Portland Pearl Rotary Club

African Road - Sustainability in Africa
"What does it mean to come aside these incredible leaders so they can be more sustainable?"

That was an observation posed to Pearl Rotarians April 14 when African Road executive director and co-founder Kelly Bean (left) spoke. For nearly two decades, the Portland area-based non-profit has supported "changemakers" in five Eastern African countries including Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. African Road succeeds, Kelly said, by recognizing leadership, building international friendships and enhancing community-based projects.

Even when "there's no money in the bank."

Joining Kelly at the Ecotrust podium was Portia Manjengwa (right), African Road director of finance (no small task for an organization that reported $1.7 million in revenue in 2024, per its annual report shared with Rotarians). The two speakers noted connections with Rotary, both in African Road's founding and also their similar mission.

"We believe in elevating 'Service Above Self,'" Portia proclaimed, citing one credo of RI.

African Road firmly focuses "on the people on the continent as our peers," Portia continued. "So often [committed] money and resources mean dominance…African Road comes in as peers...seeking to really work alongside the relationships as equal participants."

The duo came to PPRC for both a summary of African Road and also to promote its "Rooted and Rising Gala Fundraiser" on Sunday, May 3, at Montgomery Park beginning at 2:30 p.m. Advanced registration is available at: africanroad.org/gala-2026.

The parallel mode of initiating international community building was a theme echoed as the guests closed.

"True change doesn't come from outside sources," Kelly believes. "It comes from stories on the ground. We bridge the connection between friends on our side of the world and the people [in Africa]. True change, change that lasts, is led by local visionaries."

Rotary International has a similar emphasis on combining local involvement and sustainability. Note the new RI theme for 2026-27: "Create Lasting Impact."

Pearl Rotarians reunite with y.e.
Gab, his father, & French Rotarians

(Contributed by Past President Jonelle Anderson, reporting from France for this week's Post)

Three members of the Portland Pearl Rotary Club were recently hosted by the Segre Haut-Angou R.C., not far from Angers, France, where Jonelle Anderson, Mike Steen and Janet Young were visiting. Gabriel ("Gab") Bobard, PPRC's inbound exchange student from last year, arranged the visit between members of the two clubs.

Gab collected the Portland team from Angers and transported them to Gab's village about 45 minutes away. They first had a nice visit at his family's jewelry store, owned and operated by several generations. Then it was time to meet some club members at a Rotary service project

Supported both financially and with work efforts, the small urban farm hosts youngsters with intellectual challenges who gain expertise and fellowship while working with the animals. The farm is a partner of the Segre club and is a non-profit. Youngsters from the area come for the day or a week. They learn responsibility by tending to darling goats and bunnies.

Once a month, Segre Rotarians visit a project and have dinner. But no work was done on our visit. Most members came from work, it appeared. The chair of the project gave a short presentation as we stood with the goats. A reporter from the local paper was there for a story.

Afterward, the members and spouses adjourned to a restaurant where a sumptuous dinner was served. White tablecloths donned the tables and champagne preceded the three-course French meal. Gab's dad, Franck (shown in his presidential regalia), introduced the guests. Pearl Past President Janet spoke of how wonderful it was to host Gab for the year and what an outstanding exchange student he had been. (Janet was PPRC president during his year in Oregon.)

Gab provided the translation. Past President Jonelle, the only English-French speaker, finished the presentation by referring to Gab and saying, "Il a vole nos coeurs" (He stole our hearts).

Postscript: The Americans also met Gab for a typical French brunch on Sunday. We all hope to see Gab and his family in Portland when they visit this summer.

Pictures: Pearl Rotarians with Gab...then with his father Franck...visiting a farm service project of his club...and then presiding at an evening with Segre Rotarians, guests and spouse, and Janet, Jonelle and Michael from Oregon.

"Lasting impact" of Rotary--
from polio to cervical cancer

Before Pearl Rotary's President-Elect Kyrsten Schenck spoke, songmaster Jerry Baysinger appropriately--and optimistically--led the club with a Bob Marley standard:

"Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be alright."

Kyrsten ("Kiki" to most Rotarians) led the March 31 program after her recent PELS (President-Elect Learning Seminar) experience. She cited Rotary's worldwide achievements--polio eradication, water and sanitation projects, relief efforts (including Ukraine), basic education, food, housing, health care, etc.

"Together we take action [for] lasting change," Kiki summarized. (Cited was next year's RI theme: "Create Lasting Impact.")

She next turned the focus on Pearl Rotary, the Portland, Ore. club she'll lead for a year beginning July 1.

"It inspires me what our club does around the world," Kiki reflected, "...our sense of commitment. We care about the world."

Club members, organized at round tables at the Ecotrust conference room, were encouraged to "look inward...where we are, what we can do. What brought you to Rotary? What keeps you?"

Pride in past achievements, the cohesive and caring experience of PPRC members, the commitment to current and future service projects (from Portland to Kenya)--all were mentioned. There was a sense in the room that Pearl's future, soon in the leadership hands of Kiki, is "gonna be alright."

Rotary's nearly four-decade mission to defeat the scourge of polio had been cited by Kiki (including the image above from a vaccination drive). Her presentation then turned to Rotarian Alan Bacharach and his introduction of a new, significant focus: cervical cancer. 350,000 women die annually from this cancer (4,000 in the United States).

Alan learned of Operation Wipe Out when attending last year's RI convention in Calgary. A statewide project in Alabama initiated three years ago by the Birmingham RC now has a wider Rotary focus.

The disease is largely preventable through HPV vaccination and regular Pap/HPV screening, Alan emphasized. A web search revealed that the WHO (World Health Organization) has set a goal to eliminate cervical cancer as a major public health threat by 2030.

Alan compares this evolving worldwide cervical cancer effort to "like polio, now in its 40th year and home stretch." Operation Wipe Out, he declared, will "save life, eliminate morbidity."

The next RI theme echoed as the breakfast meeting ended: "Create Lasting Impact."

Lisa Reynolds- State senator returns to club

Oregon state Senator Lisa Reynolds again addressed Pearl Rotarians on 3/24 to give an overview of the 2026 legislative session (including her priorities), to share a preview of potential 2027 issues, and to update the club on how Oregon is adjusting to the changing federal landscape. Reynolds, whose boundary includes the Pearl District and other parts of Northwest PDX, had previously spoken on July 22, 2025, before the session..

The working pediatrician (she said she had medical patients awaiting her) offered both legislative action reviews and relayed what had been her priorities. Reynolds spoke about tax code changes, new protections on shield laws for health care providers, and legal updates protecting ski areas from liability exposure. She supported financial assistance to update the Moda Center for Portland's NBA team. "The Trail Blazers need and deserve our support," she believes, adding the approval included funding from thecagers' compensation. "The money we're using for this is garnered from the players."

"Personal wins," she cited: "action to protect young people on social media" (she referred to a recent sixteen-year-old's su***de, widely covered in the media)...authorization for the state's public health officer to determine vaccine choice. She also favors measures on gun violence protection ("started," in the state) and "protecting our neighbors from the overreach of ICE" (that would require a ban on masks and visible IDs).

For '27? Reynolds sees the financial constraints from the Trump administration as "very sobering, very scary, very cruel." She vowed to work "to protect ourselves from this totalitarian regime."