Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to
the Community.
Heroes of Hope, a podcast wherewe shine a light on the
remarkable individuals andprojects in Rotary District 5330
that bring hope and change toour local and global communities
.
I am Judy Zelfikar, yourco-host and the current District
Governor of Rotary District5330.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And I'm Niren McLean,
the Rotary District
Governor-Elect, and I'm NirenMcLean, the Rotary District
Governor-Elect.
Together, we're diving deepinto the heart of the community
service, showcasing the impactof dedication and collaboration
in addressing some of the mostpressing challenges our
communities face.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Each episode, we'll
tell stories of incredible
people making a difference,innovating solutions and
inspiring others to take action.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
We'll also be giving
you a behind-the-scenes look at
the projects that aretransforming their lives, and
we'll discuss how you, too, canget involved, contribute and be
part of the positive change.
Whether you're a seasonedRotarian or just looking to give
back, this podcast is for you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So join us as we
explore the journeys, challenges
and successes of people likeyou who have stepped up to make
a difference.
Let's celebrate the spirit ofcommunity and the power of hope
together.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
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Stay with us on this journey ofinspiration and let's spread
the message of hope further thanever.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Thank you for tuning
in.
Let's get started.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Governor Judy, I'm
excited today to talk to Carissa
and Pedro about the VTT team.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, I'm excited too
.
Carissa was one of my fellowVTT members that went down to
Brazil, and we got to meet Pedroas well while we were there.
So why don't we toss it toCarissa and have her tell us a
little bit about who she is andhow she got to know Pedro?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Thank you, judy.
My name is Carissa and, asmentioned, I was a part of the
VTT that visited Brazil thefirst week of December last year
and I had the absolute pleasureand honor of being hosted by
Pedro's family.
Pedro is my family now.
I've been officially adopted bythe Camargos and I'm delighted
to continue our conversation andour report today.
Pedro is also an activeinteractor in his community.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Welcome.
Welcome, Pedro.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about yourself?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yes, hello guys.
My name is Pedro Camargo.
I'm from Brazil, as you alreadyknow, and I met you guys
through the VTC program.
I was blessed to receiveCarissa here at our humble home,
and now we're a family, afamily between abroad countries.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That's wonderful, I
tell you.
The roots for District 5330,for VTTs and for Brazil goes
very deep, because I rememberwhen I was president of my club
we had a VTT in from Maringá,and Gessara Perin and a few
(03:26):
other people came up to us andhad a wonderful, wonderful time,
and then I was able to go toBrazil not to Maringá but to Sao
Paulo for the RotaryInternational Convention.
So I look forward to getting toMaringá and seeing some of my
friends again.
But this is wonderful and thelong arms of the Rotary family
(03:52):
reach out across the ocean.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Absolutely.
As a matter of fact, jassara waswith us on this team.
She was one of the individualsthat helped us with our
interaction and our translationwhen we were at the various
locations, and Pedro wasactually another translator that
helped us navigate our waythrough our vocational training
(04:15):
experience that we had down inMaringa, where we were able to
visit hospitals and bring aprogram of mental health
resilience to that area and workwith students to sort of pilot
that program down in that area.
And while we were there and Ithink this is the best part
(04:35):
about the vocational trainingteam is not only are we
exchanging ideas that's thepurpose of vocational training,
exchanging ideas from onedistrict to the other but it's
the relationships that we buildwith those that we're
interacting with, those familiesthat we stay in the homes of
and the families that we makefamilies from when we visit them
(04:58):
.
And that's really what we'retalking a bit about today,
because and I'm going to letKrista, I'm going to let you
tell this story about why aboutPedro, and you know what we
worked on with him while we werethere and that relationship
that was built while we werethere in Marigot.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I'm going to try to
not get emotional about it
because I'm just I'm so proud ofPedro as mentioned, he was so
instrumental in our programmingfor the week that we were there
and quite unexpectedly waslaunched into situations where
he had to be an on-the-spottranslator and did a phenomenal
job with that.
But our entire VTT was justabsolutely blown away with Pedro
(05:43):
and his leadership and hisinvolvement with us throughout
the week that at the end of theweek we asked if we could help
support a service project thathis Interact Club was currently
working on.
So I would like for Pedro totalk to us a little bit more
about that and where the projectstands.
(06:03):
But we pulled together somefunds to help get them across
the finish line yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
So first of all,
thank you judy, thank you
carissa, uh, for the, the, thegood words.
Uh, you guys spoke about me.
I'm really glad to know.
Even though my English is kindof rusty, I could translate some
stuff and help you guysunderstand and make this
(06:35):
exchange of ideas andexperiences possible through the
VTT program.
So, about our project it wasphenomenal.
I don't know if you guys want toshow the video of the moments.
(07:00):
You guys gave us the donationto finish this project we were
organizing, but we were at areunion, it was one of the last
days of the VGT program and, man, I just got so emotional that
(07:25):
moment.
It was so special to me to knowthat, even Like what I did
there was not looking foranything in particular, right, I
just wanted to train my English, help you guys understand more
(07:49):
about our culture, and it wassuch a wonderful experience
About the project that Carissaasked.
We initially had the idea to doan intonation of musical
instruments such as violins,guitars, etc.
(08:11):
To an institution here inMaringá institution here in
(08:36):
Maringá, but talking a littlemore with the to a shelter of
kids called SOS, which will helpthem learn they're humble kids
and it will help them learn moreabout tech stuff I don't know
(09:02):
how to say it and prepare betterto the working environment,
their life in general.
So we're really glad of yourhelp and support about this
project.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I think it's
wonderful that, because you
helped us, we were in turn ableto do something for you that
will benefit the community, andI think that's the beauty of
Rotary, right.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
It is the power of
Rotary.
It's quite extraordinary and Ithink that, pedro and Carissa,
you were able to experience thatand that's something that we'd
like to really spread out to therest of the clubs and the rest
of the district because theyhave not had that opportunity
and I've done VTTs to Haiti, etcetera as well and the impact
(09:51):
it's truly through those kindsof international opportunities
that you really get to see thepower of the organization that
you belong to.
A lot of people get lost in thelocal clubs, but when you
realize that the organizationyou belong to is a worldwide
organization and you truly formfriendships and can have impacts
a world away, it's quitedramatic.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yes, and these unique
experiences that last a
lifetime.
You know when you think, oh, Idon't have time, that might be,
you know, that might be hard onmy schedule.
And then, when you dive in,like our VTT team did and like
Carissa did, and Pedro eventaking time out of his own time
at home, you know to be able tothen develop lifelong
(10:37):
friendships and relationshipsthat will go on for years and
years.
Pedro, back to the impact howmany kids do you think are going
to be impacted by the projectthat you and your Interact Club
were able to put togetherthrough the donations of the VTT
team?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
of the VTT team.
So about the project we aim totarget about 10 children that
they're going to be using thecomputer across the day to learn
more about I don't know thewords, but to educate themselves
(11:23):
with programs, softwares andhow to use a computer basically
right, which is extremelyimportant in the work
environment in the school andmany, many it's a.
(11:43):
It's a subject that schoolshere in brazil, especially
public schools, don't teach andare young.
You know my generation, gen Z,the next one, one of the younger
ones, we are pretty, we aremuch more tech-savvy.
(12:11):
You know we are better atdealing with this kind of
technology and understand whatto do in different situations
and being released nowadays thatour generation is having a
(12:40):
serious problem with dealingwith the softwares like Word,
microsoft Word, excel,powerpoint in their working
environment.
So the goal of this project isto help better prepare these
children to the future.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
That's wonderful.
And, pedro, may I ask how oldyou are?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I'm 19,.
A few days ago.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Congratulations and
happy birthday.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Yeah, thank you, but
unfortunately I'm going to have
to leave Interact soon becauseof my age.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
But you can join
Rotaract, yeah, I can.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
I can join B others
Rotaract as well.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, exactly.
So, as we wrap this up, carissa, what would you say about this
extended experience or part ofyour VTT experience?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, I think, first
of all, pedro is very humble
about his English speakingskills, but I am not being
modest when I say my Portugueseis not strong at all, and I
think what was really?
That's not true, that's nottrue.
I tried my best to do a lingoand Pedro was a great tutor
while I was there.
But you know I think kindnessand you know the mission of
(14:08):
Rotary really transcendslanguage and language barriers
and I personally was just sotouched by the friendships we
formed, by you know, themessages that were conveyed, not
only through our translators,but just being in the presence
of people who genuinely arethere to do good and want to do
good things in the community.
(14:28):
I mean again, pedro and hisfamily are my adopted family now
, so we're in touch prettyregularly and it's just
something that I would encourageany Rotarian to explore.
Any avenue of internationalservice that could connect you
with Rotarians around the worldis just so enriching.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
And Pedro, I will
officially extend an offer for
you to come visit us inCalifornia.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I think that would be
.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
No way.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I think Carissa would
love that and we would too.
I think Carissa would love thatand we would too, and I'd love
to get a chance to meet you.
But it's very exciting to seethe Rotary extend throughout the
world and to see you, as ayoung man, really getting
involved and helping people.
That's something that's takenfor granted, but it doesn't
(15:24):
happen a lot in life, and Ithink that's something unique
that Rotary is able to bring.
So thank you for being theperson you are and really
extending yourself not only toCarissa and the VTT, but being a
Rotarian and helping yourcommunity and change the world.
That's what it's all about.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Absolutely.
Thank you.
I'm so glad to hear that and I,I, I, I mean I wanted to know
how far we are going here withthe podcast.
Right, I don't want to extendmyself too much, but I mean I
(16:00):
started to join Interact in areally hard and difficult time
for me.
You know I was a pretty anxiousboy, shy, and didn't really
have a plan of what to do in thefuture.
(16:20):
And joining Interact, going onprojects, helping people really
helped me from across countriesand sharing my experience, in
(16:59):
hope this reaches someone maybelike me, like me who I was some
years ago before joining AIDS.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Well, we are
absolutely blessed and honored
to have not only spent time withyou when we were in Brazil, but
for you to join us today andspread this message far and wide
.
It is, hopefully, we'll goaround the world and do exactly
what you just said, which istouch somebody's heart that is
in a place where they're, youknow, trying to find their
journey, and you're going tohelp them do that.
(17:31):
So hope to see you.
Maybe you will join the VTTteam that's coming back this
direction.
It is truly an exchange, so wedo go back and forth from one
district to another around theworld and we hope to see you
soon.
Thank you for joining us today.
Thank you, carissa, for joiningus, and we look forward to
sharing this podcast with asmany people around the world
(17:54):
that we can touch.
So that wraps up this episodeof Heroes of Hope.
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Rotary Community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the
word out about the impact we'rehaving in this world.