Posts Tagged ‘Rotary International’
“Welcome to Week THREE of RI’s Month of Fellowships.
The island countries of the South Pacific are tropically warm, economically diverse, and really, really far apart. In this region, which spans millions of square miles, even individual countries’ islands are scattered across vast distances. Public health workers face unique challenges in vaccinating the islands’ children. The news this week is from a report by Etelka Lehoczky where Rotary’s Give Every Child a Future program vaccinated over 100,000 children in several South Pacific islands. “It’s hard to transport vaccines to the outer islands because of the distance and transport availability. Sometimes they have to wait one to three months to get a boat across,” says Rufina Tutai, who oversees immunizations for the Cook Islands. The 15 islands in her jurisdiction are spread over nearly 2 million square kilometers (770,000 square miles). “Flights are expensive to charter, and we’re lucky if a flight can go to the outer islands in less than two weeks,” she adds.
Such obstacles did not deter the Rotarians of Australia, New Zealand, and several Pacific Island countries from organizing a major vaccination program in the islands. Called Give Every Child a Future, the effort – which celebrates 100 years of Rotary in the region – is providing three new vaccines to 100,000 children in nine Pacific Island groups: the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Ultimately, the members applied for 23 Rotary Foundation Global Grants, securing more than US$980,000 in funds from The Rotary Foundation. The program was also funded by about US$807,000 in District Designated Funds, US$990,000 from clubs and individual members, US$264,000 from other foundations, and US$860,000 from the Australian government. That funding paid for much more than vaccines. It was used to purchase special refrigerators, insulated containers, and other equipment to keep vaccines cool and transport them to the most distant islands. The health ministries in the nine island groups will be able to use this equipment for many years. That fulfills the project’s other goal of helping the targeted areas add the three vaccines to their regular immunization schedules.” Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#Rotary #rotaryinternational #ServiceAboveSelf
“Welcome to Week TWO of RI’s Month of Fellowships.
Rotary International’s fourth Programs of Scale grant will support members’ work with Indian farmers who have been affected by climate change. Barry Rassin, chair of The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees, announced the US$2 million grant at the 2024 Rotary International Convention in Singapore. The program, Partners for Water Access and Better Harvests in India, will aim to increase groundwater tables, extend cultivation areas, and raise the incomes of about 60,000 farmers by 25% to 30%. “Farmers in India are responsible for producing much of the world’s wheat, rice, and other food staples. But the groundwater these farmers depend on is vanishing. Climate change is making rainfall more erratic, which leads to drought,” Rassin said. “We are working with Indian farmers on a five-year program to plant the seeds for sustainable farming in India for generations to come.”
The Rotary Foundation has awarded Programs of Scale grants to evidence-based, sustainable, and successful programs that target at least one of Rotary’s areas of focus and can be expanded to create far-reaching change. The programs are sponsored by Rotary members in collaboration with local communities and partners that offer additional expertise and support. The other finalist this year is One Million Healthy Mothers and Newborns. This Ugandan initiative aims to reduce maternal deaths by 35% and newborn deaths by 35% in at least 200 public health centers.” – Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#ServiceAboveSelf #Rotary #rotaryinternational #fellowship #farmers
“Welcome to Week ONE of RI’s Month of Rotary Fellowships.
No better news this week than one coming from the on-going international conference in Singapore.
The sum of $30m has been set aside by Rotary International in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and World Vision to fight deadliest diseases in four African countries including Nigeria. In a statement distributed in Nigeria by Ibim Semenitari (communications unit of Rotary) with the endorsement of Claudia Brunner (Rotary International), Nicole Harris of World Vision, and Gates Foundation leadership, it was disclosed that the USD$30 million program is to tackle ‘Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge’ and strengthen health systems and tackle leading childhood killers named as malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases.
The focus countries, according to the statement include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia. Over the next three years, the Rotary Foundation, World Vision, and the Gates Foundation will collectively contribute US$30 million to fund large-scale, high-impact programming, with local leadership and organizations to improve health outcomes for children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia.
“Investing in community health workers is one of the best things we can do to bolster the fight against malaria and other preventable diseases,” said Philip Welkhoff, Director of Malaria at the Gates Foundation. “We are proud to build on our partnership with Rotary and World Vision and are confident this new initiative will help ensure that children in these four countries have the opportunity to grow up healthy and reach their full potential.”
Over the last 100 years, US $5.5 billion has been awarded through The Rotary Foundation.” – Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#ServiceAboveSelf #Rotary #TRF #rotaryinternational #fellowship
$3.9 million contributed!
“It’s the last Week of RI’s Month of Maternal & Child’s Health
Nine Pacific countries have committed to greater protection for children against life threatening diseases by expanding their immunization program that has been implemented by UNICEF in collaboration with Ministries of Health and funding from Rotary since 2020.The commitment will see vaccines for Pneumococcal Disease, Rotavirus, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) added to the nations’ National Programs for Immunization. Rotary Project Director, James Allen, has been leading Rotary fundraising in Australia and New Zealand, and said, “Pacific countries are our near neighbors and we’re proud of the contribution we have made to protect children and adolescents in the region against life-threatening illnesses including pneumonia, diarrhea, and cervical cancer.” In the Pacific, pneumonia and diarrhea are among the top three causes of mortality in children under five years of age, while around one-third of all pneumonia deaths are due to pneumococcal disease. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in children aged less than five years. Severe diarrhea can lead to dehydration, particularly in young children, and if left untreated can be life-threatening. Since the Rotary ‘Give Every Child a Future’ project’s inception, it has supported the countries to strengthen the supply chain, including the cold chain system to ensure that every child has timely access to safe and potent vaccines. Rotary Project Director, James Allen, has been leading Rotary fundraising in Australia and New Zealand, and said, “… we’re proud of the contribution we have made to protect children and adolescents in the region against life-threatening illnesses including pneumonia, diarrhea, and cervical cancer.” To date, fundraisers from Rotary have contributed US$3.9 million, through the project implemented by UNICEF, in cooperation with the nations’ Ministries of Health and supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
With a high burden of cervical cancer cases in the Pacific, most of which are attributed to HPV infection, the introduction of HPV Vaccine for adolescent girls will contribute to the reduction of preventable deaths. UNICEF will continue to support routine immunization programs in the Pacific island countries, through strengthening effective vaccine management practices, engaging communities to create vaccine demand and the procurement and delivery of quality as well as effective vaccines at an affordable cost to the governments. UNICEF remains committed to ensuring that all children and adolescents have good health, well-being and reach their full potential.” Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair #maternalhealth #childhealth #Rotary #ServiceAboveSelf #rotaryinternational #GiveEveryChildAFuture
“Earth Day Today
Earth Day is a day to celebrate the progress that has been made in protecting our environment and to commit to continuing those efforts. Rotary has adopted as its Seventh Area of Focus to Protect the Environment. In our lifetimes we have seen dramatic reductions in air pollution from vehicles, clean ups of hazardous waste sites, river and streams recovered to clean water, a dramatic increase in the use of renewable energy, and a raised consciousness of the importance of protecting our environment especially in our young people. Rotary’s commitment internationally to the environment also signals our efforts to be relevant to our next generation of Rotarians in our Clubs and in our leadership. Our District has an Environment Committee that can help with environmentally focused service project ideas. When talking with prospective younger members be sure to mention our commitment to protecting the environment.” – Mark Leutgeb District 5580 Membership Chair
“Welcome to Week 4 of RI’s Month of Maternal & Child Health
Rotary Club of Jaipur Round Town, RID 3054 and Rotary Club of Rajdhani, RID 3292 (Nepal) collaborated to establish the Renal Sciences Center at the Rajasthan Hospital in Jaipur through a Rotary Foundation Global Grant worth $288,000 USD. In a report by Team Rotary News, the RF-sponsored center will provide low-cost dialysis and associated services like retinopathy and neuropathy to less privileged patients. Project coordinator, PDG Ramesh Agrawal said that the project has already benefitted over 5,500 patients. The new facility will provide a complete spectrum of care from simple dialysis to a renal transplant procedure, cataract and laparoscopic surgeries and other related treatments at much lower costs than private hospitals. It has also helped in providing employment opportunities by training over 100 paramedical staff. (source: https://rotarynewsonline.org/a-renal-care-centre-in-jaipur/
Fun Facts about Jaipur, India.
The Pink City…so named when in 1876, the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria visited India and the Maharaja of Jaipur ordered the whole city painted pink. Since then, it has become the color of hospitality
Capital city of Rajasthan State, NW India.
First planned city in India, started in 1726 and completed in 4 years.
Population in 2023: 4,207,000
Hosts World’s largest free literary festival
Has the most expensive hotel suites (The Raj Mahal Presidential Suite is $50,000 per night)
Jaipur has the biggest circular park in all of Asia.
RID 3054 is home to over 125 clubs.” – Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#ServiceAboveSelf #TRF #Rotary #EarthDay #maternalhealth #childhealth
“Welcome to Week 2 of RI’s Month of Maternal and Child Health.
No country has greater instances of maternal death than Nigeria. In 2020, 82,000 pregnant women and new mothers died there, nearly four times the maternal fatalities in India, where the second-most deaths occur. One contributing factor? Sixty percent of births in Nigeria take place outside of a health center or hospital, meaning mothers and expectant mothers are far more vulnerable if complications arise. And they so often do: The top causes of maternal deaths include postpartum hemorrhage, obstructed labor, and eclampsia, when seizures develop from a complication that can cause high blood pressure and organ damage. “Most people view [the deaths] as a punishment from the gods or some kind of witchcraft,” says midwife Ashezi David Alu. “But it’s just a pure act of negligence because of poor management of those complications.” Now a $2 million Programs of Scale grant from The Rotary Foundation is addressing this problem head on. Its goal is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by 25 percent in target areas at the end of the three-year program. Known as Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria, the initiative is sponsored by Rotary District 1860 (Germany) in partnership with Districts 9110, 9125, 9141, and 9142 (Nigeria), as well as the Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal, and Child Health. Unfolding in targeted areas within three Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory, the initiative builds on previous work by Rotary members in the country. It’s hoped that, once the program demonstrates its effectiveness, it will be replicated across Nigeria and elsewhere. Critically, Rotary members are partnering with federal and state agencies in implementing the program to ensure the intervention and its benefits last far longer than the three years of the grant cycle. “This project is going to birth more projects,” insists Toyosi Adebambo, the program’s manager
– Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#rotaryinternational #Rotary #ServiceAboveSelf
“It’s Week ONE of RI’s Month of Maternal and Child Health
An estimated 5.9 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation — all of which can be prevented. Rotary provides education, immunizations, birth kits, and mobile health clinics. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from disease.
More than $102 million (USD) has been spent by Rotary International on Global Grants targeting Maternal and Child Health
Haiti has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate of any country in the western hemisphere. Rotary provided a fully equipped medical Jeep to volunteers and midwives to reach mothers and children in remote areas.
Cancer screening: Rotarians provided a mobile cancer screening unit and awareness trainings around Chennai, India, where there is a high mortality rate of women with breast and cervical cancer due to late diagnosis.
Preventing injuries and deaths: Rotary members launched a $3 million, five-year pilot to save lives of mothers and children during home deliveries in Nigeria. Since 2005, they’ve also repaired 1,500 obstetric fistulas — 500 more than their initial goal — restoring dignity and hope to vulnerable mothers.
“If mothers are empowered and healthy, so are their families, leading to an alleviation of poverty and hunger.” Robert Zinser, co-founder of the Rotarian Action Group for Population and Development and retired president for Asia at chemical giant BASF”
– Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#trf #TRFRotary #Rotary #rotaryinternational #ServiceAboveSelf
Week FOUR of RI’s Month of Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH).
Nobody takes water for granted in Zimbabwe, least of all the residents of Musekiwa and Mushaki. Located about 160 kilometers (99 miles) from the capital of Harare, the two villages have been drastically affected by the country’s water shortage. Until recently, many residents walked five kilometers (three miles) or more to find water every day. “They were getting some water from open wells, some from rivers,” says Trymore Tafadzwa Kabanda, a counselor for Mushaki. That changed when two Rotary clubs thousands of miles apart decided to collaborate on a grant-funded project. Members of the Rotary Club of Saint Helena, California, USA, learned about the villages’ situation in 2020 from a guest speaker whose wife had grown up in the area. They found out about the devastating effects climate change has had on rainfall in rural Zimbabwe, where more than 90% of households depend on agriculture for their main livelihood. “They had a horrendous water problem,” says John Muhlner, a past president of the Saint Helena club. “Women, for the most part, were walking miles every day to bring water back to their homes. Often, they would go and wouldn’t find water, or maybe the water they found would be contaminated.”
The Saint Helena Rotarians contacted the Rotary Club of Harare CBD, Harare, Zimbabwe, which conducted a community assessment. After that, the clubs raised funds and applied for a Rotary Foundation Global Grant. The US$82,000 project plan was to dig two wells, install solar-powered pumps and a water piping system, train residents to maintain the equipment, and conduct an educational campaign about the importance of hygiene….“Water touches on all of Rotary’s areas of focus,” says Mary Beth Growney Selene, chair of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Rotary Action Group. “Children are not being pulled away from school to go fetch water in a local river. Parents don’t have to spend time fetching water, so they can be more productive economically. People aren’t as susceptible to waterborne diseases. ‘It all starts with water,’ is what we say.” That was certainly the case in Mushaki and Musekiwa. “Now, most of the villagers don’t have to go more than a few meters to fetch water,” Kabanda says. “Also, diseases like cholera are prevented.”
Source [https://www.rotary.org/en/value-well]
Submitted by: Christopher W Knapp, District 6000 Foundation Chair
#ServiceAboveSelf #Rotary #rotaryinternational
We are grateful for our local and International female Rotarians and leaders plus enjoy the opportunity to support them!
In fact, our current president is a woman (Rhonda Stucy – Wings Financial Credit Union) and we appreciate her leadership!
“Rotary members work with local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, to strengthen local economies and reduce poverty. On this International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating women around the world who are achieving economic independence and helping their communities thrive.
Economic development projects led by Rotary members connect people with tools and education that create opportunities. These projects include:
Ecotourism Economic Development Project
Ten electric rickshaws and the training to use them that now provide a regular source of income for women in Kollam, India. The women and their families enjoy not only the higher income but a better quality of life.
Vocational training in hairdressing and other salon services for people in Jeonju, Korea. Some participants in the training are now earning an income for their work.
Production equipment and training in business skills for 50 female farmers in Menya Governorate, Egypt, to form a community kitchen and food businesses. Their packaged foods will be sold at a local market.
Donations to The Rotary Foundation fund global grants for life-changing projects like these that empower women with sustainable ways to earn a living and support their families. When Rotary members like you contribute, you’re actively investing in brighter futures for communities near home and around the world.
Won’t you join us in supporting economic progress for women?
Sincerely,
The Rotary Foundation”
#ServiceAboveSelf #trfrotary #Rotary #rotaryinternational #internationalwomensday #RotaryFoundation
Did you know that one of Rotary International‘s primary and original goals is to eradicate Polio worldwide? #trfrotary #ServiceAboveSelf #Rotary
