Ni hao friends of Rotary and welcome back to the GSE blog! After serving as an alternate for the 2014 GSE Team, I am thrilled to announce that I will be representing Rotary District 6980 of Central Florida as a member of the 2015 Group Study Exchange Team!
On March 16, our GSE Team will travel to Taiwan, and we will spend a month with District 3460 of Taichung City. In these last two weeks before we depart, we are making final preparations for our trip, which includes rehearsing our presentation, packing up our Rotary pins, and meeting Rotary International President Gary Huong, who just so happens to hail from Taiwan! Before we jet off on a two-day journey to the other side of the world, allow me to introduce our team!
Meet Barry Gainer - Team Leader and Rotarian
Kind-hearted and sincere, Barry is a laid-back guy and a pleasure to be around. He has been married to Lynn for 44 years, and they have two daughters who are both married with children. Over the years, Barry has lived in Milwaukee, Detroit and New York City, but Orlando has been home for many years now. With a career that spans from accounting to owning his own business, Barry now works in real estate sales. He is a member of the Seminole County South Club and has been a Rotarian for 17 years. He has a philanthropist’s heart, and we are fortunate to have such a caring leader.
Meet Kyle Coon
A man of many talents, Kyle brings the adventurous spirit to our team. Kyle is an accomplished athlete, having competed in multiple marathons and summited some of the world’s highest mountains like Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount St. Helens. Due to a rare form of eye cancer, he lost his sight at age 6, but that fact has obviously not hindered his abilities to enjoy life. After growing up in Jacksonville, Kyle moved to Orlando to attend UCF and is now a Customer Care Professional for Lighthouse Works. He lives in East Orlando with Tyrone the Golden Retriever.
Meet Natalie Hamer
Like a sister to me, Natalie is a brilliant woman with a compassionate heart. Born in Iowa but raised in Naples, Florida, Natalie moved to Orlando to attend UCF. After graduation, Natalie spent two years living in Solerno, Italy before returning to the Sunshine State. Natalie is a loyal friend, and she has a heart for fighting against the many injustices we find in our community and around the world. She works for LIFT Orlando, a non-profit organization that seeks to break the cycle of poverty through asset-based community development. Natalie is sure to impress our Taiwanese friends with her professionalism and earnest nature.
Meet Fabio Vargas
Born and raised in Colombia, Fabio and his family moved to Florida when he was in high school. Fabio is a diligent worker, and he is a visionary. He studied Psychology and performed research at the Florida Mental Health Institute in South Florida, but after some time in the healthcare industry, he decided to make a switch in careers. Currently, he divides his time working in Tallahassee and Orlando, and his major role involves bringing electric bicycle programs to Florida as his company, Efficient Systems, works with local governments, Fabio has proven to be a reliable team player, and his business acumen will surely intrigue our hosts.
Meet Hailey Domeck
Orlando has been home for over four and a half years, which is exactly how long I’ve been married to Justin, a member of the 2014 GSE Team! However, I call many places home: Dothan, Alabama where I was born and raised, Greenville, South Carolina where I attended Furman University, and Madrid, Spain where I taught English for two years – just to name a few! After teaching and working in church ministry, I find myself in my first year as the Founder of my own travel website: Global Heartbeat. I have a passion to see the world and experience different cultures, and I can’t wait to recount my experiences in Taiwan on Global Heartbeat… once we return from this trip of a lifetime!
Updates from Taiwan
Our team is planning on taking turns writing for the blog to keep you all abreast of our journey. As many who have gone through the GSE experience would know, our days will be full of meetings, tours, and meals with our host Rotarians, and our beds may seem more appealing than writing a recap on any given night. We are going to try our best to offer up our thoughts on this incredible whirlwind of an experience! We hope you’ll subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a word! Also, you can keep up with our travels on our team's Facebook page and Twitter handle.
Thank You, Rotary:
We cannot fully express our gratitude to Rotary District 6980 and the Rotarians who are working so hard to send us on this incredible journey. A big THANK YOU goes to Chris Stubbs, the GSE coordinator, who has spent hours sifting through documentation, coordinating uniforms, and sending countless correspondences to our Taiwanese counterparts. We are grateful for his attention to the myriad of details that go into sending a team of 5 across the world! Thanks to Pete Burg and Bill Potter for our team’s photography and printed materials! And finally, we’d like to thank our Sponsoring Rotary Clubs and the District Governor, Jo Weber, for her support of this program.
And so, it is with excited hearts that the 2015 GSE Team say Xièxiè and Zàijiàn!
谢谢再见
No comments:
Post a Comment