Carolyn Johnson gave an inspiring presentation of the Guatemala Literacy Project at the March 6 meeting of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club. Johnson, a member of the Yarmouth Rotary Club, was introduced to the Project two years ago and has made five trips to Guatemala since then, having just returned from being there the entire month of February this year.

The Guatemala Literacy Project is a joint initiative of Rotary and the Cooperative for Education to provide education support materials to underprivileged students in Guatemala, primarily indigenous children in the rural highlands. The Cooperative was founded by Jeff Berninger and his brother, Joe, in 1996 after Jeff had seen the tremendous need for textbooks and library materials while teaching English in Guatemala. The Project is also supported by the United Way of Guatemala and the Guatemala Ministry of Education.

The core competency of the Project is providing textbooks. Each child in a participating school receives four textbooks: math, science, social studies and Spanish. The books are not a gift, however; the student (or his or her family) must pay a rental fee of about $10 per year. The rental fees are then used to buy new books, so that the project becomes self-sustaining over time. At the end of each year the books are returned, to be passed on to another student the following year. Books last an average of five years and 95 percent of them are returned.

The new books are distributed during February -- during the first week by Rotarians and during the third week by a mixed team of Rotarians and others. This year, 25,000 books were delivered to 175 schools.

Schools where the project has been implemented have seen a 50 percent decrease in the dropout rate and a 20 percent rise in enrollment.

Four years ago the Project expanded to include computer training, and there are now 20 computer centers in middle schools. The Project is now instituting a Culture of Reading Program: the goal is to inspire lifelong readers by providing interesting literature, teacher training and ongoing support.

President Skip Kreahling opened the business meeting by introducing guests Lynn Orne, Chelsea Graves and Jacob Bishopp, and pending new members, Hamilton Meserve and Lucia Wright. Doug Roberts was welcomed as a new member in the family of Rotary by Caroline Johnson.

Lynn Orne reported that the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross are co-sponsoring workshops at the Boothbay Fire Station and other locations to train volunteers in setting up and managing emergency shelters in case of disasters. Persons interested should contact her at 633-6405 or harlyn@gwi.net.

Soup Bowl Supper chair Jim Botti solicited sign-ups for pick-up and set-up on Thursday, March 27, and for return and breakdown on Friday, March 28; he also asked members to let him know of potential new suppliers of provisions to replace establishments that have closed since last year.

The meeting on March 13 will be a club assembly. Doug Roberts will be greeter that night and offer the invocation, with Tammy Blackman and Jim Botti as waiters and Skip Kreahling as program chair. Running the 50/50 drawing will be Daren Graves and serving as Sergeant at Arms is Cy Seifert.

On March 20, Ann Lee Hussey, a member of the South Berwick club, will talk about Rotary Action Groups and both the polio survivors syndrome and her goals for starting the Polio Survivors Action Group. Our annual Soup Bowl Supper, a joint benefit with Watershed Center, will take place March 27 at the American Legion Hall. On April 3 the Boy Scouts will again show off their Pinewood Derby miniature racing cars, which will be judged in various categories, with appropriate recognition for the winners. And on April 10 Mike Miclon and Mike Vayda will tell us about their educational videos for young mothers in the Northern India Neonatal Video Project being carried out under the auspices of the Auburn Baptist Church.

For more information about the club, check out its Web site at www.boothbayharborrotary.org.