At our August 11, 2025 Rotary Meeting,
4-Way Test Talk: Audrey Gravley
- We've heard in recent months about what is truth and what is not, and how you… what your truth is, and how that might reflect on someone else. And I was looking online, and I saw this, and I really thought, this is a great way to talk about the four-way test
- Moral codes and ethics give us tools, but also raise questions to be answered. How should we live? What is morally good and bad, right and wrong?
- Shall we aim at happiness or knowledge? Virtue or the creation of beautiful objects? If we choose happiness, will it be our own, or the happiness of all?
- And what of the more specific questions that face us? Is it right to be dishonest for a good cause?
- Can we justify living in opulence while everywhere in the world, people are starving?
- Is going to war warranted in cases where innocent people will likely be killed?
- Ethics deals with such questions at all levels. The subject's core consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision-making, and its major concerns include the nature of ultimate value, and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.
- Life is very turbulent today, and people all over the world are exhausted in their duties.
- Where are the dreams of Better World?
- Where are we? Who are we? What is our duty to ourselves, neighbors, fellow citizens?
- Wear our charity and our joint responsibility to humankind?
- Now more than ever, we need a vision and knowledge of what is happening around us, a new view of cultural and religious phenomena, without dividing humankind into limited and subjective categories.
- That's the tenet for a better world, and a job for us Rotarians, not engaging in politics, but serving without any boundaries.
The inspiration was provided by Connie Milliken who read the beginning of an article in the August Rotarian Magazine titled Making Waves, Divers with disabilities find peace in the water. She pointed out how Rotary involvement in this program and others like Days for Girls spread good throughout the world.
Marty introduced our guest speakers for the evening Tara Pasternak and Randy Myers who spoke about Days for Girls in Honduras, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic.
While the ability for girls to have kits to manage menstruation allows them to go to school and not miss days, this opportunity benefits the whole community not just the girls. They related the story of Celeste Mergens, the founder of Days for Girls and how Days for Girls came into existence. Kits last to 3-5 years, some longer, and girls can take them to school because they are contained in decorative bags. One pad can be worn during the day, then washed out, and hung to dry while the girl uses the second pad.
Charlie Teel, the director of Days for Girls Stanwood Camano, and Esther Wood, sewer and packer of kits, joined the conversation. Jan Riediger is also a sewer.
Every kit must be sewn perfectly so each girl gets the same quality. The supreme kit has panties, a washcloth, and soap, as well as the pads. The pads have a polyvinyl shield to keep them waterproof.
The kits are needed most in hot climates, but 20-25 percent of local people who need monthly products can’t afford them, so kits are also being distributed locally at food banks, farmers’ markets, and women and children’s shelters. The local guide is printed in both English and Spanish.
We were also introduced to the medical-grade silicone cup which many girls/women use when they swim or participate in sports. All menstrual projects are medical devises. Days for Girls reduces the waste of regular menstrual projects, helps keep girls in school, and empowers girls. Education is the most important part. The culture of a country determines what products are presented to the females and whether men are involved in the training Men Who Know. Boys learn that no means no and how to respect girls. If a girl becomes pregnant, she leaves school, but boys also leave school if they become fathers to go to work. The goal is to include anyone in the community.
The Dominican Republic leader donates 2 months of his personal salary to Days for Girls. They make the kits themselves. Honduras is very open to men being involved, and girls in Honduras are giving the presentations. In Bolivia, men cannot be involved.
Long term: Randy and Tara need money for transportation to get the girls safely to and from the villages to do presentations.
Celeste Mergens’ book, The Power of Days was recommended.
- Awards/Recognition : Jerry Willins +8 Paul Harris, Pam Narron +5
- Birthdays/anniversaries: Martin Howard joined Rotary on August 7th, 18 years ago
- Thank you from scholarship winner Addison Wigal