D-2452 DG's Newsletter March 2015

District 2452 Service Above Self Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 Mr. Gary C K Huang Light Up Rotary Mr. Khalil Alsharif RI President District Governor MARCH - LITERACY MONTH “No country can succeed if its future leaders are not educated.” - Nelson Mandela For most of us, reading and writing are as natural as breathing. But nearly 800 million adults worldwide lack the basic literacy skills needed for routine jobs like completing a job application, understanding a child’s Report card, or even reading a prescription. Rotary International knows that liter acy is an essential ingr edient for r educing pover ty, impr oving health, encouraging community & economic development, and promoting peace. In short, Education is an accelerator of inclusive development. It provides sustainability to growth and development. When you edu- cate mothers, you empower women and save children’s lives. When you educate communities, you transform societies and grow economies. This is why one of the Six Areas of Focus of the Rotary Foundation is “Basic education and literacy”, which suppor ts the cause of improving Literacy. Special emphasis is laid on this focus by celebrating March as Literacy Month. Light Up Rotary to illuminate Literacy. Khalil Alsharif District Governor 1

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE GARY C.K. HUANG PRESIDENT 2014-15 MARCH 2015 In Rotary, we have the opportunity to build bonds of friendship with fellow Rotarians around the world. And once a year, at our international convention, we have the chance to get together with all of our Rotary friends, to share new ideas, plan new service, and just have fun. What better way to celebrate the end of the 2014-15 Rotary year, and Light Up Rotary with your friends, than to travel together to the 106th annual Rotary International Convention in São Paulo, Brazil? Whether you have never been to a convention before or are an experienced con- vention goer, this will be one you won't want to miss. Preregistration pricing ends on 31 March, so plan now for the big- gest Rotary party of the year. The convention will begin on Saturday, 6 June, and after the opening ceremony there will be a traditional Brazilian Car- nival party and a Samba School Parade at the Anhembi Sambadrome. Even if you think you have no rhythm or can't carry a tune, you will find yourself dancing, singing, and laughing all night long. The party and parade will feature the bright colors, feathers, and sequins of Carnival costumes as well as the sights and sounds of samba, the Afro-Brazilian music and dance, and the delicious food and drinks of São Paulo. On Monday night, Ivete Sangalo, winner of two Latin Grammy Awards, will entertain Rotarians. And every evening of the convention, Rotary Restaurant Nights will let you enjoy discounts in the culinary capital of Latin America. Savor fish from the Amazon, sushi with a Latin flair, Brazilian beef, and other offerings from some of São Paulo's 30,000 restau- rants and bars. Admission to several museums in São Paulo, including the excellent soccer museum, will also be free with your convention badge. Brazil reflects a diversity almost as great as Rotary's: Paulistanos, as the people of São Paulo are known, have created a lively culture with influences from all over the world. One of the highlights of any Rotary convention is always hospitality night, where you can get to know local Rotarians. Monday night is your chance to experience thepaulistano lifestyle with the Rotarians of Brazil – but be sure to book early, as numbers are limited. In Rotary, service and friendship go hand in hand. As you focus on the work of this Rotary year, I ask you not to lose sight of the importance of international friendship, and to register for the São Paulo convention now, at www.riconvention.org. “\"It is better to light a single candle, than to sit and curse the darkness.” - Confucius, Chinese Philosopher “The Rotary way is the Confucius way. The Rotary way is to light a candle. I light one, you light one, 1.2 million Rotarians light one. Together, we light up the world.” - RIP Gary C.K. Huang 2

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 The District Conference Organizing Committee President, Chairman & members extend their cordial WELCOME to the Distinguished Guests, Dignitaries, Fellow Rotarians, their Spouses, Families & Friends and all the Participants to the 2nd DISTRICT CONFERENCE of DISTRICT 2452, being held in the Kingdom of Bahrain, from 19th to 21st March 2015 Fax: +973 17740346, E-mail: [email protected] Bahrain International Circuit Bab Al-Bahrain Grand Mosque Bahrain Fort 3

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 TRUSTEE CHAIR’S MESSAGE JOHN KENNY TRUSTEE CHAIR 2014-15 MARCH 2015 Now that the first year of the new grant model has been completed, it's time to see how it's working. One of the most positive outcomes is that more clubs and districts have banded together to implement larger, more sustainable projects. Our Rotary Foundation funded 488 district grants worth a total of $23.5 million and 868 global grants worth $47.3 million. The Trustees are mindful of their fiduciary duty to ensure that Foundation funds are spent wisely. To help achieve this, clubs and districts have the support of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers. These are Rotarian volunteers who have been vetted as specialists in one or more areas of focus, or in financial audits. Last year, on behalf of the Trustees, these volunteers carried out more than 153 assignments. Forty-four were technical (desk) reviews prior to funding approval, and 68 were mandatory on- site screenings for larger projects, either before approval or during the projects' implementation. The cadre also conducted 41 audits of projects and districts. We have learned that some sponsors of global grants have struggled with needs assessments, sustainability, and monitoring and evaluation. This is where the cadre can be of practical assistance, so its members have been asked to increase their availability to grant sponsors from the start of the application process. Clubs and districts that sponsor grants can access this assistance by contacting their regional grants officer. We are looking to add volunteers to our cadre in all areas of focus and in auditing. If you are interested in join- ing, email [email protected] for more information. The aim of the Trustees is to make the new grant model as user-friendly as possible to clubs and districts. “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.” - Kofi Annan 4

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 WALKATHON - Raising Funds for Road Safety Campaign N Organized by Rotary Club of Adliya, Bahrain. E RC Adliya organized the Walkathon to raise funds for charity on 31st January 2015 at Dohat Arad Walkway, W S F R O M B A H R A I N Get ready for World Rotaract Week Share your stories and pictures of how you celebrated World Rotaract Week on Facebook Page. https:// How will you celebrate www.facebook.com/rotaractor World Rotaract Week this 9-15 March 2015? Work together with your part- ner Rotary club to plan a service activity that shows the positive im- pact of Rotaract in your community. Organize a professional develop- ment workshop that allows Rotaractors to polish their interviewing skills, identify Rotarian men- tors, or learn about international internships. Start a twin club relationship or international service project to connect with other Rotaract leaders around the globe. 5

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 Excellent cause; humbling gesture. N E W S F R Chere DDG May O Comme toujours, l'union fait la force.Le Rotary l'a M prouve encore une fois. Le projet d'amenagement d'u- ne cuisine professionelle pour faire la patisserie dans les locaux de l'association Al Younbouh a ete execute L RC Kesrouan and RC Beirut Cedars joined their et inaugure le jeudi 15 Janvier. A titre d'information E efforts to buy Industrial Kitchen for Al Younbouh Al Younbouh assiste des personnes aux besoins spe- B Association. Differ ent clubs and many devoted ciaux a reinserer la societe en leur apprenant des A metiersqu'ils pourront utiliser pour etre plus ou moins autonomes. N Rotarians mentioned below contributed to this great - DDG May Monla Chmaytelly O project: N District 2452, PDG Raymond Hayek District 1730, Rotary Club of Adliya, Bahrain, PDG Nijad K Al Atassi Bahrain, le Rotarien Claude Karam Benin, le RotarienTheodore Hamade USA, le Rotarien Ghassan Saab USA , Mr Antoine Frem President Du Conseil Municipal De Jounieh , et la Fondation Rotary. On behalf of DG Khalil Al Sharif, I want to congratu- “No skill is more crucial to the future late President Gaby Mouzannar & all members of RC of a child, or to a democratic and Keserouan, President Christine Sabiyeh & all mem- prosperous society, than literacy.” bers of RC Beirut Cedars, and all dedicated ROTARI- ANS who contributed in the success of this project. - Los Angeles Times Below is the message received form President Gaby Mouzannar. 6

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 Working hand in hand to LIGHT UP ROTARY… N Another great achievement of RC Beirut Cosmopolitan for our community!!! On the 31st January the formal handover ceremony was held E in the premises of the Mother and Child welfare Society. W The donated machine is the first of its kind in Lebanon and S Fully FDA.approved. It is a Global Grant Project which consists of Donation of FUJIFILM Computed Radiography Complete System . F R O M Contributing Clubs. L Rotary Clubs Of Beirut Cosmopolitan, E Rotary Club OF Beirut Cedars (Lebanon), Rotary Club Of Manama. (Bahrain) B Rotary Club Of Adlyia . (Bahrain) A Rotary International District 2452 N Rotary Club San Mateo . (USA) . O Rotary Club Santa Monica, CA .(USA) . N Rotary International District 5150 (USA) . This project was made possible in part by a grant from THE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL. On behalf of DG Khalil Al Sharif, I want to congratu- late the leading club Beirut Cosmopolitan, President Lina Shair ,PP Mounir Jabr, all members, and all other partners who con- tributed to the success of this project. - DDG May Monla Chmaytelly BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY published-help-rotary Sixty-seven million children worldwide have no access to  Partners for climate change in Tanzania https:// education and more than 775 million people over the age of www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/partners-climate-change- 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of research-tanzania communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce RESOURCES & REFERENCE gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.  Create a scholarship https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/ READ NEWS ABOUT ROTARY'S WORK IN SUP- en/take-action/empower-leaders/create-scholarship PORT OF EDUCATION  Browse Rotary Showcase for member projects that sup-  A dangerous idea offers hope for girls in Afghanistan port education https://map.rotary.org/en/project/pages/ https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/dangerous-idea- project_showcase.aspx offers-hope-girls-afghanistan  Find a project to sponsor on Rotary Ideas http://  Young writers get published with the help of Rotary ideas.rotary.org/ https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/young-writers-get- 7

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 UNICEF PRESS RELEASE UNICEF has issued the pr ess r elease on the latest WHO Regional Meeting at Beirut 26th & 27th January 2015: Polio outbreak in Middle East, since October 2013. For further detail about the UNICEF PRESS RELEASE please 1. Review the achievements and remaining challenges of Phase visit http://www.unicef.org/media/media_78947.html II 2. Formulate the way forward for Phase III of response 3. Develop country plan of the Phase III activities Impact of the Phase I & II response 56 vaccination campaigns in the sub- region targeting 27.7 million children Over 142 million doses of OPV used since October 2013 No detection of WPV1 in 6 of 8 coun- tries [Syria and Iraq] Resume on WHO Polio Regional Meeting at Beirut 26th and No WPV1 cases since April 2014 & no 27th January 2015 WPV1 from the environment since March 2014 written by Michel P. Jazzar Rotary Representative to the meeting. Geographical priorities for Phase III Excerpt from the polio report sent to TRF  Highest Risk Zone – Syria & Iraq (last WPV1 cases; com- plex security situation) 75 experts in health, management, communication coming  High Risk Zone – vulnerable populations in Lebanon, Jordan from 8 countries of the ME countries (namely Egypt, Iran, Iraq, & Turkey Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey) along with the  Risk Reduction Zone – Egypt, Iran, Palestine & general pop- GPEI [Rotary, UNICEF, WHO, CDC, BMGF] on international, ulations in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey regional and ground scales’ representatives have shared a region- al WHO regional meeting as an opportunity for these countries to Budget estimated: January-June 2015 [without errors and review the Polio immunization phase II [July-Dec 2014] and to omissions] formulate plans for the Phase III [Jan-June 2015] of the response. 27.000.000 USD - Turkish government will cover the NIDs ex- The objectives of the meeting were: penses 8

District 2452 Governor’s Newsletter March 2015 YOUNG WRITERS GET PUBLISHED WITH This year, the e-club provided a free copy of the e-book to the Jamaica Reading Association, an IRA-affiliated council, THE HELP OF ROTARY In Jamaica, 11-year-old Jordan Allwood reads his classmates a which used it in its annual Reading Week in April. The associ- ation signed an agreement with the club to further promote the R story about a lonely puppy who finds a new family. contest throughout the Caribbean. Rotary clubs in the U.S. O The puppy grows into a big dog, enjoys walks along the Virgin Islands purchased 500 copies for the Summer Reading T beach, and survives a frightening autumn day when he is Challenge held there. Clubs have also purchased copies to caught in a trap before being rescued by his family. Jordan's donate to schools in Canada, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, and the A story is one of hundreds that were written by children ages 7- United Kingdom. R 11 for a writing contest organized by the Rotary E-Club of the Y Caribbean 7020 and supported by clubs in 10 Caribbean na- The contest rules required each story to have a Caribbean tions. theme, because the e-club wanted to share the culture of the region while encouraging creative writing. University students in Haiti translated the stories into French and Haitian Creole free of charge. The books are also available in English and N will soon be available in Spanish. E \"I'm really excited how this has all turned out,\" says White. \"We still have a long way we can go with this project. There's W no limit how far these books can be promoted through the In- ternet.\" S The Rotary Club of Ellensburg Morning and the IRA council based at Central Washington University collaborated on the Two winning story writers in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, second project to receive a Pearson Foundation award. Mandi proudly receive their autographed copies of “The Butterfly Laurent, a member of the council, got the idea for a bookmo- Story Book 2014.\" Photo Credit: Diana W hite, Rotary E-Club bile, or mobile library, after attending a conference on summer reading loss. of the Caribbean The best stories, including Jordan's, were published in \"The Butterfly StoryBook,\" produced by the club and sold through Volunteers from the Rotary club, the IRA council, the local Amazon.com. Rotary members and others are encouraged to Rotaract club, and the Ellensburg Education Foundation solicit donate copies to school libraries. Proceeds are used to support books from a variety of sources, sort them by grade level, and accompany the bookmobile, a converted delivery truck, to its other literacy efforts. stops in low-income neighborhoods every Tuesday in July. In July, Rotary International and the International Reading This year, the education foundation raised $10,000 to purchase Association (IRA) selected the Butterfly StoryBook project the truck it had been renting. and a summer mobile library project run by the Rotary Club of Ellensburg Morning, Washington, USA, to receive two $2,500 \"We get a lot of smiles,\" says Laurent, who became a member awards from the Pearson Foundation. The awards recognize of the Rotary club as a result of the project. \"The children in projects in which Rotary clubs and local IRA-affiliated read- these communities tend to be underserved, and many of them ing councils collaborate to strengthen literacy in local and in- have very few books in their homes.\" ternational communities. Rotary and the IRA have been pro- Many of the volunteers are educators, and they teach as they ject partners since 2002. read books to the children. Laurent says she's also seen older Diana White, a past district governor and member of the Rota- children reading to their younger siblings. ry E-Club of the Caribbean 7020, says she got the idea for the story contest after a visit to the headquarters of Rotary Interna- \"This past week, I went along with a third-grade teacher, and tional in Britain and Ireland (RIBI), which holds a number of she said afterward how glad she was that she took part,\" Lau- well-publicized youth contests every year. White said a pro- rent says. \"It's an eye-opening experience every time you go. ject that involved drafting rules and promoting a contest was By Arnold R. Grahl, Rotary News, 15-AUG-2014 perfect for the e-club. It turned to clubs throughout the district to solicit entries from local schools. In 2013, the contest's first year, 200 children contributed sto- ries. This year, 300 young writers took part. Each club selects three local winners, who receive certificates. Then a panel of judges from the e-club chooses 10 stories from among all of those to include in \"The Butterfly StoryBook.\" Each of those young authors receives $50 in books. \"It's been a great shot in the arm for our club, which only just A volunteer reads to children during one of the mobile library’s chartered last year,\" says White. \"We tried to think of things stops. Photo Credit: Mandi Laurent, Rotary Club of Ellensburg we could do specifically that didn't require everyone getting together in one place. This project has been more successful Morning than we could have imagined and has been a great source of pride for our members.\" 9

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