District 5000 - The Rotary Foundation - 2007 NID

Kapolei Rotarians Joni Henderson, PP Sonya Mendez and Rhona Slingerland don authentic Ethiopian head scarves in preparation for the upcoming Rotary PolioPlus NID in Addis Ababa from Oct. 14-21. The trio will be bringing suitcases full of pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and rulers to school children in the city and the countryside. It will be Henderson's and Slingerland's first NID, and a second time for Mendez.

Other Hawaii Rotarians on this trip are PDG Roz Cooper, PAG Kristine Westmoreland, Bob Sullivan, Donna Files, Mike Elinski and Joe Lopez.

UPDATE August 2007:

Dear Fellow Rotarians:

Thank you for contacting us to express your interest in attending the West Africa Project Fair (WAPF) and National Immunization Days (NIDs) tour. We greatly appreciate your patience. Coordinating this program requires careful coordination with the Nigerian Rotarians, as well as detailed planning with the airlines, hotels, etc. However, we are now ready to announce the program and confirm your participation. The purpose of this e-mail is to send you information regarding this trip, and application so that you can join the trip.

Permit me to itemize the key details, as follows:

1. The NID/WAPF trip will depart November 10th and return November 20th. Click here for the PDF file that gives a detailed description of the trip, the price, the terms and conditions and an application.

2. To join the trip, we need a completed and signed application, AND a check of $400 per person. Deposits MUST be by check, and not credit cards, although the final and most substantial payment can be made by Visa or Master Card.

3. Based upon the capacity and limitations of the Nigerian Rotarians this trip must be limited to the first 100 people who sign up. Based on the number of people who have contacted us expressing interest in this trip, it seems like 300 people want to go. My point is that I expect this trip to sell out in one week to 10 days. I suggest that immediately upon your receipt of this notification, you send in the completed application and deposit. Further, you may want to consider sending this material by overnight delivery.

If you are planning on announcing this program to other people in your clubs, districts or Zones, please take immediate action. Once the tour is sold out, we will be unable to add to it.

4. Once our program is filled, we will create a waiting list in the order that we have received the completed application and deposit. If we cannot clear you off of the wait list, we will return your check to you without penalty.

5. Unfortunately, based on KLM Airline’s rules, no changes to the air reservations are possible. If you want to purchase the air reservations that come with the tour program, you will need to get to the origination city. However, please note that we are offering a “Land Only” package for those who would prefer to secure and purchase their own airline reservations. In this case, we will provide you with the ground services as stated in the enclosed material.

6. Finally, please note the comments in the attached material regarding the bedding situation at the hotel in Abuja. Anyone who will be traveling alone and may want to share a double occupancy room that the Rockview Royale Hotel ONLY has ONE king bed in each room. Therefore, by accepting a shared double occupancy room they MUST agree to share a bed. The only other option they have is to purchase a single supplement.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Otherwise, we look forward to having you and other Rotarians join us on what promises to be one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences in Rotary.

Best regards,

Bradford R. Howard

District Governor, 2002/2003

Rotary District 5170

516 Grand Avenue

Oakland, CA 94610

Phone: (510) 834-2260

FAX: (510) 834-1019

E-mail: BHoward@HowardTours.net

Dear Fellow Rotarian:

In late June, I sent out an e-mail advising you about the status of the upcoming National Immunization Days (NIDs) and West Africa Project Fair (WAPF) to be held in Nigeria this November. I have provided a copy of the correspondence below my signature in this e-mail.

The purpose of this correspondence is to update you on the status of the plans for the trip to the NID and WAPF. Over the past week, I have received a number of messages inquiring whether or not we have finalized the travel program to Nigeria and if people can start signing up. For clarity, permit me to itemize the update:

1. We are well on our way to having all of our reservations finalized. Our air reservations are being made on Northwest/KLM airlines. We have requested all of the necessary reservations and are still waiting for our requests to be confirmed. We believe the process is on track and we will have those shortly. The Local Organizing Committee of the West Africa Project Fair is considering changing the venue of the Fair. Obviously, we will need to wait until this decision is made before we will finalize the hotel accommodations in Abuja.

2. We are in almost daily dialogue with the Rotarian leadership for the NIDs and WAPF. The list of “open” items is shrinking. The organizing committee for both the NIDs and WAPF will be meeting later this week to finalize many details that will be necessary before we can fully prepare our program. Once they have made their decisions, we may need to make adjustments in our program.

3. To remind us all, our group will depart for Nigeria on Saturday, 10 November, where we will overnight in Amsterdam before arriving in Abuja on 12 November. We will return to the U.S. on Tuesday, 20 November (the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving – we will all have much for which to be thankful!) The capacity of our group remains at 100 people.

4. In June, we had hoped to have our final Program Offering completed by July 15th. We now do NOT expect to meet this date. Instead, we are hoping to have the material available in approximately two weeks.

5. When trip information is available, we will forward you a PDF file that will contain everything you need to know to join the program. The information will include a detailed itinerary, trip price, general information about the trip, detailed information about what is, and is not, included in the price of the trip, an application and instructions on how to join the program. As long as you respond within a few days of receiving the information, we expect to have sufficient space to accommodate everyone who has inquired to date.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TO PREPARE FOR THE TRIP AT THIS TIME: Make sure your passport is valid through May 30, 2008.

We will keep you informed regarding any changes or updates in the information about the group. Thank you for your patience and understanding in giving us time to organize this program. We want to insure that you will receive the greatest travel value, while engaging in a meaningful and memorable experience in Nigeria.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, I will correspond with you shortly.

More info on Nigeria

Brad

Bradford R. Howard, PDG

Rotary District 5170

Member, West Africa Project Fair Committee

516 Grand Avenue

Oakland, CA 94610

Phone: (510) 834-2260

FAX: (510) 834-1019

E-mail: Rotary@HowardTours.net