Rotary Club District 5960 Governor Karel Weigel and Austin Rotary Club President Duane Feragen surprised Rotary member Kathy Stutzman at the Sept. 15 meeting in Austin by recognizing her for outstanding international service work in both Africa and Nicaragua.

According to Feragen, the full membership of the Austin Club felt it was important to recognize Stutzman for consistently putting the Rotary philosophy of “service above self” into action in extraordinary ways. He noted many of her fellow Austin Club members gained new perspectives on what Stutzman has actually achieved after reading a 12-page article in the August edition of “The Rotarian” international monthly magazine that represents more than 34,000 clubs around the world. Stutzman is one of the leaders coordinating workshops and leading Rotary volunteers on three trips to Ghana. This project partnered with Street Girls Aid, a nonprofit organization in Accra, Ghana. Her international work for Rotary also includes an ongoing project in Nicaragua. Weigel accompanied Stutzman on one trip to Nicaragua to gain insights on developing relationships for effective, sustainable projects so she spoke from personal experience in describing how Stutzman’s compassion and leadership has lasting impact on the people that Rotary touches through these international projects.

Weigel presented Stutzman with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award, followed by a standing ovation by club members. Feragen concluded with comments on how proud it makes the entire club to have Stutzman as a long time member and how much they gain from her experience, expertise and fine example.

The Street Girls Aid organization offers vocational training, operates daycare centers in slums throughout Accra and runs a home for pregnant teens and new mothers which provides literacy and life skills classes. Stutzman first became aware of this program during a Rotary Group Study Exchange trip to Africa in 2003 and returned the next year on a volunteer service grant to explore how Rotary might be helpful in this region. This led to a Rotary District project to equip vocational training classrooms. Stutzman continued to cultivate a relationship with the Street Girls Aid staff which put her, along with Rotary colleagues, in position to say yes when the executive director of Street Girls Aid asked for help 2011. Rotary volunteers listened and learned during three trips to Ghana which was vital to the project in which the Street Girls Aid organization was able to develop the abilities to create their own strategies for sustainable success.

One more fascinating result of the Ghana project is new direction and dynamics for future Rotary service projects but that’s another story. Meanwhile, Stutzman’s well-served Paul Harris Award is a fitting tribute for many years of living the Rotary model of “Service Above Self.” The full Street Girls Aid article from “The Rotarian” August edition can be read on-line by going to www.therotarianmagazine.com/out-of-chaos/.