Nancy Hughes (pictured at left) visited Guatemala six years ago while volunteering for a U.S. medical team. While in Guatemala, she met an 18-year-old young woman who had lost the use of her hands after falling into a cooking fire at the age of two. Hughes’ team was able to restore function to her hands, but Hughes realized that was just one small part of the solution to a much larger problem: Typical practice of cooking over open fire indoors led to increased risk of similar injuries and of smoke inhalation for children.

Hughes’ efforts allowed more than 2,300 safer stoves to be brought to Guatemala between 2004 and 2007. Eventually, through the efforts of fellow Southtowne Rotarians, Hughes was able to bring the safer and more fuel-efficient “Ecocina” stove to Guatemala.

Rather than just providing stoves, the Southtowne team has moved to locating Ecocina stove factories in Guatemala. That way, locals benefit from the new stoves and the employment opportunities that a new factory brings to an area. Through the support of StoveTeam International, a group started by Southtowne Rotarians to sponsor the factories, the Peace Corps and Rotary clubs in Guatemal and El Salvador, three Ecocina factories began producing stoves earlier this year. Since its founding in 2008, StoveTeam international has received over $370,000 from forty different Rotary clubs, the Rotary Foundation and other matching grants.

To learn more about the project and how you can support, read the full article on Nancy Hughes and StoveTeam International on the Rotary International website or visit stoveteam.org.

Will you miss Mac Court, or are you excited for a new era in a new arena to begin? Feel free to share any memories you have of McArthur Court!

CAPE TOWN/CAIRO (Feb. 19, 2010) – In the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this summer, Rotary clubs across Africa are gearing up for the final push to kick polio out of the continent.

On Feb. 23, which marks Rotary’s 105th anniversary, the Pyramid of Khafre, the second largest of the ancient Egyptian pyramids of Giza, and the Old Port Captain’s Office, at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, will provide a dramatic backdrop for an equally dramatic message: End Polio Now. Those three words, projected onto global monuments worldwide, represent Rotary’s pledge to rid the world of this crippling and potentially fatal childhood disease that still affects many African children.

In Cape Town, a Pan-African “Kick Polio Out of Africa” awareness campaign will launch that same day with the symbolic kicking of a ball signed by Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who himself had polio as a child, and has joined Rotary’s campaign as polio goodwill ambassador.

From Cape Town, one of the host cities to the 2010 World Cup, the ball will travel through 22 polio-affected countries to Cairo en route to the Rotary International Convention in Montréal, Canada in June. The journey is being underwritten by DHL Express.

During the ball’s four-month journey from the southern tip of the continent to Egypt, Rotary clubs in polio-affected African countries will organize football related awareness events to mobilize the public for mass immunization rounds this spring. On March 6-8, a total of 19 countries in West and Central Africa will participate in synchronized national immunization activities, targeting 85 million children under the age of five.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, in his 1996 address at the Organization for African Unity Summit, formally kicked off the “Kick Polio out of Africa” campaign. He declared: “We are calling on the continent’s football players to bring their enormous influence to this campaign. Only unified efforts which galvanise whole societies towards these goals will succeed in kicking this virus, that looks so much like a football, out of Africa and eventually, out of the world.”

Since Rotary began its fight against polio in 1985, the incidence of the disease has been reduced by 99 percent.  In Africa, only Nigeria remains polio-endemic, but the disease still affects children in many other high-risk countries, emphasizing the need to protect all African children against polio.

“Rotary and its global partners are on the brink of eradicating this life threatening, cruel disease, but as long as there is one case of polio, no child will be safe. A final push is needed to stop polio in its tracks, especially in Africa,” says June Webber, Rotary’s South African campaign organizer. “As we commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from prison this month, Rotarians and our global partners are determined to provide Madiba (Mandela’s Xhosa title) with a lasting legacy.”

Through an alliance with the African Football Confederation, leading players from across the continent have participated in the “Kick Polio out of Africa” awareness campaign by distributing posters, conducting radio interviews and holding autograph sessions.

“As the world comes together for the first World Cup on African soil, we invite football fans –especially in the 32 countries that are sending their national teams to South Africa- to support our global campaign to end polio. I believe in the unifying force of football. By lighting these landmarks, Rotary is saying to the world that we can score that final goal,” says John Kenny, President of Rotary International.

The illumination of the Pyramid of Khafre is particularly symbolic because Egypt’s history spans humanity’s struggle with the disease. Archaeological evidence suggests that children living along the banks of the Nile were being disabled by the disease since pharaonic times. In 2006, Egypt and Niger were the most recent countries to be declared polio-free, leaving only four polio-endemic countries: Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.

Because viruses do not observe man-made borders, previously polio-free countries remain at risk due to international travel and migration. Following a 2008 outbreak in northern Nigeria, the virus spread into neighboring countries and as far as Angola, Mauritania and Kenya.  Of the total 735 polio cases in Africa in 2009, 388 cases were recorded in Nigeria.

However, progress is being made. The incidence of polio in Nigeria has dropped by more than 50 percent, compared with 2008. Only 13 cases have been reported since August.

“What this means in very simple terms is that we are now reaching more children. Ending polio in Nigeria is now more than ever before seen as realistic, clearly achievable,” says Busuyi Onabulu, who chairs Rotary’s PolioPlus Committee in Nigeria. “And Rotary International, as catalyst for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, is determined to mobilizing the citizenry toward ensuring every child is immunized.”

During the last national immunization days in Nigeria in early February, Onabulu says, a new, highly effective bivalent oral polio vaccine was used for the first time to target the two types of wild poliovirus in a single dose.

Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority for more than two decades. The international humanitarian service organization is a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, along with the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.

Rotary recently pledged to raise US$200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All of the resulting $555 million will be spent in support of eradication activities.

Great progress has been made, and the incidence of polio infection has plunged from about 350,000 cases in 1988 to fewer than 2,000 in 2009. More than two billion children have been immunized in 122 countries, preventing five million cases of paralysis and 250,000 pediatric deaths.

Rotary club members worldwide have contributed more than $900 million and countless volunteer hours to the effort and are now working aggressively to raise the $200 million needed to match the Gates Foundation grants. The money is needed to help close a funding gap that could undermine two decades of progress. To learn more about polio eradication, including how to participate in this historic effort, visitwww.rotary.org/endpolio.

Football fans can follow the ball’s African journey on this blog http://kickpoliooutofafrica.wordpress.com
For video and still photos go to: www.thenewsmarket.com/rotaryinternational

From 11 am – 3:30 pm, visitors of all ages are invited to drop in at any time and experience hands-on exhibits presented by real scientists: University of Oregon Professors and students. Check out everything from zebrafish to substances that melt and boil at the same time and hear about science research happening in the community. Admission is free with exhibit hall admission.

For more information, visit the Science Factory website sciencefactory.org. If you’re looking for more weekend events, check out the Lane County Events Calendar.

A Rotary club chartered during the last Winter Olympics in Canada has teamed up with a charity to make wishes come true for six children with life-threatening illnesses.

As the Olympic Games return to the country this month, The Rotary Club of Calgary Olympic, Alberta, is working with the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada to provide accommodations for the children, ages 4-14, so they can attend.

“Our club wanted to do something special since the Olympics are back in Canada,” says Tamara McCarron, club member and project chair. “We are thrilled to make a difference in these children’s lives. It’s a dream come true for them and for me.”

This year’s games will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. With most of the area’s hotels booked, McCarron found Home for the Games, a website that matches visitors with Vancouver hosts for short-term homestays. The club spent US$30,000 for lodging for the six families. Home for the Games funnels 50 percent of the housing fees to charities that help the homeless in Vancouver.

“I was lucky enough to come across an ad in The Rotarianmagazine for Home for the Games. It’s a win, win, win for our club, the Children’s Wish Foundation, and local charities of Vancouver,” says McCarron, who joined the club last year. “It’s a huge effort, but having the resources of Rotary made things a lot smoother.”

The six families, who live in different parts of Canada, will attend several events at the games from 12 to 28 February, including the highly anticipated men’s gold medal hockey game.

The Children’s Wish Foundation worked with Olympic officials to allow one of the girls to pick up flowers thrown into the rink by spectators during a figure skating medal round.

“We’re creating a legacy for these children and their families,” says Tara Johnson, the club’s community service chair. “This project is very symbolic of what Rotary does for people who live at a disadvantage.”

“The assistance and support of Rotarians from across Canada, specifically those from the Rotary Club of Calgary Olympic, have made it possible to send the children to share an unforgettable Olympic experience with their families,” says Lyanne Goulin, director of the foundation.

RVM: The Rotarian Video Magazine will be filming the children’s Olympic experience for a future issue. Also look for footage in a video about the 100-year history of Rotary in Canada, to be shown at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec.

To get a taste of what Rotary Minute videos and Rotary International are like, watch the video below:

See more videos at the Rotary Minute page on the RI website.

If you haven’t already made your Valentine’s Day plans, celebrate Oregon’s birthday at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. In honor of Oregon’s statehood anniversary, the museum will offer free admission for all visitors and activity stations for children on Sunday from 11 am – 5 pm. Give the kids a fun history lesson and explore a museum right here in Eugene! For more information about the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, visit its website.

If you’re looking for other family-friendly Valentine’s Day weekend activities happening in and around Lane County, check out the events calendars posted by Oregon Family magazine and Travel Lane County.

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Eugene Airport Rotary!

The five members are (their sponsoring club is in parentheses): Monica Holzmer (Springfield Twin Rivers), Shelly Kane (Springfield), LillahMcBride (Bend High Desert), Heidi Ellis (Eugene Airport), team leader Rick Francona.

The District 5110 site has a special page with more information about the team and their trip. Also, you can get a first-hand look at the team’s preparation from their blog, “Put the Lime in de Coconut.” Once they depart on February 28, you can keep coming back to the blog to learn about their adventures and experiences while in the Caribbean.

Maria and Hilary’s story is just one of many. People and communities all over the world have been positively affected by the work of Rotary International. Read the February letter from RI President John Kenny and learn more about what Rotary is and the work Rotarians accomplish:

Each of us has, at one time or another, been asked the question, what is Rotary? There are many ways to answer, depending on the questioner, the context, and the time available. The shortest and simplest answer is that Rotary is the world’s oldest service club organization. This is, of course, an accurate but necessarily incomplete response, for any true understanding of Rotary must include an explanation of how we in Rotary strive through our service to achieve more than the goal of each individual project. By working together in our clubs, our districts, and internationally, we strive to establish the simple foundations of a better society: friendship, trust, honesty, and hope.

The structure of Rotary, along with our international club projects, helps make friendly connections between Rotarians in different countries. Our emphasis on ethical and honest behavior works to build strong and open relationships between people and nations. Our service projects in water, health and hunger, and literacy help eliminate many of the practical obstacles to peace. And our Rotary Foundation and Rotary Youth Exchange programs go a step beyond by training the leaders of tomorrow to be active builders of a more peaceful world.

These programs help shape responsible citizens of better communities — people who will have a broad and nuanced perspective, enhanced by opened eyes and open minds. They will be indelibly marked by their experiences, and throughout their lives — both now and in their later careers — they will not keep the benefits of these experiences to themselves. These are the people who will help build the kind of future that we as Rotarians strive to create through our every action.

What is Rotary? It is a network of people who care — people who are both realists and optimists. We recognize the challenges before us and our own limitations; we also recognize our abilities and our responsibility to use them to the fullest. If we are ever to realize Paul Harris’ vision for Rotary as an organization that promotes goodwill among nations, then, as he wrote, “the hearts of men must be so touched and molded that mutual understanding and goodwill will take the place of fear and hatred.” In this, World Understanding Month, we do well to remember these words — and to remember as well that in all of our service, we reach for the larger goal of fellowship, understanding, and peace.

Links:

Read President Kenny’s February message online

Eugene Airport Rotary is part of Rotary District 5110. Visit our district’s site to learn more about Rotary and how you can become a member!

• Jefferson County Cherry Tree Celebration, Feb 20,

Kah-Nee-Ta. Dinner, Auction. Contact

johncurnutt@msn.com

• Greater Bend Rotary Club (GBRC) is holding its

annual wine raffle February 23. http://www.greaterbendrotary.org/

• Eugene Airport Auction, February 26, at 6:00 pm

at the Springfield Holiday Inn. More information,

see http://eugeneairportrotary.org/ or this post on our site’s blog.

• Springfield Dinner & Wine Auction, Mar 12.

Contact Mark Johnson 541-501-9385.

mark.johnson@ltd.org

• Springfield-Twin Rivers, St Patty’s Casino Party,

Mar 19. Contact Kay Hyde-Patton,

khp@emeraldlaw.com

• Philomath Salmon & Jazz Fest, Apr 17. Contact Sue

Rutherford, slr@casco.net, 541-929-4524

Even more District 5110 events can be found on the District’s “Club Events” listing. We hope to see you at an event soon!