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Dear Fellow Rotarians,
Every Thursday morning, I receive an email from the World Health
Organization with an update on the status of polio eradication.
It contains a wealth of information, country by country: where and
how immunization campaigns are being conducted, how many millions
of children are being vaccinated, and where environmental surveillance
has found evidence of circulating virus. But every week, when that
email appears in my inbox, my heart seems to stop for just a moment
until I read the first few lines – and learn whether a child
was paralyzed by wild polio virus that week.
That, my friends, is where we are today in the work of polio eradication.
The question on my mind as I open that message isn't how many thousands
of cases we might see in a year, as we did not too long ago, or
even how many hundreds. Instead, when that WHO email arrives every
Thursday, the single, binary question it answers is: Was there a
new case this week, or wasn't there?
Thirty years ago, 1,000 children were paralyzed by
polio every single day. Since then, we've marked our progress, year
by year, week by week. We've celebrated as country after country,
region after region has been declared polio-free. As we've come
closer and closer to our goal, and the number of cases has dropped
further and further, the children those numbers reflect have become
less and less of an abstraction. When I open that Thursday email,
I don't wonder what number I'll see. I wonder, was a child paralyzed
this week or not?
We are so close to eradication – but there is
so much work left to do.
This month, I ask every Rotary club to help End Polio
Now by marking World Polio Day on 24 October. Last year, thousands
of Rotary clubs around the world held events to raise awareness
and funds for polio eradication. This year, we want to see more
World Polio Day events registered than ever. If you have an event
planned, be sure to register and promote it at endpolio.org so that
more people can take part. If you haven't planned one yet, it's
not too late – visit endpolio.org to find ideas, information
on this year's livestream, and resources to help your club organize
a successful event.
World Polio Day is a tremendous opportunity for clubs
to highlight Rotary, and our historic work to eradicate polio, in
their own communities. It is also a great way to take advantage
of the challenge from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: For
every dollar that Rotary raises for polio eradication, the Gates
Foundation will give two more. Join me, and Rotarians everywhere,
on 24 October for World Polio Day – and Be the Inspiration
for a polio-free world.
Barry Rassin
President 2018-19
Trustee Chair's Message - Oct.
2018
Ron D. Burton, Trustee Chair
2018-19
Trustee chair's message
Since its inception in 1905, Rotary has been
a champion for peace. The 1914 Rotary Convention adopted
a resolution that our organization "lend its influence
to the maintenance of peace among nations of the world."
Then, the 1921 convention incorporated into Rotary's Constitution
the goal to aid in the advancement of international peace
and goodwill through fellowship in the Rotary ideal of service.
In 1945, Rotary played a key role in forming the United
Nations when almost 50 Rotarians served as delegates, advisers,
or consultants at the UN charter conference in San Francisco.
Today, one of our six areas of focus is promoting peace.
Every Rotary service project, whether funded with a district
grant or a global grant, has an impact on peace. It could
be a peace project, a water and sanitation project, a basic
education and literacy project, an economic and community
development project, or a project in one of our human health-related
areas – maternal and child health or disease prevention
and treatment. It really doesn't matter. The ultimate outcome
makes a positive contribution to our world by improving
the quality of life for those affected, and that improvement
is an element of peace.
Additionally, each year we select up to 100
professionals from around the world to be Rotary Peace Fellows
who receive fellowships to study at one of our six peace
centers, earning either a master's degree or a professional
development certificate in areas such as human rights, international
politics, public health, and development. To date, 1,100-plus
people have participated in the program, and we are beginning
to see positive results.
As we look to the future, The Rotary Foundation Trustees
are discussing how we can improve this program as well as
all of our peace efforts so that we can achieve the maximum
possible positive impact. If you would like to help, you
can contribute to the Rotary Peace Centers Major Gifts Initiative
and help support the next generation of peacebuilders.
Ron D. Burton
Trustee Chair 2018-19
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