GSE Team Visits SGR

OPENING: Bob Bramlage admirably served as SGR’s Sergeant-at-Arms greeting Rotarians and others visitors to the 3743rd regular weekly meeting of St. George Rotary. Ray Robinson lead the SGR Choir in "America, the Beautiful." Dan Strobell invited members to follow him in the Pledge of Allegiance and Nick Lang asked for the blessings of heaven on the meeting and the meal. Allen Hilton conducted an energetic Horseplay with fines collected by Richard Brown on behalf of the Guatemalan stove project.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Jeff reminded members of the upcoming Utah District Rotary Conference, May 21 - 23 in Park City and encouraged attendance.

PROGRAM: Allen Hilton, chair of the International Service committee had the honor of introducing the members of the Group Study Exchange from Sao Paulo, Brazil. GSE team leader is Humberto Mariano, an economist by profession and a member of the Rotary Club Sao Paulo - Sao Miguel Paulista since the fall of 1990. He currently works as the manager of Sales Contract Management at Voith Paper which provides equipment and services to pulp and paper producers throughout the world.

Other team members who shared information about their profession and their country included (from left) Renato Maximiano who practices law with a specialty in public law. He currently works in the law department of Ache Laboratorios Farmaceuticos. Allen Okuma is a graduate of the Academy of Military Police. He is currently a second lieutenant and head of the fire station in Ciudad de Mogi das Cruz. He also has a Bachelor of Law degree and is now studying at the College of Civil Engineering. Sayuri Masukawa teaches English and Portugese at the state public high school in Sao Paulo. She has a degree in languages in secondary education. Marcio Antonio de Assis is the nursing supervisor at Luzia de Pinho Melo Hospital, a public hospital in Ciudad de Mogi das Cruzes. Camila de Almeida, a graduate in Public Relations, currently works as marketing coordinator at Natura Cosmetics, Brazil's largest cosmetics manufacturer.

The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for business people and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.