What a month! April brought with it the first Asia Pacific Optimist Conference held in Kathmandu, Nepal April 22-23.  Well over 100 Optimists attended the two-day conference including immediate past International President Mark Weinsoff and Director of Strategic Growth Jim Boyd. “The conference was an amazing opportunity to see how Optimism is universal around the world”, said Weinsoff. “The growth of Optimist International in Nepal is driven by the Optimist Creed. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the creed by Optimist International, this is a timely reminder of the mission of Optimist International to provide hope and positive vision to the entire world.”

The conference featured several inspiring presentations by local government and education officials as well as a host of representatives from Optimist International. President Patsy Garner, Vice Presidents Kathleen Manchec and John Grover, and Executive Director Cheryl Brenn all made presentations via Zoom to connect with the conference theme; “Optimism as a Philosophy of Life.” Junior Optimist International President Maya Gluck joined the conference to help organize a new Junior Optimist Club whose members created and delivered an eye-opening presentation titled “What Nepali Kids Want.”

Past President Mark and Director Jim organized a second junior Optimist Club at a local school and three new adult Clubs while in the country. The Optimist Club of Lekhnath is being sponsored by the Optimist Club of Pokhara and the Davenport, Iowa Optimist Club.

Yet another club has formed in Kathmandu. The CWEDA Optimist Club is sponsored by the Optimist Club of Kathmandu and the Battle Creek-Harper Creek Optimist Club of Michigan.

There are now three dozen Optimist Clubs in Nepal with more on the way as well as several more Junior Optimist Clubs. Our Optimist Clubs in other parts of the world helped bring out the best in young people last month. A perfect example came from the Oti Region Optimist Club in Ghana where Members visited an orphanage to provide support for children there. 

In the Middle East, Ramadan was cause for celebration by the Al Iklim Optimist Club and the Kfarshouba Optimist Clubs in Lebanon held celebrations for young people.

Work Underway to Expand the Optimist Footprint.

Conferences often provide opportunities for future development whether they happen in North America, the nations of the Caribbean or elsewhere in the world. Case in point from the Asia Pacific Conference in Nepal. Several attendees talked of spreading Optimism to other parts of their country, as well as to countries such as India and Japan. Efforts are also underway to strengthen existing Clubs such as the one in Dhaka, Bangladesh where local Optimists are determined to not only make their Club stronger, but to spread the Optimist movement to other parts of their country.

Webinar Update: The International Development Committee has created a webinar aimed at helping our clubs resume operations following the disruption caused by the global pandemic. It provides suggestions for revitalizing, rejuvenating and restarting your Club. We hope you will give it a listen by checking it out here.

Optimist International encourages submitting Club efforts and impacts through pictures and descriptions of their projects for future newsletters.