by Brad Webber, Rotary Magazine, This story originally appeared in the July 2022 issue of Rotary magazine.
Canada
Herring are food for salmon, halibut, lingcod, seabirds, and orcas and other marine mammals, and are a traditional staple of First Nations tribes’ diet. But herring populations are in decline because of overfishing and the degradation of preferred egg-laying surfaces such as kelp fronds and eelgrass. In February, Rotarian “sea foresters” in British Columbia dropped herring curtains into Porpoise Bay, northwest of Vancouver. The curtains — heavy-duty landscape fabric cut to lengths of about 8 feet, floated with foam and nylon rope or PVC pipe, and anchored with rocks — are ideal surfaces for the fish’s eggs. Since 2020, nearly 30 volunteers have installed more than 100 curtains and returned weekly to monitor them through the spawning cycle. Six Rotary clubs are participating in the project, led by the Rotary Club of Sechelt.
Colombia
Public safety in Cali has improved since the mid-1990s, when drug cartels lorded over the city. The Rotaract Club of Cali-Norte is promoting peace and conflict resolution through its Re-Créate initiative, “a social and psychoeducational intervention project” involving role-playing, discussions, arts and crafts, music, and athletics at a local school, says Diana Rivera, immediate past president of the club. Since 2017, hundreds of children have participated in the program, which covers social topics such as bullying, setting personal boundaries, and team building.
“We make two visits per semester on Saturdays,” Rivera says of the initiative. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has sidelined a popular soccer tournament fundraiser, individual donors, raffle proceeds, and other initiatives have filled the gap as the club works to enhance Re-Créate with digital offerings.
Uganda
Although the island of Buyiga is located in a swamp adjacent to Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, its nearly 20,000 residents face a shortage of potable water; the island’s one private well regularly served only 10 percent of the population. Enter the Rotary Club of Rubaga Lake View, which teamed with Swedish Rotarians from District 2390 in an adopt-a-village effort.
By late 2021, six boreholes had been sunk across Buyiga, providing water to a school and the island’s sole medical facility. Kristian Rankloo of the Rotary Club of Burlöv-Karstorp visited in 2019 through his charity Help at Hand, spurring him to solicit the $30,000 needed for the project from Swedish Rotary members and businesses, says Paul Kagga of the Rubaga Lake View club. “The community provided local materials like sand, bricks, and land. Our club was responsible for the monitoring, implementation, and evaluation,” Kagga says. Now the club is focused on raising $25,000 to expand Buyiga’s schools.
England
The Rotary Club of Boston rallied donors from the community and other local Rotary clubs to aid a public-run air ambulance service. With more than $20,000 generated through a crowdfunding site, the club far exceeded its goal of raising $13,500 to install lighting for the grass helipad and a windsock at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. “The lights are dual-visual and infrared, solar-powered, and can be switched on from the cockpit of a helicopter,” says Geoff Day, the club’s immediate past president, noting that civil aviation regulations prohibited flights to and from the facility during darkness without the upgrade. With the regional major trauma center in Nottingham more than an hour’s drive away, the improvement will save lives, Day says. Extra money that was raised will be used to fund a blood warmer for the helicopter.
Northern Mariana Islands
Blessed with unusually consistent year-round temperatures, Saipan, the most populous island in the Northern Mariana Islands, is hailed as a tropical treasure. But even paradise can use a little sprucing up, figured eco-minded members of the Rotaract Club of Saipan. “We thought about how some of the villages haven’t been cleaned by community service groups,” says Richard Baleares, the club’s president. “So we made it a goal to do a village cleanup before the end of 2021.” Baleares met with Joann Aquino of the Rotary Club of Saipan to pinpoint a worthy recipient: the village of Chalan Kanoa, where on 2 October a mile-long strip of beach was cleaned of litter.
“We expected around five people to attend but ended up with a little more than 30 due to the participation of all our [four] amazing Interact clubs and students from the Northern Marianas College,” Baleares says.
Consider getting involved and promoting our newest Rotary Area of service- the environment.
Environmental issues -according to Columbia University - appeal to “…70% of Americans age 18 to 34 worry about global warming…This compares with 62% of those 35 to 54 and 56% who are 55 or older. – Public concern about global warming is evident across all age groups in the U.S., with majorities of younger and older Americans saying they worry about the problem a great deal or fair amount. However, the extent to which Americans take global warming seriously and worry about it differs markedly by age, with adults under age 35 typically much more engaged with the problem than those 55 and older. The biggest generational gap is visible in the belief that global warming will pose a serious threat in one’s own lifetime…The second-largest age gap comes with the belief that global warming is caused by human activities.”
Join in for a Meeting of ESRAG
The next meeting for ESRAG Projects Division Club Projects CP#12 is next Wednesday July 13, 2022 – 1:00pm UTC (8:00am Evanston) by Anne Sands on Launching a Community Clean Up with eco-Sorting Stations and Jaideep Malaviya on Passenger Electric Mobility addressing Climate Change.
Topic 12a: Launching a Community Clean Up with Eco-Sorting Stations
PDG Anne Sands will discuss her club project of creating Eco-Sorting Stations designed to help consumers understand how to properly dispose of single use to-go ware. Consumers will learn about Recycling, Reuse and Reduction of waste products and making environmentally sound consumer choices with the ultimate goal of Zero Waste to landfills.
The Eco-Sorting Stations are set up at Farmers Markets and other public events where take-away food is sold.
Topic 12a: Passenger Electric Mobility addressing Climate Change
Rtn Jaideep Malaviya (TRF Environment-Solar Energy Cadre) will show us that India has close to two million 3-wheeler passenger auto-rickshaws that are approved by Regional Transport Offices (RTO’s). Autorickshaws are now a really common form of urban transport as a vehicle for hire and for private use. The autorickshaws use diesel or petroleum, hydro-carbon fuels that are contributors to heat and gas pollution. Each electric autorickshaw can reduce 15 tons of the carbon footprint in an equivalent vehicle’s lifetime of 10 years. His club project is encouraging the Pune community with replacing fossil fueled engines with battery operated vehicles.
Date and Time: next Wednesday July 13, 2022 1:00pm UTC (8:00am Evanston CDT)
The Rotary Club of Northbrook's Annual Pancake Breakfast at the Village Green Park on Monday, July 4th
Thank you to all our club volunteers for making this return so special. The memories you made for the attendees may just be what they needed on a day that ended in tragedy. Onward, and upward to the race on July 19th!
We will have in person meetings going forward. To join us for a lunch meeting contact Helen, our membership person at RotaryNorthbrook@gmail.com to find out more.
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