2021-10 October

In 2021, here’s how Sandra and So who’s responsible? Who should those days, the county produced more Roy Roberts get their drinking water: be trying to get water to Sandra and Roy coal than any other in the United Every day or two, they drive a couple Roberts? States. In fact, it produced more coal of miles up the road to a spot where than any other U.S. county every year a spring comes tumbling down the “We’ve been trying to figure that out from the early 1900s through the mid- mountain. Someone long ago connected for years,” she says. 1970s. The coal mining companies and a hose to the spring. The Robertses fill U.S. Steel built big facilities, and they up containers with 40 gallons of that The Robertses live in McDowell also built, maintained, and ran water mountain water — 330 pounds — and County, West Virginia, a place where systems across the county, for their own haul them back to their house. That’s many people struggle every day to get operations and for the towns where their the water they’ll use to cook, to make clean water. One town in the county, employees lived. They kept certified coffee, to brush their teeth. Keystone, has had a boil-water order in water plant operators on staff. place for nine years — since 2012, long Imagine that: 150 to 200 times a year, enough for a Keystone third grader to Coal is still mined in the county, the Robertses fetch their own drinking graduate from high school. No one who but only about a 10th of the amount water. The couple has been doing this receives water from Keystone’s water that was mined in the 1940s and since mountaintop mining began above system is supposed to use it without 1950s. McDowell County’s population their home and polluted their well, a boiling it for at least a minute. has fallen by 82 percent, and its couple of years after they married in 1985. economy has fallen further than that. They’ve spent almost 35 years without It is surely one of the longest- As the coal and steel companies have safe running water at home. They’ve standing boil-water orders anywhere in pulled out, they’ve abandoned their raised two boys to adulthood; neither was the United States that has a functioning infrastructure and taken their jobs ever able to drink a glass of water from water utility. But another community and their tax dollars with them. Today, the kitchen faucet or the bathroom tap. in McDowell County, a 20-minute drive 38 percent of the county’s residents away on winding mountain roads, had receive food stamps, three times the an even longer one: O’Toole’s boil-water national average. Among U.S. states, order was in place from May 2002 to West Virginia ranks second-to-last August 2019 — 17 years. in household income, and in 2019 its poverty rate was 16 percent. The same As many as one-third of McDowell year, McDowell County’s rate was more County residents don’t receive water than double that, at 33.2 percent. service from a water utility. Many of those people — like the Robertses — In fact, the county’s water problem have a well on their property, one that isn’t really a water problem. Plenty of produces water that is good enough for areas in the United States have terrain flushing toilets and perhaps taking a as rugged as McDowell County’s, and shower, but that isn’t safe to drink. In plenty of areas have homes spaced as McDowell County, they call water that is far apart. And those areas have water. suspect — tainted, muddy, or untreated McDowell County’s water problem is — “usable but not drinkable.” actually an economic problem. Usable but not drinkable. Tiny Keystone’s water system was McDowell County is a rugged, built 100 years ago by the coal companies, beautiful stretch of mountainous, forested and it relies in part on fragile terra-cotta land in the southernmost part of West Virginia, deep in Appalachia. Its 17,600 Sandra and Roy Roberts have spent almost 35 years without safe running water at home. residents are spread across 533 square water pipes. There are no reliable records miles, an area larger than the city of Los of the system; city officials don’t even Angeles. McDowell has a few towns: know the locations of the water mains. Welch, the county seat, has about 1,600 people; Gary has 800; War has 700. During its boom years in the 1940s and 1950s, Keystone had more than Fifty years ago, the county’s water 3,000 residents and a dozen or more systems were in better shape than they businesses. Now its population is about are now. 200. In the 1990s, it had tax and fee revenue of at least $1 million per year. McDowell County’s population Today, the city collects $8,000 per year. peaked in 1950 at 99,000 people. In OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  49

What has collapsed in Keystone — and in half a dozen other places across McDowell County — is something much larger than the water system. It closed down its police department; The folks in Keystone know all of 33.2% many city staff take no pay. that. The town council has voted to turn over its small, decrepit water system to Poverty rate in In 2012, Keystone lost its certified the county’s central water utility, the McDowell County, water plant operator. That’s when the McDowell County Public Service District boil order went into effect because, (PSD), which was created in 1990 to fill West Virginia in the United States, a municipality the gap left by the disappearing coal and can’t provide safe drinking water from industrial companies. At its creation, 9 years a utility plant that does not have a the PSD had 552 customers and six licensed operator — someone trained to employees. Thirty-one years later, it Length of time add the right amount of chlorine and do has 3,228 customers and 20 employees, that the current the required water safety testing. A state including managing director Mavis boil-water order inspection in 2010 concluded that the Brewster, who has been running the plant, even then, was past its useful life, utility since 2003. has been in and that the filters no longer had the place in the town ability to clean the water. Brewster and the PSD have been working on solving Keystone’s water of Keystone Currently, Keystone’s water system problem for years. There isn’t really a serves 80 customers — homes and water system to take over, so the PSD 80 businesses — delivering water for is laying all new water mains. To ensure cleaning, flushing toilets, and bathing, there were no interest payments for Number of but not for drinking. the county’s water customers, Brewster customers served opted for grants over loans, funding that Many of those 80 customers pay their took years to secure. by Keystone’s water bill only occasionally, or never. water utility With no water meters, Keystone can’t cut Construction has now begun on off customers who don’t pay. The city’s the $6.6 million project to connect $8,000 maintenance worker keeps the water Keystone’s 80 homes to the PSD, along plant running, among his other duties. with homes in Northfork, Algoma, Keystone’s annual But when a water main break occurred Upland, Kyle, and Powhatan. Water is tax revenue in 2019, the city couldn’t afford to rent a expected to flow in December 2021. backhoe to fix it. Residents went without Keystone’s boil-water order will be any water at all for several weeks. almost 10 years old by then. Keystone owes Appalachian Power, Meanwhile, the town has had its electricity supplier, tens of thousands enough of trying to do something with of dollars dating back at least to 2012. It nothing. It decided to turn out the lights simply doesn’t have the money to pay. permanently — at least metaphorically. The utility has agreed to continue to In February 2018, the Keystone city supply electricity because it knows the council voted to unincorporate itself — city needs to power street lights, traffic to dissolve as a municipality. signals, and water pumps. But Keystone is so poor it can’t even What has collapsed in Keystone — vote itself out of existence. West Virginia and in half a dozen other places across cities aren’t allowed to dissolve until they McDowell County — is something much settle their outstanding debts. Keystone larger than the water system. What has is being kept on life support in order to collapsed is the city’s economy, along pay off an electric bill of $30,000 — the with the local government it supported, bulk of which comes from the cost of and the civil society that relies on both running a failing water system. the economy and the government. 50  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021

The threat lurking beneath Miami’s lawns O n its best days, South Florida’s Biscayne Bay is an inviting expanse of turquoise water between Miami and the barrier islands and keys to its east: Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, Key Largo. The bay is dotted with sailboats and fishing boats; huge cruise ships come and go; leaping dolphins break the surface. Biscayne Bay both captures and helps create the personality of South Florida. But the water in the shallow bay — which stretches 35 miles from north to south but averages less than 6 feet deep — is becoming so polluted that Biscayne Bay is teetering on the edge of death. Not some kind of metaphorical death. Actual environmental death. A network of research buoys monitors the water quality in the bay as well as in a canal and a river that feed it. Every 15 minutes, Florida International University’s Institute of Environment uploads data from the buoys that then is beamed, among other places, to the mobile phone of Todd Crowl, the institute’s director. If the buoys detect that the water quality has gotten dangerously bad, an alarm sounds on Crowl’s phone. “We’re very close to a tipping point,” says Crowl. “If we lose all the seagrass along the bottom of the bay, if everything just turns to algae, it will be too late. The bay will be dead.” OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  51

16 Some of Biscayne Bay’s most aerate those sections and save some sea damaging enemies lie buried in creatures. Scientists from Miami’s Frost Percentage of backyards across Miami-Dade County: Science Museum also brought aquarium- single-family homes 120,000 septic tanks that collect every style air pumps to spots along the shore toilet flush and shower runoff, and, in where dozens of gasping stingrays had built in the U.S. thousands of cases, let that wastewater gathered in the shallows. In an effort that today that have seep unfiltered into the bay. went on for three days, museum staff strung perforated clear plastic hose into septic tanks During South Florida’s summer the water to add oxygen. storms — monsoon-like downbursts that 120,000 come almost daily — the effluent from “The idea that we’re trying to fix the county’s low-lying suburbs pulses these problems by doing something Number of into Biscayne Bay. Over a week in August like dropping an air-stone into a home septic tanks in 2020, thousands of fish, eels, rays, and aquarium — that’s kind of ridiculous,” Miami-Dade County lobsters suffocated and were washed says Crowl. ashore along miles of coastline. 4+ When they are used in the right The fish kill was so bad, and the level place, the marvelous simplicity of septic Number of inches of dissolved oxygen in some pockets of tanks makes them an exemplary form of the sea level has the bay was so low, that the county’s fire wastewater treatment. A classic septic department dispatched two fireboats tank is an oblong concrete box, roughly risen along to the hardest-hit areas. The boats 4 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 6 feet high, Miami-Dade’s twirled in place, pumping thousands that holds between 1,000 and 2,000 coast since 1994 of gallons per minute of bay water into gallons. It is buried in the yard, and the air, fountain-style, in an effort to all of the home’s wastewater — from 56 Percentage of septic tanks in Miami-Dade County that are “periodically compromised” 52  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021

the kitchen and bathroom sinks, the enter the tank, 1.8 gallons of partially along Miami-Dade’s coast has risen more showers, the toilets, and the washing treated water leave the tank and enter than 4 inches just since 1994; across machine — drains into the tank the drain field. huge swaths of the county, groundwater through a single pipe. levels have risen so much that there is no Two things are critical: First, the solids way to bury a septic tank 8 feet deep and Solids settle to the bottom, and grease at the bottom of the tank and the grease keep it dry. floats on the top. Microbes that accumulates at the top need to be in the wastewater gradually break pumped out periodically. And second, But at least 120,000 septic tanks down much of any harmful material, the tank and the drain field must be are already in that ground, with their and the partially treated water drains located well above the groundwater level. drain fields alongside them, many either from the tank into what is called a “drain If the drain field is saturated, it can’t do permanently saturated by groundwater field,” a carefully prepared piece of yard its part to detoxify the partially treated or flooded for several months a year. that absorbs the wastewater, which then wastewater that comes out of the tank. They aren’t merely ineffective as septic slowly percolates down through the soil tanks for the homes they’re attached to. and eventually back into the water table. Septic tanks are perfect for widely They are a slow and steady source of the Presuming the drain field itself isn’t spaced homes and for rural areas, where nutrients and toxins that seep into the saturated, microbes and oxygen in the laying miles of sewer pipe to reach groundwater and the bay. soil continue to filter the wastewater. each individual house is impractical and expensive. And while they might The county’s septic tanks aren’t really A well-designed and properly sound rustic, septic tanks are hardly out like a time bomb — they won’t do their installed septic tank and drain field is of fashion — roughly 16 percent of all damage all at once, in a single explosive passive, hidden, and just as effective single-family homes built in the United event. They’re more like radiation, doing as a giant municipal wastewater States today have one. steady, deadly damage that adds up over treatment plant. When you flush the many years. toilet and 1.8 gallons of dirty water In Miami-Dade County in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, septic tanks were as This problem is well understood much a real-estate development tool as an across South Florida. In 2018, Miami- effective means of sewage treatment. In Dade County issued a report about its Miami’s booming suburbs — where for 30 septic tanks and how the sea-level rise years, more than 700 people moved into is impacting them. Photos taken on a the county every week — it was much sunny day showed beautifully manicured cheaper and quicker to install septic Miami lawns awash from a “king tide tanks for each home than to lay a network flooding” event — that’s when seasonally of sewer pipes and build wastewater high tides inundate homes that were treatment plants to service them. once high and dry. The point of the pictures is: If the yards are flooded, so Across miles and miles of subdivisions are the septic tanks. And if those yards — even in places where the homes sit can be flooded when it’s sunny, imagine right next to each other, three to an how bad things could get during a big acre — in many South Florida neighbor- storm. hoods, every house has a septic tank. Already, the report says, 56 percent That probably wasn’t a smart idea of the septic tanks in Miami-Dade even in 1955 or 1965. Planners, scientists, County are “periodically compromised” and government officials knew that — swamped — during wet years or by South Florida’s ground was thoroughly A well-designed and properly installed septic tank and drain field is passive, hidden, and just as effective as a municipal wastewater treatment plant. porous — made primarily of limestone heavy storms. That’s tens of thousands — and that in the rainy season, the of septic tanks that are seeping sewage. groundwater often crested just a few feet below ground. How dire is the resulting pollution? During one king tide event in 2016, In the last 50 years, two things have researchers measured fecal enterococci made those septic tanks much more levels in some flooded residential areas. dangerous. Many of them have started The quantity of human waste bacteria to deteriorate or have been poorly in one area was between 100 and 1,000 maintained, or both. And the sea level times the levels specified as safe by the OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  53

The impact from climate change in South Florida means that the harm that septic tanks cause will increase every year. Environmental Protection Agency. laying sewer lines and connecting piping, all at once,” says Crowl. “We might get The following year, the Miami- repaving roads, and increasing sewage $10 million. So how do you spend that treatment capacity. That puts the total $10 million? The chemical fingerprinting Dade Grand Jury — which both issues cost to connect 12,000 homes at about can make sure you’re replacing septic indictments for major crimes and half a billion dollars. tanks in areas that give you the biggest studies major issues facing the county bang for the buck.” — devoted part of its session to the There are other critical sources of deteriorating Biscayne Bay. Its report pollution to the bay. Miami-Dade’s sewer Another thing the county could do is called the bay “the crown jewel of system also is old and under-maintained impose its own septic tank registration our environment” and concluded that and leaks raw sewage into the water and inspection rules. It currently exerts “without corrective action, the declining table. And rainfall washes nutrients and no authority over its septic tanks, which quality of this body of water may become pollutants — such as fertilizer and pet are regulated at the state level. The irreversible.” waste — straight into the canals and county doesn’t even have a complete rivers that empty into the bay. (The record of which homes have septic The grand jury report devoted an grand jury report said that the county’s tanks, let alone whether those tanks are unsparing section to septic tanks. The dogs alone deposit 100,000 pounds of functioning, impaired, or failing. county, it said, should have no septic poop onto area lawns every day.) tanks at all where sewer service is now “What worries me most is the available, and should not allow septic The county is so worried about the many septic systems that have failed tanks where the water table is already so state of the bay that this spring it took the that no one even knows about,” says high that the tanks would be routinely unprecedented step of banning the use Carlos Hernandez, chief of water swamped. of fertilizer on lawns for the entire rainy and wastewater in Miami-Dade’s season — from 15 May through 31 October. department of environmental resources In June 2020, a county task force management. “If the septic tanks we issued a much more detailed report on And as damaging as the septic tanks have were functioning well, we’d still how to rescue the bay, which it called already are, the impact from climate Miami’s “most vital quality-of-life asset change in South Florida means that the and the mainstay of our economy.” harm they cause will increase every year. “Biscayne Bay is in trouble,” the task The key, county officials and force members wrote. “The problems facing scientists say, is not to imagine some [it] are serious and complex.” Among the future in which Miami-Dade County task force’s most direct recommendations: finds the money to replace tens of Immediately connect 12,000 homes to thousands of septic tanks. “You don’t the county’s sewer system. go in and tell elected officials you need $4 billion,” says Lee Hefty, who heads As Miami-Dade County has grown the county’s division of environmental in the last 30 years, it has added sewer resources management. “We need to lines; in fact, some of them have been focus on the areas where we can have added in neighborhoods where there serious water quality impacts.” were already septic tanks. But neither the county nor those homeowners have Crowl says that scientists and connected the older houses to the sewer graduate students at FIU are developing system, for the simple reason that doing “molecular fingerprinting” techniques so would require ripping up roads and that would allow them to test sewage yards — and cost an enormous amount that flows into the bay and trace it back of money. to specific neighborhoods in order to determine where septic tanks are leaking In its 2018 report, the county most seriously. estimated the average cost of connecting a single home at $40,000 — including “We’re not going to have $500 million 54  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021

have a problem, but the magnitude there never would have been, not in a Tap into would be different.” year or a decade. solutions The septic tank issue is personal Hernandez fixed the problem right Only a few Rotary Foundation global for many of those involved. Crowl has away — but what’s the state of the grants have addressed water and a septic tank, as do two of the most thousands, or tens of thousands, of sanitation issues in the United States. senior scientists at FIU’s Institute of septic tanks that no one ever inspects? In Arizona, one funded repairs for a Environment. Hefty and Hernandez also local water system after a fire; in Ken- have septic tanks. The original ecology of Biscayne tucky, one helped provide equitable Bay was an estuary with crystal clear access to safe water and sanitation. Hernandez is meticulous about water, its bottom a seagrass meadow In the Navajo Nation, global grants having his tank inspected every three that was clearly visible from the surface are being used to install cisterns in years and pumped out if necessary. Two — thousands of acres of seagrass beds remote communities (you can read inspections ago, the technician told him relying on the sunlight shining through more about that ongoing project in an the tank had filled with dirt and rock — the water, with the seagrass itself helping upcoming issue). an indication of a serious problem. to keep the bay clean. But grant projects aren’t the only way Rotary members can help solve “I started digging a hole,” Hernandez Now a century of intense development problems. All along the Mississippi says, “and I found that the pipe between near its shores is turning the bay into a River, for example, Rotary clubs are the tank and the drain field had turbid body whose murky, nutrient-laden connecting with municipal govern- collapsed. The water was flowing right water blocks the sunlight that seagrass ments to work on local infrastructure from the tank into the ground. I didn’t needs to survive, one that is in danger of projects as part of a program that know it. My own septic tank was sending becoming dominated by algae. could provide a template for clubs that partially treated water straight into that are located in major river basins the groundwater.” From inside his house, Biscayne Bay is speaking clearly, around the world. there was no sign of a problem — and Hefty says. “The bay is telling us: What As active members of your com- you’re doing isn’t working.” munity, you can learn about the water and sanitation issues that affect your region and take action through advocacy, creating awareness, and innovative problem-solving. • Invite experts from universities, government agencies, and other nonprofits to talk to your club • Connect with local government officials to discuss the most effec- tive role Rotary members can play in solving issues • Contact your state and federal representatives to urge them to support relevant legislation • Get involved in citizen science initiatives, such as water quality monitoring • Meet with your local or regional water resource council • Take a tour of your local wastewater treatment facility • Work with local Rotaract and Inter- act clubs to plan community projects Learn more about Rotary’s water, sanitation, and hygiene area of focus at rotary.org/water, and connect with experts through the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Rotary Action Group at wash-rag.org. OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  55

how to mentor young professionals october events wing man OURCLUBS in 2020-21, during his year as governor. VIRTUAL VISIT Olivier and Rajapakse “had a big conver- Passport to service Making space sation around volunteering,” Olivier says. 5 June 2019 Charter date of the for nomads “I expressed my pain point as a young Rotary Club of Gold Coast Passport volunteer”: rigid club requirements and Rotary Club of Gold Coast continuing commitments. “I told him I 20 March 2015 Charter date of the Passport, Australia wasn’t joining a once-a-week club.” Raj- Rotary Club of Greater Sacramento apakse countered by suggesting she start a Passport One, the first passport club Gig work, experts say, is here to stay, and club for young professionals and telling her many people — freelancers, consultants, about passport clubs, a flexible alternative 32 Current members in the Gold start-up mavens — are turning to co- to traditional clubs. Coast Passport club, of whom more working spaces. The best of these flexible than half are women; also, both of the office spaces foster an environment where Kasia Brzezicka, the current club presi- club’s presidents have been women professionals can share their ideas, brain- dent, became a charter member about storm new ones, and network. The Rotary a year after relocating from Sydney. $30 Monthly dues (approximately US$22) Club of Gold Coast Passport does all of Brzezicka had investigated Rotary by at- those things when it meets at Karma Collab tending a club that meets for breakfast, but Passport clubs offer members a flexible Hub, one of the most magically situated co- had also demurred because of the weekly and affordable alternative to a traditional working spaces on Australia’s Gold Coast. obligation. “When the passport club or- club. Most have fewer in-person meetings ganizers came to me and said, ‘We don’t and a more individualized approach to “It’s our recruitment ground,” says Can- meet every week and it’s going to be full of service. Find guides to passport clubs dice Olivier, a past club president and the young people who want to make change in and other flexible club and membership co-owner of the meeting location. With a the world,’ I was like, ‘Yup, I’m in.’” types at rotary.org/flexibility. distillery next door and the Coral Sea a block away — surfboard optional — the The club, which meets on the last Tues- with anybody on my level demographi- club says that “a new wave of volunteering day evening of each month, “was posi- cally” — until he learned two friends had has come ashore” for young professionals. tioned to attract this demographic on their joined the Gold Coast club. “I felt it was a terms,” Rajapakse says. “None of these chance to give back to Rotary what it had Olivier was at a networking session for members would have looked at Rotary if given to me.” young professionals in 2019 when she met not for this model.” Andy Rajapakse, at that time the governor- From the outset, the club shed a few Aus- nominee of District 9640; the things he told Rajapakse directed $2,500 in district tralian Rotary standbys. “We were adamant her began to dispel her notion of Rotary as public image funds to place an advertorial about not falling into the traditional trap,” something “for retirees.” Rajapakse has for the club in the inflight magazine of Jet- says Olivier. “Singing the national anthem led the charge to attract younger members star Airways, a budget carrier that caters to before every meeting, having to attend to the district; he added 12 clubs — seven a younger set. “It definitely got us traction,” a weekly meeting, and feeling bound by Rotary, three Rotaract, an Interact, and says Olivier. “We got a lot of feedback.” needing to attend.” Another nonstarter, she one for Rotary Youth Exchange alumni — adds, was a familiar fundraising event Down While winning over people who had little Under, a sausage cookout known as a “siz- awareness of Rotary, the club has also at- zle.” Instead, the club holds social gatherings tracted some who have deeper roots. Guy and organizes fun runs and similar events. Murphy, a Rotary Youth Exchange alum whose father was a Rotarian, says: “I thought I was too young and irrelevant to join Rotary. I wouldn’t be able to connect 56  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021

Richard Gosling Photography “A lot of millennials want to volun- count toward the club’s recommended, developing a therapy to treat spinal cord teer and want an easy way to volunteer. but unenforced, minimum 30 hours of an- injuries. (For the record, the club has a That’s what we’re providing them,” says nual service. Projects focus on areas that zero plastic-waste policy.) Brzezicka. She cites members’ embrace include the environment, homelessness, of Baby Give Back, a nonprofit that pro- and youth. Meetings devote 15 minutes or so to vides needed items to families with infants speakers from community groups, and a and young children, as illustrative of the Taking the passport concept to heart, member spotlight allows members to dis- club’s capabilities. Club members help out the club partners with traditional clubs cuss their own work — professional and in one of the organization’s warehouses in the area, with members sharing their otherwise. During the pajama session, on a weekly basis, unpacking trucks and energy and technological expertise. They Adrian Nathaniel, a financial adviser, dis- sorting donated goods. “We all know each rebooted a Facebook marketing campaign cussed ethical investing. other now, so it’s not just volunteering, it’s for a nearby club and helped it host net- a social get-together.” working events to recruit members. Jes- The club’s focus on professional achieve- sica Hall, a marketing specialist, sees the ment and on allowing members to set their The dynamic approach to volunteering mutual benefit for clubs with different age own volunteering course has driven mem- allows the members to tailor their own demographics that work together. “It can ber satisfaction, but the club doesn’t take experiences. “It’s not like everyone has work in harmony,” she says, “with older retention for granted. “We have a strong to do everything,” says Brzezicka, who generations teaching,” as well as the other process for nurturing our members,” Oli- stresses that club leadership roles, always way around. “It’s a question of how you vier notes. Each member gets a call every time-consuming when done properly, teach us and keep us engaged.” month to discuss their well-being and how they are currently feeling in the club. The dynamic approach The club’s casual meetings feature wine, to volunteering allows cheese, and other nibbles. Recently, some The club is dedicated to the same thing members to tailor their 20 pajama-clad members gathered for a that led Paul Harris to start the first Rotary meeting themed around a children’s cloth- club, Olivier notes: Networking. “We are own experiences. ing drive. Members might also find them- aware of that history.” —brad webber selves taking part in challenges, such as one that required participants to drink From left: Club members Kasia Brzezicka, from a straw for a week to raise aware- ness and funds for a research team that is Guy Murphy, Marlie van Doorn, Christian Hammerle, and Helen Beel at Burleigh Heads Beach on Australia’s Gold Coast. OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  57

OUR CLUBS FOR CLUBS CREATING MENTORSHIPS HANDBOOK DO Pair up Do survey participants beforehand. “It is good to have and prosper a questionnaire that asks what people are looking for in a mentor,” says RI Director Elizabeth Usovicz of the Mentors nurture careers Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri. “What and recharge their kind of career accomplishments do you think you institutions can learn from? Is this someone whose behavior you admire?” For many organizations, mentorships are an afterthought Do demand effort. “There has to be a real motivation — pairings of veteran colleagues to have a mentoring relationship,” says Usovicz. “Look with new hires for casual chats for someone who has talent or who seems to have over coffee that, predictably, plateaued a bit but has the potential to really move yield scant results. Not long ago, forward in their career.” mentorship was about “building more of a friendship than a Do look for complements when establishing a relationship with goals resulting mentoring pair. “I would be cautious about matching in new skills,” says Wendy like with like, such as people with the same personality Axelrod, an executive coach and type,” says Fain. “By matching across differences there member of the Rotary Club of can be a lot of learning and new perspectives.” Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. FOR MENTEES One common mistake is thinking of professional DO mentorships as similar to a surrogate parenting relationship. Do explain what you want to learn — and be specific “Unlike mentoring for youth, about the commitment. “Say, ‘I’d love to meet with you which is often driven by the monthly and pick your brain on this specific area of mentor, an adult mentorship expertise for the next six months,’” says Jenn Labin of needs to be driven by the learner, MentorcliQ, a company that offers software that allows the mentee,” says Lisa Fain, companies to automate their mentoring programs. CEO of the Center for Mentoring Excellence. “Someone new to Do accept feedback, including constructive criticism, their career wants to set a vision. with grace. What are the possibilities in my field, or in my work with Rotary? Do expect to have many mentors during your career. How do I become a person of “One of the myths that I like to break down is that influence in my community?” there’s a Yoda out there for all of us, one mentor to solve all of our problems. That’s not how it works,” says When mentorships work, Labin. “You can, and should, have several mentors.” both partners reap the rewards. “The data shows over and over DON’T that the mentor gets as much out of it as their mentee,” says Don’t allow meetings to devolve into gripe sessions. Fain. “They become better Plan a clear agenda of items to discuss, says Fain. Some leaders, they become better social chitchat is fine, but know when to focus on goals professionals. And they get the and tasks. satisfaction of hooking their wagon to a rising star.” — brad webber 58  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021

“It’s not about FOR MENTORS simply solving their problem. DO We have to Do keep a regular schedule: Aim for an hour once a resist the month. Longer lapses between conversations make advice monster it harder to pick up the thread of the previous one. because that Mentorships should last no more than a year, and no is a quick fix.” less than six months. — Wendy Axelrod Do ask mentees open-ended questions. “Really listen and clarify the questions instead of just giving an easy answer,” suggests Usovicz. Do put mentees to the test. Encourage them to undertake what Axelrod calls “pilot tests,” such as offering to lead a high-level team meeting. Then hold a debriefing to ask how the initiative went. DON’T Don’t break confidences. “If something a mentee has said gets disclosed to the boss, it can be career- damaging,” warns Usovicz. Likewise, mentees also need to keep the conversations private. This allows for candor. Illustration by James Graham MAKE A MENTORING CONTRACT 1 Detail the objectives of the mentorship in a straightforward manner. Stick with two or three priorities. 2 Determine the frequency of meetings. Set the day, time, and location. And establish how long the mentorship will last. 3 Include a clause that says conversations will remain confidential. RESOURCES  Rotary.org/learn: The Rotary Learning Center course Mentoring Basics explains the responsibilities and benefits of being a mentor to an adult professional.  Washington.edu: Usovicz is a big fan of the mentoring toolkit (in PDF form) offered by the University of Washington Department of Human Resources. OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  59

CALENDAR October events 2nd to 12th 17th 3rd READY, AIM, CLAY! TAKING IT TO THE STREETS WORK HARD, PLAY HARD Event: Event: Event: Sporting Clays Classic Thousand Oaks Street Fair Gears and Beers Host: Host: Host: Rotary Club of James River (Richmond), Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks, Rotary Club of Wollundry- Virginia California Wa ga Wa ga, Australia What it benefits: What it benefits: What it benefits: Local and international charities Local charities Local charities What it is: What it is: What it is: Sporting clays is a form of clay-pigeon Live entertainment, more than 100 Are you a cycling and craft beer shooting, with a course that typically vendors, food trucks, free activities for fanatic? If so, this is the festival for features 10 to 15 shooting stations kids, and a car show are just some of the you. A variety of rides that cover every spread out over natural terrain. In fun features of this annual street fair. age group, course distance, and cycling this tournament, teams of five people If you fancy yourself a pretty good shot level are scheduled throughout the — from first-timers to experienced with the ol’ bean bag, try your hand at weekend, with all roads leading to shooters — participate. The day includes the fair’s Corn Hole Classic, where the the craft beer festival at the finish breakfast, shooting, lunch, and awards. winning team takes away a $500 prize. line. COVID-19 regulations allow for up to 3,000 attendees this year. 18th 3rd GOLF FOR A CAUSE Event: ALL TOGETHER NOW Tee It Up for Veterans Charity Golf Event: Outing Hinsdale Charity Classic Host: Host: Rotary Club of Shady Brook Rotary Club of Hinsdale, Illinois (Langhorne), Pennsylvania What it benefits: What it benefits: Local charities First Swing golf clinics What it is: What it is: For the past 26 years, the Hinsdale club This 18-hole event includes a bu et has sponsored this family-friendly race. lunch, on-course refreshments, dinner, Last year’s event was virtual, with each and prizes. Proceeds benefit First participant running or walking inde- Swing golf clinics, a progressive form pendently. This year, the event — which of rehabilitation for veterans who includes 10K, 5K, and 3K runs and are amputees. The event will feature walks — will be held in person again. two courtesy foursomes, one made Overall winners of the 10K and 5K up of area veterans and the other races claim trophies, while age-group of students, each representing one winners receive medals. of four local high schools. Tell us about your event. Write to [email protected] with “calendar” in the subject line. 60 ROTARY OCTOBER 2021

TRUSTEE CHAIR’S MESSAGE SERVICE ABOVE SELF Rise to the challenge THE OBJECT OF ROTARY When Rotary courageously stepped up Along with our new strategy, Rotary The Object of Rotary is to encourage to pursue the dream of a polio-free world, and its partners are using a new tool, novel and foster the ideal of service as a we knew realizing our dream wouldn’t be oral polio vaccine (nOPV2), to help address basis of worthy enterprise and, in easy. But since 1988, working with our outbreaks of type 2 cVDPV. This new vac- particular, to encourage and foster: partners, we’ve brought worldwide case cine has been deployed in a growing list of counts down by 99.9 percent. countries and is a promising development First The development of in our quest to end polio once and for all. acquaintance as an opportunity for However, it’s not over ’til it’s over. It service; will take courage. We’re going to keep up But there is still much work to be done. the funding and keep on the pressure un- In particular, we need to remain strongly Second High ethical standards til this fight is finished, and no child ever committed to our goals in the face of re- in business and professions, the again has to experience the devastating cent events in Afghanistan. As a nonpoliti- recognition of the worthiness effects of polio. cal organization, Rotary will continue to of all useful occupations, and do the work that is necessary to protect the dignifying of each Rotarian’s As we mark World Polio Day on 24 Oc- the health of children everywhere. occupation as an opportunity to tober, we can take heart; we continue to serve society; make progress, and with the current low After all the progress we’ve made in transmission rates of wild poliovirus in Af- our decades-long fight, the worst thing Third The application of the ideal of ghanistan and Pakistan, we have a unique we could do is to become complacent, so service in each Rotarian’s personal, opportunity to interrupt transmission. We here’s where you come in. business, and community life; also have a new strategy and vaccine that will bolster our eradication efforts. Let’s raise awareness of Rotary’s role in Fourth The advancement of polio eradication. And let’s double down on international understanding, To eradicate wild poliovirus and stop our commitment and keep raising $50 mil- goodwill, and peace through a outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived lion each year for polio. Remember: Thanks world fellowship of business and poliovirus (cVDPV), the Global Polio to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, any professional persons united in the Eradication Initiative’s new strategy cen- contribution you or your Rotary or Rotaract ideal of service. ters around several key areas: political club makes will be matched 2 to 1. advocacy to create greater urgency and ac- THE FOUR-WAY TEST countability in the endemic and outbreak In Rotary, when we dream, we get behind countries, improved engagement with our dream with everything we can muster. Of the things we think, say, or do: high-risk communities, improved opera- We have always risen to challenges — and tions and polio surveillance, and the in- now it is more important than ever for us 1. Is it the truth? clusion of polio immunization in broader to rise again, with courage, to defeat polio. 2. Is it fair to all concerned? health programs. (For more on the new 3. Will it build goodwill and better polio eradication strategy, see page 30.) JOHN F. GERM friendships? Foundation trustee chair 4. Will it be beneficial to all Illustration by Viktor Miller Gausa concerned? ROTARIAN CODE OF CONDUCT The following code of conduct has been adopted for the use of Rotarians: As a Rotarian, I will 1. Act with integrity and high ethical standards in my personal and professional life 2. Deal fairly with others and treat them and their occupations with respect 3. Use my professional skills through Rotary to: mentor young people, help those with special needs, and improve people’s quality of life in my community and in the world 4. Avoid behavior that reflects adversely on Rotary or other Rotarians 5. Help maintain a harassment-free environment in Rotary meetings, events, and activities, report any suspected harassment, and help ensure non-retaliation to those individuals that report harassment. OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  61

OUR CLUBS IN BRIEF Members come together for second virtual convention Thousands of people experienced Convention speakers and performers included (clockwise from top left) 2020-21 RI Presi- friendship and fun at the 2021 Rotary dent Holger Knaack and his wife, Susanne; Chicago-based hip-hop ballet troupe the Hiplet International Convention, held online Ballerinas; 2020-21 Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair K.R. Ravindran; current RI President- 12-16 June. The robust program included Elect Jennifer Jones (at right) and Sylvia Whitlock, the first female Rotary club president; well-known speakers, breakout sessions, poet Idris Goodwin; and German dance crew DDC Breakdance. an interactive House of Friendship, and a variety of activities and entertainment. ication Initiative. Gavi is also a co-leader Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to the of COVAX, a worldwide initiative aimed at During the opening general session, establishing equitable access to COVID-19 WHO director-general; Eliud Kipchoge, 2020-21 RI President Holger Knaack vaccines. More than 1.4 billion people have acknowledged that at the start of the already been vaccinated against COVID-19, an Olympic gold medalist and marathon COVID-19 pandemic, he had worried about Berkley said, and by the beginning of next not being able to visit clubs and projects year, COVAX plans to make more than 1.8 world-record holder; Vanessa Nakate, a as presidents normally do. The conven- billion doses of the vaccine available to tion itself, originally planned to be held in people living in 92 lower-income countries, climate activist and founder of the Rise Taipei, Taiwan, was moved online due to many of whom would otherwise have lim- the pandemic. ited or no access to the vaccine. Up Movement; Anna Rosling Rönnlund, “But what seemed like a problem “Now with COVID-19 vaccines flowing, the vice president of the Gapminder Foun- turned out to be an advantage,” Knaack it’s going to be critical to maintain hard- said. “In a virtual environment, I could visit won gains in immunization to recover from dation; and Sanj Srikanthan, the CEO of a dozen Rotary clubs a week and partici- the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and pate in their projects. It was exciting and achieve even more by leaving no one be- ShelterBox. The general sessions were rewarding. And,” he told Rotary members, hind in any situation or at any stage of life,” “I was so proud of the work you did in such Berkley said, adding that Rotary will play emceed by Mark Wright, a news anchor difficult times.” a key role in that work. and member of the Rotary Club of Seattle. Despite the challenges of the past year, Other convention speakers included there were also successes: Knaack high- Convention attendees enjoyed perfor- lighted the World Health Organization’s declaration that its African region was mances by the Filharmonic, an a cappella free of wild poliovirus. He encouraged members to build on that positive news group; dance ensembles DDC Breakdance Rotary International by staying focused on Rotary’s commit- ment to ending polio worldwide. and the Hiplet Ballerinas; and poet Idris In a video address, WHO Director- Goodwin. They also participated in virtual General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also gave Rotary credit for continuing the activities that included yoga and cooking work to eradicate polio. “When COVID-19 struck, you didn’t abandon your vision of classes, a trivia challenge, a dance party, a a polio-free world. You redoubled your ef- forts,” he said. “I want you to know that photo booth, and a 5K walk to raise funds your investment in public health will in- spire future generations to live up to your to end polio. — ryan hyland motto of Service Above Self.” The closing session featured Seth Berk- ley, the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is a member of the Global Polio Erad- 62  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021

HOUSTON CONVENTION CSohSuuhrttutetetsryesrtosfotcoOrkc.akc.nocgoemSmhow Center for Visionary Art A big canvas One of the delightful aspects any day feel sunny. Or take a With 60 panels by artists from End your visit to Smither of Houston is its eye-catching stroll around Market Square all over the world, it serves as Park in the Marilyn Oshman public art, which expresses the Park in the nearby Historic a tribute to lost loved ones and Meditation Garden, an all- city’s lively and diverse cul- District and see the “Houston memories past. The park is white installation that compels ture. While you’re at the 2022 Is Inspired” mural, a design so also home to the Lindley Fish you to focus on the fine mosaic Rotary International Conven- full of life that it will give you Amphitheater, a performance details. Recycling pieces from tion June 4-8, make sure to enough energy to explore the space created by artist Matt domestic spaces like the take in some of the incredible entire city. Gifford that utilizes old street kitchen and dining room, this murals and mosaics on display signs, shattered mirrors, and garden proves that there’s around the city. At Smither Park, a public antique picture frames to form no place like home — except park dedicated to sustainabil- a giant fish mouth. Houston. — miyoki walker If you are near the hip EaDo ity, you can view beautiful cre- (short for East Downtown) ations made with bottle caps, Learn more and register at convention.rotary.org. neighborhood, check out the broken ceramic tiles, seashells, “Abstract Happy Beach Wall” and other found items. The at 801 Chartres St. The vibrant park is located at the edge of colors of the mural, painted the Third Ward and East End by Barcelona-based artists neighborhoods. One element is Zosen and Mina, can make known as the “Memory Wall”: CROSSWORD ACROSS 49 2000 movie based 11 They may be 1 Visit a grocery, on Marvel Comics offensive Investment strategy characters say 12 Spanish king (No. 6 in a series) 5 Hound’s hand 51 Prophet at 14 Words on a check 8 Counterpart of Delphi 20 Friend of Pooh By Victor Fleming 21 Stage, as a drama Rotary Club of Little Rock, Arkansas chaos 55 Market and 25 Wall St. takeovers 13 Rabbit’s kin networking systems 26 Tended        14 Lacking color of a specific 28 Latticework slat 15 Nary a soul community 29 Pennsylvania port    16 Hunter of fiction 17 Skin-cream 59 Bar mixer or lake    60 Ice cream holder 30 Shipped, as a element 61 Annoying child    18 Jelly beans and 62 Angle type package 63 Texas town with a 31 List shortener,   chocolate bars 19 Phrase found often club that meets at for short        The Club at Falcon 32 Dealer offering on our organization’s Point 33 Atlas’s blue areas       website 64 Fashion designer 35 Arrivederci 22 American spotted Marc     wildcat 65 Acted snoopy alternative 23 Arizona city on the 66 —–-mo replay 38 Displayed anguish    Colorado 67 Rough file 39 Honey-loving 24 Ax and adz      27 Bestseller-list DOWN badger entries 1 Valiant woman 43 —– of commerce       31 Hardly hard 45 Arouse 34 Actor Kevin admired by many 47 Legal tender     36 “—– we there yet?” 2 Chaos 48 For, in a debate 37 Calendar 3 Address a crowd 50 Fretful places?    abbreviation 4 Court fine 52 Approximately, 38 Developing 5 Buds    40 Foil metal 6 Matty, Felipe, or datewise 41 —– glance 53 Hose problems    42 Haile Selassie Moises 54 Block legally devotee, casually 7 Full of tears 55 In —– parentis 43 Classic guitarist 8 Approaching, 56 Burden of proof Atkins 57 Locomotive fuel 44 Freak out as traffic 58 Not falling for 46 Energy, informally 9 Respond to with 59 Light brown raucous laughter Solution on page 12 10 “—– do that!” OCTOBER 2021  ROTARY  63

FOUN Wing man Rotary member collects insects — and their stories Steven WHY I STARTED: My brother got me into looking at didn’t start out this way. When we bought the place, it was Kirkpatrick They began as a larva or a nymph called Eagles Swoop. I didn’t like collecting insects. He has a PhD in and went through some sort of that name, because eagles don’t Rotary Club of entomology from Berkeley. When metamorphosis to become an really swoop and all of the birds up North Suffolk, my sons were young, he presented extraordinary insect that might there were actually vultures. Virginia them with a beginner’s insect- live only a couple of weeks. collecting kit. I started by just KILLER WASP: The black and yellow wasp going out with the boys. It’s a great BEHIND THE NAME: The bigger black father-son activity. is called a cicada killer. It burrows and yellow butterfly is the tiger into the ground and then finds a WHY I KEEP GOING: There is an infinite swallowtail. It’s the state insect of cicada, paralyzes it, brings it into the Virginia. You see them here pretty burrow, and lays an egg. Then the mystery and beauty to even the much every day. The name of my wasp seals that hole, and when the smallest details of an insect. Pretty property is Swallowtail Farm. larvae hatch, they eat the cicada. much all of these creatures you’re 64  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2021 Photography by Tyler Darden

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DISCOVER NEW HORIZONS AT THE 2022 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION 4-8 JUNE 2022 | HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA Register and pay in full today at convention.rotary.org for a special rate of $475.* *This price is good until 15 December. #Rotary22