Rotary news in brief from around the globe
The Rotarian -- January 2013
The Rotary clubs of Maputo, Mozambique, and Skanderborg, Denmark, partnered on a global grant project to build bathrooms, a well, and a water tank.
To celebrate the 2012-13 RI theme, Peace Through Service, the Rotary Club of Montes de Oca, Argentina, held La Imagen de la Paz (Image of Peace), an international photography contest for Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Interactors.
The club received submissions from photographers in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and Italy, and created a traveling exhibit of 25 of the best entries. For eight months, Rotary clubs throughout the district hosted the exhibit to promote peace and fellowship.
England
St Nicholas School in Chippenham has 70 students, ages 3 to 19, with disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. The Rotary Club of Chippenham established a registered charity, St Nicholas Appeal for a Pool (SNAP), to build a hydrotherapy pool at the school. SNAP received funds from community events, sponsored swims, and marathons. Local businesses and organizations also contributed, and the mayor of Chippenham made SNAP her charity of the year. By 2011, it had raised £750,000, which fully funded the pool. The club won the vocational service award from Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland and first prize from the Chippenham Area Board for work in the community.
India
More than 80,000 children in India have congenital heart defects that require medical intervention, but only 8,000 to 10,000 of them are treated each year. Rotary clubs from districts 3240 (India) and 5340 (California, USA) raised money to sponsor children whose families could not afford lifesaving operations. A Rotary Foundation Global Grant of over US$54,000 is helping to fund Heart to Heart, a project that provides surgeries for children with congenital heart disease in India and Pakistan. In 2010, District 3240 partnered with Korean districts 3630 and 3660 to establish Heart to Heart and received a $70,000 Foundation grant. That money, along with additional funds, benefited 56 children that year. The new grant will help the effort reach its goal of providing surgeries for 100 children.
Mozambique
A primary school outside the capital, Maputo, needed an updated sanitation system for its 2,500 students and staff. Bathrooms were in disrepair, and the school lacked running water. The Rotary clubs of Maputo and Skanderborg, Denmark, received a US$55,100 Rotary Foundation Global Grant to build bathrooms, a well, and a 5,000-liter water tank. School officials maintain the sanitation system and tank, which were designed to require little upkeep. Read more.
New Zealand
The Rotary Club of Wellington is providing students with a platform for telling New Zealand leaders about the role science will play in the country’s future. The club organized the inaugural Eureka Symposium, at which 12 finalists under age 25 gave presentations on a scientific topic and its impact on the economy and environment. The finalists will also join government officials and business representatives in a science forum.
Philippines
In February, a team of eight optometrists, an optician, and three Rotarians from Great Britain visited the Philippines, where they tested the eyes of 2,700 children and adults and supplied free eyeglasses to those who needed them. Four primary schools in Bromsgrove, England; several businesses; and Rotary clubs in districts 1060 and 1210 helped raise funds for the trip and secure donations of children’s glasses. The Rotary clubs of North Worcestershire, England, and Tanauan, Philippines, led the US$16,950 project, which received support from a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant.
USA
A grant from the Rotary Club of Seattle funded the launch of the Seattle Rotary Genomic Blood Typing Program last year. The club awarded its 2011-12 $100,000 Large Community Grant to the Puget Sound Blood Center to implement the effort, which will use new technologies to ensure accurate matching of blood products between donors and patients. This will help increase the supply of less-common blood types and decrease the region’s reliance on imported blood for patients with difficult-to-match types. The Seattle Rotary Service Foundation received applications from 98 organizations competing for this annual grant.
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