Hamburg Rotary International Convention, Part 3 (Aired October 26 and 27, 2019)

The 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany, was covered by
RadioRotary interviewers; this is the third report on some of what they found. A Rotarian
from the Netherlands told RadioRotary about efforts of her organization to reduce
human trafficking with education and empowerment of youth. Another NGO (non-
governmental organization) called Medair works to provide quick relief and shelter in
cases of disasters or civil conflict. A Rotarian physician from Johns Hopkins in Maryland
is part of the Rotary Action Group (RAG) on Mental Health Initiatives, working primarily
to reduce high suicide rates in Lithuania and India. A Rotarian from Zambia describes
efforts to provide new professions for commercial sex workers; he was promoting the
Rotarian shirts made by former sex workers who now operate sewing machines. And,
closer to home, Rotarians from Media, Pennsylvania (Jeffrey Cadorette), and Millbrook,
New York (Cindie Kish), tell about the polio eradication program known as “Drop to
Zero” and the possible drop to ground level from the skies for six Rotarians, including
Cindie and Jeffrey, if goals are met.

Learn more:
Just Ask (human trafficking prevention): http://justaskprevention.org/
Medair: https://us.medair.org/
Rotary Action Group on Mental Health Initiatives: https://ragonmentalhealth.org/
Rotary Shirts, Hats, and Aprons made by former sex workers: https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000006774/en-ca/files/homepage/the-kwenuha-women-s-association-rotary-shirt/Rotary-Livingstone-Catalogue.pdf

Polio Drop to Zero: https://www.endpolio.org/drop-to-zero-a-major-global-polio-event-to-be-held-at-the-rotary-convention
Rotary Zones 24-32: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50077

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Polio Survivor Swims Lake George (Aired October 19 and 20, 2019)

In 1954 when she was 6 months old, Louise Rourke contracted polio, also known as
infantile paralysis. Initially she lost the power of moving either leg or her left arm,
although her left side eventually recovered with medical help supplied in part by the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (the March of Dimes). After several corrective
surgeries, she was able to walk with the aid of a brace on her right leg. By the time she
was a teenager, she could walk without the brace, but age caught up to her in 2007 and
she needed the brace once more. Like some other polio survivors, she found that
swimming was excellent exercise, although her right leg just dangled in the water. Living
on the shore of 32-mile-long Lake George in upstate New York, she learned of women
who had swum the entire length of the lake, so she conceived of a plan to earn money
for polio eradication by swimming the length of Lake George herself. This RadioRotary
program tells how she got through the task and what she accomplished for polio
eradication, which became multiplied by a factor of 3 by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.

Learn more:
Polio: https://www.cdc.gov/polio/about/index.htm
End Polio Now: https://www.endpolio.org/
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/what-we-do/global-development/polio
Lake George: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_George_(New_York)
Northern Lake George Rotary Club: https://northernlakegeorgerotary.wordpress.com/

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November 4, 2019 · Posted in Global Polio Initiative, PolioPlus  

Hamburg Rotary International Convention, Part 2 (Aired October 12 and 13, 2019)

 

RadioRotary interviewers discovered some great projects at the 2019 Rotary
International Convention in Hamburg, Germany. Rotarians and other humanitarian
groups are doing good around the world, improving hearing and sight, providing light
and shelter, and preventing polio and other communicable diseases. Rotarians for
Hearing work in Nigeria, South Africa, and even the United States, concentrating on
ways to provide aids to the hearing impaired, while the Eye Foundation of American
helps solve vision problems in newborn children. ShelterBox tents include not only the
supplies needed after for a whole family a disaster but also a LuminAID solar cube that
lights the night (and in some cases charges the phone). Vaccination is succeeding in
eliminating polio, but simple hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent
communicable diseases.

Learn more:
Rotarians for Hearing RAG: https://www.ifrahl.org/
End Polio: https://www.endpolio.org/
LuminAID: https://luminaid.com/
ShelterBox: https://www.shelterbox.org/
Eye Foundation of America: http://aprildobrien.wixsite.com/eyefoundation
Hand Hygiene for Health: https://handhygieneforhealth.org/

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