By Rotary International Nigeria and the whole continent of Africa is on the cusp of being polio free, Dr. Hamid Jafari told audience members at the Rotary Convention on 8 June in São Paulo, Brazil.
Between 2013 and 2014, the reported cases of polio dropped from 53 to just six in Nigeria. Even more encouraging, said Jafari, is that the last case of polio in Nigeria was reported in July of last year and the last case in all of Africa was reported in Somalia in August.
“With a year of no polio cases in Nigeria tantalizingly close, and no cases in Somalia since August, the tireless work of so many people across the… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International Dr. Geetha Jayaram has dedicated her life to helping people in her native India and the United States overcome the torment of severe depression, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, and other mental illnesses.
Jayaram is a psychiatrist and associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Her work expanding access to mental health services is much needed. Depression affects at least 350 million people and is the leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
“In India, there is no mental… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International Almost 200 million days of school attendance are lost every year because of the lack of proper sanitation. Many diarrhea cases in children result from transmission of disease in schools rather than at home.
“A school is a place where children should feel safe, not a place where they are susceptible to infection,” says Lizette Burgers, senior adviser of UNICEF’s Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools program
But the message at the World Water Summit on 4 June in São Paulo was positive: Rotary members and their clubs can make schools healthier places through programs that provide clean… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International See our photo gallery from São Paulo. …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International RI President Gary C.K. Huang called the 106th Rotary International Convention to order on 6 June at Anhembi Parque in São Paulo, Brazil. More than 14,000 attendees from all over the world have assembled for the four-day festival.
Huang called the convention a “festival of ideas” and the highlight of his year as president. “It provides the stage to showcase our achievements and inspire each other with stories and new ideas,” he said.
Huang began his keynote speech by celebrating the year’s gains in membership, a top priority of his presidency.
“Rotary clubs around the globe have engaged in… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International When former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias was eight years old, his country abolished its military and turned its focus instead to human rights and peace. Now, the Nobel Peace laureate believes the world can gain just as much by following his country’s example.
Speaking at the Rotary Peace Symposium on 4 June in São Paulo, Brazil, Arias recounted how his country traded in its tanks and heavy artillery to invest instead in economic reform and social justice.
“My country promised me, and all its children, that it would invest not in the weapons of our past, but in the tools of our future;… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International When former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias was eight years old, his country abolished its military and turned its focus instead to human rights and peace. Now, the Nobel Peace laureate believes the world can gain just as much by following his country’s example.
Speaking at the Rotary Peace Symposium on 4 June in São Paulo, Brazil, Arias recounted how his country traded in its tanks and heavy artillery to invest instead in economic reform and social justice.
“My country promised me, and all its children, that it would invest not in the weapons of our past, but in the tools of our future;… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International A project launched by members of Rotaract in Uttar Pradesh, India, is liberating women who emptied dry toilets with their hands by teaching them skills that enable them to earn a living for their families.
Although the practice of manual scavenging was banned in India in 1993, it persists in many parts of the country. The women who engage in it, many of them the sole wage earners for their families, make a meager income for their efforts.
Through Project Azmat, members of the Rotaract Club of SRCC Panchshila Park, partnered with the international nonprofit Enactus to organize these women into… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org