In August 2018, my wife, Diane, and I travelled to Kenya and had the opportunity to meet a number of the young women who have received scholarships for their university education through the Rotary African Women’s Education Fund (RAWEF).The students who are supported through RAWEF are from Uganda and the western part of Kenya. The western part of Kenya was very hard hit by the HIV/AIDS crisis and there are many families where the father has passed away leaving the mother with no means of support for her family, or perhaps both parents have passed away. Many of the young women who graduate from Secondary School have no hope of being able to attend university, due to financial constraints.
For years, Angalia Bianca had slept in abandoned buildings throughout Chicago. She stole. She did drugs. She spent time in and out of jail for forgery, theft, trespassing, and possession of narcotics. But after she landed in prison for the seventh time, something changed -- Bianca knew she wanted a better life. She just didn’t know how to make it happen.
Throughout India and around the world, Rotary clubs are celebrating a major milestone: India has gone three years without a new case of polio. The last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal on 13 January 2011. To mark this historic triumph, Rotary clubs illuminated landmarks and iconic structures throughout the country with four simple but powerful words, "India is polio free."
What is it like taking a large team to Africa? It has probably been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. In mid February, I began leading Rotary members from all over the East Coast of the United States through Ghana. I’ve tried to give the team a warm Ghanaian welcome like I’ve received on my earlier trips. A large trip is a real blessing because each person sees Ghana and our work in a different way.
