ROTARY DISTRICT 5100
Partners In Service Biographies
/ M.A.T. CAPARASRotary Club of Manila, Philippines
Past R.I. President 1986-87
Past Rotary Foundation Trustees Chairman 1991-92
PDG District 380
MAT is a retired lawyer, a graduate of the University of the Philippines and HarvardLawSchool, and is a former director of the Philippine Bar Association. He was a delegate to the Philippine Constitutional Convention of 1971, and has served as chair of the board of a community bank in CA, USA, and still sits a director on a number of corporate boards. He also chairs foundations that assist the formation and operation of Rotary Community Corp. A Rotarian since 1959, MAT has served as District Governor, International Assembly group discussion leader, committee member and chair, Foundation trustee and chair, director, vice president and president of Rotary International. He has received the PolioPlus Pioneer Award for his extraordinary service to PolioPlus.
/ CAROLYN E. JONES
Rotary Club of Anchorage East, AK, USA
Rotary Foundation Trustee
PDG District 5010
Chairperson Zone 22 Rotary Institute 2004
Carolyn hails from Tarrytown, NY and graduated from StanfordUniversity with distinction and received her LL.B from YaleLawSchool. She practiced law for 31
Years as a supervising attorney and Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alaska. Carolyn joined the Rotary Club of Anchorage East in 1987. She headed the “Rotary Open World” committee that coordinated the US Livery of Congress sponsored visits to the USA of emerging Russian leaders. She has received numerous awards and distinctions throughout her career included the Rotary Service Above Self (Rotary International), Citation for Meritorious Service (The Rotary Foundation), Making a Difference for Women (Soroptimists) and Volunteer of the Year (Russian Children’s Foundation) and Mercy and Charity (Tomsk, Russia Legislature) Awards. Carolyn has traveled to Russia 29 times in her service to rotary, five as a Rotary Volunteer.
/ AURORE M. GAYON
Rotary Club of Cotonou Center, Benin
2006-07 President of Rotary Club of Cotonou Centre, Zongo Cotonou, Benin
Officer and Director 2003-2005
Rotoractor of Rotoract club of Cotonou Lagune, 1999-2001
Aurore’s Rotary Classification is Human Resources, as a consultant and Director of the Consultancy Firm Resources Plus.
Since her first involvement in Rotary in 1999, she discovered World Community Service projects and became instantly involved in them from drafting plans through implementation with international partners. In her visit to District 5100 she hopes to have many fruitful exchanges with Rotarians of other countries, share her experiences to date in running WCS projects in her country, and create more bonds to help those less fortunate in the world.
/ JOHN KIRKWOOD
Rotary Club of Jinja, Uganda
District 9200 Rotary Foundation Scholarship Chair, 2006-07
Uganda Rotary Scholarship Committee, 2004-06
Past President, Rotary Club of Jinja 2004-05
Club Officer and Director 1996-2006
John joined the Rotary Club of Jinja in 1995. His classification is Educational Trust Administration.
Since joining Rotary, John has actively participated in 10 Rotary International Conventions (1997-2006), organizing the Kids in Class exhibits in Barcelona, Brisbane and Copenhagen. He has actively participated in World Community Service Projects from start to finish and hopes to create more awareness on this trip and develop more friendships with Partners in District 5100.
/ FABIO PEREZ
Rotary Club of San Jose, Costa Rica
District Governor 2005-06
International Guest Speaker, District 7040 & 5170
P.E.T.S. Speaker
Chair, District Development and Growth Committee
Chair, Uniedo America Project Fair
Chair 3-H Uniedo America
Fabio has been a member of the San Jose Rotary Club since 1994. His classification is Tax Lawyer. He actively leads projects and project fairs in Costa Rica and is a well sought after speaker for other Rotary Districts and conferences around the world. World Community Service has been his primary focus and passion throughout his Rotary career and hopes to build bridges of friendship, understanding and collaboration among our Districts as he visits District 5100.
/ DAVID STEVENSON
Rotary Club of Sarapee Chiang Mai, Thailand
By profession David is an Aid Development Coordinator. Since 2002 he has managed Rotary projects in the golden Triangle area of Asia promoting clean water, safe sanitation, accommodation for refugees, and schools and training facilities. He has first hand knowledge of planning, promotion, raising awareness of WCS projects, coordinating volunteer teams from around the world, including the Singapore, Australia, USA and Canada.
David’s expectation for World Community Service is to make a world fit for children.
/ JAUANITO “Sonny” VENTURA
Rotary Club of Downtown Manila
Charter President, Rotary Club of Downtown Manila, 1978
First District Governor, District 3810, 1985
RI Presidential Appointments from 1987-present
Sonny’s list of involvements, awards and posts in Rotary since joining in 1973 is extensive. He has been appointed to chair multiple committees, forums and teams by virtually every Rotary International President since 1987. His solid achievements as district governor and world leader continue to leave their marks in his Club, District and Rotary International. He is also the contact person for the WCS No. 2178 RotaryHealthCenter and WCS No. 4185 Mobile Dental Service which attends to the medical and dental needs of the less privilege people in his district and surrounding areas.
/ RENATO VILLALOBOS
Rotary Club of Coatepeque Colomba, Guatemala
President, Rotary Club of Coatepeque Colomba, 1990-91, 1995-96
WCS Chair 1985-86, 85-91, 96-99
WCS Chair, District 4250, 2006-07
Renato was inducted into the Rotary Club of Coatepeque Colomba in 1982 with a classification of Internal Medicine. His Rotary involvement has been actively and heavily centered on World Community Service as a club and district officer throughout his entire Rotary career. He currently has several WCS health projects active in Guatemala, and while participating in the Partners in Service Fair hopes to continue to expand cooperation between Districts and explore new programs for fellowship, group study exchange and other forms of cooperation.
/ BRUNO SOUZA
Rotary Club of Tigard, OR , USA
Native of Campos Altos, Brazil
Bruno joined Rotary in 2005, yet he is no stranger to the international Rotary world. He is the son of Past District Governor Souza (35 year Rotarian) of Brazil District 4760 in Brazil and has been involved in Rotary all his life.
Bruno currently resides in Tigard, OR, is a member of Tigard Breakfast, an import trader by profession. He is actively involved the “New Life” project with Brazil with focus on “Planting Solidarity”, designed to teach poverty stricken families to work for themselves as an alternative source of income in the off season of farming. The project was started in 2001 with only 22 families (59 adults, 14 teenager, 27 children). Families are taught self sufficiency by growing crops for their family and selling what they don’t need for profit.
/ ELIJA THOMAS
Rotary Club of South Berwick, ME,USA
Past District Governor
Excerpt from Rotary International Article, By Bettina Kozlowski
Rotary International News 3/1/06
“Rebuilding after the December 2004 tsunami that devastated southeast Asia will not happen in one momentous event. Rotarians Elias Thomas III and Mark Little know it will happen, instead, person by person and brick by brick.
Not content with sending checks for tsunami relief, Thomas, a past governor from the Rotary club of South Berwick, Maine, USA, and Little, from the Rotary club of Norwich St. Edmund, Norfolk, England, decided they wanted to help build a village in India for tsunami victims. The village, called Pannithittu, is located on the coast of south India's state of Pondicherry. Pannithittu has become the first new permanent village for families left homeless by the tsunami in India.
Thomas and Little first learned about plans to build Pannithittu in April 2005 during their first tsunami mission in India. Arriving with nearly US$175,000 in seed money from Rotarians in England, and the United States, the two friends hoped to roll up their sleeves and join the rebuilding efforts of Project Hope. Swami Chidanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual leader and humanitarian activist, heads the initiative to rebuild post-tsunami communities in India.
Little and Thomas are proud of the modern features of the 100 homes in Pannithittu. Each home features modern plumbing, a well, and separate areas for kitchens and bedrooms….The two friends saw more than brick and mortar as evidence of their hard labor. During their first tsunami mission, Thomas and Little helped Project Hope build an orphanage in Cuddalore, India, which Rotarians from the United States, England, and India helped finance. “
-- Source, Rotary International,
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