Today July 7, 2015- President Jill will tell us of her visions for the 2015- 2016 Rotary Year.

 

 

Larry Kanar introduced cancer survivor Dr. Neil Perlman who told us about CCARE. CCARE's mission is to educate the public and healthcare professionals about Lynch Syndrome and help fund research to cure the disease.  Lynch Syndrome is a genetic disease that dramatically increases the risk of cancer, especially colon and uterine cancers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Rose awarded grants to Humanity Rising and the North Suburban YMCA.  Humanity Rising will use the funds to provide youth scholarships and the NSYMCA will use the grant to provide assistance to teens, children and families facing financial hardships.

 

 

 

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Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Russian was the predominant second language offered in Polish schools, leaving tens of thousands of Polish emigrants without the English skills they needed.  That has changed over the last 25 years. English proficiency drastically improved after the government reformed its education system in 1991. The country overhauled its teaching curriculum and materials and introduced English as the primary foreign language. As of 2013, Poland ranks 8th in the world in English proficiency.

The Warszawa City members the Rotary Club of Berlin-Luftbrücke, Germany, and the Rotary Club of Milano Nord, Italy, are trying to change this trend. A $45,000 Rotary global grant project is supporting English and other foreign language education for more than 1,200 underprivileged students in 10 rural communities. The clubs collaborated with Good Start, a program that provides equipment, software, and an interactive e-learning platform for afterschool education centers, as well as training for tutors.

 

In his 25 years of Rotary service, Chris Mutalya says he’s seen “quite a few projects that didn’t turn out well.” He recalls one that was designed to bring clean water to schools and health centers in southern Uganda. But the planners neglected a crucial need: Nearby residents had no clean water in their homes. And some of those residents diverted the water intended for students, patients, and health workers.

The intended beneficiaries, he says, should contribute something, such as money, labor, or building materials. That way, the project belongs to them rather than to Rotary. “We’ve made that clear to all our clubs here in Uganda,” says Mutalya, who led a breakout session at the 2014 Rotary convention in Sydney to lay out the Uganda clubs’ strategy for large-scale water and sanitation efforts.