UNITY
THROUGH ROTARY
HUMANITY IN MOTION
WHAT IS ROTARY?
• Founded in Chicago in 1905, Rotary celebrated 100
years of service in 2005.
• Rotary International is a volunteer organization of
business and professional leaders who provide
humanitarian service, and help to build goodwill and
peace in the world.
What is the purpose of Rotary?
• Rotary clubs exist to improve communities
locally and around the world.
• Rotary also encourages high ethical
standards in business and professions.
• Rotary clubs work to advance
international understanding by partnering
with clubs in other
countries.
The Numbers
•
•
•
•
•
1,222,788 Rotarians
32,756 Rotary Clubs
532 Rotary regional districts
200+ countries and geographic areas
Rotary clubs are located throughout all
seven continents
HOW DO THEY DO IT?
• HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS
• EDUCATION
• PEACE PROMOTION
HUMANITARIAN
PROJECTS
• POLIO – ERADICATION
• Since its launch in 1988, the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative - spearheaded by the World
Health Organization (WHO), Rotary
International, the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF has reduced the incidence of polio by more than
99 percent. At the time, more than 125 countries
were polio-endemic, and more than 350,000
children were paralyzed by the disease each
year.
Other Heath Projects
• THOUSANDS OF ONGOING PROJECTS:
• In Gumaco, Quezon, Philippines, a Rotary project provided free tuberculosis
screening and treatment to pre-school and elementary school children.
• In Kerela and Tamil Nadu, India, Rotary clubs launched a wide-scale AIDS
education campaign using bicycle and van teams to coordinate community
outreach.
• The Gift of Life project, initiated by Rotary clubs around the world, offers free
heart surgeries to children who have potentially fatal heart conditions. To date,
more than 2,000 children have received lifesaving surgery.
• In Bolivia, Rotary clubs prevent the spread of an infectious parasitic disease
called chagas, which affects millions of people, through education initiatives
and the building of new shelters.
TWO NEW AREAS OF FOCUS
• CLEAN WATER
• LITERACY
WATER – THE
PROBLEM
• Less than one percent of all water is available for human use. 97
percent of the world's water is oceans which contain saline, and over
two percent of the remainder is frozen in icebergs and glaciers.
• Population growth and mega-cities have increased demand six times
since the beginning of this century – SO DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY
• Pollution and contaminates also threaten available water sources.
• Today some 40 percent of the world's countries have severe water
problems.
• Without clean water – you do not survive.
WATER – THE SOLUTION
• DEVELOPMENT OF WELLS AND FILTRATION SYSTEMS – WHERE CLEAN
WATER DOES NOT EXIST. Examples:
• A Senegalese Rotarian created a device which forces tree roots to tap
water well below the saline surface of the Sahel.
• The Rotary Club of Harare, Zimbabwe upgraded 900 wells in rural
Zimbabwe with support from Rotary clubs in Canada and Sweden,
• Working with UNICEF, Wisconsin Rotarians funded the installation of
wells providing water to some 6,000 Haitian villagers.
• Water and sanitation systems for 13 Indian villages in central Brazil
are part of a comprehensive project supported by California, USA, and
Brazilian Rotarians.
• In Rajasthan, India, Rotarians devised a way to capture the monsoon
rains, holding them long enough to increase the water table. This
makes safe water available year-round.
Literacy – part of Rotary’s
Education Initiatives
• In 1985, Rotary declared basic literacy to be a precondition to the development of peace.
• Through this organizational emphasis, more than
half the world’s 32,000 Rotary clubs address the
full range of literacy and mathematical
challenges for primary,
vocational, and adult
learners as well as
teacher training.
Literacy
• Early Childhood and Primary Education
• Adult Literacy Programs
• Literacy and Women
Education
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ambassadorial Scholarships
Approximately 1,000 scholarships are awarded yearly to university students around
the globe to study in another country for three months to two years. These students
serve as ambassadors of goodwill.
Youth Exchange
Some 8,000 teenage students around the world study in another country and learn
about its history, language and culture each year. They too serve as goodwill
ambassadors.
Rotary Grants for University Teachers
Grants awarded to about 20 university faculty members yearly, who can teach for up
to 10 months at an institution of their choice in developing countries.
Group Study Exchange
Another goodwill initiative, this program enables groups of young professionals aged
25-40 to participate in four-to-six-week exchange visits between countries.
PEACE
• Rotary Centers for International Studies in Peace and
Conflict Resolution
• A two-year master’s-level program that trains future
diplomats and leaders in the art of peace building and
conflict resolution.
• The program selects and sends up to 60 Rotary World
Peace Fellows annually to study at seven participating
universities.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, USA;
Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina;
University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England;
International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan;
University of California, Berkeley, USA; and
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Rotary Centers for International Studies
in Peace and Conflict Resolution
• US$20 million is the estimated cost to
provide full scholarships for the first five
classes of scholars
• The scholars are chosen
from a world-competitive
pool of applicants.
What about me??
• Interact - the High School Version
– RYLA – National
Youth Leadership
Conference
• Rotaract – the College Edition- MSU
HUMANITARIAN AID AND EDUCATION
TO BRING PEACE
AND
UNITY
YOU CAN
BE A PART OF IT
ROTARY.ORG