Project booths inform, promote Rotary service

I n addition to offering exciting activities and live entertainment, the House of Friendship at the 2011 RI Convention gives Rotary clubs and districts a chance to showcase their service projects, from providing shelter to disaster victims to helping children at rural schools.

More than 60 Rotary clubs and districts joined Rotarian Action Groups, Rotary Fellowships, and outside aid organizations in setting up booths to promote their projects at the House of Friendship. Here's a sampling of the efforts on display in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA:

Helping Children Survive and Thrive in the Country of Georgia
District 6080 (Missouri, USA)

District 6080 successfully partnered with Scholastic Inc. to provide English-language books to all 335 students at St. Ilia School, in the rural foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. That project inspired clubs in the district to do more to support Georgian students in need.

“We can supply an entire school in Georgia with books for $350. It’s a small, easy way for Rotarians around the world to join together and make an incredible difference in the education of this country.”
--Patricia J. Blair, Rotary Club of Columbia South, Missouri
Link : www.acalltoserve.org

Disaster Aid International
Rotary clubs around the world

Sponsored by Rotary clubs in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Disaster Aid International provides emergency shelter, water, and other essentials to families after natural disasters. The group supplies versatile tents that can house up to eight people.

“One of the most important features of the tents is that you can connect them. You can erect four tents to make a school. They can serves as a hospital and even a community center.”
-- David Langworthy, chair of Disaster Aid Australia, Rotary Club of Endeavour Hills, Victoria
Link : www.disasteraidinternational.com

Guitars for the Troops 
Rotary Club of Aurora Fitzsimons, Colorado, USA

With help from the club’s foundation, Guitars for the Troops provides support through music to injured U.S. soldiers overseas. A $150 donation funds a guitar, picks, strings, a music book with CDs, and shoulder strap. The program is expanding to assist those with other needs, including people with Parkinson’s disease, for whom the guitars may help with dexterity.

“We are not closing ourselves to one limited source of who needs the guitars. I had a Nigerian couple request one for their child’s church choir. We are keeping our options open to where the need is.”
-- Debra Jessop, Rotary Club of Aurora Fitzsimons
Link : www.aurorafitzsimonsrotary.org

Canadian Eyesight Global
Rotary Club of Surrey-Guildford, British Columbia, Canada

Since its start 22 years ago, Canadian Eyesight Global has sponsored more than 65,000 free cataract operations for people in rural areas of India. A $42 donation will fund cataract surgery for one person.

“In India, millions of people have cataracts because of insufficient diet and the inability to protect their eyes from the hot sun and sand. The $42 for the surgery is simply too much for the poor people of India.”
-- Anup Singh Jubbal, project founder Rotary Club of Surrey-Guildford 
Link : www.canadianeyesight.org

Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship

The Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship aims to promote service, fellowship, and public relations through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networks. Fellowship members provide training to clubs and districts on how to set up accounts and use social networking sites.

“Rotarians need to be involved with social networks. Don’t be afraid of it.”
- Don Higgins, Rotary Club of Pinellas Park, Florida, USA.
Link: rosnf.net/home