Speakers

Matt Halley joined Cookie Cart as it’s Executive Director in 2004. Under his leadership Cookie Cart has grown from grass roots organization in North Minneapolis to one of the largest youth employment training program in the Twin Cities. Matt holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Augsburg College. He has worked in a variety of direct service and leadership roles at Twin Cities youth-serving organizations.

BonafideU a scholarship program for schools (kindness and good deeds)

Building schools in rural South Africa.

There’s a tiny Rotary Club of Eshowe, South Africa which was approached by the Zulu king in the 1970’s to try to build a school for the Zulu children. This is when Apartheid rules prohibited teaching rural black children. Remarkably, the Rotary Club bravely and craftily worked around that law (it was against the law to teach, but not to build!) developing into a project that has to date built almost 4000 classrooms in 800 villages providing millions (!) of children with better futures. But this is not just a story about quantity. The “six principles” of the program offer a lesson for partnership between developed and developing countries, and Rotary and nonprofits, in a spirit of respect and dignity between recipients and sponsors. The result is a program that continues to address the problem of education in poor rural areas, in a sustainable project that is locally-directed, locally-sourced, replicable, sustainable, and internationally accountable. Take a look at this model of cooperation in the best Rotary traditions of developing peace and the Four-Way Test.

More information www.africaclassroomconnection.org.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WuITnAoJbg

Henry A. Bromelkamp is President of Bromelkamp Company, a Minneapolis-based provider of technology to foundations and other grant makers. Having grown up in a family of nine boys, he learned the need for organizing at a very early age.  His background includes a degree in architecture and several years managing a community music organization, as well as work in the IBM Development Laboratory in Rochester, Minnesota. His is an accomplished writer and speaker, making numerous presentations about his work and avocations to national groups. His commitment to education and justice has led him to involvement in programs of empowerment both at home, where he is a past board member and volunteer for St. Stephen's Human Services, and overseas, where he is Ambassador for Books for Africa and founder of Africa Classroom Connection, which builds schools in Zululand, South Africa, and volunteer for Action for Children Zambia. In tandem with direct service he believes strongly in changing systems that perpetuate injustice, so he’s on the US board of CARE Action, which advocates politically to end global poverty. "If we don't do it, who will?"

How this addresses the interests of Rotary.

This is a good topic for Rotary Clubs to celebrate the success of Rotary, and to reexamine the principles that make an international project mutually beneficial and sustainable. At some point in the future the club may be approached to partner with this project, however the goal of the presentation is not fundraising.