Rotary partners from Columbia visit Wilsonville

This story has been updated from its original version.

In the fall, three Rotary Club of Wilsonville members traveled to La Plata, Columbia to do community service. Last week, members of the Club Rotario La Plata Huila, a Rotary Club in La Plata, returned the favor.

The La Plata Rotarians visited Wilsonville, along with other parts of the Willamette Valley, as part of a 12-year partnership between Rotary Club of Newberg Early Birds, Sherwood and Wilsonville. Wilsonville’s club joined the partnership last year.

Visitors from the La Plata Club included Sonia Ramírez, Juan Manuel Garzón, and his wife Yaneth, Gloria Vargas and her daughter, Daniela.

The partnership revolves around community service, with the Oregon clubs helping plan and fund projects in La Plata. Past efforts include giving ultrasound machines to local medical centers, building parks and constructing clean water systems.

Pat Wolfram, director of community service for Rotary Club of Wilsonville and assistant district governor, said larger grants for La Plata projects are received through an application process with Rotary International.

He said the Joint International Service Committee, which plans the projects in La Plata, is working on an application for a $100,000 grant to expand the Center for People with Disabilities.

Wolfram said that the La Plata Rotarians identify what projects are needed in the community, as they better understand people’s needs.

“They’re trying to develop the community and make it stronger, and take care of everybody in the community,” Wolfram said.

Wolfram, along with two others from Wilsonville and members from the Newberg and Sherwood Rotaries, visited La Plata for eight days last fall and stayed in the homes of La Plata Huila Rotary members. A presentation by Wolfram, translated to Spanish by Sergeant-at-Arms Jaimy Beltran, showed that Rotarians addressed four service projects for the community.

Community service projects for 2023, and the future, include expanding the Center for People with Disabilities and adding a pottery wheel and kiln, giving a new washing machine to the senior center and completing an agricultural project to adapt practices to global warming.

The projects to give the Center for People with Disabilities a pottery wheel and kiln and give the senior center a new washing machine are already completed, according to the presentation.

Last week, the La Plata Rotarians ate dinners with Rotarians in Newberg and Wilsonville, visited the Gathering of the Guilds in Portland to see skilled artisans, went to Vancouver for a community service project and stopped at other spots in the Willamette Valley.

The Rotarians from Wilsonville and La Plata exchanged flags at the meeting, with the Rotary Club of Wilsonville receiving a large flag honoring the partnership and the Rotarians from La Plata each accepting a small flag for the Rotary Club of Wilsonville.

The La Plata Rotarians said they felt welcomed by the three Oregon Rotary clubs and felt “at home” in Oregon. They also expressed gratitude for the international partnership and support.

Gloria Vargas, member of the Club Rotario La Plata Huila, said through a translator that the partnership helps the club complete projects that otherwise could not be funded. Her daughter, Daniela, added that the partnership also allows the club to learn about the functions of Rotary.

Through a translation from Beltran, Gloria said that the La Plata Rotarians cannot repay the Oregon clubs in the way they have helped the La Plata rotary, outside of giving love and friendship, and opening their homes to the Oregon Rotarians.