2006 GSE Team practice run before their departure for the Philippines!

2-17-06 Departing from Syracuse, NY airport	They'll arrive in the Philippines on 2-18-06
The 2006 Outbound GSE team with Cato Club members, GSE District Chair Dick Kemmis, & District Governor Jerry Gortner	Team Leader Henry introduces his team
Team Leader Henry MacDonald	Team member Susan Thomas
Team member Heidi Conland D'Amico	Team member Kimberly DiDona
Team member Aimee Geis	Team magic, GSE team with Cato Rotary Club members and District Governor Jerry Gortner

2006 GSE D7150 Team

Henry A. MacDonald Mac is the team leader and is a member and past president of the Auburn Rotary Club. Mac is in the business of Scuba retail, training & travel.	Aimee Geis is sponsored by the Fayetteville- Manlius Rotary Club. Aimee works for North Syracuse Parks and Recreation and is a substitute teacher.	Heidi Conland D'Amico is a Junior High School English teacher in Hannibal. She is sponsored by the Oswego Rotary Club and lives in Oswego.
Kimberly DiDona is a special investigator who lives in Syracuse and is sponsored by the Auburn Rotary Club.	Susan Thomas from Tully is sponsored by the Tully Rotary Club.	Brian Shaw is our alternate selection. He is a librarian at Hamilton College. Brian lives in Clinton and is sponsored by the Utica Rotary Club.

Noteworthy information about the District Group Study Exchange program for 2005-2006 is:

• The exchange is with District 3830 in the Philippines
• District 3830 GSE team will be with us September 10 to October 10, 2005
• District 7150 GSE team will travel to the Philippines on
• Team Leader applications are due to Dick Kemmis by Aug 1
• Team Member applications are due to Dick Kemmis by Nov 1

January 2006
A special thank you to our Auburn, Oswego, and Utica clubs for continuing our Team Member search and submitting very qualified candidates. We now have a full team plus one alternate. Our other two clubs with Team Members are Fayetteville-Manlius and Tully.Team training sessions will start January 14 to prepare our team for their departure February 17 to the Philippines - Yours in Rotary Service, Dick Kemmis, Chair, D7150 GSE Committee.

2006 GSE D7150 Team Leader

Henry MacDonald, D7150 GSE Team Leader

9-1-05: GSE District Committee Chairman, Richard Kemmis announces that Auburn Rotarian Henry A. MacDonald has been chosen to serve as Team Leader of our GSE Team to District 3830, Manila, Philippines on a four week study trip. Henry is a 26 year member of the Auburn Rotary Club and served as past president of that club.

With seven years in the US Army Paratroopers, Henry served three tours of duty in Viet Nam, retired on disability at the rank of Staff Sergeant. He has had sixteen plus years as Department head for Community Services Outreach department of the Auburn YMCA, and has also served as Field Coordinator for National YMCA East Field, responsible for development and implementation of programs for youth "At Risk".

Henry has served on several community boards, including: Cayuga County Youth and Family Service Board; Member and President of Sexual Assault Victims Advocacy Resource; Option for Independence Regional Independent Living Center Board member and President; Member of several school district Substance Abuse Prevention Task Forces.

He was recently voted to serve on the Downtown Auburn Business Improvement District of which he is currently Treasurer. His business has been recognized with the SBA Excellence in Small Business Award. Hhe has traveled extensively throughout the US and parts of the world both in the military and as a private citizen and for his business. A major part of Henry's business, Finger Lakes Scuba, international dive travel trips, has led groups of up to 37 people on trips in numerous places around the globe.

 
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Team Member Franco Mario Vicente		Team Member Marisol De Luna Anenias
Team Member Ranier Joseph Ungco		Team Member Tanya Miren Cruz

Meet the GSE Team Members from District 3830 (The Philippines)

Team Leader Mario Banzon Magat. Team Members: Marisol De Luna Anenias, Tanya Miren Sta. Romana Cruz, Rainier Joseph Subia Ungco, Franco Mario Costa Vicente. View District 3830 website.

Meet Mario Banzon Magat “Mario” Team Leader
Mario, as President of Millennium Dragon Credit Corp., is involved in micro-enterprise financing operations in four provinces of the Philippines. This operation adheres to the Grameen-model of providing small business loans to more than 1,000 housewives who otherwise, have no access to formal credit windows of banks and other financial institutions.
His previous professional experience includes credit and collection, marketing of pre-need educational plans, internal audit, finance, property development, management of a prime memorial park, and credit management for a bank.
Mario has been a Rotarian since 1994. He was President of the Rotary Club of Alabang (RY 1998-99), Assistant Governor (3 years), District Nominating Committee Member (RY 2004-05), District Training Leader (6 years) and Executive Director- Rotary Academy D3830 (3 years).
He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is married to the lovely Evelyn Guanzon and they have three children – Paolo (21), a medical student, Mariel (20) taking up architecture, and Chrissa (14) who is in high school. He is a golf-beginner for the five years.

Meet Marisol De Luna Anenias - “Mari”
Marisol or Mari (accent on the first syllable) to her friends is the Managing Director of Eastern Consulting, Inc., a consultancy firm in the Philippines that specializes on energy, banking and finance and local government concerns. She is also a consultant to the President of the National Transmission Corporation, which is the Philippine agency tasked with the distribution of electrical power throughout the country. The newest partner of Maceda and Maceda Law Offices, she is also active in legal practice, which includes civil and criminal litigation, procurement and family law.
She acquired her Doctor of Laws degree at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy degree at the University of the Philippines. She is currently enrolled in the Ateneo Business School working toward a Masters in Business Administration degree.
On Sundays, Mari renders service as a Master Sergeant in the search and rescue alpha company of the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. Other affiliations include the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Federacion Internacional de Abogadas and University of the Philippines Sigma Delta Phi Sorority.
She enjoys painting, tinkering with computers and the latest gadgets, and reading espionage and medical thrillers. As a young girl, she studied ballet and piano. In high school she wrote scripts, directed, as well as played lead parts in school and inter-school plays. She loves singing and has participated in and won in group singing competitions. She has also won several awards in short story and poetry writing, photography, declamation and extemporaneous speech. During her first year in law school, she auditioned and was given the role of Gigi, in the summer run of the local production of the Broadway musicale, Miss Saigon. She also plays badminton, enjoys bowling and chess.

Meet Tanya Miren Sta. Romana Cruz - “Tanya”
Tanya is from Parañaque City, Philippines but lives on her own in a studio in Makati City that is walking distance to her office. She is 32 years old and has been an insurance broker for almost 7 years with Alexander Forbes Philippines Risk Services, a UK-based provider of risk management and insurance broking services ranked 8th in the world. Alexander Forbes Philippines provides services to corporate clients in a number of industries notably power generation and energy, semiconductors, electronics, transportation and communication, and construction.
At the University of the Philippines, Tanya obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Master of Arts Degree in Economics. She plans to do further studies in risk management or business administration leading to a Master’s degree but is currently working on a Non-Life Insurance Associateship Certificate. Before she left the University, she was the Grand Archon of the Sigma Delta Phi Sorority and is up to now a very active member of the Alumnae Association as Corresponding Secretary. Another organization very dear to her heart is Children’s International Summer Villages or CISV, an international non-profit volunteer organization that promotes peace education through children’s camps. Recently, Tanya directed a camp for 9-11 year olds with the theme of environmental education.
Tanya loves doing Pilates and yoga, collecting erasers and hearts, reading books of all genres, baking cakes and pastries, lounging on the beach and trying water sports, and most especially traveling! She is the eldest child and has a 30-year old brother who is taking his Master’s in Literature and a 23-year old sister who works for an advertising agency. All of them are still single! Her parents are both teachers – her mom teaches writing for gifted children and her dad teaches graduate students of business.

Meet Rainier Joseph Subia Ungco - “RJ”
RJ is in the food business, being the chef and co-owner of Ponzo’s Café in Magallanes Village, Makati City. His love for food has brought him to work with prominent personalities and establishments in the industry,
Prior to starting his own business, RJ worked in the kitchen of a world-class hotel in Rome, Italy. He also gained experience in food service firms and hotels in the Philippines like Le Soufflé (French cuisine), Nandau (Filipino cuisine), The Jeepney Bar (the coffee shop of the Hotel Intercontinental Manila), Prince Albert Rotiserrie (the French restaurant of the Hotel Intercontinental Manila), and the Manila Peninsula Hotel.
A Hotel and Management graduate of the Les Roches School in Switzerland, he has five years of hands-on experience as a chef and restaurant manager. Aside from cooking, RJ loves to play golf. RJ also served as Chapter President of the Philippine Jaycee in 2002-2003.

Meet Franco Mario Costa Vicente - “Franco”
This 28-year old architect is a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas. He is currently working at Lor Calma Design, Inc., owned by Lor Calma, a renowned Philippine architect.
Being the son of a commercial airline pilot and former flight attendant, Franco is well traveled, having been privileged to visit the United States, Australia and some parts of Europe and Asia.
He plans to pursue masteral studies abroad to further enrich his architectural influences. Franco is known to be a workaholic and to balance his busy lifestyle he engages in sports activities such as boxing, karate-do, badminton and golf. His artistic sensibility extends to the musical aspect as well -- being adept in playing the guitar as much as he can carry a tune!
Life is an endless list of “Things To Do” for this young professional who believes that having a well-rounded personality and a healthy balance between work and play helps maximize his God-given talents into their full potential.

 
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Noteworthy information about the District Group Study Exchange program for 2005-2006 is:

• The exchange is with District 3830 in the Philippines
• District 3830 GSE team will be with us September 10 to October 10, 2005
• District 7150 GSE team will travel to the Philippines on
• Team Leader applications are due to Dick Kemmis by Aug 1
• Team Member applications are due to Dick Kemmis by Nov 1

January 2006
A special thank you to our Auburn, Oswego, and Utica clubs for continuing our Team Member search and submitting very qualified candidates. We now have a full team plus one alternate. Our other two clubs with Team Members are Fayetteville-Manlius and Tully.Team training sessions will start January 14 to prepare our team for their departure February 17 to the Philippines - Yours in Rotary Service, Dick Kemmis, Chair, D7150 GSE Committee.

October 10, 2005
Dear District 7150 Leadership:

Our visitors from D3830 left for home today. We had a great send-off for them last evening at Delmonico’s Steak House Restaurant in Syracuse. At least 45 Rotarians and their guest attended the Farewell Dinner, one of the biggest groups in years. They were a great group of people. They were a neat team and great ambassadors of the Philippines.

On behalf of the District 7150 GSE Committee, I want to thank all of you for your support of the GSE Program this year. The Club Presidents did a great job in promoting the Inter-club Dinners and adjusting your meeting schedules to accommodate the Inter-club meetings. Your help and generosity in providing good housing is to be commended.

The District 7150 GSE Committee, with several new members, did an excellent job in scheduling, housing, and working with the D3830 Team while they were visiting in their home area. Thank you for your hard work.

District 7150 was looking for the very best Rotarian in the District to spend four weeks, February 17, 2006 to March 17, 2006, as a Group Study Exchange Leader. This year’s team will visit District 3830 in the Philippines. District 3830 is located in Manila and the southern suburbs. The District covers the financial and world trade center for the Philippines. It is a very urban area. The language used in this area of the Philippines is English.

The qualifications for a team leader were as follows: must be an experienced Rotarian, especially in international service, and be well informed about their home country and Rotary. They must have the ability to form a team of four non-Rotarians, train them, and act as liaison between the team and the host clubs. The Team Leader must be willing and able, physically and otherwise, to keep pace with the vigorous program of study planned for the team. The team leader had to make arrangements to be out of the country for at least the period of February 17th to March 17th next year.

The next task is to recruit four of the best young men and women, between the ages of 25-40, to make up the team D7150 sends to D3830, Manila, Philippines from February 17 to March 17, 2006. The deadline for receiving applications is November 1, 2005. Here are the details of what we are looking for:

The D7150 GSE Committee needs your help in spreading the word at your meetings to assist us in selecting the very best team members possible. Detailed information is included in the letter. Download Team Leader applications (260en) and Team Member applications (161en) that can be printed and distributed. Further, there is a brochure explaining the GSE program (160en).

If you are a club that has not participated in this program in the past, but would like to get more involved, please contact Dick Kemmis by email. We need to identify clubs wishing to host the D3830 GSE Team. This is a great opportunity to meet and get to know people from another culture, and to improve opportunities for understanding and world peace. - Yours in Rotary Service, Dick Kemmis, Chair, D7150 GSE Committee.

A team member must 1. Be able to participate in team orientations and take the four weeks away from work and family 2. Be non-Rotarian and not a blood relative of a Rotarian, 3. Be between ages 25 and 40 to insure maximum impact on long term career development, 4. Be a US citizen in good health, 5. Be neat in appearance, 6. Be articulate and able to speak before a group, 7. Have a sound educational and professional background, 8. Be enthusiastic about his/her chosen vocation, and 9. Be currently employed on a full time basis - engaged in that business or profession for at least two years. Team member applicants should be open-minded, tolerant, flexible and above all be able to live within and adopt a different culture during the exchange period. They must be willing and able to follow the direction of the Team Leader.

There are many ways to recruit team members. Contact the CEO or owner of companies or establishments in your area. Contact your local government heads. Make them aware of the program and ask if they have an employee to nominate. Point out that team members return to work with an understanding of how a similar job is performed in another country and can potentially become better employees. Explain that the program expenses are paid by Rotary and that the employer needs only to provide four weeks off work using a method of his/her choosing i.e. vacation time, leave without pay, etc. Offer a copy of the RI GSE brochure and then follow?up. Encourage your club members to talk with friends and fellow employees to identify potential participants and then ask your Club's International Chair or GSE Chair to followup.

An essay of intent is required from each applicant. A brief resume would also be helpful to the selection committee. Download application.