Fanshawe Students Meet With Ambassador to USA

A meeting with Canada's ambassador to the United States was one of the highlights of a recent trip to the United Nations for two Fanshawe College students.

Brittany Hynes and Rebecca Pickersgill are members of the Fanshawe College Rotaract Club and they attended Rotary Days at the UN in New York City along with a larger delegation of Rotaract members from The University of Western Ontario. The event, involving 2,000 participants from 36 countries, took place November 7 to 9, 2008.

Hynes, president of the 35-member Fanshawe Rotaract Club, said being part of a group of about 20 to meet with the Honourable Michael Wilson, Canadian Ambassador to the United States, was a high point of the trip, but not the only one. "There were panels on health, water and literacy with some very important people," she said. Pickersgill, vice-president of the Fanshawe club, said the panels involved people from Rotary International and people from the UN.

"Being able to listen to the various panels discuss issues such as eradicating polio, insulin for diabetes, literacy and water was such an enthralling experience. I found it very interesting to hear about the many efforts of Rotary International members to address various worldwide concerns," said Pickersgill.

Rotaract is a division of the Rotary Club of London and an internationally sponsored service association for young adults. The Fanshawe College club is in its second year of operation. Hynes and Pickersgill, both first-year Business Marketing students, were the only members of the Fanshawe College club to attend the UN event.