VERMONT HONDURAL PARTNERS OF THE AMERICAS

 

VERMONT CHAPTER BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES

 

March 13, 2001

6:30-9:00pm

 

Bill Kelly’s Home

 

Present:  Dan Baker, Chigee Cloninger, Michele Cranwell, Betty Anne Dowe, Bill Kelly, Janet Patterson, Kevin Rodgers, Vicki Woolfsen.

 

Meeting called to order at 6:30 by President, Bill Kelly

 

1.      Approval of Minutes.  Minutes from the January 9, 2001 meeting were not available at this time.  They will be approved at the next meeting.

 

2.      Treasurer’s Report.  Betty Anne Dowe distributed a treasurers report, which is attached to the official minutes.

 

3.      Announcements and information Sharing

 

  1. POA Development Grant received final approval and we received a check for $1,500.  This money is to be used to develop a website and prepare brochures to distribute to businesses to solicit donations.

 

  1. Bill announced that he has received the latest copy of the POA Directory of Partnership Chapters Officers and this is available as a reference.

 

  1. Malcolm Butler is the new President and CEO of Partners of the Americas.  Bill circulated a one page bio on Mr. Butler.

 

  1. Marsha McKay who worked for POA for 19 years died from cancer on 12/27/00.

 

  1. The U.S. Department of State has awarded $356,000 to POA for its Education and Culture program for 2001.  POA breaks this down to about 100 travel exchanges and 15-20 small assistance projects of up to $2,000 each.  Bill has a one page explanation of this program, which is essentially the same as last year.  Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

  1. All chapters will have to be rechartered in 2001 and the guidelines for this process will be mailed to each chapter in April.

4.  Old Business

 

  1. Reports from recent travelers to Honduras

 

1.      1.  Kevin Rodgers -   Kevin and his partner Ann Geroski traveled to Choluma, Honduras from January to June 2000.  Kevin distributed his and Ann’s completed trip report.  He was involved in several projects related to health and wellness, including Tuberculosis control project, teen risk prevention project, vaccination coverage, birth control, vasectomy, and health care training.  He and Ann also worked to organize the Subirana Girls’ Club, which created a place for girls to develop self-confidence and self worth through projects and sports.  Chigee Cloninger noted that a women’s sports clothing company donated clothing and equipment to the girls club and they were featured in one of their catalogs.  They also helped to build and organize a school library.  Kevin and Ann are planning to return in May 2001.

 

2.      Dan Baker – Dan traveled to Honduras in March and November 2000 to work on technology transfer with a 144 member cooperative of sugar cane producers and processors.  Dan had a successful trip as he and members of one of the production plants rebuilt their sugar production facility into a full size sugar flu, following the model of maple sugar processing used in Vermont.  The new facility was build with local materials and labor, and sugar cane discards were used as the primary fuel source, instead of tires and wood.  This process decreased the time to boil down the sugar and produced a more pure and higher quality end product. 

 

Dan will be returning to Honduras with twelve students in May 2001 to facilitate farmer to farmer projects, including organic certification, community forestry, and coffee processing.  Dan will continue working with the sugar cane cooperative on technology transfer.

 

3.      Tom Plum will visit Rotary Clubs that are building house in Honduras and will be providing periodic reports.

 

5.       New Business

 

  1. The Trustees discussed the suggestion from the Cruikshanks to create sub-units (small groups) of partners around Vermont where there is interest.  The partnership could advertise for this on the Internet and brochure that is in the process of being developed.

 

  1. The Annual POA meeting will be held on May 13th at 2:00pm.  We need to determine a place for this meeting.  Travelers, such as Ann and Kevin, and Dan can report on their trips.  We can also display the website if available. 

 

  1. The POA mailing list needs to be revised to include current and former members and volunteers.  Bill will email Michele a list of current paid members and other Trustee members will email names for this database. 

 

  1. Vicki Woolfsen distributed a rough draft of the POA Interest Survey to determine areas of interest and in need in Honduras.  The target audience of the survey will be Hondurans, however we need to determine specific groups of people to survey.  Both the VT and Honduran chapter needs to review and revise the survey.  Vicki asked for everyone to revise the survey and email it back to her. 

 

6.      Committee Reports

 

A.     Rural Development/Farmer to Farmer

Persons from this committee, Michele Cranwell, Fred Schmidt, and Dan Bramley are going to develop the POA website and brochure.

 

B.     Honduran Girls

Carolyn Cruikshank, unable to attend, emailed Bill Kelly an update about this Committee.  Funding is needed to support a full time or part time position for this project.  A suggestion is made to develop an internship through UVM (possibly the Department of Education, Women’s Studies Department, or Community Development and Applied Economics).  Carolyn should write a description of the position to clarify the needs, goals, and responsibilities of the position.

 

 

The Trustees meeting will be held on May 13th after the Annual meetings.  Bill will send an email out to all Trustee members whose term will expire in May 2001.  Elections will be held at the Annual meeting.

           

**Minutes prepared by Michele Cranwell. Please direct changes to Michele via email at

mcranwel@zoo.uvm.edu" or 656-0256 (w).

 

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