Rwanda turns the page on its past - February 2020
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ROTARY.ORG FEBRUARY 2020
Rwanda
turns
the page
on
its past
feb20-Cover-v4.indd 28 12/16/19 10:20 AM
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President’s message
Happy 115th birthday, fellow Rotarians and members of the family of Rotary!
Much has changed in the world since 1905. Then, the global population was roughly 1.7 billion. Today,
it is 7.7 billion. There were 5 telephones per 100 people in the United States 115 years ago. In 2020, it is
estimated that 96 percent of the U.S. population has a cellphone — and both China and India have more
than a billion cellphones in use.
In the 115 years since Rotary was founded, seemingly everything has
changed except Rotary values. We began, and remain, committed to fel-
lowship, integrity, diversity, service, and leadership. While our Service
Above Self motto dates to 1911, the ethos behind those words had already
been ingrained by Rotary’s founders.
As the pace of change worldwide continues to accelerate, the need
for Rotary service is greater than ever. It’s one thing to read about service
projects, quite another to see them in action and to see the grateful faces
of people who have benefited from them. Rotary projects change lives
and connect the world. And over the past year, I have seen some amazing
Rotary projects in action.
Gay and I visited Japan’s Fukushima prefecture last year. Few places
in the world have had to deal with the kind of devastation that visited
Fukushima in March 2011, when a tsunami touched off by an earthquake
led to disaster at a nuclear power plant. But the story of Fukushima today In every area of focus,
is not one of destruction; it is one of hope and renewal. Rotary grants have and in every part of the world,
helped improve access to medical and mental health care for victims of the Rotary projects are improving lives
disaster and reduced the isolation of these communities by sharing the and helping communities
experiences of people from other parts of the world who have also recovered
adapt in a time of rapid change.
from disasters. Our grants have also helped to foster self-motivation and
In Sumpango, Guatemala, workers demonstrate the
encourage sustainable long-term community recovery across the region.
mechanical cow. Many children in Guatemala are lactose
In Shanghai, I learned about the Careers in Care program. This helps intolerant, and soy milk is a substitute for cow’s milk.
migrant workers fill the need for skilled professionals in elder care facili-
ties. After taking a course, trainees receive certification to boost their
employment prospects, while the care industry benefits from an expanded talent pool. Rotary projects
like this are successful because they address a local need, and they have the potential to attract local
government funding to sustain their impact.
And in Guatemala, Gay and I went to Sumpango. Global grants there provide mechanical cows to produce
soy milk; an improved water distribution system; water filters; clean compost latrines; family gardens;
support for income generation; and training in WASH and literacy programs. The food items sold there not
only provide nutrition to women and children, but also create a source of income for local women.
In every area of focus, and in every part of the world, Rotary projects are improving lives and helping
communities adapt in a time of rapid change. As we celebrate another great year for Rotary, let us rededicate
ourselves to strengthening the connections that make our service so impactful. We will make lives
better as Rotary Connects the World.
MARK DANIEL MALONEY
President, Rotary International
feb-PresMessage-v3.indd 2 12/6/19 1:34 PM
feb20-contents-v2.indd 2 12/9/19 4:38 PM
contents
Vol. 198, No. 8
FEBRUARY
features
ORE THAN A LIBRARY
26 M
After the 1994 genocide, Rotarians led a successful campaign
to build Rwanda’s first public library. It’s now a lively gathering
place and a bastion against ignorance and tyranny.
By Jina Moore
Photography by Andrew Esiebo
ON THE COVER Charles Nkurunziza peruses
one of the 19,000 volumes at the Kigali Public
Library, the first public library in Rwanda.
Photography by Andrew Esiebo
1 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
6 INBOX
8 EDITOR’S NOTE
11 our world
• Earl of sandwiches
• Q&A with Pat Rains
• People of action around the globe
• Halfway around the world in 36 days
“ The library came at
the right time.
— Jenipher Ingabire
”
• Snapshot: Ascunción, Paraguay
• February events
36 RWANDA’S NOT-SO-DISTANT HORROR
The Rotarian went to Rwanda 10 years after the genocide and
23 viewpoints described both the horror and the hope as Rotarians sought to
rebuild. The story is as powerful now as it was in 2004.
• Braking news
By Tom Clynes
55 our clubs
• Service in Stumptown OW TO TELL FACT FROM FICTION ...
42 H
• 4 questions about … and trust the news again. Professional fact-checkers
programs of scale grants share their techniques.
• Club innovation: Downtown Franklin, By Kim Lisagor Bisheff
Tennessee Illustrations by Joan Wong
• Convention countdown:
Convenient cuisine
• Message from the trustee chair
50 T OWARD A MORE LASTING PEACE
With a new peace center in Africa, a reimagined peace fellowship
• Rotarian Action Groups
program, and ambitious plans for the future, Rotary International
• Rotary forms alliance with
advances its push for global harmony.
Toastmasters
• Eradication of wild poliovirus
By Geoffrey Johnson
type 3 celebrated
OPPOSITE Ned Morris of the Rotary Club of Walla ABOVE Since it was chartered in 2000, the
• In memoriam Walla, Washington, went to Paraguay with a response Rotary Club of Kigali-Virunga was dedicated to
• Crossword team for ShelterBox, a Rotary partner, after severe bringing a public library to Rwanda. From left,
flooding displaced thousands of people. See page 18. members Paul Masterjerb, Jenipher Ingabire, and
64 LAST LOOK Photography by Alyce Henson / Rotary International Saudah Nalule. Photography by Andrew Esiebo
February 2020 The Rotarian |3
feb20-contents-v2.indd 3 12/9/19 4:38 PM
General Officers of Rotary International
2019-20
President
JOHN REZEK Editor in chief MARK DANIEL MALONEY Decatur, Alabama, USA
JENNIFER MOODY Art director President-elect
HOLGER KNAACK Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany
JENNY LLAKMANI Managing editor
Vice President
OLAYINKA HAKEEM BABALOLA Trans Amadi, Nigeria
GEOFFREY JOHNSON Senior editor
Treasurer
HANK SARTIN Senior editor DAVID D. STOVALL Hall County, Georgia, USA
DIANA SCHOBERG Senior staff writer Directors
FRANCESCO AREZZO Ragusa, Italy
JOHN M. CUNNINGHAM Associate editor TONY (JAMES ANTHONY) BLACK Dunoon, Scotland
JEFFRY CADORETTE Media, Pennsylvania, USA
NANCY WATKINS Copy editor
MÁRIO CÉSAR MARTINS Santo André, Brazil
DE CAMARGO
VANESSA GLAVINSKAS Contributing editor
LAWRENCE A. DIMMITT Topeka, Kansas, USA
MARC DUKES Production manager RAFAEL M. GARCIA III Pasig, Philippines
JAN LUCAS KET Purmerend, The Netherlands
JOE CANE Design & production assistant KYUN KIM Busan-Dongrae, Korea
FLOYD A. LANCIA Anthony Wayne (Fort Wayne), Indiana, USA
CYNTHIA EDBROOKE Senior editorial coordinator
AKIRA MIKI Himeji, Japan
KATIE MCCOY Circulation manager BHARAT S. PANDYA Borivli, India
KAMAL SANGHVI Dhanbad, India
JOHRITA SOLARI Anaheim, California, USA
STEPHANIE A. URCHICK McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA
PIOTR WYGNAŃCZUK Gdynia, Poland
JOHN P. HEWKO General Secretary
Kyiv, Ukraine
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MSI, PO Box 2600, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A8. This is the February 2020 issue, volume 198, number 8, of JOHN P. HEWKO General Secretary
The Rotarian (ISSN 0035-838X). Publication number: USPS 548-810. Kyiv, Ukraine
4 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-masthead-v2.indd 4 12/16/19 2:46 PM
Leaders in giving
Paul Harris Society members contributed over $30 million to
The Rotary Foundation in 2018-19, allowing Rotarians to fund
extraordinary projects and activities close to home and around
the world. Join our community of 23,000 global members who
are fulfilling Rotary’s promises with their annual donations.
LEARN MORE: rotary.org/phs
EREY Ad_FE-EN20.indd 1 12/12/19 3:07 PM
inbox
The meaning of fellowship
The story of Rotarians helping Karen Purdue after a fire at her laundry business
[“What Happens When You Say Yes to Rotary,” August] struck a chord.
The night before Halloween in 1998, an arsonist set fire to our home and it
burned to the ground. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
My family lived with friends for a week, then moved into a hotel. The first
Saturday in the hotel, I was awakened early by the telephone. It was John, a
member of my club, the Rotary Club of Willowdale, in Toronto. The conversa-
tion went something like this: “Hi, this is John. If you need furniture, I have
furniture.” You see, John was the owner of a chain of high-end furniture stores
in the area. He explained that he would be traveling but that when I was ready,
I was to call the store, and whatever furniture I needed would be delivered. A
week or so later, after we had rented a house, I called the store. The furniture
we needed was delivered the next day.
After the fire, my family’s life was chaos. I needed to regain some sense of normalcy and stability. I was president of
my Rotary club at the time, and each month, all the club presidents in the district met at what was called the “presi-
dents’ club.” There was a meeting the week after the fire, and I decided to go, despite all the chaos. I arrived about an
hour late. When I walked into the room, all the other presidents spontaneously stood and applauded in a show of support.
It was a very touching moment, and one I will never forget.
I have had many other wonderful times in the 30-plus years that I have been a Rotarian, but these two episodes typify
for me what Rotary fellowship is all about. PETER D. VANEK Toronto
Going for the win-win To get to the win-win solution would and meaningful simplification of a complex
In the November issue, the letter from David require a greater commitment of time, global undertaking.
B. Wartman of Calgary, Alberta, stated that communication, and understanding, and the NORM VELIQUETTE
“the negotiation process and the art of desire to maximize their outcomes. Anything Elk Rapids, Michigan
compromise are what make the result ‘fair less than these outcomes would mean there
to all.’” Compromise is certainly a possible is a winner and a loser, and would be President Mark Daniel Maloney’s message
outcome of negotiating, but the preferred out- considered bargaining, not negotiating. about ending polio [October] is the most
come would be collaboration. This is where GARY NICHOLS important and timely message that I have
both parties get their needs met, creating a Oviedo, Florida ever read in your magazine. I commend
win-win solution to a problem or a deal. In this President Maloney for his clarity in what
instance, both parties will have maximized their Messages about polio we must do and finish in our 40-year
outcome. Yes, each side may make concessions, Compliments and thanks for John Sever’s undertaking and responsibility for ending
but they each gain more than they concede. explanation of the new strategy to end polio in this horrible disease forever!
With compromise, the parties have arrived the 4 Questions feature in the October issue. MERLE H. LOCH
at a minimally acceptable solution that His presentation should make every reader Warren, Michigan
requires both parties to concede certain excited and conversant about polio eradication.
interests. While both sides are OK with this, The bare facts woven into a concise narrative Keep the peace
and it is fair to all because they both agree, of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative I appreciate the goal of Tom Sauer [“A New
there is a potentially better solution. history, current situation, and future are a rare Debate on Nuclear Arms,” October]. However,
6 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-Letters-v4.indd 6 12/6/19 1:39 PM
Overheard on social media
The Rotary Club of Halifax Harbourside, Nova Scotia, went from 22 to 60
members in three years. We talked to District 7820 Governor Louisa Horne
in our November issue about how her club made itself irresistible,
and we polled readers on Instagram to ask about their own clubs’ efforts:
Is your Rotary club Which is more important How does your club welcome
looking to grow? in your club? prospective members?
Yes OR No Culture OR Activities “Drinking some beer after the meeting.”
90% 10% 37% 63%
“Including them in club activities
and ensuring they participate.”
“Making them feel part of
the club and doing follow-ups
when they don’t come.”
“We have a separate WhatsApp
Is your club actively pursuing diversity, equity, and inclusion? group for prospective members
Yes OR No and a director assigned.”
78% 22% “Everyone is assigned a mentor
for one year.”
Check out Rotary International’s
Instagram story on 6 February
for an interactive poll about fake news.
history tells us that there are always bad
nations that want nuclear weapons to rain
terror on the rest of the world. A.Q. Khan of
Pakistan provided technology to Iran, Libya, and
North Korea. Iran worked on it. Libya surren-
dered its equipment. North Korea got the bomb.
Eliminating all nuclear arms would only
weaken nations that can deter such aggres-
sion. The U.S. arsenal is for deterrence, to keep
the peace. If you want peace, work to make
ANDREW ESIEBO
sure nations like these never get the bomb.
LARRY S. PARSONS
Valencia, California
We highlighted Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio in our October issue.
The editors welcome comments on items published in the mag- Follow us to get updates, share stories with your networks, and tell us what you think.
azine but reserve the right to edit for style and length. Published
The Rotarian, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201 USA
letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or Ro-
tary International leadership, nor do the editors take responsi- WEBSITE therotarian.com twitter.com/rotary facebook.com/rotary
bility for errors of fact that may be expressed by the writers. EMAIL yourletters@rotary.org instagram.com/rotaryinternational
February 2020 The Rotarian |7
feb20-Letters-v4.indd 7 12/6/19 1:39 PM
SERVICE I spent a lot of time in the old Chicago Public Library,
a magnificent structure that has since been
ABOVE SELF
transformed into the Chicago Cultural Center, which is
something very different from what I remember. It is still
a building with domes and rotundas and curving
stairways. It was designed to inspire awe with its
opulent materials (Italian and Irish marble), the world’s
The Object of Rotary A message from the largest Tiffany dome, and lovely polished wood and
THE OBJECT of Rotary is to encourage and foster editor in chief
the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, brass. But then it had books, and it functioned as a
in particular, to encourage and foster:
JOHN REZEK no-nonsense library.
I found it very welcoming. At 15, I took it to be a place
FIRST The development of acquaintance
as an opportunity for service; where serious work was happening and where I could
take my research seriously. I knew how to behave there.
SECOND High ethical standards in business and
professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all I quickly found comfort in the library’s flanneled hush.
useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s The second floor was filled with book stacks, massive
occupation as an opportunity to serve society; dark tables with shaded brass lamps, and chairs spaced
THIRD The application of the ideal of service in each at respectful intervals. Above stretched mosaic arches
Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life; of lovely tans and emerald greens.
FOURTH The advancement of international I was there to research my first long-form term paper.
understanding, goodwill, and peace through We were given a full semester to produce it. We were also
a world fellowship of business and professional handed a copy of Kate Turabian’s guide to writing re-
persons united in the ideal of service
search papers, and we were encouraged to start early in
The Four-Way Test January so that we could have our papers ready by May.
OF THE THINGS we think, say, or do: It was usually dark and cold outside when I started
1) Is it the TRUTH? my commute to the library on afternoons and Saturdays.
2) Is it FAIR to all concerned? I became fluent in finding what I needed in the card
3) Will it build GOODWILL and
BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? catalog. I wrote notes on 3-by-5 cards and assembled
4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? bibliographical lists of secondary sources. I kept a diary
of questions, problems, and insights in a bound notebook.
Rotarian Code of Conduct
A library fosters I commandeered a corner of one of the tables and, over
time, it became my spot.
The following code of conduct has been adopted for the
use of Rotarians:
confidence, and
By March, the weather and the light had improved,
I grew to love
AS A ROTARIAN, I will and I had made substantial progress in my research. The
1) Act with integrity and high ethical standards
what it permitted writing then was easy. A library fosters confidence, and
in my personal and professional life me to do. I grew to love what it permitted me to do. I kept going
2) Deal fairly with others and treat them and their there even though I no longer needed access to the books.
occupations with respect
I was remembering this when David Alexander, the
3) Use my professional skills through Rotary to: chief communications officer at Rotary International,
mentor young people, help those with special
needs, and improve people’s quality of life in first told us about seeing the Kigali Public Library in
my community and in the world Rwanda and hearing how it came to be. Inspired by
4) Avoid behavior that reflects adversely Alexander’s report, we asked writer Jina Moore and pho-
on Rotary or other Rotarians tographer Andrew Esiebo to investigate further. We’ve
5) Help maintain a harassment-free environment in called their story “More Than a Library,” and no matter
Rotary meetings, events, and activities, report any which library we’re talking about, that’s always the case.
suspected harassment, and help ensure non-retaliation
to those individuals that report harassment.
8 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-Editor's Note-v3.indd 8 12/16/19 2:52 PMBuilding a peaceful world begins in our own backyards. That’s why Rotary brings communities together
to learn from our differences, gain new perspectives, and form stronger connections. Promoting peace
through understanding — that’s what people of action do. Learn more at Rotary.org.
FEB20Combos-v1.indd 63 12/19/19 3:45 PMTAKE YOUR CLUB IN A
NEW DIRECTION
Is your club flexible and ready for the future?
New resources on Satellite Clubs, Passport Clubs, and
Corporate Membership can help you create an experience
that works for every member.
LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR OPTIONS
AT ROTARY.ORG/FLEXIBILIT Y
MembershipFlexibility_AD2_EN18.indd 1 6/14/19 1:16 PMour world
Earl of sandwiches
STEVE CARLSON
Rotary Club of San Carlos, California
“Sorry, can’t talk right now,” Steve Carl-
son announces to all within earshot, and
there’s no need to ask why. He’s franti-
cally mounding home-crafted charcute-
rie onto a large serving platter, pausing
just long enough to wedge another plate
of high-end goat cheese into a 10-cheese
spread. Farther down the 8-foot table,
IAN TUTTLE
February 2020 The Rotarian | 11
feb20-OW-Opener-Extended Caption-QA-v3.indd 11 12/2/19 2:50 PMour world
continued from page 11
he has already arranged helpings of ven-
ison and cherry terrine, Tuscan cured
salmon, four varieties of sourdough
bread, several chutneys, and what he
calls “the finest Reuben sandwiches this
side of the Danube.”
Carlson, a member of the Rotary
Club of San Carlos, California, has pre-
pared nearly all the dishes in this sump-
tuous gourmet spread, including the
pastrami (lots of it), a product of team-
work with a fellow Rotarian who
smoked it for 16 hours. About 120 guests
are mixing and mingling between bites
at his home on a bright September af-
ternoon. They have paid $80 to attend
this annual bash, and many have do- This year’s fundraiser brought together Rotarians from area clubs as well as some non-Rotarians. In addition
nated more. They know the funds will to the homemade charcuterie and fine cheeses, they enjoyed sampling from two kegs of local craft beer.
go toward transforming a dilapidated
earthen ditch high up in the Atlas village and for the bighearted Berber cul- Carlson went to Bay Area clubs and to
Mountains of Morocco into a sturdy ture that sustained it. “A wise elder, Si the District 5150 assembly to talk about
concrete-lined irrigation aqueduct. The Abderahmen, told me, ‘Always pack a the San Carlos club’s project in Mo-
project will allow the people in the re- warm lunch for the road,’ ” he recalls. “He rocco; he secured donations from more
mote village of Ait Daoud to feed a said, ‘I speak not of foodstuffs, but of gen- than a dozen clubs. With district desig-
steady flow of water to their crops. erosity.’ When you hike to a distant vil- nated funds and other contributions,
In his 20s, as a Peace Corps volunteer, lage as a nomadic Berber, he said, your they soon had $200,000.
Carlson lived and worked in Ait Daoud, reputation will precede you. Expecting When Carlson and his family went
seven hours by car from Marrakech. He and trusting you to be generous in return, to Ait Daoud in December 2016 to see
became conversant in the local dialect people will welcome you into their homes for themselves what needed to be done,
and developed a deep affection for the to share their food, fresh from the fire.”
“
That lesson of reciprocity had pro-
found meaning for Carlson as he ma- A wise elder
tured, married his wife, Suzanne, became told me, ‘Always
the father of two boys, and chose a career
pack a warm lunch
”
in intellectual property law. At a meeting
with his family’s lawyer, who had Rotary for the road.’
plaques on his office wall, Carlson in-
quired about the organization and their visit spurred the government to
learned that it was a community of peo- send a crew to build the first third of
ple who share his values. the aqueduct.
And he never lost his itch to repay the With Rotary support, construction of
Ait Daoud residents for their kindness to the next section of the aqueduct is un-
him. “I wanted to do a water project for derway. Inevitably there will be obsta-
the village, so I organized our first Reu- cles, but for a man who single-handedly
bens party in 2016 to raise funds. Sud- turns out dozens of dishes for 100-plus
COURTESY OF STEVE CARLSON
denly I had almost $20,000 — now what?” guests, learns to speak Berber and Ara-
he says. “But when I calculated the cost of bic, and persuades over a dozen clubs to
When it is completed, the aqueduct will run for building a functional aqueduct, it was help out with a project, creating an aque-
nearly 2 miles, providing enough water to irrigate like a punch in the gut. That is where the duct out of a dirt ditch is duck soup.
the fields of Ait Daoud and two adjacent villages. true power of Rotary kicked in.” — STEPHEN YAFA
12 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-OW-Opener-Extended Caption-QA-v3.indd 12 12/2/19 2:50 PM“
I think the
‘local beverage’ movement
is a real thing.
Pat Rains ”
Ale be there for you
Pat Rains and Brian Borngesser met a THE ROTARIAN: When did you start brewing RAINS: The craft beer industry is like no other
decade ago as members of the Rotary your own beer? industry I’ve ever seen. In 2014, when we were
Club of Roswell, Georgia. The two starting, there were around 3,000 breweries
20-somethings bonded over a shared RAINS: I grew up in Portland, Oregon, which is in the country. This year, there will be over
interest in brewing their own beer. considered the microbrew capital of the world. 8,000. But while we’ve seen the number
Over time, their do-it-yourself/drink- Growing up with all these microbreweries of breweries explode, it’s not a cutthroat in-
around, I took it for granted how good we had dustry. We do a collaboration with Variant, a
it-yourself collaboration led to the cre-
it. About a year after college, I moved to At- neighboring brewery, called Walking Distance.
ation of Gate City Brewing Co. (The
lanta for work, and I struggled to find the Our breweries are less than a mile apart, so we
name derives from an old nickname for
styles of craft beer I could drink in Oregon. walk from one location to the other. It’s a very
Atlanta; Roswell is an Atlanta suburb.)
What got me home brewing was trying to collaborative industry.
The Brewers Association named Gate make some of the styles I used to drink.
City one of the fastest-growing brew- TR: Why do you think that is?
eries in the country in 2017. TR: How did you go from home brewing to
Now — as you would expect from a running a business? RAINS: The industry believes “a rising tide
brewery founded by a couple of lifts all ships”: A beer drinker might like one
Rotarians — Gate City is giving back. RAINS: After I met Brian, we’d share tips beer at my place and another beer at another
Proceeds from its Freedom Fighter IPA and tricks. A couple of years in, I turned place. You’re not competing with these guys;
are donated to three groups fighting my garage into a mini-microbrewery. Our you’re working with them. If a guy around the
human trafficking: Wellspring Living, beers started winning some awards and we corner needs a bag of grain, he can pick up
thought, “Hey, maybe this can be something the phone and call me.
Out of Darkness, and End Human Traf-
we really do.” Also, the industry is moving more toward the
ficking Now. “Atlanta is one of the top
We got our federal license to brew at a large hyperlocal. Instead of trying to be national brew-
cities for human trafficking in the
scale in 2014 and went from brewing about eries or national brands, new startups are more
country,” Rains says. “We want to bring
30 gallons at a time in my garage to our first focused on the neighborhood brewery concept.
awareness to the issue.” Freedom commercial system, which was a 100-gallon We have the “local food” movement, and I think
Fighter’s label also features informa- system. After about a year, we moved and pur- the “local beverage” movement is a real thing.
tion about trafficking. chased a system that brews 1,000 gallons per People really enjoy being able to identify the per-
VIKTOR MILLER GAUSA
batch. We’ve grown exponentially. son who is making the drink that they love and
shake his hand. We’re seeing that throughout the
TR: How is running a brewery different from country as craft beer grows. It’s a new frontier.
your previous career? — FRITZ LENNEMAN
February 2020 The Rotarian | 13
feb20-OW-Opener-Extended Caption-QA-v3.indd 13 12/2/19 2:50 PMour world
United Kingdom
Mexico Philippines
Tanzania
Paraguay
People of action
around the globe
Mexico Paraguay Tanzania
In Mexico City, the Rotary Club of With hard work and about $500, During rainy season in Marangu, a
La Villa Ciudad de México partnered the Rotaract Club of Asunción village in the southeastern foothills
About $8 billion with MediPrint Mexico, a 3D-printed converted a patch of a garbage- of Mount Kilimanjaro, the rivers over-
was spent prosthetics manufacturer, to supply strewn field into a vegetable plot flow, cutting off access to markets,
on prosthetics limbs to give people newfound designed to teach disadvantaged schools, and hospitals. The dearth of
and orthotics mobility. “We have already delivered teens about sustainable agriculture. pedestrian crossings has led to many
globally in 2017. two prostheses,” notes club In March, a team from the club met drownings. To address this, members
member Laila Irene Sánchez Medrano. at the field outside the Don Bosco of the Rotary Club of Marangu have
One recipient was Alberto Gutiérrez Róga educational center, a Salesian overseen the construction of a dozen
Rojas, a member of the Rotary Club Missions facility in Lambaré bridges since 2012. “Our members
of Alameda-Ciudad de México, serving children and adolescents. identify areas that look as though
whose leg was partially amputated They tilled soil and planted crops. they could do with a new footbridge
because of complications from Rotaractor Nery Vera, who directed and meet with the local village
diabetes. The two Rotary clubs the effort, says the project nurtured elders to ascertain needs,” says club
collaborated on fundraising for teamwork and raised awareness member Jackie Brice-Bennett. After
Gutiérrez’s prosthesis. The La Villa about a healthy and nutritious diet, the crossings — at a cost of about
club remains engaged in fundraising, among other benefits. $4,000 each — are constructed,
with the aim of delivering more pros- the villages take responsibility for
theses to people who need them. maintenance, Brice-Bennett says.
14 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-OW-Map-v7.indd 14 12/10/19 10:24 AMUnited Kingdom Philippines
In August, some 5,000 kite enthu- watching the professional kite The Rotary Club of Manila Magic
siasts — flyers and fans alike — flyers, and kids had the chance to and the Rotaract Club of Manila
assembled at Therfield Heath, a make and fly kites of their own. inaugurated monthly medical visits
chalk grassland habitat, in Royston, “The event has become a regular at a child care center in Tondo,
Hertfordshire, their eyes on a fixture in the social life of the town, one of their city’s most crowded
horizon alight with brightly colored and it’s the 36-member club’s big- and hardscrabble slums. The
kites. This was the 19th such gest fundraising venture,” says club program, begun in October 2018,
festival unspooled by the Rotary member Neil Heywood. “Running taps volunteer professionals,
Club of Royston; the event itself the festival is very much a team including five doctors led by Lee
dates back another decade. effort, involving practically every Roi Buenaventura, a club member. The Philippines’
A modest entry fee of about member.” Every year a member They are joined by two Rotaractor doctor-to-population
$4.50 for adults — children 14 serves as event manager, while nurses and three dentists who are ratio is 1 to 784.
and under attended free — raised others take responsibility for sign- members of the Rotaract Club
about $9,000. The majority went age, managing booths, parking, of University of the East, College of
to Acorn House, which provides and physical facilities. Last year’s Dentistry. Hundreds of patients have
ROTARY CLUB OF ROYSTON
accommodation to families of chil- event also included a display of benefited from the visits and from
dren admitted to Addenbrooke’s vintage vehicles and a teddy bear medicines purchased by Rotarians
Hospital in Cambridge. Families parachute drop that organizers and their families.
enjoyed picnics on the grass while hailed as a “fur-raising experience.” — BRAD WEBBER
February 2020 The Rotarian | 15
feb20-OW-Map-v7.indd 15 12/10/19 10:24 AMour world
Halfway around the world in 36 days
ON 2 JUNE 2019, Lee Harman and Bill retired U.S. Army field artillery officer who and Ward took it for what Ward called
Ward set off from the Great Wall of China worked for the Washington state govern- a “shakedown cruise” — a nautical term
outside Beijing. Their destination, the ment. After much searching, they found for a performance test of a ship. In 2018,
Place Vendôme in Paris, lay 9,779 bumpy, a beauty: a 1931 Ford Model A Victoria — they drove from Washington state to
muddy, dusty miles away. Their vehicle: which they dubbed “Miss Vicky” — that Toronto for the Rotary International Con-
a car built before either of them was born. already had some of the safety upgrades vention. “We went all the way up Pikes
This was Day 1 of the Peking to Paris necessary for their epic journey. But there Peak and back to prove the car was ready,”
Motor Challenge, also known as P2P, a was much more tinkering to come. Harman says.
classic car rally that re-creates a 1907 Over the next two years, Harman Car guys like Harman and Ward know
race famed as one of the first automobile and Ward made 54 major modifications to what it takes to drive long distances. Har-
endurance events. Miss Vicky. “The car was pretty much to- man’s road warrior mentality even applies
Harman and Ward’s P2P story began at to other modes of transportation: He has
a 2016 Christmas party of Morgan Owners When they crossed flown a plane from London to Brisbane,
Group Northwest — a club for enthusiasts the finish line in Australia, and ridden a motorcycle from
of classic cars made by England’s Morgan Kyiv, Ukraine, to Italy. But P2P isn’t like
central Paris on 7 July,
Motor Co. After a couple of fellow “Mor- other long-distance travel. In fact, it’s
Harman and Ward had
ganeers” discussed their own experience not even a race — it’s a rally. In this kind
doing P2P, Harman and Ward were capti-
raised an estimated of competition, the goal each day is not to
vated. Harman, a longtime member of the $50,000 for End Polio Now. arrive first; it’s to arrive at a specific loca-
Rotary Club of Arlington, Washington, sug- tion at a precise time. If a car arrives be-
COURTESY OF LEE HARMAN AND BILL WARD
gested doing the rally to raise money for tally rebuilt with new parts or new pieces, fore or after its designated time, the team
polio eradication. “I’m a physician, and I’ve including auxiliary fuel tanks and fuel sys- loses points, and at the end, the team with
been involved with PolioPlus since I was a tems and on and on and on,” Harman says. the fewest deductions wins. “If you show
brand-new Rotarian,” he says. The original suspension got extra atten- up early, it means you were speeding, and
There was just one problem: “We didn’t tion and replacement parts. you get deducted a lot of points,” Harman
have a car between us that was appropri- To verify that Miss Vicky could han- says. “If you show up on time, you get de-
ate for that kind of exercise,” says Ward, a dle traversing Asia and Europe, Harman ducted no points. If you show up late, you
16 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-car-rally5.indd 16 12/9/19 3:53 PMLee Harman (at right in top left photo)
and Bill Ward (at left) consulted with a
Ford Model A guru in Texas before buying
Miss Vicky. Restoring the car, they got
help from a group of fellow gearheads on
Camano Island, Washington, including
a master mechanic for Model A’s and
Model T’s. During the rally, when they
weren’t conducting major repairs or
scrutinizing the detailed directions, they
carried on extended conversations about
“politics, air pollution, world population
distribution, you name it,” recalls Ward.
get deducted points, but not as many as if Breakdowns are also inevitable when man says. “It was absolutely amazing.” In
you show up early. By the third week we you push an antique automobile to its lim- the middle of Mongolia, hundreds of miles
had 4,000 demerits, but we were still fourth its. Along the route — which ran from China from any large town, the P2P participants
in our subgroup and 18th out of 31 in our through Mongolia, Siberian Russia, Ka- camped out. Yet even here, teams enjoyed
group of vintage automobiles. We didn’t do zakhstan, back into Russia, Finland, Esto- catered meals and bottles of fine wine at
badly for novices.” nia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, their campsites.
Another difference between road- the Netherlands, Belgium, and France — That was also the country that the two
tripping and rallying is the role of the Harman and Ward had to make plenty of friends found most captivating. “Mongolia
passenger. In a rally, the person in the pas- roadside repairs. There was a dramatic tire has magnificent scenery,” Ward says. Har-
senger seat is in charge of more than music blowout, two ruptured hydraulic brake man agrees: “It’s best described as what
and snacks — he or she is the navigator, a lines, a blown head gasket, a tailpipe that Montana must have looked like 150 years
vital role. Each P2P team is given a tour fell off. Outside Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the ago — no fencing, desolate and beautiful,
book with detailed instructions that are team was on a highway when it hit a speed just gorgeous.”
accurate to the hundredth of a kilome- bump at the bottom of a hill and caught air. After 36 days, Miss Vicky crossed the
ter. “To get from point A to point B, there “But it wasn’t the first speed bump that got finish line in central Paris on 7 July. Har-
might be 300 or 400 instructions per day,” us,” Harman says. “That speed bump man and Ward had raised an estimated
Harman says. launched us into a second speed bump. It $50,000 for End Polio Now, and they had
“We never failed to get lost going into was like skiing moguls. We came crashing accomplished their two other goals: “One,
a city or coming out of a city, because in down. The metal part of the Model A arrive in Paris having driven the whole
most places we couldn’t read the road signs is attached to a wooden subframe, which route by ourselves under our own power,”
and the instructions were very tight,” Ward we broke. The doors wouldn’t close until we Harman says. “There were 106 entrants:
says. “You’re doing 35 miles an hour in traf- got it fixed.” 103 made it to Paris, 21 under their own
fic on a four-lane street. If you’re supposed But for all the rough roads, most of the power who had never been towed or
to be in the left lane to turn but you’re not, accommodations were surprisingly high- had ignominiously ridden on the back of
you’ve got to backtrack and come back end — organizers put up the teams in luxury a flatbed truck. Vicky was one of the 21.”
around. Those kinds of things keep you hotels. “One of the most luxurious places The second goal? “Arrive in Paris
pretty busy.” we stayed was in Erenhot, China,” Har- still friends.” — FRITZ LENNEMAN
February 2020 The Rotarian | 17
feb20-car-rally6.indd 17 12/20/19 10:16 AMour world
ALYCE HENSON / ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
18 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-OW-snapshot-v3.indd 18 12/16/19 10:25 AMSNAPSHOT
Asunción, Paraguay
In Paraguay, heavy rains beginning in March
2019 led to severe flooding that displaced an
estimated 40,000 people. Many built impro-
vised shelters from discarded wood and metal.
Ned Morris (left), a member of the Rotary
Club of Walla Walla, Washington, was part
of a ShelterBox response team sent to assess
the needs and deliver supplies and training
to people affected by the disaster. In coordi-
nation with Habitat for Humanity, the Para-
guayan Red Cross, and local Rotarians,
team members delivered essential supplies,
including mosquito nets, blankets, solar
lights, and tools that are useful in rebuilding.
February 2020 The Rotarian | 19
feb20-OW-snapshot-v2.indd 19 12/4/19 2:15 PMour world
FEBRUARY events
15 - 29
Go for the greens
EVENT: Hole in One Shootout
HOST: Rotary Club of Chandler-Horizon, Arizona
WHAT IT BENEFITS: Local charities
7
WHAT IT IS: On 15-17, 21-23, and 28-29 February, spend
$1 a ball at the San Marcos Golf Course and play
golf with a chance to win daily prizes. Those who
Runnin’ in the night qualify will compete in the finals on 1 March, with
a $100,000 prize if someone makes a hole-in-one.
EVENT: Twilight 5K Run
HOSTS: Five Rotary clubs in Lakeland, Florida
WHAT IT BENEFITS: Common Ground Playground, an inclusive
playground 21
WHAT IT IS: Participants run (or walk) around scenic
Lake Hollingsworth. There are short-distance
Pre-Mardi Gras party
events for kids. Participants receive ribbons EVENT: WineQuest
and glow-in-the-dark bracelets, and food and HOST: Rotary Club of Huntsville, Texas
drinks are available after the race. WHAT IT BENEFITS: Local homeless shelter and youth-related
projects
8-9
WHAT IT IS: Get a jump on Fat Tuesday with a tasting of wines
from around the world, including four from a local
vineyard. Craft beer will be on hand as well, along
Ice, ice, baby with food from local restaurants and caterers.
EVENT: Ice Fishing Derby
27- 29
HOST: Rotary Club of Meredith, New Hampshire
WHAT IT BENEFITS: Local charities
WHAT IT IS: If ice fishing is your thing, you can compete for
bragging rights; the most successful anglers in
Rotarians take the stage
various categories win cash prizes. If ice fishing EVENT: Variety Show
is not your thing, you can still enter your name HOST: Rotary Club of Coldwater, Michigan
for daily cash drawings. WHAT IT BENEFITS: Local and international charities
WHAT IT IS: Musical performances and comedy sketches
are the draw at the historic Tibbits Opera House.
More than $30,000 is raised annually in this
town of just 10,000 to fund local and international
projects. This year’s theme is “At the Movies.”
Tell us about your event. Write to rotarian@rotary.org with “calendar” in the subject line.
20 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-OW-Calendar-v3.indd 20 11/26/19 11:45 AMIMMERSE YOURSELF IN
SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT
AND BE INSPIRED.
Visit rotary.org/VR to view our new virtual reality
resources and download the Rotary VR app.
Use these powerful tools to conduct your
own event and inspire others.
AUG18 - Rotarian Main Conformer_v1.indd 5 6/21/18 2:30 PMYou’re on the go.
Take The Rotarian
with you.
With our digital edition you can:
• READ in a new article format designed
for easy viewing on phones and tablets
• SEE a digital replica of the issue
exactly as it appears in print
• SAVE the whole issue as a PDF
to read or share offline
• SHARE articles on social media
myrotary.org/en/news-media/magazines
feb20-AD-Gtxcel.indd 1 12/20/19 12:42 PMviewpoints
Braking news
For just a day, step back from all the news that gives you fits
by F RA N K BUR ES
I
n 1986, a man named our mental health, and even
Christopher Knight our worldview.
wa l ke d i nt o t h e Knight has likely never
Maine woods and found an suffered from the condition
isolated spot to pitch a tent. known as headline stress dis-
He remained there until order, or news fatigue. But
2013, when he was caught many of us have: According
stealing food from a summer to a 2019 survey by the Amer-
camp. In all those years, the ican Psychological Associa-
man known as the North tion, 54 percent of people
Pond Hermit never talked to said that following the news
another person. His world causes them stress. And a
was limited to his immediate 2018 study by the Pew Re-
surroundings. search Center found that 68
When journalist Michael percent of Americans feel
Finkel interviewed Knight for “exhausted” by their news
his book The Stranger in the consumption.
Woods: The Extraordinary Among the many reasons
Story of the Last True Hermit, that too much news might
he asked Knight what he not be good for you, the most
thought of the changes in technology on our phones. Most of us accept this significant is that news tends to be more
since he had removed himself from con- as progress. But for 27 years, Knight ex- negative than the world really is. We
tact with the modern world. Knight was isted in a bubble, even as the rest of us have an innate need to pay attention to
unimpressed. “People earnestly say to became more and more enmeshed in bad news, because, in evolutionary
me here, ‘Mr. Knight, we have cell phones the flow of news speeding into our lives. terms, such information can be more
now, and you’re going to really enjoy We now spend an average of 11 hours a important to our immediate survival.
them.’ That’s their enticement for me to day “interacting with media,” staring at Scientists call this our “negativity bias.”
rejoin society. … I have no desire. And our screens and reading about things We all know how hard it is to turn
what about a text message? Isn’t that just happening far away. away from stories about terror attacks,
using a telephone as a telegraph? We’re In and of itself, this is not a bad thing. hurricanes, shipwrecks, dying coral
going backwards.” We need to be informed in order to help reefs, or whatever the disaster might be.
After Knight dropped out of society, others who might need it. Yet there is a But when we consume these stories
there was a revolution in the way we get cost to this nonstop influx of news. Con- continuously, it takes a serious toll on
RICHARD MIA
news: Every hour of every day, messages stantly monitoring the news can affect us. In 2015, researchers in Israel found
and alerts arrive in our computers and our emotional state, our energy level, that “increased frequency of viewing
February 2020 The Rotarian | 23
feb20-column-neignborhood-news-v3.indd 23 12/6/19 1:42 PMnewscasts” causes a jump in “uncon-
trolled fear, physiological hyperarousal,
Why should sleeping difficulties, and fearful
thoughts” and makes a person 1.6 times
you consider more likely to experience at least one
symptom of anxiety.
advertising in Psychologists Wendy Johnston and
Graham Davey conducted another
The Rotarian? study, in which participants watched
14-minute segments of positive, nega-
tive, or neutral news. The viewers of
RAM-Global Members Receive an Additional 20% Discount negative news reported being more anx-
Rotarian Malaria For one thing,
ious and sad afterward than the two
Symposium
other groups. But the effect didn’t stop
there. It carried over into concerns
we have loyal, about the participants’ own lives, mak-
June 05, 2020 engaged readers ing them more likely to “catastrophize”
Honolulu, Hawaii personal concerns that had nothing to
who spend a do with the news. As Davey writes, “not
Keynote Address
Dr. Philip Welkhoff Director for considerable amount only are negatively valenced news
Malaria at the Bill and Melinda Gates broadcasts likely to make you sadder
Foundation of time with our and more anxious, they are also likely
magazine: to exacerbate your own personal wor-
Dr. Brendan Crabb
Worldwide Antimalarial Researcher ries and anxieties.”
Melbourne, Australia
A discussion on the on-going research
These days, negative news is all
to develop a malaria vaccine. • Eight in ten (86%) around us. It’s in our pockets. It’s in our
Dr. Nanthalile Mugala cars. It’s in the waiting room. We live in
Country Director, PATH read at least three of
Lusaka, Zambia an ocean of bad stories, so it’s no wonder
On research being done to block
mosquito to human transmission. every four issues many of us feel we are being swept away.
John Fairhurst Some 69 percent of Americans report
The Global Fund published. that worrying about the future of the
Geneva, Switzerland
Insight on the financing outlook for nation causes them stress. This is at a
the control and elimination of malaria. time when by many measures — educa-
• On average, readers
tion, income, life expectancy — we’ve
Afternoon Program
The afternoon program will provide
spend 52 minutes never been better off.
a stimulating look into how Rotary is In the past, news wasn’t so immediate.
impacting malaria around the globe. with an issue.
• In Africa By the time we read it in the paper, some
• In Asia and the South Pacific time had passed, which allowed for a
• In the Americas
healthy feeling of distance. Much of what
we read about today is also distant from
Presenting
Interested? us, in that it doesn’t affect our daily lives.
Sponsor Contact us. Paying undue heed can make us blind
to many of the things that do matter.
This is not a new insight. In 1854, an-
adv@rotary.org
other would-be hermit named Henry
REGISTER David Thoreau put down similar senti-
NOW
ments in Walden, which he wrote while
living in a cabin on a pond. In the book,
he complained about our appetite for a
EARLY BIRD PRICING AVAILABLE
FIND OUT MORE
Based on 2018 GfK MRI reader survey data constant influx of news.
https://bit.ly/2YSzEEh “Hardly a man takes a half hour’s nap
24 | The Rotarian February 2020
1-3v drytoast-readership-promos-2018-nojwk.indd 1 9/18/19 2:35 PMafter dinner, but when he wakes he
holds up his head and asks, ‘What’s the
news?’ as if the rest of mankind had
SPONSOR THE 2020
stood his sentinels,” he wrote, adding,
“I am sure that I never read any memo-
ROTARY CONVENTION
rable news in a newspaper.”
Thoreau’s position was extreme. He
IN HONOLULU!
eschewed the news not because he
wasn’t interested, but because he didn’t
want to be distracted from the things
that he thought mattered. “I went to the Convention sponsorship provides great visibility to
woods,” he famously stated, “because I businesses and nonprofit organizations to engage with
wished to live deliberately, to front only 25,000 active Rotary members around the world.
the essential facts of life.”
The question for us is: Which facts SPONSORSHIP CAN INCLUDE:
Exhibit space in the House of Friendship
are the essential ones? Is it knowing ex-
Opportunity to hold or sponsor a breakout session
actly which politicians are up in the Chance to work with Rotary to create a custom campaign
polls, or that a building has burned
down, or whether a hurricane has made Fill out your information online to discuss the benefits of investing in a
Rotary sponsorship: riconventionsponsorship.com/contact-us
landfall? It’s no wonder we have trouble
appreciating the simple pleasures our
life has to offer.
HONOLULU
When I think back to my own best HAWAII 2020
days, times that seem truly joyful, they
are times when past tragedies and fu-
ture disasters didn’t seem to matter: a
sunny picnic with my wife in a New
Zealand vineyard; holding my newborn
daughter for the first time; playing soc-
WHAT WILL YOU
WATCH TODAY?
cer with friends in a park in Italy; skip-
ping rocks on Lake Superior with my
girls. In those times, I was just there.
None of which is to say that we
shouldn’t read the news. But to let to-
morrow’s worries overwhelm today’s www.youtube.com/rotaryinternational
www.youtube.com/rotaryinternational
joys is a bad bargain. To save the future,
first we need to save the present. watch. learn. connect.
“Let us spend one day as deliber-
ately as Nature,” Thoreau wrote, “and
not be thrown off the track by every
nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls
on the rails.”
You don’t have to hide in the woods
to do that. All you need to do is spend
one day without the news. By the end of
Advertise in
it, I can guarantee, the world will
already feel a little better. ■
The Rotarian
Frank Bures is the author of The Geography
adv@rotary.org
of Madness and a frequent contributor to
The Rotarian.
February 2020 The Rotarian | 25
FEB20Combos-v1.indd 25 12/19/19 3:45 PM26 | The Rotarian February
September2020
2018
feb20-Kigali-v8.indd 26 12/10/19 1:20 PMMORE
THAN
a
LIBRARY
After the genocide of 1994,
Rotarians led a successful
campaign to build Rwanda’s first
public library. A bastion against
ignorance and tyranny, it has
become a gathering place where
a culture of reading, the arts,
and democracy thrives.
by Jina Moore
photography by Andrew Esiebo
September 2018 The Rotarian
February 2020 | 27
feb20-Kigali-v8.indd 27 12/10/19 1:20 PMT
wenty-year-old Noella ken, Rwandans were traumatized. A
Umutoniwase and her public library must have seemed like a
friends have been strange priority.
hanging out at the li- But the members of the Rotary Club
brary for as long as of Kigali-Virunga, Rwanda’s first English-
they can remember. speaking club, thought the idea made
They come to study in sense. One of them was Beth Payne, an
its quiet spaces, chill at its rooftop cafe, economic, commercial, and consular
or chat with friends in the garden. In fact, officer at the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda
if you ask her whether she remembers and a fan of libraries; she had put herself
Kigali before there was a library, Umu- through law school partly by working at
toniwase scrunches up her face in disbe- one. But it was more than a personal af-
lief. “Before there was a library?” she asks, fection: “I had always believed that a free
as if evoking the dawn of time. library is one of the cornerstones of
Above: A display inside the Kigali For her, it might as well be. The brain- America’s democracy,” she says. When
Public Library acknowledges the
building as “a project of Rotary,
child of Rotarians in Rwanda, the Kigali the Rotary Club of Kigali-Virunga was
dedicated to the Rwandan public.” Public Library was born, at least as an chartered, in 2000, Rwanda was focused
Opposite: Kigali Rotaractors use idea, not long after Umutoniwase her- on its future — on ensuring peace and
the library as a gathering space: self. Back then, the Rotarians who pro- reconciliation, stability and security, and
(front row, from left) Paul Joseph,
Jeremiah Thoronka, Gladys Keza, posed it must have seemed crazy. Only economic growth — and Payne believed
and Samuel Oluwapelumi; (back six years before, more than 800,000 it was the perfect time to think about how
row) Abdel Essay, Hussinatu Bah, people had been killed in an event known literacy and access to information could
Abubakarr Barrie, and Foday Kargbo.
today as the 1994 Genocide Against the support those goals.
Previous pages: A rooftop cafe
with a spectacular view is one of the Tutsi. Farms and businesses were de- Payne taught a class about the internet
library’s many nonliterary attractions. stroyed, basic infrastructure was bro- to Rwandan businesspeople. “I watched
28 | The Rotarian February 2020
feb20-Kigali-v8.indd 28 12/10/19 1:21 PMYou can also read
