Courtesy of Rotary International Winner’s bakery project is supported by the Rotary Club of Madras East, the corporation of Chennai, and the Chennai Culinary Institute. The initiative supports underprivileged youth between the ages of 18-25. The project also provides training for bakers in India, which are very hard to come by. To read more about the Winner’s bakery project and the Rotary Club of Madras East, please visit: Winner’s Bakery

Rotary offers many opportunities for students. Recently, clubs and districts were recognized by author Maya Frost for the Rotary Youth Exchange program. In her book, The New Global Student, Frost claims studying abroad will expand a student’s view of the world and learning. Rotary clubs and districts send and host students ages 15-19 who travel abroad for cultural exchanges of one week to a full year; about 9,000 a year. In the past, the Eugene Airport Rotary has hosted students from Ukraine, Bolivia, and Argentina and sent students to Belgium and Sweden. According to Frost, reasons for reading...

Students in outlying areas of Istanbul, Turkey participate in a mobile classroom activity provided by the Rotary Club of Istanbul. The club regularly brings literacy instruction and computer training to needy communities. FireFly brings creativity workshops and computer labs to 24 children. The program allows children to work together, build positive new skills, and provide access to tutoring in various school subjects.

In 2007, the Sere Parish was a recipient of a Rotary grant that created a well for safe water, provided treated mosquito nets for children, and developed two fish ponds. The Tororo Uganda Rotary Club and international partners, the Rotary Clubs of Eugene Airport, Eugene Southtowne, Springfield, and Lakeview joined together to create a follow up project in 2009. Sere Maundo, Uganda is located approximately 20 miles from Tororo. There are about 300 households in the village of 2,300 people. More than 86 percent of the population survive on subsistence farming, which leaves no means of earning money...

Courtesy of Rotary International Students attend class at a baking school near the Padre Fransisco Da Motta school in Brazil. The baking school is funded by a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant. The bread will later be taken to a local community.

Photo courtesy of Rotary International A ten-year-old from Eugene, Oregon recently took polio eradication into his own hands by raising $1,640 for Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge. The Rotary International challenge is an effort to eradicate polio in four countries where the polio-virus is endemic: India, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Ian Schwartz is a fourth grader at St. Paul Parish School. Instead of receiving gifts for his birthday, he asked his friends to donate money for the charity. Ian was inspired to raise money for the charity after he saw an illustrated history of polio in...