by Emily Francona
Melissa was sponsored for membership by GSE team leader Emily Francona.
On August 1, GSE team leader Emily Francona and GSE team member - and new Port Orford Rotarian - Melissa Weinblatt presented a slide show and trip report to the Rotary Club of Bandon. Melissa has spent a lot of time working in Bandon and is well-known to the members of the club.
Melissa with Club President Jim Wathen
Melissa explained the GSE program and her experiences in Argentina, including how their clubs differ from ours, and the difference in how women are treated in the various vocations. Of course, Melissa is best known for "the tractor story."
On July 17, GSE team leader Emily Francona and GSE team member Melissa Weinblatt presented a slide show and trip report to the Rotary Club of Port Orford. The Port Orford club is the home club of the team leader and was the sponsoring club for Port Orford resident Melissa.
Melissa explained her portions of the vocational exchange and the opportunities afforded her through this program paid for by The Rotary Foundation (TRF) - all those contributions we make over the years. Although they had fun and did get to visit some tourist sites - including the world-famous Iguazu Falls - this was not a vacation. Long days and numerous evening Rotary meetings - see photo above....
Melissa's experiences were humorous and moving - everyone favorite is "the tractor story."
For the Port Orford club, it was money well spent - meet the newest (and youngest) Port Orford Rotarian - Melissa Weinblatt.
Emily Francona, 2008 District 5110 GSE Team Leader extends best wishes and congratulations to her new friends in District 4790 on the occasion of Argentina's Independence Day.
The Argentine flag presented to her by District 4790 GSE Team Leader Osvaldo Gonzalez flew at Emily's house on July 9.
This appeared in the Letters section of the July 2008 issue of The Rotarian magazine.
Keep on bloggin'
As 2008 Groups Study Exchange team leader for District 5110, I was pleased to read a letter in the March issue advocating that teams keep blogs to inform more Rotarians about programs funded by their generous contributions. Readers may wish to track the adventures of two teams exchanging between District 5110 in Oregon, USA and District 4790 in northern Argentina, at www.district5110gse2008.org and igeoregon2008.blogspot.com.
Emily Francona
Port Orford, Ore., USA
May 29-31 - The annual District 5110 Conference was held in Eugene at the Hilton Hotel. Our team met up with our counterpart team from District 4790.
Team leaders Osvaldo (4790) and Emily (5110)
Osvaldo begins the Argentine portion of the two-team presentation
The two teams after the presentation
District 5110 team member Heather with District 4790 team leader Osvaldo in the "Rotary Idol" talent show
May 27 - The team arrived home in Oregon.
Next team activity will be at the District 5110 conference, May 30-31 at the Eugene Hilton.
Watch for an article about this blog in the July issue of The Rotarian magazine.
Thanks to all our supporters and sponsors for this wonderful opportunity.
Lisa Cortes
Heather Navarette-Linnemayer
Kelly Talbert
Melissa Weinblatt
Listen while you read (press the play button) -May 26 - The team has begun the 8,000 mile trip back home - they are scheduled to arrive in Eugene on Tuesday afternoon.
The team - and its counterpart inbound team from Argentina - will make a presentation at the District 5110 Conference in Eugene on Friday, May 30 at 4:00pm in the Composers II Room of the Hilton Hotel.
The team will also be available in the House of Sharing throughout the conference.
My final vocational visit here in Formosa was one of the best! I was able to get to know Carlos and Javier, father and son veterinarians and owners of Eme Y Ene Instituto de Reproduccion Animal.
In true Argentine fashion, I was originally told that we were just going to the campo for a few hours - well, after a tour of the facility, an asado (made especially for me I might add), a few glasses of wine and much discussion regarding industry politics and economics, etc.– I finally made it back to my host family’s house just as Emily was preparing to send a search party – SEVEN HOURS LATER! This is certainly a reflection of the culture as time is just a variable. And, of course, we don’t have cell phones to communicate with one another, so I was truly at the mercy of my vocational hosts.
We, as a team, have slowly learned to adapt to this over time, however I don’t think that this is something that I could ever fully embrace. I can probably count on one hand how many times during this exchange I was actually picked up for an activity within fifteen minutes of the designated time. Many, many times we waited and waited, sometimes thirty, forty or even close to an hour to be retrieved. At home, if I am running behind even ten minutes, I try to call and let the person expecting my arrival know that I am at least on my way, etc. This, however, is not part of the culture here. I am not saying this to be critical, it is just an observation.
Okay - so some interesting vocational information:
A peon, fieldworker or ranch hand, in the Formosa area receives the following monthly benefits according to my sources. Keep in mind that this is variable depending upon the enterprise, just as it is in our country:
• Approximately US$500
• Housing and food (family included)
The following are paid by the employer to the government and then paid to the employee:
• Insurance (an additional US$16 per child per month on top of the base rate)
• US$10 educational credit per child per month (to be used for transportation to school. Families in the campo are often far from any form of public transportation and are therefore subsidized.)
This establishment raises a variety of breeds, but specializes in Bradford and Brangus due to high demand from clients in this area. This was a VERY progressive operation and featured, by far, the NICEST cattle that I have seen in Argentina. It was like going to the State Fair. Almost all of the cattle were clipped and fitted as if they were to be shown the next day.
They work very closely with a number of enterprises in the United States and Canada. It was very easy to find things to talk about and truly felt like a vocational exchange rather than a show and tell. A truly interesting and satisfying culmination of my vocational exchanges here in Argentina.
I feel so fortunate to have such a fabulous family to stay with in Formosa - the Mora family is amazing. Nestor and Celina are both dentists - orthodontists - and have a private clinic where they do amazing things with people's teeth.
I had the opportunity to have a private class in porcelain implants with titanium screws. They have a photo journal (left - click on image for larger view) showing the many steps in the process of pulling teeth and recreating a perfect bite with implants. It has a huge effect on the pressure distribution in the mouth and entire head.
I specialize in working on the cranial bones in which they implant the screws, so it was very interesting for me to see that side of dental care and know how to better help my clients that have had such implants.
It is incredible to see their finished product, a beautiful smile. They have the best technology in computers and x-ray equipment, better than my own dentist back home.
I would definitely feel comfortable with them working on my teeth anytime. They are are very professional and put a lot of attention to diagnosis and care in their techniques.
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