By Rotary International

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By Rotary Voices staff, Photos by James S. Wood

The 2017 Ride to End Polio posted another successful year at El Tour de Tucson in Arizona, USA, in November. A team of staff members and Rotary General Secretary John Hewko joined 120 cyclists from 18 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, Australia, Brazil, Germany, and France. In addition, the effort was joined by 18 Indoor Ride to End Polio teams, including six district teams and 12 club teams comprising more than 300 participants.

As of 13 December, the ride had raised $11.7 million for polio eradication, after the match by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing the total funds raised since inception of the ride to a little more than $47 million. Miles to End Polio staff riders raised $278,000 this year. About $66,000 was raised through the team’s …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

By Joe Williams, Rotary Club of Durango Daybreak, Colorado, USA

Most people in the United States take electricity for granted. Only if a powerful storm hits and it is taken away do we get an understanding of what it is like to depend entirely on the sun for our light.

There is, however, a significant population in the heart of the United States that lives their lives with only the sun to light the way.

The Navajo Nation is large. Our club is located slightly north of the Nation. And so our project began.

It seems a simple thing. The whole setup consists of just one, two, or three hanging lights and a cell phone charger, with a small solar panel to power it. The impact this has on the people living in the home, however, is huge. Our recipients report better health, improved grades, improved finances and generally happier lives.

Rotaractor Liz Wells shows Navajo homeowner Willie Claw how to operate his new solar lights. Photo by Derek Knowles

Elderly recipients report that they fall less when there is light to see where they are going at night. Before receiving the lights, many recipients relied on kerosene lanterns or candles, significantly reducing air quality in …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Rotary members from Durango, Colorado, USA, team with the Navajo Nation to bring solar lights to remote, off-the-grid homes on the country’s largest Native American

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Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International

Jessica Connors and Club President Michael Della Rocca plant a tree, an example of the kind of projects that can give new members ownership and responsibility.

By Michael Bucca, membership chair of the Rotary Club of Central Ocean – Toms River, New Jersey, USA

So many Rotary membership events focus on engagement and retention. It makes sense. For every member that joins Rotary, it seems there’s another member walking out the door. Long term engagement and retention are an important part of successfully growing a club for the simple fact that new membership gains can be quickly wiped out by non-engaged members choosing to leave.

The advice being given by membership chairs and leaders is sound: get new members involved right away. Our club has taken this one step further by explaining something important to our new members:

This is your Rotary club!

A Rotary club is chartered by Rotary International, but who ultimately operates it? The membership does! All Rotarians pay the dues that allow the club to function, attend the meetings, and perform the work needed. In a sense, members are partial owners of the club in the way shareholders are of corporations. Rotary club membership can be just like a stock, …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Children try on shoes as part of the Rotaract Club of Kampala South’s service project.

By Immy Julie Musoke Nakyeyune, president of the Rotaract Club of Kampala South, Uganda

A mist was rising over the meadow when I arrived early in the morning at Nyakishumba with members of my Rotaract club, brimming with excitement for the day ahead. Located in the hilly Kabale District of western Uganda, Nyakishumba is colder than most of the surrounding region. So we were bundled in our heavy coats this September day as we hurried to set up the medical camp in time; coordinating with the health care workers, arranging the necessary medicines, and establishing diagnostic stations and areas for HIV testing.

It has been almost three years since we first visited the community to do our needs assessment, discovering their unique concerns and needs. The first phase of our project in 2016 had focused on supporting education at the primary school. Now, we were addressing disease prevention, maternal and child health, education, and economic and community development. We were all excited at the opportunity Rotaract was providing us to work with members of other clubs to help this community.

Rotaractors collaborating on the project with the club’s logo …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

By Fatima Khurram, newsletter editor for District 3272

1. Polio

Administering polio vaccine at the train station

Pakistan is one of only three countries that have never stopped the transmission of the wild polio virus, alongside Afghanistan and Nigeria. Two years ago, polio was widespread in my country. Today, through Rotary’s efforts we are down to a very few cases. In fact, worldwide, Rotary has helped drop the incidence of polio by 99 percent since it began the effort to eradicate this disease. We need Rotary to bring us to the goal we are all hoping for, an end to polio in Pakistan, and everywhere. Every year, polio vaccines are donated to each province of Pakistan and immunization workers carry out the honorable effort of administering the vaccine, sometimes at personal risk, to children.

2. Professional building
Rotary creates a lot of opportunities for young men and women to learn alongside each other. Rotaract clubs and Interact clubs create opportunities for everyone to participate, and men and women to learn valuable leadership skills, perform their duties, delegate tasks to others, and communicate with each other. This is very important in my country, where there are fewer …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Members of the Sewanee Rotaract Club visit Pelham Elementary School to serve as role models.

By Samuel R. Kern, Rotaract Club of Sewanee, Tennessee, USA

I was walking out of my accounting class this summer when I received a message from the dean of students asking if I would be willing to start a Rotaract club at the university for the fall semester. I knew nothing about Rotaract and very little about Rotary but Dean Gentry assured me he would be our club adviser and provide support, so I accepted. Sewanee does not have a plethora of clubs with the national or international recognition that Rotaract has, and I felt confident that students would be interested.

A week later, I met with Bill Davis, a local Rotarian who has orchestrated the effort to bring Rotaract to the university. Bill and I were determined to create a following for the club, so we spent countless time organizing, reviewing the Rotaract Handbook, and discussing how we were going to make it a successful club. I met with Katie Sneed, the president of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Rotaract Club, who graciously gave us advice. Her perspective and support has been crucial.

Initially, I advertised to students through …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Ako Odotei, chair of the Ghana Host Committee of the RI-USAID collaboration, greets Rotarians from the U.S. during the West African Project Fair in Accra.

By Theophilus Mensah

In early October, Rotary Foundation Chair Paul Netzel was on hand to open the West Africa Project Fair in Accra, Ghana, where Rotary and USAID are partnering to improve sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene in six regions of the country.

The project fair, as the name suggests, involves Rotary clubs across the West Africa sub-region, and is in its 12th year. It serves as an excellent forum for local clubs to show off their projects and establish partnerships with international clubs to secure the financial and technical support needed to implement projects in the region.

The Ghana Host Committee of the H2O Collaboration decided it would be good to have a booth at the fair, to showcase this unique public-private partnership, build awareness, and seek the support of new technical advisers and financial donors. As project manager of the committee, I assisted Ako Odotei, the committee chair, in setting up our booth and providing information. We were located near a staircase, which turned out to be a very strategic location.

We welcomed …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Rotary helps fuel a brigade of mobile clinics that deliver free health care to rural

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Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International

By José Lucas Rodríguez, governor of Rotary District 7000 (Puerto Rico)

Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, which is distinguished by its natural beauties, the talent of Puerto Ricans in music, arts, and sports, and above all for the warmth of its people.

But the so-called island of Enchantment was transformed by what already has been classified as the most catastrophic event in the history not only of Puerto Rico, but of the United States. More than a month after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, our people are still struggling to recover from the impact of this natural phenomenon, which left so much desolation in its wake.

Rotary members deliver supplies to families in need in Puerto Rico.

Thousands of families have lost their houses totally or partially, either by winds of more than 185 miles per hour (295 km/h) or by the heavy rains that caused landslides that obstructed a lot of major roads, and overflowed all of our rivers and lakes. The force of the winds snatched the greenery out of our mountains, demolished much of our trees, and caused millions in damages to the infrastructure of the country.

But the response from Rotarians in …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog