President's Message
Fellow
Rotarians:
I
hope that everyone enjoyed Congressman McCormick last week.
In keeping with this year’s goal of having a wide range of speakers, including on international matters, this week we have Do Nguyen talking with us about Vietnam.
We are continuing to refine our food service experience. I believe that it is improving but recognize that there is much to do. To that end, we have purchased a second food warmer which should expedite our ability to serve warm entrees and sides quicker as well as ice buckets for each of our tables to allow for better beverage service.
I encourage all of you to to try to fill our front tables first out of respect to our speakers. Additionally, please note that in an effort to serve everyone with warm food, the servers have been in instructed to only serve tables with at least two people seated. I also encourage you to dine with fellow Rotarians that you do not always eat with. We are one big family!
Please pray for our recovering Rotarians and welcome our Finnish GRSP student this week.
Do Nguyen, Rotarian since 1995 from Maumee Rotary club, District 6600, Ohio,USA.
Past DG, Do Nguyen to share long history and phenomenally impactful involvement in global projects with Rotary.
Do joined Maumee Rotary in 1995. In 1998 he was invited to follow leaders of Maumee Rotary club to Matzatenango, Guatemala to evaluate and dedicate an orphanage for sexually abused girls which was built through a RI matching grant. He later returned to Guatemala on two more mission trips with fellow Maumee Rotarians.
While helping the children of Guatemala, he often dreamed of bringing Rotary services to Vietnam. In 1999, Do followed the Past District Governor Chuck Oswald and some other Maumee Rotarians on a fact finding trip to Vietnam and attended his first Rotary International Convention in Singapore. In 2000, along with PDG Chuck Oswald, PDG Chuck Stocking, Vietnam Veterans and 8 other Rotarians, they formed The D.O.V.E. Fund (Development of Vietnam Endeavors), a non-profit 501c(3) organization to do charity in Vietnam. The DOVE Fund has since built 53 schools, 4 medical facilities, 3 water systems, 150 latrines and many other humanitarian projects in Vietnam. In 2001, along with other Rotarians in District 6650 and 6600, Do promoted “Bringing Rotary to Vietnam” at the House of Friendship at the Rotary International Convention in San Antonio. In 2002, Do participated in a RI delegation to Vietnam led by PRIP Richard King PRIP Gary Huang to introduce Rotary to Vietnamese government officials. Do was in charge of distributing 100 wheelchairs to the disabilities in Vietnam for the delegation.
At the RI convention in Osaka, Japan in 2004, Do met with fellow Rotarians from Mongolia and learned that Mongolia hospitals were in need of used medical equipment and supplies. This meeting led to his first trip to Mongolia with Ron Stoner of MESA (Medical Equipment and Supplies Abroad) in 2005, and two containers of medical supplies were sent to Mongolia afterward from Rotary District 6600.
During Do’s term as President of Maumee Rotary club, 2004-2005, they celebrated Centennial year with many international projects in Honduras, Guatemala and Vietnam. Maumee Rotary Centennial Pavilion - a hexagon shape on a Rotary wheel - was also built in Maumee Site Cut Park in 2005. Do was selected as GSE team leader for South Korea in 2011. The same year, he traveled to Cambodia for a need assessment for a matching grant to provide water and sanitation for an elementary school in Siem Riep, Cambodia. He later returned to Cambodia 2 more times in 2012 and 2013 for setting up, monitoring and evaluating this matching grant.
Do received a Rotary International Service Above Self Award in 2014. During his year as District Governor Elect (2015-2016), he began to plan for a global grant to provide clean water for 14 villages in Sri Lanka where people were suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). This global grant of $178,000 was approved during his year as District Governor. He and his team from Rotary District 6600 traveled to Sri Lanka in 2018 to dedicate 7 completed water plants.
Do was featured in the Rotarian Magazine in December 2016 for his works in bringing peace and healing between the people of Vietnam and the USA. Do also developed the First Global Grant in Vietnam (a non- Rotary country) to provide water and sanitation for an ethnic community in the central highland of Vietnam. This global grant was approved on June 30th 2017 (his last day as District Governor). He later developed another global grant in basic education and literacy in Quang Tri, Vietnam. This grant was approved in 2018. The third global grant, approved in 2019, helped 150 Vietnamese families with disabled children receive training and education in chicken raising techniques to improve their economic conditions.
He continued working with Rotary club of Singapore to submit 4 more global grants for Vietnam. As of 2023, there are 5 Rotary clubs in Vietnam, 2 in Saigon, 1 in DaNang, 1 in Quang Tri and 1 in HaNoi. Do has attended two Uniendo Conferences in Central America and 12 RI conventions.
After Hours Meets Tonight!
Thank you to everyone who came out to the last Roswell Rotary After Hours meeting last week! The club welcomed Laurie Coello, certified personal trainer and sports nutrition coach. She is the owner and operator of Nutrishop Roswell. She spoke on the science behind nutrition and macros, and shared her passion for helping people meet their health and fitness goals. It was a great evening learning from a local business owner!
The next RRAH meeting will be Tuesday, August 15 at 6:30 and the focus will be mental health. Everyone is welcome!
Rotary Last Week
