In 1979, James Bomar Jr., the president of Rotary at the time, traveled to the Philippines as part of Rotary’s earliest work to immunize children against polio. After he had put drops of vaccine into one baby’s mouth, he felt a child’s hand tugging on his trouser leg to get his attention. Bomar looked down and saw the baby’s brother looking up at him, saying earnestly, “Thank you, thank you, Rotary.”
Before Rotary took on the task of polio e...radication, 350,000 people – nearly all of them children – were paralyzed by polio every year. That child in the Philippines knew exactly what polio was and understood exactly what Rotary had just done for his baby brother. Today, 31 years after the launch of PolioPlus, the children of the Philippines – and of nearly every other country in the world – are growing up without that knowledge, and that fear, of polio. Instead of 1,000 new cases of polio every day, we are averaging less than one per week. But as the fear of polio wanes, so does awareness of the disease. Now more than ever, it is vitally important to keep that awareness high and to push polio eradication to the top of the public agenda and our governments’ priorities. We need to make sure the world knows that our work to eradicate polio isn’t over yet, but that Rotary is in it to end it.
On 24 October, Rotary will mark World Polio Day to help raise the awareness and the funding we need to reach full eradication. I ask all of you to take part by holding an event in your club, in your community, or online. Ideas and materials are available for download in all Rotary languages at endpolio.org/worldpolioday, and you can register your event with Rotary at the same link. You can also join me and tens of thousands of your fellow Rotarians for a live-streamed global status update at 6 p.m. Eastern time at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. I’ll be there along with CDC Director Tom Frieden, other experts, and inspirational presenters, sharing an inside look at the science, partnerships, and human stories of polio eradication.
It is an incredibly exciting time to be a Rotarian. We are gathering momentum for the final race to the finish: to the end of PolioPlus and the beginning of a polio-free world. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance to End Polio Now, through Rotary Serving Humanity.
Kate Hernandez receives Leader of Tomorrow award presented by Humble Rotary. She is pictured with Dr. Bonnie
Longnion and Sgt Major Watkins on the right. Kate is an outstanding young lady.
Kate Hernandez – Leader of Tomorrow Award Recipient
Rotary Club of Humble... Rotary Club of Humble awarded Humble High School Senior Kate Hernandez with the Leader of Tomorrow award at their October 12 luncheon meeting. Kate is engaged in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Executive Officer (JROTC), Health Occupations Students of American (HOSA), Key Club, UIL Academics Team. She is also a part of the International Baccalaureate Certificate Program at Humble High School.
Kate is busy in the community as well. She currently volunteers as a Youth Group Leader for the 2016-2017 Confirmation class at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Key Club’s mission is also a student led community service club, so she does many community events such as car washes, seasonal festivals, fundraisers, and more. In addition, she will be a nursing home volunteer beginning October 26th with HOSA.
Kate is on course to graduate in the top 10% of her class and plans on attending Texas A&M College Station next fall for their Health Science and ROTC programs. She wants to major in Biology or Chemistry and minor in Psychology. Furthermore, she aspires to attend medical school at Baylor College of Medicine to receive her M.D, and hopefully start a career as a trauma surgeon or trauma nurse.
When asked what is the most thing she has learned so far in life, she responded: “… working hard for what you want in life, no matter what obstacles are placed during that lifetime. If you are truly passionate about what you want, you will not give up and you will achieve that goal.”
Kate will be the first in her family to graduate high school and attend college, which will be a major and proud accomplishment. Throughout her high school career, she has seen herself improve mentally and emotionally, especially when she has been presented with various obstacles and hard tasks. She now has the desire to help those in need, which is why she wants to go into the medical field. Kate acknowledges that her parents, Karen and Juan Hernandez, have played a critical role in her success to date.
The Leader of Tomorrow award is a monthly student recognition program. There are six awards given out during the year. Each high school in the Humble ISD school district will have a recipient that is chosen. Selection of the student is based on characteristics of leadership, academic success, service, and good citizenship. It will be important for the student to have demonstrated respect to others and the ability to set challenging goals and attain them. The Humble ISD Police Department representative at each high school will lead the process to select the student on campus.
Eric Skiles and Fred Velez share information about the Theatre and Music offerings of Lone Star College Kingwood. They offer a lot of culture to the community
As you peruse the aisles of your favorite department store, you start to notice a trend: pink scarves, pink socks, pink shirts, and pink coffee mugs. Then pink blenders, pink vacuums, and is that a pink microwave?!? Ahh yes, the pink explosion is everywhere, and that can only mean one thing: October is upon us, and everyone is preparing for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is a reminder that there is a gruesome disease that is out to get second base. These sweet, pink pastels are there to nudge us, saying “hey, don’t forget to examine your breasts, get your doctor to check them out too, and schedule your mammogram.” After all, about 1 in 8 U.S. women, and 1 in 1000 U.S. men will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime, and being proactive in this fight is crucial.
Delighted to report that The Rotary Foundation has approved our $104,750 Grant application to provide food sustainability to fringe communities near the Mole National Park in Ghana.
Host partner club is the R.C. of Techiman/District 9102 and International partner the R.C. of Pasadena in Houston.
Twelve clubs contributed to this project;
Brazosport, West U, Calgary, Pasadena, Washington County, Techiman, Space Center, Baytown, Kingwood, Tomball, Houston Heights and de sao Caet...ano do Sul Olimpico in Brazil.
Nine Districts contributed;
5890 Texas, 5730 Texas, 6200 Louisiana, 5150 CA, 9920 New Zealand, 5910 Texas, 5710 Kansas, 5770 Oklahoma and 4420 Brazil- part of Sao Paulo.
It all starts with the Race to Erase. People everywhere will be lacing up their shoes to help end polio forever by participating in a walk called Race to Erase. Race to Erase aims to end the polio virus, a viral disease that devastates children in the developing world. All funds raised will count toward lifesaving status.
Come walk with the Fowler Progress Women's Club members on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Cottonwood Links Golf Club at 12 noon. Everyone is welcome to participate and donations are accepted. For more information contact Nora Clifton at (719) 263-4925
In the remote northwest corner of Nicaragua, just three hours from Houston, Texas there lived over 800 children living off of the garbage of the city dump of the city of Chinandega, Nicaragua. These children were digging through the garbage, with their bodies full of open sores, desperately looking for something to eat. Children were competing with dogs, cattle and adults for scraps of food.
In 1995 a missionary, Padre Marco Dessy, began working with these children by means of a small school where the students also received a hot lunch each day; but he only had room and funds to support about 90 children. A Rotary Club from Humble, Texas began an effort to expand the school and provide additional funds. Then in 1998, Hurricane Mitch destroyed the northern region around Chinandega leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless with their homes, farms, cattle, tools and everything gone. They also ended up at the city dump compounding the problem. Rotarians from the Houston area responded.
The original School of the Dump was expanded to include all grades from pre-K through high school. A Trade School was also built as well as a live-in school for blind children, a hospital, medical and dental clinics, a pregnant women’s shelter and much more.
In 2001, after the Rotary International Convention in San Antonio, Texas, other Rotary districts from Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Colorado, North Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, decided to join the rescue mission. Since then many other great miracles have happened for those children in desperate need.
Today more than 1,700 children benefit from our programs. We have seen the miracles of the children of the dump become CPAs, attorneys, doctors, businessmen, teachers … and more scholars are in the pipeline. We have expanded our programs to other regions of Nicaragua and today ” The Children of the Dump” program has become a model for Rotary International on how to help break the cycle of extreme poverty in the world. It can be done and this is the living proof.
This history is dedicated to Father Marco Dessy of Chinandega, Nicaragua, the Humble Rotary Club in Houston, TX, its District 5890, the organization HOPE & Relief International, Inc. and the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of Rotarians under the guidance of Dennis Adams, Frank Huezo, Jim Kite, Larry Wright, and Mike McCullough
For more information visit the web site of Hope & Relief International @http://hopeandrelief.org/hope/
At the meeting last week assistant Governor Dale Mellencamp offered some kind words about the history of our club with the Children of the Dump project in Nicaragua and at that meeting I mentioned that the first college graduate from the Children of the Dump, Maria Jose Perez, had spoken to our club several years ago.
I thought the members might be interested in the update I received from Maria this afternoon. Picture attached.
Message from Maria:
“I finished my MBA degree last year and was admitted as a CPA last month.
Member of the Rotary Club of Chinendega San Cristobal and will become an officer of the Club in two weeks.
A volunteer with Foundation Chinendega 2001.
Employed by the largest sugar company in Nicaragua as an auditor.
I am married and am so grateful for all the Rotarian support for our community and myself.
Maria”
Some history:
Assistant District Governor Dale Mellencamp shared an example of what Rotary does to help others. He recognized our club's initiation of The Children of the Dump project that rescued children that were living off of food obtained from the local dump in , Chinandega, Nicaragua. Several Rotarians that were involved shared the activities that were involved in initiating the project. This project was ultimately used as a template for International Projects. We continue to provide monetary support. Rotarians Frank Huezo and Jim Kite have done excellent jobs in continuing this project. Father Marco Dessy, a local Priest played a pivotal role. Numerous children have obtained an education to help them move forward in life. Go to www.childrenofthedumps.org to learn more. Service Above Self.
Celebrate 100 years of The Rotary Foundation by learning the history of our impact around the world. Check out "Doing Good in the World: The Inspiring Story of The Rotary Foundation's First 100 Years" in our new ebook and Kindle formats. Buy: http://on.rotary.org/Centennial_Book
By Rotary staff On 9 September, we received a visitor at Rotary International World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, who reminded us just how important the fight to eradicate polio is. Every year, fewer and fewer cases of polio are … Continue reading →
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work impacts lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit www.humblerotary.com or www.Rotary.org or e-mail info@humblerotary.com. Like us at www.facebook.com/humblerotary
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