Volunteers To Assist the Rotary Club of Portsmouth’s Cover a Home Program
 
 
Swiss volunteers sailed from Martinique aboard a private yacht, Martine, with skipper Mario Jusufovic who organized the volunteer mission.  Arriving in Portsmouth on Jan. 31, the crew included Kathrin Morf, journalist, Martin Angehrn, banker, Marcel Stucki, club-owner, Peter Winiger, retired air traffic controller, and Andreas Jarosch, an electrical engineer.  In addition to contributing $10,000 US donated by Swiss Rotarians to assist the Rotary Club of Portsmouth with their Cover a Home initiative, the volunteers paid their own way and lent a helping hand in the reconstruction of the home of Emrica Thomas in Portsmouth. 
 
The home was first damaged by Hurricane Maria. The family, an elderly husband and wife with mental and physical challenges, their daughter Emrica and granddaughter with some assistance managed to put a makeshift covering back on their home only to have it further damaged by the fire.
 
To date the Rotary Club of Portsmouth has completed seven Cover a Home projects out of the fifteen so far identified, which meet their criteria for assistance.
 
The Swiss crew then sailed south to assist with a similar project in Soufriere.
 
The Rotary Club of Portsmouth is most grateful for the generous financial support of the members of the Rotary Club of Zurich-Glattal and the Swiss volunteers.