The Rotary Foundation - Rotary’s International Avenue of Service
 

Close your eyes for a moment and image with me a world without hunger, without poverty, without disease, without illiteracy, and without conflict.  Seem impossible?  Perhaps not. Rotary’s International Avenue of Service exemplifies our global outreach in promoting peace and understanding, and working to provide a better life for those in need or faced with unexpected misfortune. 

Working through the International Avenue of Service, Rotarians collectively see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities and, perhaps most importantly, in ourselves.  During the past 100 years, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International – the action arm of Rotary’s International Avenue of Service – has spent in excess of $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects that make life better for millions around the world.

If you could fit the entire population of the world into a village consisting of 100 people while maintaining the proportions of all the people living on Earth, that village would consist of

     57   Asians

     21   Europeans

     14   Americans – North, Central and South

       8   Africans

Of these 100 people,

     10   would neither be able to read nor write

     50   would suffer from hunger and malnutrition that will eventually lead to their death, and

     80   would live in poverty – grinding, life threatening poverty unlike any seen in this country.

Whether it’s eradicating Polio in Pakistan, digging water wells in the Philippines, providing dictionaries to local schools in Killeen, or educating a scholar in peace and conflict resolution, our Foundation creates the environment and fosters the circumstances that give these people hope that a better day is possible.

Through the Foundation, our work makes a huge difference in the lives of millions of people around the world.  By embracing Rotary’s International Avenue of Service, our our Foundation changes lives by

Okay, so what – specifically – does our Foundation do to address these issues?

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, an unprecedented 68 million people around the world have been displaced as the result of conflict and violence – nearly 34,000 people per day – and among these are nearly 21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.  As a benchmark, 50 million where displaced as the result of World War II.

In addition, there are another 10 million stateless persons who have been denied a nationality and access to basic human rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.

Our Foundation refuses to accept conflict as a way of life, and provides training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts.

Through our service projects, peace fellowships, and scholarships, Rotarians are taking action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.

According to the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), health care expenses force nearly 100 million people into extreme poverty each year as the result of the economic consequences of treating preventable infectious diseases.  Approximately 800 million people spend at least 10% of their household income on health expenses, and nearly half of the world’s population lacks access to essential health care services.  While immunizations, family planning and disease treatment are more accessible, they aren’t always affordable.  If you woke up this morning in good health, you are luckier than the 1 million people who won’t live through the week as the result of infectious disease.

Our Foundation educates and equips communities to stop the spread of life-threatening, preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria by improving and expending upon access to low cost and free health care.

And as Kelly Barr told us two weeks ago, we have been working to eradicate Polio for over 30 years.  Recall that in 1985, when Rotary International President Carlos Canseco started us on our journey to eliminate this disease, paralytic Polio struck at a rate of more than 1.000 new cases every day.  Thirty-three years later, ridding the Earth of this dreaded disease is clearly in sight.  There are only 3 endemic countries remaining – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria – and, 10 months into the year, there have only been 22 cases of wild virus caused paralysis in 2018.

Water is a fundamental human need.  Each day, every person on Earth requires at least 20 to 50 liters of clean, safe water for drinking, cooking, and simply keeping themselves clean.  Nevertheless, more than 2.5 billion people – 35% of the world’s population – lack adequate access to this resource.

With a lack of disease prevention knowledge and rapid population growth, rural communities in developing countries face the greatest danger from the global water crisis.  Unsafe water, poor sanitation, and unhygienic practices affect all areas of the community.  Sadly, in the 21^st century, at least 3,000 children still die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water.

Our Foundation is supporting local solutions that bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day.  We don’t just build wells and walk away.  We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.

While the number of illiterate adults has fallen over the past decade, more than 775 million people over the age of 15 – 64% of them women – still lack basic reading and writing skills.  Another 67 million children have no access to education at all due to factors that are totally out of their control, factors such as geographic location, gender, ethnicity, societal standing, and language.

Literacy skills are fundamental to informed decision-making, personal empowerment, and active participation in both the local and global communities.  So, if you read this morning’s newspaper as you sipped that first cup of coffee, or took a quite look at your email, you’re luckier than the almost 1 billion people who are illiterate.

Our Foundation is working to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and to increase adult literacy.

According to the World Bank, nearly 1.4 billion employed people live on less than $1.25 per day.  Literally, if you have a full fridge, clothes on your back, a rood over your head and a safe place to sleep, you are wealthier than 75% of the world’s population.  In addition, consider that 785 million people – over 11% of the world’s population – do not have enough to eat, 60% of whom are women and children. 

Our Foundation helps to create opportunities for individuals and rural communities to thrive financially and socially.  This is particularly important because 70% of the world’s poorest people live in these rural areas and depend upon agriculture and related activities for their livelihood.  Rotary helps to give farmers the skills they need to improve soil fertility, control erosion, and successfully market their crops.

In addition to the 3,000 children who die daily as the result of unsafe water, another 13,000 children die each day as the result of malnutrition and inadequate health care – all of which preventable. 

Our Foundation is expanding access to quality care so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger, and we give their communities the help and training necessary to take control of their health care, providing education, immunizations, birth kits and mobile health clinics.

In the early 1950’s, Rotary adopted a philosophy to help Rotarians think on a global basis.  In part here’s what it said:

“As world-minded Rotarians, we consider ourselves as sharing responsibility for the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace, recognizing that there are certain basic moral and spiritual standards which will ensure a richer, fuller life for all.  We support action directed toward improving the standard of living for all peoples, realizing that poverty anywhere endangers prosperity everywhere.”

As Rotarians, I hope that you’re proud of what The Rotary Foundation is doing to help promote such positive change in society by nourishing, improving and enhancing the quality of life and developmental potential of millions of people around the world, giving them – as I noted earlier – hope that a better day is possible.

Rotarians have the vision to see, the faith to believe and the courage to act.  And because of that, we really are People of Action doing good in the world.

 

PDG Rich Kaye

Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Zones 21b and Part of 27