<p>Favorite Memories ~ by George Yeiter</p><p>For district conference we did a 4 day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. First Lady, Beverly, was in charge of our service program while in Mexico. She and her committee decided to ask 5890 Rotarians to put together Hygiene Kits into 1 gallon zip lock bags for the children at an Orphanage. 5890 Rotarians responded with nearly 800 Hygiene Kits even though there were only 120 children. The generosity of the 5890 was the first part of a good memory.</p><p>We had made arrangements with the Orphanage to bring 20 or so of the children to a private area on the beach so that we could meet them and present them with their Hygiene kits. Beverly asked 80 Rotarians to stuff their beach bags with the kits and take them to the beach for the children. Approximately 20 Rotarians were off the ship by the time the Customs Agent noticed the Hygiene Kits in so many beach bags.</p><p>He decided to stop a Rotarian and inquired about the kits. The Rotarian explained they were for the children in the Orphanage (of course she was thinking we were doing a good thing). The Agent did not see it the way we did and then insisted that we had to pay an import tax because as a group we were bringing in more than the law allowed even though the law was at $100 per person and we were well under that amount.</p><p>XHe then stopped any Rotarians with Hygiene kits from getting off the boat. The Agent and the Rotarian had words so the Agent gave instructions to the ship not to let us off the ship with the kits and then he left without any means for us to pay the tax even if we wanted to. It was Saturday morning, a holiday, and it looked hopeless for getting the Hygiene Kits on shore.</p><p>So far, there is nothing wonderful about this memory but there is more to the story. The local Rotarians were waiting for us outside the dock area. The local security people also did not like the Custom Agent’s decision so with the prodding of 5890 Rotarian, Tom Juarez and other 5890 Spanish-speaking Rotarians; they let 5 of the local Rotarians on the docks to pow-wow with us. The Mexican Rotarians then got on their cell phones and proceeded to call everyone they knew that might help. Finally, one Rotarian got a friend in Mexico City (at his home on a holiday on Saturday) that was the National head of the Mexican Customs. The “El Jefe” decided our gifts were OK as long as we completed a form and paid a $10 import tax. El Jefe then called the local Customs manager at home and had him send a Customs Agent to the dock. We completed the paperwork, paid the $10 and rushed to get on the buses to go to the park. Unfortunately, it held us up for a couple of hours.</p><p>In the end, the Mexican Rotarians saved the day through the very process on which Rotary was originally founded, that of networking to achieve service to the community. We had a wonderful day. The children sang for us and even brought in another group of deaf children to sing for us in sign language and tell us the history of their community. The day was complete with the gift of the Hygiene Kits to the children. They all lined up in an orderly line and went through and picked their kit out of the 800 on the floor. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.</p><p>Although our children would have thought “what kind of gift is this”, these children were grateful to get the Kits. For example, in the boy’s bathroom, one comb hung on a string attached to the ceiling. Tooth brushes and especially toothpaste were a valuable commodity.</p><p>The Orphanage leadership talked to me about their over abundant supply and asked my permission to share some of their fortune with others in need. So, they gave some to a local men’s shelter and also shared with another orphanage. Isn’t it interesting that when people are deprived themselves that they are still willing to share a good fortune with others? Although very few Rotarians knew of their gesture, I was profoundly touched and this too became part of my fond memory.</p><p>The city of Cozumel sent out the Chief Alderman to give plaques to D’Lisa Simmons, then District Governor Elect, and to me. To our surprise we could not find D’Lisa. It turned out that she and Michael were waiting on the bus for us to go to City Hall (per the original plans) not knowing there was a change in plans and the official was coming to us. So, Ann Wright volunteered to stand in for D’Lisa.</p><p>I introduced Ann as D’Lisa, so as not to cause any embarrassment. Ann accepted the plaque as D’Lisa. All of the Rotarians in the audience were caught off guard and wondered what in the world we were doing introducing the Conference Chairwoman as the District Governor Elect. As the presentation proceeded on, I think most caught on and no one let the cat out of the bag that the blonde was not really the brunette. When the officials left and it was all over we all had a good laugh and to this day we still kid Ann Wright about becoming D’Lisa Simmons for a few moments in time. I think this met the 4-way test because it built goodwill and was beneficial to all concerned. To boot, it met the informal fifth test of the 4-Way test which is: is it fun for all concerned. It sure was.</p>