Bob Roberts – Rotary Club of Mill Valley – February 2018

One of Bob Roberts’ motivations for joining the Rotary Club of Mill Valley was the opportunity to return to his Peace Corps roots.  He was in the first group of volunteers to Peru.  Working first through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, the club has been able to support 9 small community development projects in the Peruvian Andes.  This led to a collaboration with the Rotary Club of Los Altos.  Working with two Peruvian NGOs, the clubs have each sponsored a global grant to assist Quechua-speaking families in the Altiplano of Puno with the development of greenhouses.  Living at 13,000 feet, these families are among the poorest and most challenged in Peru.  The greenhouses are allowing them to transition from subsistence agriculture to a market economy, improving their diets and providing cash income from the surplus.  Bob finds dancing at fiestas to inaugurate greenhouses is a dizzying and delightful sideline.

As a mentor for 10,000 Degrees, a local scholarship program for low wealth students, Bob advocates for the club’s expansion of its support for the program.  He is currently working with the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce to increase the club’s commitment from 4 to 6 four-year scholarships. For fun and fellowship he has organized a rail outing to Santa Barbara in a vintage private railcar. Rotary, he explains, has made his retirement far busier than his previous professional life.