Rotary District 7150 GSE 2001 Team from the Philipines

D7150 '02 GSE team to Philippines D3820 Cancelled

GSE News ---It is with deep regret that DG Bruce and the GSE Committee announce that we will not be sending a GSE Team to D3820, the Philippines, due to the terrorist situation and unstable environment in which we would be placing our GSE Team. This decision was made after lengthy and careful consideration of the State Department reports, discussions with the DG Dr. Hoa and the D3820 Team Leader that visited us, Pedro, and FBI security advisories.

The GSE Team Members who were selected to represent our District will be afforded the opportunity to be considered for the upcoming exchange with the "Republic of China, Taiwan", District 3500, from March 21 to April 19 of 2003. The GSE team from D3500 will arrive here on September 28 and return home on Oct 26 of 2002. They will attend our District Conference on Oct 18-20, 2002.

Applications for the GSE exchange with Taiwan will be provided to Incoming Club Presidents at the District Assembly May 18th. Clubs should begin now to identify club members who are interested in applying as Team Leader and professionals in your communities who are interested in becoming Team Members. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and will be our first in a Chinese culture.

Team Leader applications will be due back by July 1st. Team Member applications will be due back by August 1st. Team Leader interviews will be 11 August 2002 and Team Member interviews will be 10 September 2002. Applications should be returned to Sadieann Zogby Spear, who will assume chairmanship of the committee July 1, 2002.

We will use the same format that has been successful the past two years for hosting the team from D3500. Club visits will be multi-club meetings to give an opportunity for more people to meet the team without over burdening the team with too many events. Committee members will be contacting clubs in the near future to establish dates and locations for events. We will let you know the gender and vocations of the D3500 team as soon as we are provided that information.

The following e-mail was sent to District Governor Bruce by Pedro ``Pete"
Cootauco, leader of the Philippine Group Study Exchange Team which visited us during the late summer and early fall of 2001:

Dear Bruce,

It's wonderful to hear from you. I will certainly miss the group coming from your district. I do agree with your decision. Probably some other day when every thing will be stable not only in the Philippines but all over the world -- when terrorism is no longer a threat to anyone.

I am very grateful for having been hosted by your district. I learned so much from that very short period. One thing commendable was how your district professionally handled the program.

I hope someday I will have the chance to meet you again. Please extend my best regards to Marie and the district. - Pedro

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D3820 to Host D7150, in the Philippines, during 2002

The District GSE Committee has selected the GSE Team Members to accompany Team Leader ADG/DGN Rev. Jim Austin to District 3820, The Philippines. View updated memo by DG Bruce Frassinelli

Team members are the Reverend Brooke Newell from Hamilton NY, a Methodist minister at Park UM Church and Robyn Wernham from Pennellville, NY, a Methodist minister of the Cicero UM Church. Baldwinsville Rotary Club is sponsoring both Team Members. Brooke received her Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in 1991 and Robyn receiver her Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School in 1990.

All three are active in the church life of their communities and are looking forward to seeing their profession as it is practiced in the Philippines. The D7150 GSE 2001-02 Group Study Exchange is with District 3820, located in the Manila area of the Phillippines. D3820 has approximately 2000 members in 76 Rotary Clubs. The D3820 GSE Team visited our district from Sept 7th to Oct 6th, 01, attending our Saratoga Conference.

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I am sorry to report that the District 7150 outbound Group Study Exchange Team will not be going to the Philippines until this fall, at the earliest. Concerns over the political instability in the Philippines has led to this decision by GSE Chair Ray Allen, GSE Team Leader Jim Austin, the other two members of the team and me. Considerable discussion and study were given before the decision was made, but we all believe it is in the best interest of those involved in the exchange to be prudent at a time such as this.

Our host, District 3820, is naturally disappointed, too, but very supportive and has promised to lay out the red carpet for the team when the exchange does occur. As you may have known, it was exceedingly difficult to get applicants for the GSE program this year because of the uncertain situation, especially in the Philippines where rebels in the southern part of the island had kidnapped foreigners, including several Americans. We received a special dispensation from Rotary International to proceed with a three-member rather than a five-member team.

Although we were assured by our hosts that the situation was secure in the Manila suburbs where our team members would be staying, additional political events in the last few weeks underscores the correctness of our decision. The United States has sent troops to the Philippines to help train Filipino troops, a move which has sparked protests in the streets of Manila and other key cities.

I am sure that, given the circumstances, you will support our decision. I wanted to be sure that you heard the full story from me, rather than hearing bits and pieces here and there which may or may not be accurate.
If any of you have questions, feel free to contact me. Thank you for your support and understanding.

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District 7150 GSE Team Leader & Team Members

James F. Austin

D7150 GSE Team Leader:

Rev. James F. Austin (DGND, ADG, Pastor of Delphi Falls United Church)

GSE Team Members

Brooke Newell

Brooke Newell (Minister)

Robyn Wernham

Robyn Wernham (Minister)

D7150 GSE Team to D3820, the Philippines - Feb 2, 2002 to Feb 5, 2002

Team Leader

Rev. James Austin, of the Tully Rotary Club, our DGND, has been chosen as our D7150 Team Leader. ..Jim Austin wears many hats, and wears each of them well. He currently serves Area 5 of District 7150 as the Assistant Governor and most recently was nominated for District Governor to serve in 2004-2005. Jim has been President of the Tully club for two separate terms, and is currently spear heading a new project that hi Club is working on with the Cortland noon club called Rotary Computers for Humanity.

An ordained American Baptist Pastor, Jim has served both American Baptist and United Methodist congregations since 1985. Currently he serves the Delphi Falls United Church and is in his 11th year of ministry with this congregation.

Jim received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in computer management. He received his Master of Divinity from The Divinity School of Rochester. Beyond his pastoral responsibilities, he currently teaches Bible studies at two local nursing homes and is a volunteer chaplain at Upstate and Crouse-Irving-Memorial Hospitals.

Jim and his wife Joan have been married for 28 plus years and have two sons, Philip-23, and David-22. A little over a year ago they moved back into the house Jim grew up in and share their residence with a basset hound named Coco and a cat named Lightning.

Jim says "although I am the senior member of this team and the leader, I have the least overseas experience. I bring a strong Rotary presence to this GSE Team. I hope to learn first hand how Rotary is making a difference in some of our on going projects in the Philippines. I hope to bring back ideas and challenges for us to meet in the future. I am hoping that we can be true ambassadors for peace during a time when the world seems to be in conflict".

Team Members

The Reverend Robyn Lyn Wernham - Robyn is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church. She is currently appointed to the Pennellville United Methodist Church in the North Central New York Conference. Robyn received her Bachelor s degree in mathematics and religion from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, VA, and her Masters of Divinity from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX.

Robyn's interest in missions has taken her to Nepal twice. She has also traveled extensively in the United States and briefly in Europe. This past summer she attended the World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England, and her bishop has nominated her to attend this year's World Methodist Evangelism Young Leaders Conference.

Her interests include horseback riding and doing logic puzzels. She is also an avid reader. Robyn is sponsored by the Baldwinsville Rotary Club. Email Robyn.

The Reverend Brooke Newell -

Brooke has been a United Methodist Pastor since 1991. She is pastor of the United Methodist church in Hamilton, New York. Brooke also serves as the editor of the local United Methodist newspaper. For several years, she taught courses including Women's Studies, Religion and World Literature at Elmira College in Elmira, NY. She has participated in mission trips to Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras.

Brooke's Bachelor of Arts degree is from the College of William in Mary in Virginia. She holds a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the Claremont Graduate University in California and a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in Connecticut with an internship in hospital chaplaincy.

Brooke volunteers as a literacy tutor at the local correctional facility and has been a member of the Southern Tier Women's Club in Big Flats, NY. Brooke shares her home with a dog and a cat. She is also sponsored by the Baldwinsville Rotary Club. Email Brooke

For additional information, contact District GSE Committee Chair, Ray Allen, 10308 Ridgecrest Rd, Utica, NY 13502. Tel: 315-732-3883, Fax: 315-732-5282, E-mail.

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Have you ever hugged an empty space? by DGND Jim Austin

Recently at the District conference in Saratoga I had a little fun with Pedro (Pete) the GSE team leader from the Philippines. I had him come up and as I offered to shake hands with him, I pulled my hand away, so his hand shook emptiness. I started to give him a hug and ducked out of the way so he was left hugging an empty space. At the time it seemed like a harmless illustration and he remarked, “Jim’s playing a joke” but in his expression I could see concern so we completed the shake and the hug.

But that will be a real concern if we do not have a GSE team that we can take to the Philippine in February. We are allowing fear and rumors to dictate our actions when as Rotarians we need to be moving forward embracing this distraught world with hope and peace. It is understandable that worry of traveling, worry of world conflict and worry for our safety have become issues. But, Rotarians have opportunities today that few others do. Rotary is the largest service organization in the world. Rotary sends ambassadorial & peace/conflict management scholars into foreign countries. It is one of the most highly regarded and widely focused student exchange programs worldwide. We are one of the only volunteer based organizations that exchanges study teams and that is just the beginning. Here are just some of the GSE benefits that we will jeopardize if we do not send a return team:

1) Last year 37 matching grants totaling almost $200,000 were GSE team based.

2) New members being added: Last year one of our returning GSE team members became a new Rotarian and check out this quote: “The GSE “ has jump-started [my] need to be part of a greater world, to strive for positive changes. One of those changes has been to join Rotary International. I hope to continue my involvement locally and internationally with a group that makes so many contributions to humanity.” TM Susan Khan, D.7150 (NY, USA) to D.1050 (England)

3) Development of quality team members that bring quality back to their businesses. Here is a statement from just one GSE team leader: ““The young curate is now chaplain to a bishop, the police inspector is assistant chief constable, the solicitor is a full partner in his law firm, the bank manager is a regional manager, and the architect’s practice is thriving. Without exception, they say that GSE had a deep influence on their lives.” — Probate officer and GSE team leader

4) “In addition, GSE provides a great public relations opportunity to expand community awareness of your organization. Inform the local news media that one of your employees will be traveling to another country to learn extensively about its institutions, culture and The GSE program is an excellent opportunity for your organization to develop and recognize your top-performing young staff members for the global environment in which they will be working.” (Page 2 of 304EN on Group Study Exchange Development)

So what can you do? You can’t go because I have already been honored with that position but you can and should be recruiting. It is difficult for me to believe that somewhere in your community, schools, local business and agencies there is not one person between the ages of 25 and 40 that would like to have a free trip to the Philippines in the month of February. There is more to it than that obviously but that is a great start to be thinking about just one person your club can sponsor. Ray Allen, or your area GSE co-coordinator, or myself will all be willing to work with you and help you determine possible candidates for the outbound team. We all can supply you with applications and the committee is hoping to interview candidates during the coming month. But they can’t interview if no one applies.

I want you to reach out right now and hug some air. How fulfilling was that experience? Now ask yourself, “How fulfilled will our District be and what statement are we making about our area and the United States to the Philippines if we can’t even find four people to complete our GSE exchange?” When speaking recently to Pedro he said, “Jim, I hope you will find people for your team that are tolerant.”

I thought, “Hey we’re Americans. We’re known for our tolerance. But then I was silenced in my heart when I realized that maybe we aren’t as tolerant as I thought. Maybe we have become too busy, too fearful, too worried, too tired, or too lethargic to accept their open arms of hospitality. Maybe we no longer feel the need to learn anything from our brother and sister Rotarians, businesses, and the peoples of another country. I hope that’s not the case.

You see, I believe we are a tolerant people and I believe we can never stop learning. I believe if there was ever a time in the history of our nation that Rotary can have one of its greatest impacts worldwide it is now. Whether wars are fought for political or holy concerns, the Rotary International can still stand for peace. If we stay at home and do not continue to go out into the world, then peace will be lost piece by piece. If we move forward and continue to study and learn from each other, then the hope of peace, which we claim to embrace, will continue to shine and spread into the world.

Jim Austin, DGND
Assistant Governor District 7150 Area 5
Mankind is our Business

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View Complete Itinerary for D3820's Club Visit Schedules

(Sept. 7 to Oct 6, 2001)

Abreviated Itinerary: This year our District hosted the D3820 GSE team from the Philippines, Sept 7th through Oct 6th. Club meeting dates were established for club members to meet the team at joint meetings. The D3820 team made presentations at each meeting. Many of the clubs changed their weekly meeting to co-incide with the joint meeting schedule.

The schedule follows:
Friday & Saturday, Sep 7th & 8th, Arrival & leisure time
Sunday Sep 9th, 6 pm, Fairway Restaurant - Clubs: Fulton, Fulton Sunrise, Oswego, Cato, and Oneida Shores
Tuesday Sep 11th, 6 pm, Whitetail Restaurant - Clubs: Eastwood, Cazenovia, Chittenango, Fayettville-Manlius, DeWitt
Wednesday Sep 12th, 6 pm, Blue Water Grill - Clubs: Baldwinsville, Cato, N. Syracuse, Liverpool and Solvay Geddes
Friday Sep 14th, 12 pm, Drumlins CC - Clubs: Syracuse, Syracuse Sunrise
Monday Sep 17th, 6 pm, Katie & Karls Restaurant - Dinner with Club: Camden Rotary Club
Tuesday Sep 18th, 12 pm, Hotel Franklin - lunch with Club: Rome Rotary
Wednesday Sep 19th, 12 pm, Kallet Theater - Clubs: Oneida, Sherrill, Canastota
Fri.-Sun, Sep 21-23 - District Conference, Join the team in some fun time
Tuesday Sep 25th, 6 pm, Harts Hill Inn - Clubs: GUS, Orisk-Whitestown, Adirondack-Foothills, N. Utica, & Kuyahoora Valley
Wednesday Sep 26th, 6:15 pm, Orchard Hall - Clubs: Sauquoit, West Winfield, Herkimer, Little Falls & Dolgeville
Friday, Sep 28th, 12 pm, Twin Ponds - Clubs: Utica & New Hartford
Sunday Sep 30th, 6 pm, location TBD- Clubs: Oriskany Falls, Waterville, Morrisville & Hamilton
Thursday Oct 4th, 6 pm, Skaneateles CC - Clubs: Skaneateles, Auburn, Tully, Moravia, Aurora, Camillius, Marcellus

Friday Oct 4th, 6:30 pm The District hosted a reception for the Team, their Host Families and interested District Rotarians at St Paul's Cathederal in Syracuse to say good-bye to a great team.

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D7150 to Host D3820, the Philippines, during 2001-2002

June 16, 2001: The RI District 3820 GSE GSE team.

Pedro 'Pete' Cootauco, Jr.

D3820 GSE Team Leader:

CP/DS Pedro 'Pete' Cootauco, Jr. (Professor, Animal Breeding; RC Metro Lipa)

GSE Team Members

*Doris M. Mercado* Miss Doris M. Mercado (Plant Pathologist; RC Bay)	*Mayumi C. Abad* Miss Mayumi C. Abad (Sales Supervisor; RC Metro Lucena)
*Ginalyn H. Santos* Mrs. Ginalyn H. Santos (Information Technology, RC Los Banos, Makiling)	*Leonisa M. Almendrala* Mrs. Leonisa M. Almendrala (Certified Public Accountant; RC West Bay)

View District 3820 Website * View D3820 GSE page * Team bio's below

*Doris M. Mercado* Dors, as she is fondly called by her friends, earned her BSc. degree in Agriculture major in Plant Pathology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. As a science ethusiast, she enjoys her work as a Researcher at the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biochemistry Division of the International Rice Research Institute. During her spare time, she enjoys singing, dancing, reading, watching movies and cross stitching. She is also into volleyball and martial arts.		*Mayumi C. Abad* Mayumi, 32 and single is from Lucena City. "Yumi" as she is fondly called works as District Sales Manager of Eli Lilly (Philippines), Inc. She has 8 associates under her management, and is assigned in Quezon, Batangas, Mindoro and Marinduque Provinces. Yumi, a nature lover, is a member of a mountain climber group named "WeREBack". She also loves swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving in nearby beaches. During her past time, she usually bruises her PC, watches television, or listens to music.
*Ginalyn H. Santos* Gina works for International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Laguna as a Web Developer / Multimedia Designer Takes lead on concept creation and development, refinement of direction, and final refinement toward production. Develops then maintains existing internal and external web sites in collaboration with the Technical Editor/Writer for Multimedia. DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY, Manila, Philippines - December 1994.BS Computer Science with specialization in Information Technology. I got married to Noli Jose Santos on June 19, 1998. We now have an 8 month old baby named Hannah Drizzle Santos. Personal Interests are Sports: Swimming; Hobbies: Cooking, watching movies, reading novels, surfing the internet; Interests: Web page creation, programming, computers.		*Leonisa M. Almendrala* For 12 years, I have been in International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) rising from the rank of accountant to assistant manager. One of my responsibilities is to provide assistance and support to the manager in directing and coordinating accounting operations in Finance Division. This involves monitoring and generating financial statements of the Institute and financial reports of the projects funded by different donors. Our division is now undertaking a Financial Systems Renewal Project where we expect to make all processes and generation of reports on-line. After a busy workweek, Jimmy, my husband, and I spend our weekends visiting our parents or going to Manila to dine, watch movies or window shop. Once in a while, we also attend religious community meetings.

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Maps of the Philippines below

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Above: Pete & GSE team from Philippines; Right: Jim Austin, D7150 Team Leader; View pictures & bios of D7150 team below
Pete & GSE team with mother & baby from Philippines & our D7150 Gift of Life program	With New Hartford President Marlene & Utica Rotary President Lou at combined meeting
Pete & team present to Columbus School	Explaining to students where Philippines is
Climbing in the Adirondack Mountains	In Central Upstate New York
Fun at FAO Schwartz in NYC!	Enjoying St. Patrick's Cathedral
Rockefeller Center in NYC	Walking through Times Square
Runners World & Distance Hall of Fame	At Sauquoit Rotary, picture taken by Fran
Gina & Marlene sharing web skills to create GSE picture page on vocational day at Marlene's office	GSE team at Saratoga, NY District 7150 Conference
GSE team greeted at airport on their arrival	DG & Eastwood Club host GSE team