Malnutrition can be overcome by building understanding of the link between nutrition and healthy child development, through the adoption of a varied daily diet of local, nutritious foods.

In impoverished rural areas of Papua New Guinea, 54% of children are stunted (short for their age) and 14% are wasted (low in weight), frequently leading to permanent, undiagnosed, physical and mental impairment. An inadequate diet, low in energy, protein, fats and oil is largely to blame.

Together, the Rotary Clubs of Port Moresby in PNG and Nambour in Queensland, received Global Grant funding from The Rotary Foundation to address the issue by creating a project to break the malnutrition cycle. After completing a community assessment that confirmed the critical need for education regarding improved nutrition, they delivered a program that encouraged healthier, stronger and smarter babies with unrestricted cognitive development.

A two-week Train-the-Trainer Workshop for Healthier, Stronger, and Smarter Babies was provided to 55 volunteers from 19 villages. Subsequently, 15 teams of instructors delivered awareness sessions to villagers on improved nutrition, birth control, immunisation, disease treatment, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at 41 workshops. Follow-up revision workshops were also held at another 13 villages.

Information resources such as booklets and diet posters were provided to reinforce messages. Demonstration gardens of nutritious foods were established. Each family was given seed of corn, beans, peanut and coconut to encourage production of nutritious food. Talks on nutrition were also given to school children. Project lessons were broadcast on Radio Biami, in both English and the Bedamuni (Biami) language.

At baby food workshops, women prepared simple mashed foods for their babies like fresh dessert banana and papaya, boiled pumpkin and other staple foods enriched with coconut milk or marita pandanus, as well as more complex foods like corn and bean porridge and peanut butter.

About 2,000 families learned about the importance of good nutrition from volunteer instructors. Demonstration gardens showed how the addition of organic matter to the soil maintains soil fertility and promotes productivity of nutritious crops in intensive home gardens. Women had fun preparing new, nutritious baby foods — and the babies relished these foods. Nutrition lessons were reinforced through revision workshops, talks to school children and broadcasts over Radio Biami, as well as widespread distribution of booklets and diet charts for each village. The challenge is to transform awareness into sustainable adoption of nutritious diets for mothers and infants.

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Geriatric units provide critical services to the aged however Uganda’s medical system simply does not provide these services. Rotary has funded geriatric training for Ugandan GP Dr Michael Ssonko to enable him to deliver geriatric services and training in the country.

Older citizens are amongst the most susceptible people in our communities to serious health issues. Special attention is needed to ensure they receive appropriate preventative care, disease management, and critical care.  However, specialist geriatric services are not available in Uganda.

The Rotary Club of Taree on Manning in NSW Australia became aware of this situation and agreed to help do something about it.  They were introduced to geriatrics Professor Vasi Nagathan of Concord Hospital in Sydney who had a longstanding connection with Dr Michael Ssonko, a general practitioner in Uganda.  Dr Ssonko had a vision to open an ageing centre at Makerere University at or near Mulago Hospital, the largest public hospital in Uganda.  However, to do this, he first needed to himself undertake specialist geriatric training.

The Rotary Club of Taree on Manning enlisted the support of the Rotary Club of Newlands in Cape Town South Africa where specialist training in geriatrics is available.  With the support of Rotary, including a grant from The Rotary Foundation, Dr Ssonko was able to undertake this training.  Upon completing his research in January 2022, he expects to receive his degree as a Master of Philosophy in Geriatric Medicine – and will return to Uganda.

Dr Ssonko now hopes to persuade the University to set up a division of Geriatric Medicine – to pursue integration of geriatric medicine into the undergraduate curriculum and hopefully create a core geriatric team of three members to provide treatment to the elderly.

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Since 2018, Rotary SAFE Families has been committed to making a difference in the horrendous statistics of family violence in Australia. Now with our Inclusive Communities Initiative, we are providing primary prevention methods for every Australian of any diversity to be able to RECOGNISE signs of abuse; RAISE a conversation “safely” with victim; REFER the victim to 000/appropriate support organisation OR to make the call themselves

Rotary SAFE Families & Inclusive Communities Initiative provides speakers to present to Rotary Clubs and other organisations, around the need for community to be informed, how they can assist Police and Family Violence support organisations to prevent abuse to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

We provide free downloadable films on Elder Abuse, Child Abuse, Abuse of Males and Domestic Violence & Its Impact on Children. Our First Aid Kit “3R’s” is applied to any form of abuse and is endorsed by people who have applied it themselves to protect a victim of abuse whilst remaining safe.

Our website, www.rotarysafefamilies.org.au is a “go to” site for everything including latest updates and news on family violence, our films, flyers, wallet cards and how your Rotary Club can be an Ambassador Club promoting their commitment to prevention of abuse in Australia. We have more than 150 Rotary Ambassador Clubs who promote the prevention methods of family abuse in their weekly newsletters, website and their public events.

Our Inclusive Communities Initiative with a large team of Rotarians and diverse multicultural members reach out to CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) communities via their Community Leaders to educate and provide support for them to prevent and assist a victim/possible victim of abuse in their community.

We work with African Youth Initiative leaders, Changepreneurs, African Women’s Foundation, SBS and many more in providing workshops and presentations. We help them understand that family violence including child abuse is a crime in Australia. Our Guide for Prevention of Family Abuse in Australia has been translated by volunteers into 9 languages (Farsi, Dari, Hindi, Somali, Swahili, Mandarin, Greek, Arabic and Dinka) for those who use English as their second language.

These diverse Australians are so appreciative of our reaching out to them to assist them in their settlement into Australia. It is a privilege to meet these wonderful new Australians who are also potential Rotarians.

Rotary SAFE Families & Inclusive Communities is the only Rotary family violence initiative that provides the tools for prevention methods of abuse. We don’t just talk about the horrendous statistics, we give you the primary methods of prevention. We do this for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. Remember: Prevention of family violence begins with YOU and ME!

Rotary SAFE Families & Inclusive Communities Initiative is freely available to promote and prevent family violence to any person of any community and diversity. www.rotarysafefamilies.org.au 

Apply the 3R’s: 1. RECOGNISE signs of abuse;  2. RAISE your concerns “safely”;  3. REFER victim to 000/support agency OR Make the call yourself!

Abuse is difficult to talk about, but feel the fear, and talk about it anyway!

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Rotarians and UNITEA are having huge success with a solid waste reduction program that’s helping local and migrant workers save money, while enhancing local Fair Trade tea brands’ reputation with faraway consumers

Women of the Nilgiris West Rotary Club in South India are having huge success with a solid waste reduction program that’s helping local and migrant workers save money, while enhancing local Fair Trade tea brands’ reputation with faraway consumers.  The project is flourishing because Rotarians are paying close attention to the needs both of workers and of the firms who employ them.

“Tea here in the Western Ghats is harvested both by local people and migrants from the north,” explains ecologist Meenakshi (Mina) Venkataraman, one of the Rotary women leading the project. The companies have set up schools and housing for the workers, as the estates employ them throughout the year.

“But hygiene is a huge problem,” Mina adds.  

beneficial to all concerned

The workers – mainly women – put in eight-hour shifts on the mountain, relying on chemical toilets, far from any public garbage collection systems. The women use disposable sanitary napkins, which are not only expensive, but also create a public health hazard whether they are burned (releasing dioxins), or whether they go into streams or dumps, where they become a source of infection.  Dumps have increasingly caused problems as human populations expand into formerly remote areas in India, attracting wild animals who forage there for food and come into conflict with humans. 

“As part of their Fair Trade certification, these growers have to demonstrate that they are using sustainable waste management,” Mina explains. “The tea companies have had real problems with temporary toilets, chemicals, and wild animals.”  

After researching several options, the Rotarians proposed that UNITEA use some of its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) budget to underwrite a project to introduce the women to SafepadsTM, which are reusable cloth pads with antimicrobial coating.

Made and distributed by the Danish-Indian partnership RealRelief, (realreliefway.com) a set of four Safepads costs less than $4 and can be re-used for up to four years.  “These are convenient, look innocuous, and are easy to clean in just cold water,” Mina adds. The pads dry out quickly, even during the monsoon season.

Culturally, the Rotary women found, this option was more palatable than menstrual cups to the tea pluckers, who are already accustomed to using sanitary napkins.

The Rotary team handed out and explained how to use SafepadTM sets to over 650 women workers in the plantations.  Mothers are the arbiters of what their families buy and use.  Surveyed six months in, over 90% of the women continued to use their Safepads and were ready to buy sets for other members of their families.

from waste reduction to economic empowerment

Partnering with additional employers, the Rotary team of Mina Venkatamaran, Ananadhi Chandran, Dr. Keerthana Kumar, and Sunitra Bala, expanded the project to urban women, and have now reached over 2,000 women and girls in both rural and urban communities.

“This is expanding really well through gossip circles,” Mina adds, merrily. It’s because SafepadsTM fit families’ budgets and needs significantly better than the previous solution.

Some of the Fair Trade companies in the region foster women’s self-help groups as part of their corporate quest to demonstrate social responsibility.  The Nilgiris West green menstruation initiative allows women to work all month and girls to attend school without the stigma they previously faced during their periods.  Project Drawdown notes that supporting girls' education and their completion of secondary education is an excellent long range strategy to slow climate change.

Mina sees a real potential for self-help groups to start to produce these pads locally as a source of revenue.  

A women’s empowerment project also enhances the reputation and customer appeal of the region’s Fair Trade tea companies vying to win the allegiance of faraway consumers.  Another Rotary success in proving beneficial to all concerned!

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Rotary and supporters secured US$36,000 to develop low-cost water treatment systems for 4,000 villagers throughout Southern Thailand, providing ready access to clean drinking water and hand washing

In 2011, Rotary District 9710, in southeastern NSW and the ACT, joined forces with District 3330 in  southern Thailand to hold a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) examining water and sanitation issues in each country. The Australian team members, consisting of young professionals aged 25–35, found there were many villages in southern Thailand without ready access to clean drinking water, unless purchased in bottle form.

The Australian study team made a promise to work with the Thailand Rotarians to develop low-cost water treatment systems for some of these villages. In 2013 a proposal came from the Ploi Ratchaburi Rotary Club to build small-scale water treatment systems at two primary schools in Ratchaburi province. 

The water treatment systems involved a multi-stage filtering system to remove solids and chemicals from the local surface and groundwater supplies. A small membrane filter unit and an ultraviolet disinfection system ensure the treated water is consistently of a high standard. 

A vending machine, added to the systems, would allow community members to purchase clean water in bulk at a much lower price than is available via the marketplace. The community water sales will be used to pay for quarterly maintenance of the water treatments systems.

The proposal was reviewed by the Australian GSE team and developed into a funding application. With US$7,000 in contributions from Australian Rotary clubs, including the Rotary Club of Berry, they were able to secure grants from The Rotary Foundation to reach the US$36,000 required to build the two water treatment systems – including, tanks, filters, electrical supplied and refurbishments to buildings.

The two water treatment systems, at Wat Na Nong and Wat Thai Mueang schools were officially opened in July 2014. These projects will provide over 300 students and 4,000 local residents with access to clean water for drinking and hand washing.

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Australian and USA clubs and districts funded the A$200,000 purchase of medical equipment to set up a diagnosis and dialysis facility in the far northwest of South Australia

Pukatja is an extremely remote indigenous community in South Australia. It experiences kidney disease at a rate fifteen times higher than the national average.

With the nearest treatment facility about 1,000km away, dialysis entails relocation, far away from the patient’s support network of family and community – a devastating blow, especially for someone already suffering the trauma of serious illness.

Delivering treatment closer to home results in dramatically better health outcomes, reduced economic and community impacts and reduced need for ancillary services, such as social workers and interpreters.

The Rotary Club of Waikerie, along with numerous Clubs and Districts, from Australia and the USA, funded the A$200,000 purchase of the medical equipment to set up a dialysis facility in the far northwest of the state. They partnered with the WDNWPT Aboriginal Community. The Rotary Foundation provided A$70,000 in Global Grant funding..

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Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever. Your support will help eradicate this paralysing disease.

Since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979, Rotary members have contributed more than US$2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than US$10 billion to the effort.

While polio has been 99.9% eradicated, it is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan – Africa has recently been declared polio-free. All countries remain at risk of polio until the disease has been completely eradicated from the world.

To achieve eradication, enough people in a community need to be immunized against polio for virus to be deprived of susceptible hosts and die out. High levels of vaccination in Afghanistan and Pakistan must be maintained to stop transmission and prevent outbreaks occurring.

Until then, the best way for countries to minimise the risk and consequences of polio infection is to maintain strong population immunity levels through high vaccination coverage and strong disease surveillance in order to rapidly detect and respond to polio.

The cost of allowing polio to regain a foothold is infection of 200,000 children aged 5 years and younger – annually – within 10 years and US$50 billion over 20 years.

Poliovirus

Polio can interact in its host in two ways:

• Infection not including the central nervous system, which causes a minor illness with mild symptoms

• Infection including the central nervous system, which may cause paralysis

Poliovirus enters through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Infected individuals shed poliovirus into the environment for several weeks, where it can spread rapidly through a community, especially in areas of poor sanitation.

Vaccines

The development of effective vaccines to prevent paralytic polio was one of the major medical breakthroughs of the 20th century. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative uses two types of vaccine to stop polio transmission – inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV).

If enough people in a community are immunized against polio, the virus will be deprived of susceptible hosts and will die out. High levels of vaccination coverage must be maintained to stop transmission and prevent outbreaks occurring. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is constantly assessing the optimal use of the different types of vaccine to prevent paralytic polio and stop poliovirus transmission in different areas of the world.

Outbreak countries

Outbreak countries are those that have stopped indigenous wild poliovirus but are experiencing re-infection either through the importation of wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus from another country, or the emergence and circulation of vaccine-derived poliovirus.

To stop these outbreaks, it is necessary to fully implement international outbreak response guidelines.

Endemic countries, which have never stopped the transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus, can also be affected by outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.

All countries remain at risk of polio until the disease has been completely eradicated from the world. Until then, the best way for countries to minimise the risk and consequences of polio infection is to maintain strong population immunity levels through high vaccination coverage, and strong disease surveillance in order to rapidly detect and respond to polio.

Africa

Angola

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Congo

Côte d’Ivoire

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ethiopia

Ghana

Guinea

Liberia

Mali

Madagascar

Niger

Nigeria

Senegal

Sierra Leone

South Sudan

Togo

Eastern Mediterranean

Egypt

Somalia

Sudan

Yemen

Europe

Tajikistan

Western Pacific

China

Malaysia

At-Risk Countries

Low levels of immunity and surveillance leave countries at risk of polio returning. To ensure that every country stays free from polio, it is essential to reach every child with polio vaccines and to strengthen disease surveillance.

Several countries are classified by the International Health Regulations (IHR) as no longer infected, but remain vulnerable to re-infection.

Indonesia

Mozambique

Myanmar

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

What’s required

We’re 99.9% of the way to ending polio, but important work remains if we’re to ensure this paralysing disease doesn’t regain a foothold. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.

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Rotary and microfinance institution SPBD Fiji created a US$87,000 fund for investee selection, funding, training and ongoing support for micro-businesses and prospective new businesses in Fiji

There are many micro-businesses and prospective new businesses in Fiji but they often lack the capital that would allow them to start up or expand.

Relatively small amounts of funding, along with some business training and mentoring, would allow these businesses to flourish, and this would have a considerable impact on the people and economies in these communities.

Two Rotary Clubs in Auckland, along with the Rotary Club of Suva, identified an opportunity to provide microcredit facilities to entrepreneurs in several provinces in Fiji. They decided to work with Fijian microfinance institution, SPBD Fiji, to help manage the process.

With the support of a US$27,500 Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation, Rotary and SPBD created an US$87,000 fund for investee selection, funding, training and ongoing support.

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Several Rotary Clubs and Districts in Australia and the USA came together to help improve the exposure to reading and counting in the home environment of pre-school children in Yarrabah, Far North Queensland

Yarrabah is one of the most disadvantaged communities in Australia and suffers from very low levels of literacy and numeracy amongst both children and adults.

A critical issue has been that so many children entering the primary school system have had very low exposure to reading and counting in the home environment, putting them at a serious disadvantage. This problem tends to persist throughout their time at school and this often results in children leaving the education system early, perpetuating the cycle.

Several Rotary Clubs and Districts in Australia and the USA, led by Cairns Trinity, came together to create a project that would help break this cycle, by providing a pathway into the homes of pre-school children.

The project budget was A$100,000 and this was reached when The Rotary Foundations provided a Global Grant of about A$50,000.

It’s still early days but the team is very confident of achieving significant long term improvements in educational and social outcomes in this community.

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Rotary, in partnership with Foseco, transformed the educational outcomes of over 8,000 disadvantaged school students

In the rural areas that surround the Indian city of Pune, under-privileged children lacked many critical educational facilities. For example, nursery and kindergarten children did not have books and play kits while secondary schools had very inadequate toilets and other facilities.

A project was conceived to provide teaching aids, toilet blocks, science labs and other facilities, as well as health kits for detecting anemia, which was prevalent.

Rotary partnered with Foseco India, a nearby chemical company that was seeking ways to support local education initiatives, as part of its corporate social responsibility program. The local Rotary district and two Pune clubs managed the project and provided additional funding. A grant was also provided by The Rotary Foundation.

The US$80,000 in funds raised by Foseco and Rotary transformed the educational outcomes of over 8,000 disadvantaged school students.

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A consortium of Rotary clubs and districts in Australia and India raised A$148,000 for state-of-the-art mobile diagnostic imaging platform for The Eye Clinic at the Children's Hospital at Westmead

The Eye Clinic at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney is an outstanding facility that treats more than 8,500 children each year. However, it needed more advanced imaging technology to better diagnose and treat eye diseases and trauma. Early diagnosis and rapid treatment are often critical to the child’s future eye health.

What was needed was a A$148,000 state-of-the-art mobile SPECTRALISOCT diagnostic imaging platform.

The Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville learned of this situation and put together a consortium of supporters that included Rotary clubs and districts in Australia and India. To reach the funding target, a grant of over A$64,000 was provided by The Rotary Foundation.

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Australian Rotary clubs raise awareness and funds to prevent domestic violence and support its victims with a diverse range of innovative projects

The statistics are sobering: Intimate partner violence is the most common type of violence against women, affecting 30 percent of women worldwide, according to a 2013 World Health Organization report. As many as 38 percent of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.

In New Zealand, a dozen women are killed by their partners or ex-partners each year. And in Australia, a woman is killed, on average, about every week.

Recognizing the desperate need for domestic-violence services in their communities, Rotary clubs throughout Australia and New Zealand are fundraising and partnering with charities to raise awareness and work on prevention and victim support.

As one club president said: When ending polio seemed insurmountable, Rotary stepped in. Why can’t Rotary help end domestic violence?

More than one approach

The Rotary Club of Maryborough, Victoria, Australia, is changing attitudes about domestic violence and generating positive community response with its multifaceted approach. What began as a social media campaign has grown to include community educational programs, publicity events that have reached millions, and the opportunity to present its SAFE program to the Royal Commission Into Family Violence (Victoria). 

The Support, Advice, Facilitation, and Early Intervention model is a collaborative approach that gives everyone in the community a role to play in addressing family violence. Garry Higgins, the club’s project manager for the campaign #SayNO2familyviolence, believes it’s the type of program that has global application.

“As an independent, apolitical organization, Rotary can do and say things others can’t,” says Higgins, who presented the SAFE program to the Royal Commission.

Getting people to talk about domestic violence — once a taboo subject in the small town — was one of the club’s biggest challenges. To start that conversation, the club launched a communication campaign, Speak Up! #SayNO2familyviolence, which included social media posts and promotional brochures and posters.

For help spreading the message, the club targeted the key cultural and behavioral influencers in the community: local sporting clubs. The harness racing club supported the campaign, and the football club recently held its third #SayNO2familyviolence championship competition.

Changing behavior

An online program is helping abusive men learn new ways to deal with their anger and have more satisfying personal relationships. The Men’s Behaviour Change Program, formed by Violence Free Families, is a 13-week live, interactive program for men who can’t — or won’t — attend counseling sessions in person, because of work schedules or embarrassment.

Melbourne University evaluated the program and reported positive results for the men who took part in four trials over the past two years.

“I’ve learned a new way to deal with my ex-partner,” said one program participant. “My children will benefit from this — it’s all good now.”

The Rotary Club of Brighton, Victoria, Australia, launched Violence Free Families in 1995, after a local child’s violent death. The club has raised more than $750,000 for the program, endorsed by Rotary District 9800 and supported by all 70 district clubs and Women in Rotary. 

Family safety nets

A 2008 report by the Australian government’s Department of Social Services identified domestic violence as the principal cause of homelessness for women and their children.

The Path of Hope Foundation, a joint venture between the Salvation Army and the Rotary Club of Perth, Western Australia, provides safe accommodations for those fleeing family violence. It also offers guidance and resources to help families overcome trauma and rebuild their lives. Members of the Perth club raise funds and volunteer at the center.

“We’re hopeful that Path of Hope can become a model for Rotary clubs and Salvation Army centers around the world to adopt,” says club member Graham Peden. “It’s already achieved a great deal through improving the lives of victims of domestic violence in Western Australia.”

Elsewhere, the Rotary Club of Bendigo, Victoria, held a fundraiser in May for survivors of family violence. Guests had the chance to hear 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty speak about her personal experiences with domestic violence. Batty’s 11-year-old son, Luke, was murdered by his father in 2014.

The evening netted more than $16,000 for the Annie North Women’s Refuge and Domestic Violence Service. The funds will help buy new furniture for families moving from emergency housing to permanent sites.

Batty also was a keynote speaker in June for the 2016 Rotary International Convention in Korea.

Larrie Winzar, president of the Bendigo club during Batty’s talk in May, said: “When disaster strikes, most of us have insurance to replace the items we’ve lost. In situations of family violence there is no insurance, so support from organizations and service clubs such as Rotary can make a difference to someone starting over.”

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