Rotday District 6310 Global Grants Chair Speaks to Club
November 15, 2016
By: Stephen Kent
Randy Ettema
Randy Ettema, Rotary District 6310 Global Grants Chair, spoke to the club about Rotary's water initiatives in the Dominican Republic.
As the district's Water & Sanitation Committee chair Randy, and other local Rotarians, have made several trips to the Dominican Republic including one at the beginning of November 2016. Clubs in our district have made a strong effort to impact several communities in the DR with improved water and sanitation infrastructure.
Reporting on the most recent trip, Randy said that the main message Rotary brings is one of hope. Hope for a better quality of life through education, health improvement and pride. Rotary is improving the lives of people, one person at a time.
Using a slide of a map, Randy showed the region in which Rotary has been working. Currently, there are three introductory grant requests in process and funded by clubs in the district. These cover hand washing, wells, water filters, and latrines.
Several types of water filters have been installed over the years. Randy talked about these and some of the challenges involved. They found filters that were adequate at first but stopped working over time. In many cases, the problem was a matter of cleaning and maintenance. An effort was made to get these filters back online and to educate the people in these jobs.
The current filter preferred by Rotary is one that is much easier to maintain and clean.
Among the challenges still faced are education about hygiene and the need to wash hands. Sometimes schools have sinks that do not work. In fact, not all schools have sinks or hand-washing stations. The locals also face inconsistent power supplies and city water supplies.
Kevin Kelly
The club also heard from
Kevin Kelly, the Major Gifts Officer for Rotary Zone 29. Sixteen Midwest districts make up Zone 29. Kevin's job it to work on behalf of the Rotary Foundation to raise funds, but also to pass on the successes of the Foundation.
The foundation continues to excel in ways that are really making a huge impact across the world.
The water and sanitation efforts are one of many projects. The impact is going to be extremely large. There is over $330 million currently in the endowment. Over a billion dollars has been committed.
"The biggest project that we still have is eradicating Polio", said Kevin. There have been setbacks in the last couple of years, but even then there were less than 30 cases of polio worldwide. Leveraged by the two to one match from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the gifts of Rotarians make the outcome a sure thing.
CLUB NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
The names of two potential new members were read for the second time.
President Andrea read a letter of thanks from the third graders at Faith Lutheran school for the dictionaries given by Rotary. She also noted that there are still a few books left to be delivered and she thanked Ann Russell for chairing that committee.
The annual Christmas Program will be on December 20th. The Bay City Morning Rotary, the Northern Bay and Arenac Rotary, and the Optimists have been invited. Entertainment will be by the Garber Varsity Choir.
Chuck Cusick is chairing the Seasonal Cards fundraiser. Those wishing to purchase cards may sign up at the meeting.
At last week's meeting, the Club's board approved $1,681 for a joint effort to support a hand-washing hygiene project in the Dominican Republic. 175 schools will receive training, water filters, and literature.
Current and past
DISTRICT DISPATCH newsletters are available on the District site shown in the LINKS section below.
DATES TO REMEMBER
June 10-14, 2017 Rotary International Convention - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
www.RotaryConvention2017.org
OR
www.RIConvention.org
Dee Dee Wacksman, District Chair
Upcoming Programs
(See the official schedule at
RotaryBayCity.org )
Nov 22, 2016
Lynne Greathouse will speak about the
Bay City All Saints Robotic Team's participation in the First Robotics competition.
Nov 29, 2016
Misty Janks, YWCA Executive Director, will discuss the 125th birthday of the YWCA and the events surrounding the anniversary.
Rotary is an intimate affiliation of carefully selected business and professional people,
having as its objective the promotion of high ethical standards in private, commercial
and civic life, and dedicated to the ideal that the basis of all worthy endeavor is unselfish service.
Current and past
DISTRICT DISPATCH newsletters are available on the District site shown in the LINKS section below.
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