By Rotary International When Gabriela Vessani was 12 years old, her mother took her to stay with friends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, for the summer.
“I loved it, so when I heard about Rotary Youth Exchange, I knew that was something I wanted to do,” says Vessani, who is an Interactor from São Paulo.
This year, Vessani participated in the program. Hosted by the Rotary Club of Waterdown, Ontario, Canada, she stayed with four families, one of which included adopted children from different parts of the world.
“They had seven children, and it was crazy for me. But I loved it,” she says. “It was such a unique… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International When Mariana Day moved in 1989 to the small beach town of Chacala, in Nayarit, Mexico, she noticed that the surrounding rural areas struggled to maintain schools. And most children weren’t able to go beyond an eighth-grade education. Day, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Bahía de Jaltemba-La Peñita, in Nayarit, had started a local scholarship program before she joined Rotary. Called Changing Lives, the program provided students with high school tuition, uniforms, school supplies, and transportation.
In addition, Rotary clubs from the United States and Mexico have been investing in the… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the September 2015 issue of The Rotarian
When I was a college student in Wisconsin in the 1970s, those of us who worked at the 10-watt radio station hoped our signal would reach not only the 1,500 students on the Beloit College campus and the 35,000 residents of the town of Beloit but also the people in the cars and trucks passing by on the interstate 3 miles to the east – and possibly, late at night, the 150,000 who lived in the bustling metropolis of Rockford, Ill., 20 miles to the south.
Some of us hoped to get jobs in radio after we graduated, and there was even talk about starting… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the September 2015 issue of The Rotarian
Before her family was forced into exile, before her mother was assassinated, before her father became president, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari was known for something simpler, but in some ways equally powerful: In 1994, she became the first child in Pakistan to receive the oral polio vaccine, as part of the country’s first National Immunization Day. Benazir Bhutto, then prime minister, gave the drops to her daughter herself, a compelling endorsement of the nascent campaign.
“I was a baby at the time, so I don’t remember it,” says Bhutto Zardari, now 22. “… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the September 2015 issue of The Rotarian
Nearly 90 percent of the world’s polio cases last year occurred in Pakistan. But the country is making dramatic progress in its quest to eradicate the disease: Cases are down by almost 70 percent to date compared with 2014, owing partly to military interventions that year in Taliban-controlled North Waziristan, which have allowed vaccinators to reach hundreds of thousands of children who were previously inaccessible. Improved government leadership, the introduction of inactivated polio vaccine in high-risk districts, and vaccinations at transit… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the September 2015 issue of The Rotarian
When Carole Kimutai was growing up in Nairobi, family members were always coming for long stays – a grandparent one month, a cousin the next.
“Anyone who needed school fees would come to Nairobi, and my parents would assist,” she says. “Or if my grandmother was sick, she would come to live with us until she was better. It was natural to help others.”
Years later, Kimutai was invited to a meeting of the Rotary Club of Nairobi-East, where she instantly felt at home. “I grew up seeing my parents help relatives, and now I am seeing people help quote-… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the September 2015 issue of The Rotarian
A Rotarian for nearly three decades, Jay Cook has helped hundreds of young people broaden their horizons through Rotary Youth Exchange. Recently, while working for the nonprofit Water Missions International, he’s turned his attention to bringing safe water and sanitation solutions to developing countries and disaster-stricken areas. Cook is a member of the Rotary Club of Charleston Breakfast and the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group.
THE ROTARIAN: How did you become involved with Rotary Youth Exchange?
COOK: My club was hosting a young… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org