Chilean Sister Club Hopes for Common Projects with RCHB
We received a warm letter from the president and secretary of our Sister Club, La Serena Oriente in Chile, and Anamaria Maraboli-Smith (president of the Sister Club when the relationship was forged) and her spouse, Malcolm Smith of the La Serena Rotary Club, were on hand for a second meeting of RCHB during their Hawaii visit. (The letter is further down.)
Anamaria and Malcolm filled us in about the rural schools their clubs serve and talked about the local value of "Dar de si antes de pensar en si" — giving of yourself without thinking of yourself." It called to mind local adages: Hawaiian: Kahiau—"giving of yourself without expecting anything in return", and the Japanese: Okage Sama De—"I am what I am because of you." These values are part of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawaii mission statement. And, of course, of Rotary's "Service Above Self."
Anamaria explained that the rural area is poor and so support of the schools is a major effort for their Club. They take the kids to the beach, where some have never been before, have talks on subjects such as astronomy and international exchange.
And through Rotary, these Chilean Clubs are hoping to create a global awareness of the need for education about tsunami. Right now, the project is in the survey phase, Malcolm said, with the Utica (New York) Sunrise Rotary Club contributing $7,000. "If each district contributed $3,000, we could launch the actual project," he said.
During their Hilo visit, Anamaria and Malcolm visited the historic Bayfront clock, once the center of Waiakea town, before the town was devastated and the clock was stopped by the 1960 tsunami. They visited with the 96-year-old man who cares for the clock area. (9-hole Naniloa golf course borders clock area now.)
That same tsunami destroyed coastal areas in South Chile, too. The online photos are similar to Hilo’s.
From Wikipedia:
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake (Spanish: Terremoto de Valdivia/Gran terremoto de Chile) of Sunday, 22 May 1960 was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, rating 9.5 on the moment of magnitude scale. It occurred in the afternoon (19:11 GMT, 15:11 local time), and lasted approximately 10 minutes. The resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands.
We are fortunate to have connections like these through Rotary sister clubs.