La Voz

The De Anza College Rotaract Club completed its first international project in Costa Rica.

Rotary is a 102-year-old international organization dedicated to worldwide humanitarian service; the De Anza branch was established two years ago. De Anza President Brian Murphy said, "It's been De Anza's mission that Rotaract participate in an international mission."

The De Anza branch's mission was recognized during a presentation they made at the Cupertino Rotary Club last Wednesday.

Thai-Ry Chang Urena, a Rotaract member, said that Costa Rica was selected as this year's international project because he's from Costa Rica and it would be better to go there rather than to a country where they didn't know the system.

De Anza Rotaract members stayed four days in Costa Rica and worked together with other North American, Central American and South American rotary clubs as well as other non-rotary clubs. They donated to two indigenous reservations, an elementary school and a children's hospital.

At the Quitirrisi and Talamanca reservations, they donated books, learned to press sugar cane and witnessed aspects of Costa Rican culture.

The club donated seven boxes of hospital supplies to the children's hospital, including latex gloves, heart monitors, band-aids and other medical supplies. The children's hospital was a threeday walk from the city where the De Anza Rotaract club staying.

"The main goal was the children's hospital," said Israr Qumer, another member. "We had raised, say, about $8,000 - $9,000. With the help of Assist International, we were able to obtain around $20,000." Assist International is an organization that collects replaced equipment from hospitals, and refurbishes them to distribute throughout the world.

"We met with the kids, spent time with them, gave them books and read to them," said Qumer. The hospital's patients were organized according to affliction.

Pearry Mo, Rotaract member, spent time with some of the burn victims in the hospital. "I met one boy who got 80 percent of his skin burned," she said.

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