Guest Speaker: PDG Bob Newlon

While many Rotary Clubs around the world -- Sycamore included -- devote themselves to helping underdeveloped nations and regions obtain fresh water, another related matter is of similar importance: proper hygiene.

Former District Governor Bob Newlon says many areas face water contamination from both human and animal waste; the lack of proper toilet facilities in private homes, villages and schools serves to spread disease...and in the latter case, discourages students from even attending.

Newlon works on behalf of a Rotary Action Group devoted to promoting proper hygiene around the world; he has personally gone to the Philippines and other locations to demonstrate an easy-to-construct, waterless toilet which can be used for safe disposal...and even recycling into fertilizer.

He recognizes that this subject is sensitive, and perhaps not as glamorous as providing clean water...but notes that the two problems are often interrelated, and require equal amounts of attention.