Schoolchildren in Ecuador are improving their reading, and their teachers are receiving additional professional development through a collaboration between Rotary and the Organization of American States (OAS).

The effort began three years ago when Richard Carson, RI representative to the OAS, and other Rotary members met with staff at the agency to discuss a set of literacy requirements for schools. They briefed the ministers of education of Central and South American countries on an approach to improve reading skills. Ecuador adopted the plan.

“We flew to Ecuador and met with the vice president of the country, who happened to be a Rotarian, and with many different teaching professionals,” says Carson, a member of the Rotary Club of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA. “It’s a very successful project involving three Rotary districts and eight clubs.”

To achieve the new academic standards, the program called for additional training for teachers, including how to incorporate new technology into the curriculum. Rachael Blair, who coordinated a global grant project for the Rotary Club of Annapolis, Maryland, USA, said she was moved by how much the teachers appreciated Rotary’s involvement.

“They could not believe that Rotary clubs would take such an interest in their professional development, especially clubs from overseas,” she says. “They reminded me that when you nurture and support others, they shine and bring their very best skills and talents to the table.”

For the past three decades, a network of RI representatives has been strengthening ties with the United Nations, its agencies, and other international organizations, like the League of Arab States and the European Union. The result is bigger projects, like the one in Ecuador.

In Lebanon, Rotary clubs have partnered with the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia to teach high school students about the UN Millennium Development Goals, the progress Arab states have made toward reaching them, and the obstacles that remain. The aim is to better educate the younger generation on how they can help achieve the goals.

Michel Jazzar, a member of the Rotary Club of Kerousan, Lebanon, and an RI representative to the UN agency, has also been instrumental in bringing Lebanon clubs together to form a National Rotary Lebanon Fund to coordinate their efforts.

RI representatives monitor activities and advocate for Rotary’s causes within most of the major international institutions. They regularly attend functions at the White House, United Nations, the Commonwealth, and European Union, and they arrange private meetings and organize special events.