ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS
Win shared with us several thank you letters from our community grant recipients.
Walnut Ave Women’s Center has offered us a free ticket to their fundraiser which is August 12th at Chaminade as a thank you for club support. If you are interested in going see Pam.
There will be a board meeting on July 26th at 11:00 at Aptos Seascape. There are two potential openings on the board for the 2018-2019 year; if you wish to serve see Pam.
Win’s debunking has been rescheduled for August. Watch the website for the final date.
Keith’s annual summer party will be Sunday August 26th at 3:00. There will be games and refreshments. Bring your favorite hors d'oeuvre to share if you wish!
Alesa Lightbourne, the author of The Kurdish Bike, a novel about Northern Iraq was our speaker today. Her book has won two international gold medals. Alesa is a UCSC graduate and local professor and has taught all over the world.
Alesa gave us an overview of the area. Kurdistan is in northern Iraq. They are the largest ethnic group without a country with nearly 30 million people. Hussein nearly destroyed the area as the Kurds had fought on the side of Iran in the Iraq/Iran war. In that part of Kurdistan clitoral circumcision is performed on all the girls and many women are killed by relatives in this male dominated society.
She taught English in a middle school surrounded by armed guards. To get around Alesa bought a bicycle. This was controversial as women didn’t ride bikes. She visited and became part of a village without infrastructure with no mail service and no running water. Houses were heated with propane stoves and they had protein about once a week. She handed out photos, ate with them and tutored their children. Her book discusses all these experiences and more.
Her book is for sale on Amazon. For more information or to purchase the book go to www. kurdishbike.com.