This week, several of our members had the opportunity to attend an educational event hosted by the St Louis Park (MN) Rotary Club. The presenter was Dr. Rahel Nardos, who leads a group called Global Women’s Health. She works closely with doctors, hospitals, and clinics in sub-Saharan Africa. After our recent Global Traveler’s trip to Ethiopia, we were particularly interested in her work there.

Part of our club’s mission is to serve the world. One important way we do that is through grants. We’re in the planning process for the coming year, and many of our members have excellent ideas for grants. Our ability to do good in the world depends on our Global Travelers Foundation and the generosity of our members.

In March, 38 Global Travelers shared an amazing experience in the Amazon. We went in two groups, in two consecutive weeks. Member Ken Hiller has captured the wonder and magic of the trip is an immersive, informative video.

Several times a year, the members of our virtual club, scattered far and wide, work to “serve together, separately.” In honor of Earth Day and of Rotary’s April theme of the environment, Global Travelers will be doing their part to do something kind for the Earth.

The challenge runs from April 23 through May 28. During that time, we hope every Global Traveler will participate in some type of Earth-honoring activity or donate to an organization the protects the Earth.

Chesa Keane, an Associate member of Global Travelers, is a long-time consultant in many aspects of IT. As members of a virtual Rotary club, we are all, by definition, on-line to various degrees. Chesa is launching a new series to help us understand all things Internet. She starts with browser hygiene. Cookies, anyone?

The first week-end in April, thirty-two Global Travelers got together in Kansas City for fellowship and service. The weather was on the chilly side, with occasional spurts of rain, but conversation, laughs, and food were plentiful, and our hearts were warm.

President-Elect Lenet Compton and her husband Bob were our hosts for the week-end.

We’ve seen many of you wearing Global Travelers apparel (shirts, sweatshirts, etc) purchased from our Rotary Global Travelers Lands End Store. We love that!

But you’ve reported that getting hats through the store wasn’t really workable, so… We’ve placed a special order for hats. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to advertise that you’re a proud Global Traveler. We hope to see lots of GT hats at the RI Convention.

Our April 8 meeting included a quick tutorial on getting started with the IGNITE smartphone application and how to use some of its features. This article provides a recap of that tutorial. IGNITE is free and available for both Apple and Android devices wherever you get your apps.