Welcome American Volunteers!

The international powers of blogging were highlighted last night at Rotary Club of Colombo Regency's Long-Term Relief Project meeting with the attendance of three Californian volunteers - including one Rotarian. Joe Dacanay, Caroline Upton and Drake Mosier arrived in Colombo yesterday afternoon after nearly 24 hours of travel from their homes in Napa Valley, CA and Halfmoon Bay, CA. Successfully battling jet-lag, they managed to attend RCCR's evening meeting at our Colombo relief goods "warehouse"

Although Caroline was planning on traveling to Sri Lanka to work with an international relief organization, after Joe (a 12-year veteran of his Rotary Club in CA) contacted Chamila Wickramasinghe, RCCR's secretary, through this blog and was invited to help Rotary's efforts, she decided to join him. "It was a more concrete connection to the relief effort," she said. Both she and Joe are Emergency Medical Technicians for Napa Country Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team and long-time volunteers. Caroline's medical experience has taken her to Nepal, Belize and Africa. Drake, a friend of Joe and Caroline who had been raising funds for the relief effort here, decided to join them and provide logistical support in camps.

Tomorrow, January 11th, they will be traveling to Kalmunai, in the Eastern Province, and meeting with that town's Rotary Club, with which RCCR put them into contact. The Kalmunai Rotary Club will be placing them in nearby villages in need of medical assistance and logistical help. The three of them may spend their entire ten days volunteering in this area.

They also hope to also help install at camps the water purification systems which RCCR received last week from Switzerland through a Rotary donation but has not yet been able to distribute. These Rotary connections continue to astound us...

Thank you and welcome Joe, Caroline and Drake!