan McConaghy from RATANAK International
Sergeant At Arms Tidbits
Danny attended by Zoom and was dressed in Middle Eastern head gear which he said was a "toque"? Dick said he had one of those growing up in Saskatchewan but it was not so fancy. The garb looked good on Danny as he explained that he wore it when he travelled through the Arab countries.
Mary Lou was going to spend a couple weeks at her cabin and had already been there with Sean Macel and little Oscar.
Bill is off to Parksville.
Susan attended while dressed in her car. She is off to the Island as well. She explained her unexpected act of kindness by waking her neighbour up at what must have been pretty early. But the car window was open so the neighbour was grateful.
Belinda told us about Greg's uncle who had died with a nice funeral and memorial in the back yard. Her grand children have gone to Powell River for a month so life is pretty quiet at the moment.
Debbie T. joined us from her bathroom which made it difficult for Kal to hear anything over the constant flushing. But we did learn that she had been at Whistler and Drew had gone to the dogs or at least he stayed home to look after them.
Amanda thanked everyone who joined up for the social committee and I expect she and the committee will do their usual excellent job.
Sandra thanked Costco(or somebody) for the Lysol wipes. She also had her trip up to Spirit Ridge in the Okanagan - the trip donated by Marg. Sandra thought it was fantastic and really enjoyed the various appointments at the wineries. Hopefully Brian was driving.
Malinda had big news as any day now is expecting grandchild 2.0. She and John are very excited and of course Willow is too and will be a great big sister. She also wanted to thank Don Dixon(who hasn't) for helping John paint something that I did not quite catch. It may have been the Sistine Chapel.
Marg is trying to finish making her Jam before her surgery which is a week away.
Dalbir was back from his road trip to Revelstoke via Sicamous. Lots of campers and cars on the road such that it took 4 hours to make what is usually a one hour trip. The message here is do not travel on weekends. Also there was some flooding of the road around Sicamous.
Elena's youngest son had his 40th birthday. She rides her bike for an hour every morning. Instead of going to New York because of Covid she is going camping. The squirrels, crows, and deer are putting on an off Broadway performance ... way off Broadway.
Michael who has just had two baby children within a year and now has four children, had his wife tell him she was feeling a little off. He bought a pregnancy kit with four test packages for only $18. The negative result provided him with at least $18 worth of happiness.
Peter is off to his new cabin.
Gordon is tired of zoom but is impressed by how excited people can get who receive Lysol wipes especially with alcohol.
Garth went to a mediation and there were no cars on Broadway but it took three and a half hours instead of two to return from Whistler. Motorcycles weaved in and out to get there sooner but apparently one of the motorcycle caught fire. speed = hot engine = fire.
Pat was also babysitting a dog and may have tried to connect with Drew on the weekend for a doggie play date.
President Debbie's husband John is an excellent cook and they have been eating fabulous meals made with local ingredients.
Your editor was going to report on the birdie he got while golfing but Kathy apparently had two birdies so I am not going to report on any of the birdies.
spEAKER
Brian McConaghy spoke about the terribly disturbing slave trade in young men, woman and girls who are removed from their homes in a variety of ways and sold into slavery. Brian's background is in investigative forensics working both for and with the RCMP. He worked on the forensics at the Pickton farm for five years. He was approached after this to assist with Cambodian girls who had been sold into the sex trade. He watched a video of a young Cambodian Girl dying and founded RATANAK International to prevent, protect, return, and restore the lives of those who may or have been subjected to the slave trade. He explained that the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia had killed everyone with an education and had massacred more than half of the 7 million population at the time in a space of about 2 years. As a result of this genocide organized crime moved in and would kidnap or take from villages in particular young girls or single woman and sell them as sex slaves after promising some other occupation. This created a massive trade of young woman both nationally and internationally and in particular to China where because of the one child policy and selective birth there are 30 million excess males. The traders would destroy the woman's passports and visas so if they tried to escape they would be arrested as illegal immigrants. Brian was a gentle as he could be in describing the horrible abuse suffered by the victims of the slave trade. He told the story of two young woman who had escaped from China who had been chained up in a basement. When they escaped the only possessions they had were the clothes they had stolen. RATANAK International has a recovery building in Cambodia where the escapees are welcomed with health care, food, trauma counselling and job skills training.
He then talked about his reluctance to get involved in saving boys from the slave trade and how they are lured onto fishing boats as if they were going to be paid but then end up working all day and being sexually abused at night. When the slaves are no longer useful they are thrown into the ocean and occasionally used for target practice. He told the story of a young man who had been enticed onto a fish boat on which he was treated as a slave for 20 years before he jumped off the boat and swam to freedom. He is now married with a child and has undergone trauma counselling and marriage counselling but has a farm and worked his way out of debt. Brian has been very gratified in helping the boys/men in spite of his initial reluctance. Brian told us that he has 153 active files and recently repatriated 215 woman from Malaysia. His organization works with the Cambodian Police who are now much less involved in the trade and has negotiated arrangements with China to remove undocumented immigrants. His organization has brought Cambodians home from around the world. He has developed a system of both dealing with the individuals and their communities to help the victims reintegrate into their villages. There is a great stigma attached to the women who have become sex slaves and RATANAK attempts to educate the family and the community that there is a need to protect these returning victims. One of the most important aspects to reintegration is the training of job skills. Once they have a job the individuals status changes dramatically. Instead of slave garbage they now have honourable work. Brian left us with a message of hope, the victims "lives are rebuildable" and it helps them to know they are not alone.
Meanderings
Ratanak means "precious gem" in Cambodian and was the name of the baby girl our speaker watched die on a video that caused him to found RATANAK International. If you wish to read more or donate personally go to www.ratanak.org.
When Danny said he was wearing a toque, I thought I would check out what his head gear was really called and google says Keffiyeh, or ghutrah, shemagh, hattah, mashadah, chafiye, dastmal yadzi, or cemedani but no where was it called a toque.
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in them than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
Dale Carnegie.
Upcoming Events.
July meetings will be at 14431 Knox Way behind the Grand Ballroom or by Zoom.
July 16th mini gala meeting after Sergeant at Arms. Agenda to follow.
Committee (and other) Updates
Fundraising Committee has come up with the idea of a Mini Auction Gala and the idea is being explored. Will have a meeting on July 16th during our morning meeting so bring your ideas.
Committee chairs if you could let me know if you wish to have any announcements in the Bulletin. Also all committees are recruiting members now so sign up for anything that interests you. Check out this years list of Board members so you know who to approach.
Today's Chuckle
The enemy of my enemy ... doesn't like me either.
My teachers told me I'd never amount to much because I procrastinate so much. I told them, "Just you wait!"
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