District Governor Cindy Rold spoke to Longmont Rotary Club on DATE about her recent visit to Kenya, where she viewed several Rotary water projects and saw first-hand the impact that Rotary has had on the lives of local residents.Cindy spoke about the importance of the educational component of water projects, because people who have never been educated about the importance of clean water don’t understand why they should invest effort to maintain the cleanliness of the water.

Rotary projects provide both clan water and education. For example,Rotary has undertaken a program of spring protection at 58 spring sites,  so that the water which flows out of the ground will remain clean. Local residents are empowered and trained to maintain the clean area around the spring. Residents come to fill containers of water at the spring head, often carrying 20 liters of water on their head up to 8 times a day!

In Nairobi, Cindy went on, there are over one million people living in slums, with entire families sharing 10x10 shacks with no running water. She visited the largest school in that city, which serves 6000 students, also without running water. The Littleton Rotary club had sponsored a water filtration project for that school. Cindy said that the filtered water “tasted delicious!” The educational component of that project included training 100 students as “wash champions” who educate their classmates about the importance of clean water and how to maintain the pipes. One of the students told her gleefully that “we don’t have stomach aches any more.”

Cindy also told us about some unmet needs in the area, for example a school with 400 students that has only 4 hole-in-the-ground latrines. They requested help to replace those “disgusting” latrines with more hygienic facilities. She also visited an orphanage that has no running water. The children must carry in buckets of water to wash themselves. That orphanage and 6 local schools have all requested water filtration systems.

Cindy’s talk provided clear evidence that Rotary is, indeed, “United for Good!”

Francesco Arezzo, a member of the Rotary Club of Ragusa, Italy, has been selected by the Board of Directors to become Rotary International’s president for 2025-26. Arezzo will become president on 1 July.

The Board conducted a special session following the unexpected resignation of RI President-elect Mário César Martins de Camargo on 8 June. Guided by the RI code and policies, the Board selected the new president-elect from a pool of candidates who were considered by the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in August 2023.

The 2025-26 presidential message, announced at the 2025 Rotary International Assembly in February, will remain Unite for Good, which calls on Rotary members to be a force for unity in a world increasingly divided by politics, geography, and ideology. Through service projects, Rotary brings together people of every background — across races, religions, and professions — in a shared mission to do good in their communities.

Arezzo is an orthodontist in private practice. He is active internationally as a member of the Italian, European, and American orthodontics associations. He is vice president of the National Association of Italian Dentists for the province of Ragusa and was the founder and head for seven years of the delegation for Ragusa of the National Trust for Italy. He is a Knight of Honor and Devotion in Obedience within the Sovereign Order of Malta.

A Rotary member for more than 30 years, Arezzo has served as vice chair of the Joint Strategic Planning Committee and as RI director, learning facilitator, and as district conference presidential representative.

Arezzo is a Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation. He is married to Anna Maria Criscione, an entrepreneur in the tourism field. They have two children