Charles H. Norchi is the Benjamin Thompson Professor of Law, director of the Center for Oceans & Coastal Law, and a faculty member of the Climate Change Institute of the University of Maine. He teaches International Law, Oceans Law and Policy, International Human Rights, Maritime Law and Arctic Law, Science, and Policy. His research interests are public international law, Arctic law and climate change, international law of the sea, and policy sciences.
Professor Norchi has served as chair of the Admiralty and Maritime Law Section of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS), the Fulbright-Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arctic Scholar in Iceland, as visiting professor at City University of Hong Kong School of Law and at Peking University School of Law, as human rights fellow at Harvard Law School, as research fellow in the Center for Public Leadership in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and as Myres S. McDougal Fellow at Yale Law School. He is co-chair of the Arctic Futures Institute, a member of the American Polar Society, and serves on the Boards of the World Affairs Council of Maine, the Harvard Club in Maine, Journal of the North Atlantic and Arctic, and the International Association of Maritime Port Executives (IAMPE). He is a contributing editor of Global Geneva, and a fellow of the Explorers Club, the Royal Geographic Society, the World Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also the current president of the Society of Policy Scientists.
Professor Norchi holds an AB from Harvard College, a JD from Case Western Reserve University Law School, and an LLM and a JSD from Yale Law School.
Bits & Pieces | Ben Lowry
Last Friday, with Vice President Bruce Jones presiding in the place of President Bob Martin, Portland Rotary welcomed 36 members via Zoom. The pre-meeting banter was lively and interesting, with Dick Hall being spotted in a winter jacket and blaze orange hat in his not-yet-thawed office near Rangeley while Bill Blount connected from his airport hotel room in Portugal, still uncertain as to whether he'd need a negative COVID test for his upcoming flights back to the USA. It was also great to see Bob Traill on the call.
After Bruce called the meeting to order, David Small gave us a brief moment of inspiration based upon the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, where we are all hopeful to visit with family, friends and loved ones and, of course, overeat on turkey, stuffing and pies.
Patty Byers reminded us that November is "Foundation Month" with a short video highlighting many of the benefits brought about from our international efforts within the foundation. The message of "health and hope" will be the focus of the month-long effort and, in that spirit, we will all get to read about one area of focus each week in our Windjammer, with this past week's write-up on our longstanding and very successful effort to eradicate polio worldwide. The Earth now has just two nations that are not yet polio-free, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and with all of our efforts, we can be assured that we can bring the vaccines to these countries very, very soon. With that in mind, Patty discussed the newest District 7780 effort, called the "Polio-Plus Society", wherein members can commit to donating $100 per year, or $10 per month to help fund our final push. An e-mail has been sent to all members with an attachment for easy sign-up.
After Patty's words of inspiration, District Governor Dick Hall made note that Patty herself has pledged $1000 to this new initiative. Great job, Patty...and all who help this amazing cause.
John Thompson was next to the virtual podium, speaking on behalf of himself and Bob Clark, as co-chairs of the Youth Services Committee. With all of our Interact club members from Baxter Academy graduating this past spring, our club was looking for a new group of high school students who may wish to get involved in doing the good deeds envisioned by Rotary. By serendipity, an in-school advisor from Casco Bay High Schoolreached out to our club for help with the Interact Club at their school. The club has an existing relationship with the Portland Sunrise Club but, due to dwindling numbers at that club, we have been asked to work in conjuncture with their efforts in gaining momentum for the high school group. John attended a meeting last week and was met with great enthusiasm by the students and faculty, leaving us with a very exciting project in providing guidance to this group. If you have any ideas for projects the high schoolers could help out with, please reach out to either John or Bob.
Leslie Clark provided an update on our annual effort to provide a Thanksgiving meal to those in need through St. Vincent De Paul. On Wednesday, November 24th, we have 21 folks signed up to help cook, pack up meals, and clean up on the day before the holiday. Prep work begins at 8:00 AM, with the packing and cleanup scheduled to be concluded by noon-ish. Masks and vaccinations are required, of course.
The Maine Historical Society is opening their doors to us on Tuesday, December 7th at 3:00 for an intimate viewing of the exhibit "Reckoning with Intolerance in Maine". This event will be limited to 24 people so please keep your eyes peeled for registration information, Rusty Atwood advised.
Thanksgiving at St. Vincent de Paul's
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Rotarians At Work
The Recovery Task Force delivered a huge success with their backpack project, providing needed items for people beginning their recovery programs. Here’s the crew outdoors at the Portland Recovery Community Center.
Foundation News | by Patty Byers
Rotary Spirit Thrives in Guatemala
By Ben Lowry
Just when we were all looking forward to abandoning Zoom meetings, this technology allowed us to experience a fascinating encounter with our speakers last Friday, who joined us live from Guatemala. In early 2021, Sarah Riggott and Megan Peabody started up a satellite club of our own Portland Club and, since then, this virtual club has worked with groups in Guatemala to begin efforts to help communities in Central America in their efforts to provide guidance and support programs focusing on childhood and women's needs.
As our host for this meeting, Sarah began with a brief background on Guatemala, the "Land of Trees", which basically has two seasons: wet and dry. Rich in Mayan history and culture, this country of over 17 million is delineated into regions from the northern plains, through the populated central highlands down to the heavily agricultural south, where sugar, bananas, and coffee dominate economic growth. With 41 volcanoes (4 active) and 21 Mayan dialects spoken, as well as Spanish and English, the country's diversity has been a huge draw for Sarah, who arrived in 2006. COVID has hit the country very hard, with school closures leaving over 100,000 children out of school since March of 2020, leading to a spike in malnutrition. And, with limited technology, many students have not been able to keep up with their virtual work and have chosen, or been forced by the economy, to go to work rather than continue with their educational efforts.
Sarah introduced Jessie Cohn, who is the Director of The Amigos of Santa Cruz, an organization that works within the seven villages of Santa Cruz. This non-governmental organization, or NGO, has 30 staff, with Jessie being the only non-Guatemalan, and their mission to help educate and empower both children and adults has touched not only the 141 K-6 grade students they work with, but also their families.
We heard next from Amanda Flayer, a co-founder of Puerta Abierta, an organization in the rural village of Santiago Atitlan, which is just across the lake from Jessie, which also works with the community in education and children's issues. Amanda described the traveling library, which has been expanded with Rotary grants, a program that allows sharing of books, along with activities based upon the topics in each book, that moves around the community and is spearheaded by local teachers. Puerta Abierta also works with older children with a mentoring program and the group has also begun a Mother's Artisan Group, which helps families earn a dignified income by creating and selling handmade products such as finger puppets and Christmas decorations. Professional development is yet another resource provided by Amanda and her staff, with workshops and educational institutions spread throughout the region.
Sarah gave a brief description of the agency she heads, Oroqom, a brand-new agency that works alongside grassroots organizations in the city of San Andres Itzapa, an agricultural area of about 25,000 people. Oroqom has provided much needed support for a local group, spearheaded by local legend Dona Elena, called AMUPAV, which was started by foreign donors back in 2018 but has since lost their original funding. Sarah and her group have jumped in to help the women's group with support, guidance and some funding, and they have sprung back to life with entrepreneurial efforts such as a foot loom project that has allowed women to begin earning income in an industry once dominated by men. The loom products, made with organic materials, are now being marketed worldwide with the help from some well-known designers.
An update on the Safe Passage Program was also provided by Patricia Barneond Alvarez de García-Tres. This group, founded by Bowdoin grad Hanley Denning in 1999, who spoke with Portland Rotary shortly before her tragic death in 2007, has been working with the "Dump Children" in Guatemala City and continues to provide amazing support. With pre-school and elementary experimental programs providing help to over 240 young students, the pandemic has forced a distance model onto the landscape, with students being provided with 15-day projects to work on at home, with a goal of in-person learning to begin again early in 2022. The middle school program, supporting 120 students, as well as the high school program, continue to work with students as they prepare for higher education as well as providing vocational training and even English lessons for those who need them. But the efforts of Safe Passage do not end with children, with the Next Step Program, The Adult Education Center, and a health and wellness program providing support for adults in the communities around Guatemala City, with many of its 1 million residents thankful for the care shown by these programs.
Katie Korsyn, who has been in Guatemala for eight years, works with the vendors in the central park of Antigua, forming a group called Suenos in 2014. With most of the vendors, who sell candy and fabrics, arriving with little education and language diversity from the hills above Antigua, Suenos provides support not only for the children of the vendors but for the vendors themselves, who sell illegally in the park and thus have to deal with many issues. The traveling library provided by Suenos has been primarily supported by Rotary Clubs, with our own club helping to raise the $4000 surplus that will allow 2022 to see a great increase in books and associated programs, including a pilot program that will work with teachers in training them to educate parents in the effort to keep kids on-track, even as COVID keeps schools closed.
It's just amazing to see how the offshoot of our own Portland Rotary Club is making a tremendous impact in Central America and it was inspiring to hear from these young women who have dedicated their lives to providing much needed support and services. And to do so during a global pandemic makes these efforts all the more impressive. We owe great thanks to Megan and Sarah for beginning this satellite club and we wish all of the programs great success as they move beyond COVID with such lofty goals in sight and attainable in the coming months.
Oceans & Coastal Law, and a faculty member of the Climate Change Institute of the University of Maine. He teaches International Law, Oceans Law and Policy, International Human Rights, Maritime Law and Arctic Law, Science, and Policy. His research interests are public international law, Arctic law and climate change, international law of the sea, and policy sciences.
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