PITTSFIELD ROTARY CLUB District 6460 8-9-06

Visiting Rotarian: Joe Cook, Louisiana, MO

Golfers......Sept. 16...Rushville Rotary Golf outing... at Rushville...$140/4some... get a team.

Connie Schroeder reported that the work on the Rotary project at the hospital was progressing..

Shirley, (Ex-ADG), Johnston presented the Paul Harris pins and certificates to President Anna Revis and Past President Walker Filbert. The award materials finally arrived......

Debbie Dugan produced the raffle tickets for the beautiful Myeloma Quilt.... It will be on display at the Pike Express window. Stop by and look....and buy those tickets from Debbie.

Program: Roberta Dolbeare introduced her son, Cliff Dolbeare, who had been on a trip with the Collegiate FFA through the auspices of the U.S. Grain Council, to Spain and Morocco from May 19 to June 6 of this year.

Cliff concentrated his information on Morocco, since it is far less known than Spain in Pike County...( Well, unless you remember the movie, ‘Casablanca’....)

Cliff says here is a great deal of ‘SWOT’ to consider...Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats...in dealing with this area.

Morocco is the only country that allows Christians in a Mosque.

Strengths in this country is lobbying groups work together...to help develop Moroccan agriculture. They have an abundance of labor that will work for $5.00 to $7.00 per day....

Weakness in the country...they have a lot of desert, and poor utilization, (waste) of the water resources that are available.

Opportunities include excellent beaches...a great tourism potential. Agriculture could be expanded... It is a tax free industry in Morocco. There is a lot of Dairying... the calves are taken at birth, raised in communal lots, and the heifers returned at breeding age. The bulls are marketed. This method of raising just bulls is inefficient for market....but the Muslim religion has precluded more efficient management of the beef industry by precluding castration of males.

There are many green houses that could be expanded and more products raised.

Threats: Many TULIPS are raised in Morocco, these are shipped to the Netherlands and marketed as being from that country....

Olive oil is a big product, but it is shipped to Italy and Spain, and it too is passed off as coming from that respective country.

Older generations think that they need to get their children into better occupations that they are in...who will farm??? is a big question.

Morocco has two languages... French for business and Arabic for personal conversation.

Excellent show of pictures and it enlightened us on Morocco , Cliff.....

District Group Study Exchange will be going to India mid-January to mid-February. If you know of a person 25-40, employed 2+ years, that can get away, this could be an excellent opportunity. 4 will be selected, call Helen Downey: 217-245-4381 for more information and application.