2023-06 June

Newborns Telling A life thrive with Tuskegee’s sustained kangaroo untold polio by Rotary’s mother care story values page 12 page 40 page 56 June 2023 2023 Photo Awards An eye-opening global journey courtesy of Rotary members page 24

PRESIDENT’S MESSAG 1 23 45 1. At September’s Global Citizen Festival in New York City, RI President Jennifer Jones announces that Rotary will commit an additional $150 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. 2. Visiting Zambia in August, Jones talks with health workers participating in Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, the recipient of Rotary’s first Programs of Scale grant. 3. Jones stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Lucky Johana Mishel Chutá Simón, a student she met during a tour of the Guatemala Literacy Project. 4. In July, at a stop on her Imagine Rotary Canada Tour, Jones hugs a stuffed grizzly bear wearing the red serge tunic of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 5. Jones and actor Sibongile Mlambo (center) have fun at a September soccer game at the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda.

PHOTOGRAPHS: 1 DAVID ALEXANDER; 2, 5 ESTHER RUTH MBABAZI; 3 JAMES RODRÍGUEZ; 4, 10 CAROL TICHELMAN; 6, 8 COURTESY OF JENNIFER JONES; 7 I-HWA CHENG; 9 MONIKA LOZINSKA 7 6 Not goodbye, but good work 89 S peaking to you through the 10 pages of Rotary magazine this 6. Accompanied (at right) by her husband, Nick Krayacich, and Judith Diment, dean past year has brought me so of the Rotary Representative Network, Jones greets King Charles III in London on much joy. I have especially Commonwealth Day. 7. During an Imagine Impact Tour stop in Taiwan, Jones and enjoyed sharing the incredible her husband enjoy a quiet moment while seated in a cabbage patch. 8. Jones with stories of the wonderful people Nick and I her brother, Darren, whose painting Imagine One’s Dream inspired her presidential have met on the Imagine Impact Tour. tie and scarf. 9. Jones poses for a photo at a seminar in Texas for Rotary club presidents-elect. 10. Jones and Krayacich ride tall in the saddle at the annual From Patzún in the mountainous Calgary Stampede Parade in Alberta. western highlands of Guatemala to a small village outside of Lusaka, Zambia, we have been greeted by countless people who imagine and work toward a better world. We were inspired by teachers who imagine a better education for girls and boys facing gender-based violence, by Rotaractors in a refugee settlement who created a flour mill to provide for their families in a critical food shortage, and by brave polio workers who push tirelessly to reach every last child. All of us have imagined Rotary this year. This means looking past what we are today and reaching for what we could be tomorrow. We imagine a Rotary that will continue to tell our stories in impact- ful ways, work to reduce our carbon footprint, and focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts that lift every voice in our organization and beyond. Nick and I want to thank all of you for the moments we’ve shared and for your efforts to Imagine Rotary. And now, we look forward to continuing these efforts as we Create Hope in the World. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with each of you. JENNIFER JONES President, Rotary International JUNE 2023  ROTARY  1

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Photograph by Danka Ledgerwood YOU ARE HERE: Koror, Palau GREETING: Alii (ah-LEE’) PRESERVING THE PAST: With a popula- tion of around 18,000, the Republic of Palau is spread out over 340 islands in the western Pacific. Preserving its history and culture is the mission of the Belau National Museum, which includes this traditional meeting house for village chiefs and men. Paint- ings and carvings on the facade illustrate Palauan values, says Jennifer Gibbons, president of the Rotary Club of Palau. While the canoes signify the connec- tion between villages and the island’s fishing culture, sharks and fish facing the same direc- tion symbolize unity. THE PALAU ECO-PLEDGE: Palau’s coral and volcanic islands are home to rare species of sharks, fish, and coral. Visitors must sign a pledge to protect the environ- ment and are warned not to collect the turtle shells used as traditional currency. THE CLUB: The 14-member club, chartered in 1995, meets at the Penthouse Hotel, founded by former first lady Tina Salii. — linda yu JUNE 2023  ROTARY  3

ROTARY GENERAL OFFICERS OF ROTARY TRUSTEES OF THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL, 2022–23 FOUNDATION, 2022–23 June 2023 PRESIDENT CHAIR EDITOR IN CHIEF ART DIRECTOR Jennifer E. Jones Ian H.S. Riseley Wen Huang Jacqueline Cantu Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Sandringham, Australia Canada MANAGING EDITOR PRODUCTION CHAIR-ELECT Jason Keyser MANAGER PRESIDENT-ELECT Barry Rassin Marc Dukes R. Gordon R. McInally East Nassau, Bahamas SENIOR EDITOR South Queensferry, Scotland Geoffrey Johnson DIGITAL EDITOR VICE CHAIR Kristin Morris VICE PRESIDENT Larry A. Lunsford SENIOR STAFF WRITER Nicki Scott Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, Diana Schoberg EDITORIAL The North Cotswolds, England USA COORDINATOR EDITOR Vera Robinson TREASURER TRUSTEES John M. Cunningham Ananthanarayanan S. “Venky” Jorge Aufranc CIRCULATION Venkatesh Guatemala Sur, Guatemala COPY EDITOR MANAGER Chennai Mambalam, India Rose Shilling Katie McCoy Marcelo Demétrio Haick DIRECTORS Santos-Praia, Brazil Send ad inquiries and materials to: Alberto Cecchini Marc Dukes, Rotary magazine, One Rotary Center, Roma Nord-Est, Italy Martha Peak Helman 1560 Sherman Ave., 14th floor, Evanston, IL 60201; Boothbay Harbor, Maine, USA phone 847-866-3092; email [email protected] Patrick D. Chisanga Nkwazi, Zambia Holger Knaack Media kit: rotary.org/mediakit Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Jessie Harman Germany To contact us: Rotary magazine, One Rotary Center, Wendouree Breakfast, Australia 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201; phone Hsiu-Ming Lin 847-866-3206; email [email protected] Jeremy S. Hurst Taipei Tungteh, Taiwan Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Website: rotary.org/magazines Mark Daniel Maloney Drew Kessler Decatur, Alabama, USA To submit an article: Send stories, queries, tips, North Rockland (Haverstraw), and photographs by mail or email (high-resolution New York, USA Geeta K. Manek digital images only). We assume no responsibility Muthaiga, Kenya for unsolicited materials. Muhammad Faiz Kidwai Karachi Karsaz, Pakistan Aziz Memon To subscribe: Twelve issues at US$12 a year Karachi, Pakistan (USA, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands); $16 a year Won-Pyo Kim (Canada); $24 a year (elsewhere). Contact the Gyeongju South, Korea Akira Miki Circulation Department (phone 847-424-5217 or -5216; Himeji, Japan email [email protected]) for details and for airmail Urs Klemm rates. Gift subscriptions available at the same rates. Aarau, Switzerland Bharat S. Pandya Borivli, India To send an address change: Enclose old address Mahesh Kotbagi label, postal code, and Rotary club, and send to the Pune Sports City, India Greg E. Podd Circulation Department or email [email protected]. Evergreen, Colorado, USA Postmaster: Send all address changes to Circulation Patricia Merryweather-Arges Department, Rotary magazine, One Rotary Center, Naperville, Illinois, USA Dean Rohrs 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201. Langley Central, Lena J. Mjerskaug British Columbia, Canada Call the Contact Center: USA, Canada, Enebakk, Norway and Virgin Islands (toll-free) 866-976-8279. GENERAL SECRETARY  Elsewhere: 847-866-3000, ext. 8999. Vicki Puliz John Hewko Sparks, Nevada, USA Kyiv, Ukraine Unless otherwise noted: All images are copyright ©2023 by Rotary International Yoshio Sato or are used with permission. Okayama-South, Japan Published monthly by Rotary International, 1560 Sherman Ave., Julio César A. Evanston, IL 60201. Rotary® is a registered trademark of Rotary Silva-Santisteban International. Copyright ©2023 by Rotary International. All rights El Rímac, Peru reserved. Periodicals postage paid at Evanston, Illinois, USA, and additional mailing offices. Canada Publications Mail Agreement Elizabeth Usovicz No. 1381644. Canadian return address: MSI, PO Box 2600, Mississauga, Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, ON L4T 0A8. This is the June 2023 issue, volume 201, number 12, of USA Rotary. Publication number: USPS 548-810. ISSN 2694-443X (print); ISSN 2694-4448 (online). GENERAL SECRETARY John Hewko 4  ROTARY  JUNE 2023 Kyiv, Ukraine

DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives close to home and around the globe. By giving to the Annual Fund, you make these life-changing projects possible so that together, we can keep Doing Good in the World for years to come. GIVE TODAY: rotary.org/donate

June 2023 Vol. 201, No. 12 CONTENT FEATURES 1 President’s message ILLUSTRATION: TAYLOR CALLERY; PHOTOGRAPH: OPPOSITE JAMES RODRÍGUEZ 2 Welcome On the cover: In a Rotary Photo 24 CONNECT Awards winning entry, the towering cliffs of Vágar, one of 2023 Photo Awards 8 Staff corner the Faroe Islands, plunge into 9 Letters to the editor the Atlantic Ocean. Step right up for the magical 11 The specialist Photo by David Dack, Rotary Rotary tour as this year’s Club of Lemoore, California winners take us on an A kite expert surfs the sky eye-opening journey around the globe OUR WORLD 40 12 The promise of kangaroo mother care A low-tech method of skin-to-skin Polio’s ‘hidden figures’ contact improves outcomes for premature babies and their mothers At the height of segregation, a group of Black doctors 15 A family affair and scientists in Alabama Inclusivity enlarges the house of Rotary focused on treating and stopping polio 16 People of action around the globe 18 Get me rewrite! By Kate Silver Photography by Nicole Craine A journalist steps away from his job but steps up as a dad 50 21 A powerful partnership ShelterBox brings expertise. Rotary A song of their own brings local knowledge. The Imagine Impact Tour OUR CLUBS brings singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno to her home 54 Virtual visit country to inspire children Rotary Club of Melawati, Malaysia to dream big 56 Where are they now? Interview by Briscila Greene As her life changed and her capacity Photography by James Rodríguez for empathy grew, a Rotary Youth Leadership Awards alum took her 18 inspiration from Rotary’s core values 58 Calendar 60 Trustee chair’s message 61 Rotary Fellowships | In memoriam 62 Crossword 64 Bananas for bananas In Uganda, luwombo pays homage to the country’s favorite fruit 6 ROTARY JUNE 2023

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CONNEC STAFF CORNER PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF QUINN DREWQuinn Drew Community engagement manager Having been with Rotary for almost 10 Born in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on the west bank of the Mississippi River years, I now work in Membership De- velopment. My job is to find innovative ways to strengthen relationships with Rotary members and foster connec- tions with prospective members. I help produce various tools — membership newsletters, online forums, and blog posts — to engage members and promote Rotary’s value for leadership, mentoring, service, and business development. Follow us to get updates, I try to help create a sense of wel- Bachelor’s in history and social studies share stories with your and certification in middle/secondary networks, and tell us what coming and belonging for everyone. education from St. Norbert College, De you think. Pere, Wisconsin; master’s in liberal studies Before joining Rotary, I was a first-year from Stony Brook University in New York Rotary.org academic adviser at Carthage Col- lege in Wisconsin, a private liberal arts Being trans is not a choice. Coming out [email protected] school with a diverse student life. What (to yourself and/or others), altering your appealed to me at Rotary was the oppor- body or hormones, changing your name @rotary tunity to help our organization become or pronouns, these are all choices, but more diverse and inclusive. Rotary has none of them makes a person more or /rotary made tremendous strides, and we are less trans. People automatically assume continually pushing ourselves to become that if you are trans, you do drag or you @rotaryinternational the best versions of ourselves as indi- just wrap a trans flag around you and viduals and as a collective. parade around every day. We are a diverse Rotary magazine community. I just live my life like every- One Rotary Center I’m a trans person. I’ve always had a one else, I eat tacos for breakfast, I go to 1560 Sherman Ave. concerts and go on dates with my partner. Evanston, IL 60201 complicated relationship with nam- I travel to high schools and colleges The editors welcome comments ing my gender — not the label, though on items published in the that wasn’t exactly easy either, but the to talk about leadership, diversity and magazine but reserve the right to feeling. I spent a lot of my life thinking, edit for style and length. Published I don’t feel man enough to be a man, not gender identity, sexual health, and letters do not necessarily reflect woman enough to be a woman, too much the views of the editors or Rotary of both to be neither, not trans enough alcohol and drugs as a speaker with International leadership, nor do to be trans. After a lot of reflection and Campus Outreach Services. I feel that it the editors take responsibility therapy, I’ve come to finally internalize is important for me to share my stories of for errors of fact that may be and believe there’s not just one way to how I have learned who I am with folks expressed by the writers. be trans. The space is big enough to be who are in the woods at whatever stage owned and understood in a multitude of of discovery they’re in. I talk at Rotary 8  ROTARY  JUNE 2023 ways. I belong in that space. club meetings and presented a snippet of my stories at an International Assembly. I have learned over and over again that I’m an avid cyclist and runner. My part- representation matters. Growing up, I ner and I go on a lot of biking trips. We didn’t see many people in my community pack our belongings and just go riding like me or anyone in leadership roles. for days. We participated in the El Tour Even though my parents supported me de Tucson ride in Arizona to raise money in many ways, and I was surrounded for polio eradication. by open-minded coaches, teachers, and — as told to wen huang friends, it was really challenging to come to grips with who I was as a person.

Letters to the editor PRAISE FOR PROSE March 2023 “Life during wartime” and “A debt to the A dead” [March] are marvelous articles TIME With his Fallen with timely subjects. They are not only clearly informative but well-written and Hero Honor Ride, even emotional. As an English/language arts instructor at the high school and TO Chris Kolenda college levels, I appreciate such skill in salutes six the writers. I look forward to receiving articles like these each month. HEAL comrades in arms page 24 Kathy Jo Schweitzer, Port Clinton, Ohio THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE President-elect OVERHEARD ON Gordon McInally SOCIAL MEDIA In the interview with President-elect answers your questions Gordon McInally [“You asked. Gordon page 34 In the March issue, McInally answered,” March], he says that RI President- Rotary needs to “encourage and advocate Life during wartime: elect Gordon governments around the world to ensure A visit to Lviv McInally answered that we address the issue of climate page 38 questions change going forward.” This is reinforced submitted by by Rotary’s environment area of focus, 2023 convention: Rotary members which enables us to address the causes Where to eat around the world. of climate change and support solutions in Melbourne to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. page 52 I love his [initiative to raise] Now is our only chance to prevent personnel and veterans [a subject dis- awareness of climate change from getting even worse cussed in “Home from war, a hard-won mental health and and to preserve a livable world for our stru gle to find peace,” November]. help reduce the kids and grandkids and for children stigmatization everywhere. With our incredible social One of our members, the Rev. Fred- around it. It will be capital and global reach, Rotary can erick Miller, has been deeply involved an amazing year! make a real di erence — but only if we in this mission. He started a peer-to- Rachelle Eason decide to tackle the challenge. peer program that trained volunteers ► via LinkedIn how to reach out and help veterans get Alan Anderson, Northfield, Minnesota the assistance they need. The program Great message, has trained about 150 members of the great vision, great DEPRESSION DESCRIPTION American Legion and the American Rotary member. Legion Auxiliary. He also enlisted the Phil Dyer I must take issue with the article about National Veterans A airs Chaplain Cen- ► via Facebook Rotarian Calodagh McCumiskey in the ter to train 50 members of the clergy on March issue [“Seize the moment”]. Her how to help veterans. His commitment is comment that “depression comes from truly inspiring. an unhealthy focus on the past” is irre- sponsible and dismissive of those dealing Miller has educated our club mem- with clinical depression. I have battled bers on the vulnerability of those with depression for most of my life, and it is post-traumatic stress disorder. We have not because of an unhealthy focus on the learned that many veterans experiencing past. It is a medical condition. PTSD symptoms are afraid to get medi- cal help for fear of being labeled with a Nancy Taylor, Twin Falls, Idaho permanent mental disorder. There has been a movement to change the name HELP FOR VETERANS to post-traumatic stress injury. This would be a great place to start as it could Members of the Rotary Club of Shirley remove the stigma and result in more and the Mastics, New York, want to make veterans seeking help. We have reached fellow Rotarians aware of our mission to out to government o cials to make greatly reduce the suicide rate of military them aware of this issue and to ask for their support. Paul Casciano, Stony Brook, New York Lynda Zach, Mastic Beach, New York JUNE 2023 ROTARY 9

verdin post clocks The Perfect Anniversary Gift! Before serving in government, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth worked at Rotary International. In March, Official Rotary ILLUSTRATION: ROTARY STAFF SOURCE PHOTOGRAPHY: (JONES) MONIKA LOZINSKA; (DUCKWORTH) COURTESY OF SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH she and Rotary President Jennifer Jones were interviewed on the magazine’s podcast about leadership Licensee and unleashing the power of women and girls. Listen to “The trailblazers” at on.rotary.org/podcast. #03-4B0541 verdin.com INSPIRING WOMEN When he retired from what was then Do you need Rotary-branded Central Missouri State University, Duane merchandise? At this year’s Oscars ceremony, best joined the Secretariat staff as general actress winner Michelle Yeoh gave a mar- manager of The Rotary Foundation. He Then shop with Rotary-licensed velous acceptance speech, in which she served in this leadership role for six vendors, many of which are local said, “And ladies, don’t let anybody tell years. During this time, both my wife, Rotarian-owned businesses. you you are ever past your prime.” Beth, and I reported to Duane. Shop now at This quote made me think of the When Duane retired a second time, I on.rotary.org/shop amazing ladies within Rotary clubs, who became general manager of the Founda- enrich our communities and the world tion. Thanks to Duane’s mentoring, I = 8 / 8 : $ 5 (Shop With A Licensed Vendor_EN-20.indd 1 . $ 6 + $ 7/13/20 3:56 PM with their dedication and who are never was ready for the role. Duane left some past their prime time for creative and big shoes to fill, and the Foundation was $121 (&2/ (9 , $1 outstanding work. going through a lot of strategic direc- tional change. For more than a year, in 0 , &+ $ 70 , '1 , *+7 Keep on, Rotary club ladies! You are making recommendations to the Trust- truly inspirational! ees, I would often close my door and ask %2$ * , 1$ 2/ $1 myself, “What would Duane do?” Lina Broydo, Los Altos Hills, California , 1 7 + (021 7 + 7 ( $ / On 11 February, Beth and I traveled IN MEMORIAM to Warrensburg, Missouri, to pay our $6($ 7 : , ( +('*( respects to Duane’s wife, Pat, and their Duane R. Sterling, past governor of three daughters and their families. It was - &6 $5/2 2(' District 6070, passed away on 22 Janu- an opportunity to celebrate Duane’s life ary; he was 85. I first met Duane when and the impact he had on his local and 2) - 81( , 67$1' he served as a regional Rotary Founda- global community. tion coordinator. The SHARE system 6 $ / 720% '% / was being implemented at the time, and We’ll miss Duane. His calming steady Duane dove into the task of how best to voice always put us at ease, and his enthu- 6 7 2 / ( 02: $ 3 $ & ( message SHARE to leaders in the dis- siasm for Rotary and passion for service tricts assigned to him. He always were contagious. May he rest in peace. :+2$ % ( 1 ( $ 7 + 7 + ( asked great questions to clarify and simplify things. John T. Osterlund, Evanston, Illinois 527& 0(6+ ($5 0< 6 7 , &0221 / 2. , 5$ , 6( 871( 385( 727(6 <6(5 67$5 10  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

THE SPECIALIST I had more understanding of aerodynamics — I was aware of what you might call kite physics. It was a Flying high step-by-step journey: If this doesn’t work, will this work? Kite building became a passion in 2011, when A kite expert surfs the sky I participated in the first international festival in my hometown. I was introduced to a whole new world of T he first kite I made was a paper kite, kites. Now I have more than 50 kites. At kite festivals, people who know me can identify them — “Yeah, what we call a fighter kite, a very com- yeah, that’s Sandesh’s kite.” mon, rectangular-shaped kite. My elder There are international standards for kite competi- cousin and I built it when I was in third or tions, for what technique you use, what material you use, how stable your kite is in the sky. I’ve repre- fourth grade. Luckily, it flew. That was a sented India in more than 14 countries, including Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indone- big surprise for me — the first kite I built, and it flew! sia. The American Kitefliers Association does a lot of competitions. There are box kites, inflatable kites, It motivated me. Most kids give up when their kites single-line kites, dual-line kites — all these incredible kites in competitions. We choose our kites according don’t fly. But it somehow sank into me. to wind conditions. That’s why we call kite festivals “festivals of wind.” I’ve built kites from 4 inches long to 12 feet long. Sandesh Kaddi Rotary Club of I’m part of the Rotary Fellowship of Kites, and I’ve I’ve built a lot of miniature kites. They’re made of Belgaum, India been asked to open a chapter in India. There’s a chap- bamboo and paper. It takes a very different skill: ter in Ethiopia, and they’re starting chapters in the stripping the bamboo to a 2-to-3-millimeter thick- Kite builder U.S., the UK, and a couple of other countries. Once ness, making it very balanced, finding the right shape. you’re into kite building, you’re part of the kite family. When people see my miniature kites, their first ques- You don’t need a language. Spontaneously, it happens. tion is, “Does this fly?” I have to fly the kite in front of — as told to etelka lehoczky them or show them a video to convince them. It took me almost 20 years to become a kite builder at the international level. When I entered college, Photograph by Alisha Vasudev JUNE 2023  ROTARY  11

OUR WORL MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH The promise of kangaroo mother care This low-tech method of skin-to-skin contact is improving outcomes for premature babies and their mothers A t birth, a baby kan- McMillan, a member of The Rotary garoo climbs into Foundation Cadre of Technical Ad- its mother’s pouch, visers. It has benefits for mothers latches onto a nipple, too, reducing postpartum depres- sion and enhancing their perceived and stays put until it is ability to care for their newborns. more fully developed. Now imagine But while child mortality has otherwise declined dramatically, if you could do something similar 1.6 million premature or low birth- weight babies die every year in for a human baby who is born pre- their first month, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. maturely. That’s the concept behind More than 75 percent of deaths of premature babies are preventable a low-tech intervention known as using current knowledge and basic clinical care. kangaroo mother care. In Uganda, the neonatal mortal- “Kangaroo mother care involves ity rate is about 19 per 1,000 live births. In recent years at Mbarara skin-to-skin care with the mother Regional Referral Hospital, south- west of the capital of Kampala, or with another family member: The about 200 babies admitted to the neonatal unit died each year. About father, grandmother, aunts and un- 70 percent were preterm. The two major causes of death were hypo- cles, and brothers and sisters have thermia, as infants born early are often too small to keep themselves all done it,” says Doug McMillan, a warm, and infections — two condi- tions complicated by malnutrition. member of the Rotary Club of Cal- That’s where Rotarians stepped gary, Alberta, and a neonatologist in. The Rotary clubs of Mbarara, Uganda, and Calgary at Stampede experienced in global child health. Park, Alberta, applied for a Rotary Foundation global grant to upgrade Mothers get support to breastfeed the kangaroo care program at the hospital. exclusively, and if someone else is Through the project, which helping with the kangaroo care, the began in late 2020, more than 40 nurses, midwives, pediatricians, baby is fed stored breastmilk. and other doctors have been trained in kangaroo care. The project has The method was developed more also supported the development of than four decades ago in Colombia, when physician researchers Edgar Rey Sanabria and Héctor Martínez- 15 Gómez were looking for a way to Inclusivity enlarges keep babies warm and with their the house of Rotary mothers because their hospital 18 didn’t have incubators for low birth- Get me rewrite! weight newborns. The death rate 21 for low birthweight infants at their Partners aid in disaster hospital was 70 percent at the time. relief Since then, multiple studies have 12  ROTARY  JUNE 2023 shown kangaroo mother care saves Visit rotary. org/our-causes newborn lives: It maintains better to find more information temperature, improves nutrition about Rotary’s work in maternal and growth, decreases infection, and child health. and enhances the bonding between the mother and the baby, explains

A Rotary Foundation global grant supported a project to upgrade the kangaroo mother care program at a hospital in Uganda. PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF DOUG McMILLAN a curriculum for health care work- unit. Before the grant, in January Lago. The hospital serves high-risk ers to use to teach mothers how to 2020, the unit had just one ther- pregnant women in the city and do kangaroo care. The curriculum mometer and lacked other equip- the region, as well as Brazilians has been translated into the local ment. At least two babies would who live in neighboring countries, language and printed, and mothers share a cot, often with a torn mat- mainly in Paraguay. It also handles are now able to train other mothers tress, increasing the risk of spread- obstetric emergencies. on the method. ing infections. The newborn unit now has the equipment to treat The grant helped purchase Women tailors made 500 kan- sick babies, more bed space, and equipment including slings and garoo mother care wraps as part of chairs to sit on, explains Sheila armchairs made especially for the project, generating income in Abaasa, past president of the Ro- breastfeeding. The slings are made the area. The wraps are easier to use tary Club of Mbarara. with special fabric designed to help and better accepted than the kan- “the mother to welcome the baby gas, or pieces of cloth, mothers may Rotary members in Brazil, in in her lap as kangaroos do, to con- have used earlier to carry around partnership with members in India, vey the mother’s heartbeat to the their babies, says McMillan, who are also supporting the practice baby, their body heat and affec- has been volunteering in Mbarara through a global grant. Their grant tion, which helps to bring mother for over 20 years. Meanwhile, Ro- targeted a hospital along the south- and child closer together,” Kraemer tarians were able to secure meals ern border with Paraguay and Ar- says. “This helps to prevent men- for mothers who needed food, gentina, a densely populated area tal health issues like postpartum which has improved breastfeed- with a high poverty rate. The Hos- depression. Naturally, the length ing and reduced the rate of women pital Ministro Costa Cavalcanti is of hospital stay and maternal and leaving hospital care early. noted for its care for children, says child mortality decreases.” Alexandre Kraemer of the Rotary In addition, the grant helped Club of Foz do Iguaçú-Grande The positive outcomes were nu- fund improvements in the newborn merous, Kraemer says, but most of JUNE 2023  ROTARY  13

OUR WORLD all, “the environment became more established in some countries so BY THE NUMBERS welcoming, removing much of the that mothers can provide continu- typical coldness of hospitals and ous kangaroo care. Mothers receive 1m6illion. maternity wards. This is part of post-birth care without being sepa- the humanization of care that we rated from their babies. If a mother Babies who die so desire.” has complications, a surrogate con- each year in their tinues the kangaroo care while the first month due to The methods of kangaroo mother recovers. premature birth or mother care may be evolving as well. A 2021 study in The New Eng- In Uganda, the kangaroo mother 75%low birthweight land Journal of Medicine su gests care project has shown promising that starting the practice as soon as results at Mbarara Hospital. Abaasa preterm or low birthweight babies says the equipment supplied under are born can save up to 150,000 the project has been used to treat more lives each year. Currently, the more than 4,000 newborns in the World Health Organization recom- last two years. The most common mends starting the care after the conditions treated have been pre- baby is stabilized in an incubator maturity, birth asphyxia, and neo- or warmer. This can take on aver- natal sepsis. age three to seven days. Overall, the inpatient neonatal “Keeping the mother and baby mortality rate has dropped from 15 together right from birth with zero percent to 7.5 percent over the two separation will revolutionize the years, and the survival of babies way neonatal intensive care is prac- receiving kangaroo mother care is ticed for babies born early or small,” about 96.5 percent. Rajiv Bahl, head of the WHO new- born health unit and the study’s co- Meanwhile, McMillan says ordinator, said in an announcement that he and others are looking for about the results. “When started at partnerships with Rotary clubs to the soonest possible time, kangaroo provide kangaroo care wraps and mother care can save more lives, instruction in Ukraine amid the improve health outcomes for babies war with Russia. “While kangaroo and ensures the constant presence mother care may assist small babies of the mother with her sick baby.” throughout the world, the need in Ukraine is increased as many hos- The study results point to a need pitals have been bombed and others for dedicated mother-newborn in- have power shortages.” tensive care units, which have been — “Keeping the mother and baby together Share of deaths from right from birth with zero separation prematurity that are will revolutionize the way neonatal intensive care is practiced for babies 150,000preventable born early or small.” Estimate for the lives that could be saved each year by immediate kangaroo mother care Short A total of 101 Rotary A five-part webinar series that takes members around the offers tools and strategies to world received the help Rotary members cultivate Service Above Self effective projects is now available at Award for 2022-23. on.rotary.org/effective-projects. 14 ROTARY JUNE 2023 Illustrations by Miguel Porlan

PROFILE Mary Lou M ary Lou Harrison’s father, Harrison Don Foster, joined the A family affair Rotary Club of Rotary Club of Swansea, Toronto-Sunrise, Ontario, in 1961. He’s been a Rotary Inclusivity enlarges the house of Rotary Ontario member ever since. So for Harrison, Rotary was a family a air. “From the moment I could hang up some- one’s coat, pass a tray of food, or do dishes, I was a Rotarian,” she says. “I was ‘volun-told.’” Though denied membership in Rotary at the time, Harrison’s mother and other wives were inte- gral to the success of Foster’s clubs. (Since 1985, he has belonged to the Rotary Club of Toronto West.) “A number of years back, my father was honored by his club,” recalls Harrison. “And he said, ‘Listen, our club would have done none of the things we did without the women. They found the projects and did the work. We [men] took the credit.’” That may explain why Harrison, a member of the Rotary Club of Toronto-Sunrise and the 2018-19 governor of District 7070, has been a longtime champion of the role of women in Rotary. Now, as a char- ter member of the Rotary LGBT+ Fellowship, Harrison is working to ensure that the Rotary family is as diverse and inclusive as possible. “I want everyone to feel not only that they can make a di erence in their communities, but that they are wel- come to do that — that there’s a safe place for them to be themselves and give back,” she says. During her term as governor, Harrison orchestrated her district’s first appearance in Toronto’s Pride Parade — “What fun!” she says — which is now an annual tradi- tion, outside of a pandemic break. Meanwhile, Harrison’s involvement in Rotary extends into a third gen- eration: Her daughter Rachel is the 25-year-old president of the Rota- ract Club of Ottawa. — The Rotary alumni In time for World Environment Day on The deadline for Rotary club association in District 4455 5 June, the Environmental Sustain- officers to nominate their (Peru) won the 2022-23 ability Rotary Action Group published club for a Rotary Citation Alumni Association a handbook on how to organize green is 30 June. Learn more at of the Year Award. events. Download it at esrag.org. rotary.org/citation. Photograph by Mitch Bowmile JUNE 2023 ROTARY 15

OUR WORLD People of action around the lobe By Brad Webber Canada Grenada Grenada’s national library, damaged Rotary clubs in District 5370 partnered with by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and forced to close a few years later, stands social service agencies to provide beds as a picture of decay, with its door padlocked and windows broken. for families, including Ukrainian refugees The Rotaract Club of Grenada aims 48% to show that the weather-beaten resettled in the Edmonton building is hardly symbolic: The area. More than 10 clubs nation, like many of its West Indies teamed up with the nonprofit neighbors, has a high literacy rate. Sleep in Heavenly Peace for a In July 2022 club members collected bed-building day in October. more than 500 books and, with assistance from a local carpenter, Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Rotarians, and friends, constructed three book boxes modeled after friends and family assembled Share of the Little Free Libraries. The club PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF ROTARY AND ROTARACT CLUBS 35 beds in eight hours, says refugees to placed them in well-trafficked parks Kelly Baker, immediate past Canada who in the parish of St. George, home of president of the Rotary Club of settled in the country’s capital. The club also Edmonton Northeast. The district smaller cities renovated the library at its adopted collaborated with Ukrainian and towns in Mt. Moritz Anglican School, supplying Canadian Social Services and recent years new shelves, desks, and a fresh coat Catholic Social Services to of paint. “Our national library has not been functional for years so a lot of reading material is not as available as it should be,” club member Semone Sargeant says. The installation of the boxes “creates an avenue for persons to read whatever they want, how often they want.” arrange funding and to identify 2009 the neediest recipients. Rotary members Club of Grenada followed up less than a month later with “Stuff a Van,” a bed linen collection at a shopping center. “Eighteen people braved the cool weather, and the Rotaractors were amazing as they promoted this event,” Baker says. “We had a number of Ukrainian nationals stop Year that Rotarian Todd Bol, of Hudson, Wisconsin, created the by and tell their story, and it really affirmed first Little Free Library why we were doing this drive.” The clubs also raised about CA$10,000 (US$7,500), with some of it going to purchase adult-sized beds. District 5370 16 ROTARY JUNE 2023

12% Korea Seeking to engage more of its Rotary members in Portion of volunteering, the women’s committee of District 3650 in South Korea’s Seoul, South Korea, paired them with children from the population Hyeshim-Won youth home for monthly sightseeing outings. under 15 In January, Rotarians treated 30 young people from the home to a trip to the Lotte World amusement park. They took spins on the merry-go-round, bumper cars, pirate ship ride, and more. The district and Rotary members donated about $2,800 for discounted tickets and food, while District Governor-elect Young Suk Lee, of the Rotary Club of Seoul Hangang, covered the cost of busing. District Governor Bong Rak Sohn and the Rotary Club of Seoul KANS organized the event. “We wanted to show the children that there are many good people in the world,” says Kwi-Young Song, of the Rotary Club of Hanseong, chair of the district women’s committee. District 3650 Australia $14.8 billion The Rotary Club of Beecroft enlisted a contract distiller and concocted a signature gin steeped with Global gin revenue forecast for botanicals reflecting 2023, according to Statista the flora around its Ireland north suburban Sydney More than half of the 1.3 million people killed worldwide base. In November more than 150 Rotarians, in traffic crashes in 2022 were characterized by the business leaders, and other residents met World Health Organization as “vulnerable road users,” for a Beecroft Spirit Gin launch party to that is pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Mindful select the flavorings “that represent the area that children are among those most at risk, the Rotary of Beecroft,” says Daniel Dummer, a club Club of Tullamore & District revived its Be Safe Be Seen member and project leader. Working with Craft campaign, which was paused because of the COVID-19 Foundry, the club produced 260 bottles of gin pandemic. The project emphasizes the importance of infused with the essences of strawberry gum, wearing high-visibility clothing, lemon myrtle, and rosella. By Christmas, the especially during dark winter months. Last fall the club lot had sold out, with nearly $1,800 in proceeds worked with emergency services leaders and news directed toward the renovation of an electrical 260 feetorganizations to distribute substation in Beecroft as well as international projects, says Dummer. “Beecroft has a strong sense of community, and gin is a fast-growing promotional materials to spirit in Australia right now. Our goal was primary schools. Rotarians to bring the community together around a and first responders also visited schools to spread Approximate stopping distance delicious and memorable local project while for a car traveling 60 mph raising funds for projects here and abroad.” the message. The project continued for more than a month with frequent Club of Beecroft reminders and advertising on local radio. “The overriding aim of the campaign is to protect young people and educate them regarding road safety,” says Eoin Sheehan, club president and a consultant orthopedic surgeon at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore. “Prevention is always the best way forward.” Club of Tullamore & District JUNE 2023 ROTARY 17

ESSAY Get me rewrite! A journalist steps away from his job but steps up as a dad By Colin McMahon 18  ROTARY  JUNE 2023 Illustrations by Taylor Callery

I quit my job in the summer of of course, and a hope, almost always program called Chicago Builds, which he 2021. There were lots of factors, false, that the worst is over. Mostly, you loved. But given Mateo’s needs and vul- but one had absolutely nothing to wonder what you’ve done right — and nerabilities, he required transportation to do with my career as a journalist how long the good stretch will last. the program every day. or the hollowing out of the news- paper industry. I just wanted to help my On bad days, Mateo’s Tourette’s is a I welcomed the role of chauffeur, and youngest child, Mateo, through his junior constant presence, like a taut movie score those drives with Mateo turned out to be year at a Chicago public high school and that lodges in your brain and raises your a gift. Unlike earlier efforts to combine his 16th year of life. blood pressure. In the worst cases — and work and parenting — fraught confer- the most frustrating and exhausting for ence calls over car speakers, distracted I soon realized that I had been a better our beloved Mateo — he blurts out pro- peeks at instant messages at stoplights, journalist than a parent. And why not? fanities, sexual terms, and even racial and furious emailing from clinic lobbies, I had worked harder at journalism than ethnic epithets. It breaks your heart. parking lots, and noisy cafes — this new at parenting. I enjoyed it more, and I had routine was more focused. The daily made the decision, perhaps not con- Yet for all of Mateo’s foibles, everyone shuttle imposed a structure on our rela- sciously, that I would be a journalist first roots for him. People routinely tell me tionship; expectations became clear for and a parent second. There’s no getting that Mateo is one of the most endearing both of us. Opportunities emerged to go around that now. and likeable kids they have met. I tell over homework, discuss troubling issues, friends that I can remember maybe two plan our cockamamie weekend projects. In today’s journalism, if we make a or three times that Mateo has ever woken For Mateo, this was an opportunity to mistake in a printed story, we edit the on- up in a bad mood or without saying, have his father all to himself, to indulge line version and drop in an editor’s note “Good morning.” (And he’s a teenager!) his harebrained hypotheticals, to reas- explaining how we corrected the error. Mateo simply does not have a wrong side sure him in his fears. Or we could just Sometimes, we add a word of apology. of the bed. He is enthusiastic and curious point out cars that we would love to buy But life is more like a printed newspaper and caring — and, so far, indomitable. and — Mateo’s favorite pastime — talk than a digital website. There is no version about whatever flew into our heads. We of our lives where we can go in and unob- One night, after a long, hard day of were each other’s captive audience. trusively fix the mistakes we have made. dealing with being a high schooler and trying to combat his Tourette syndrome, A good friend of mine told me recently But that’s not to say we can’t mend Mateo sat alone in his room, looking at about a rough patch he’d had with his those mistakes. That just takes a lot more the record collection he inherited (well, adolescent son. “We almost lost him,” my work — and yes, the occasional apology. gangstered) from me. He was ticcing up friend told me. “He almost left home.” That’s the thought that often visited me a storm, and his loud grunts could be Then my friend and his wife hit on a way as I spent a year side by side with Mateo heard across our split-level condomin- to break through. They started taking long as he faced the rigors of adolescence and ium. Asked whether he was employing drives. And it was only cooped up in the his own personal challenges. the breathing techniques designed to car, lulled (perhaps) by the roll of the tires control his Tourette’s, Mateo replied, “At and the drone of the road, that the boy Mateo struggles with acute learn- least I’m not swearing.” opened up about what was troubling him. ing disabilities that make academics extremely challenging. He can talk a mile That’s right, kid. Let’s score this latest I thought about that story a lot as I a minute but freezes up over the most bout a victory. drove Mateo back and forth. Our break- basic arithmetic. Other developmental is- throughs were nothing like the movies: sues make the social part of high school DO BAD STARS ALIGN? THEY CAN, no fervent bear hugs, no convulsive an impossible riddle. RIGHT? Because as my job as a journal- tears of joy. But my reward was greater: ist was ending, Mateo was sinking deeper Among the challenges is Tourette syn- into crisis. For Mateo, this was drome, a nervous system disorder that an opportunity to can cause physical and verbal tics. Adults As it was for many kids during the have his father all to and kids with Tourette’s might display pandemic, especially kids reliant on himself, to indulge anything from odd facial expressions specially trained educators and men- his harebrained to sudden and involuntary whole-body tal health support, remote learning for hypotheticals, movements. The vocal tics might sound Mateo was a bust. He was disengaged to reassure him like grunts or groans, squeaks, or incred- from the academics, but even beyond in his fears. ibly loud hiccups. that, he was more restive and needy than usual. Therapy got interrupted, and his For Mateo, Tourette’s comes and goes Tourette’s flew into overdrive. Parenting in waves. He enjoys days marked only shrunk down to one simple goal: Try to by a handful of hardly noticeable events, keep the lid on things. and though peace is never quite at hand, the relative calm that descends on those Something needed to be done. I days of little ticcing is like a walk in a resolved that, at the very least, I would quiet wood. spend the first quarter of the 2021-22 school year working with Mateo daily Any parent who cares for a child with and directly to get him back on track. We chronic challenges knows that those got him into a terrific vocational training good days bring a mix of emotions: relief, JUNE 2023  ROTARY  19

ESSAY intermittent insights into Mateo’s heart my staff, as well as the institution and various projects together. What I lack in and mind, insights that have helped me mission of journalism, the energy and handyman ability (a lot), I make up for become a better father. patience with which I was too sparing at with stubbornness. My time off from home. None of us has a limitless supply work, coupled with the skills Mateo is I’m convinced those insights would of patience. And I was misspending mine. learning through Chicago Builds, al- have eluded me had I not been fully lowed us to fix up our 2000 Honda and present in the car. Like so many of us, I I realized as I spent more time with do some major work around our condo have learned to multitask more over the Mateo that so many of those lessons on building: rebuilding, repainting, renew- last few years. But I cannot “multithink” how to parent that I had previously read ing. Combine my diligence with Mateo’s — and, I realize now, I never could. This about or studied or even trained in, those enthusiasm, and we get through most time with Mateo taught me about the approaches that by and large did not projects with only slight signs of DIY. importance of truly thinking about what work for me, were full of solid counsel. I I am thinking about. had just failed to muster the patience to My frame of mind, meanwhile, has give them a real chance. allowed me to look at these projects as There were other insights. Among journeys, with the outcome being only them, I learned that parenting is a test Again, despite all those insights, I part of the point. Mateo has learned to of patience. You must be patient with can report no miracles here, no heart- slow down and be more methodical. your children, of course, but patient also warming movie endings. But I have been He is getting better about not breaking with the co-parents and the grandpar- finding value in trying some of those things, a common struggle for kids with ents; patient with the caregivers and parenting approaches that had never severe ADHD. He’s able to own whole the teachers; and, particularly for those stuck with me before. My relationship parts of projects, start to finish. parents whose kids have special physical, with Mateo is much healthier, much mental, or emotional needs, patient with more positive, much more supportive, in Looking at these projects now as the health care professionals. both directions. A gift. learning opportunities and not just items to check off a to-do list has made me Oh, and patient with yourself. MATEO AND I HAVE ALSO ENJOYED reassess my results-oriented leadership After I left my job, I realized that I had a more concrete benefit to this detour style in the workplace. I realize that driv- been spending almost all my patience in my career. He and I had always done ing hard on efficiency, on getting things at work. I was giving my colleagues and done, has been something of a weakness of mine, not the unalloyed strength I had considered it. In prioritizing results, I now realize, I had closed off paths for myself and others to learning, creativity, and professional development. None of this should imply that I think everyone should (or could) quit their jobs so they can be better parents. What’s more, I did not need to quit my job to be- come a better parent. I’m embarrassed it took something so drastic for me to get a clue. (Insert apology here.) As I said pre- viously, people were sharing these lessons with me before. I just wasn’t listening. But now that I’m back to work full time, I’m determined to have these les- sons inform how I operate both at home and on the job. Maybe there is a sappy Hollywood walk-off line in here after all: I took a year off work to help my son with his life. Only it was he who helped me with mine. Or something like that. I’m still working on it — and I’ve made time for revisions now. The former editor in chief of the Chicago Tribune and chief content officer of Tribune Publishing, Colin McMahon is chief operating officer at StartupNation Media Group — and as proud a father as you’ll find. 20  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

GOODWILL ShelterBox coordinated with Rotary clubs and districts to deliver aid to A powerful partnership help some of the millions who’ve lost their homes or been forced to ShelterBox brings expertise. Rotary brings local knowledge. seek shelter elsewhere. PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF SHELTERBOX Members of S helterBox has more than emergency shelter support means Families in the Hatay, Gaziantep, the Rotaract two decades of experi- that we are able to provide the right and Adıyaman regions received a Club of Ankara ence responding to cri- support at the right time for people tent, four blankets, three mat- unload trucks in ses around the globe, but affected by the earthquakes.” tresses, two solar lights, a family hy- preparation for it has never witnessed giene kit, a woven bag, and a stove. the distribution destruction on the scale it saw in ShelterBox was founded by the ShelterBox also responded in Syria of ShelterBox Turkey and Syria after February’s Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in by adding concrete bases to previ- aid in Turkey earthquakes. Cornwall, England, in 2000 to send ously distributed tents to reduce after February’s shelter and essential items to help flooding and providing cash assis- earthquakes. Within 72 hours of the disaster, some of the world’s most vulner- tance to give people the flexibility to the international humanitarian aid able people recover and rebuild purchase essential items they need.   Learn more organization — Rotary’s project their homes after disasters. It has about Rotary’s partner in disaster relief — had an since grown to be a leading disas- Rotary districts worked together partnership emergency response team in Tur- ter response organization, having to support communities across the with ShelterBox key. ShelterBox quickly connected served more than 2.5 million people region, and they made crucial intro- and other with local Rotary clubs to provide in nearly 100 countries. In 2012, it ductions for ShelterBox response organizations shelter and other lifesaving aid to became Rotary International’s proj- teams with local manufacturers and at rotary.org/ thousands in the two countries. ect partner for disaster response. suppliers and with local leaders and partners. Given the scale of the disaster, that authorities. Rotaract members in partnership has been essential. The nonprofit relies on chari- the region have helped ShelterBox table giving to fund its operations, with translation, serving as liaisons “The circumstances in Turkey including from thousands of indi- between the organization and local were very challenging, and our vidual Rotary members and clubs authorities, as well as training aid long-standing relationship with that contribute regularly. Shelter- recipients on how to use and care Rotary has been pivotal in help- Box HERO Clubs, for example, are for the tents. ing us make progress,” says Dave Rotary clubs that contribute an- Raybould, ShelterBox’s emergency nually to make sure ShelterBox’s Rotary clubs supported Shelter- response manager. “The power- warehouses around the world are Box in rural areas and are design- ful combination of Rotarians with stocked for when disasters strike. ing a longer-term recovery project strong networks and local knowl- to support rehabilitation and restart edge coupled with 20 years of During crises, ShelterBox works disrupted schooling for children. At ShelterBox expertise in delivering closely with Rotary and local com- the same time, Rotary clubs con- munities. In Turkey, for example, tinue to manage needs for food, clothing, and hygiene, along with supporting a mobile hospital proj- ect and planned temporary housing using container structures. Rotary is also taking part in response efforts led by the Turk- ish government and coordinated through AFAD, Turkey’s disaster management agency, and the Turk- ish Red Crescent Society. Organiza- tions must have authorization from AFAD to operate in affected areas or work through local partners that do. Because Rotary has that status, ShelterBox was able to move more quickly than other international di- saster response organizations. “Incredible Rotary members in Turkey made a huge difference to how we are operating,” Raybould says. “ShelterBox and Rotary worked together dynamically in the face of immense need.” JUNE 2023  ROTARY  21

HOW CAN I BECOME A PEACEBUILDER? Start by enrolling in the Rotary Positive Peace Academy. • Y ou’ll learn to be an effective peacebuilder in your community • You’ll understand how to develop stronger, more sustainable projects • You’ll hear from global leaders in the study of peace • You can complete the free, self-guided course in just two hours Get started at positivepeace.academy/rotary

The recipient of the 2022-23 Programs of Scale award will be announced at the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, Australia. You can read about recent finalists at rotary.org/ programsofscale and expect an update on this year’s recipient in the August issue of Rotary magazine. Apply for the 2023-24 Programs of Scale award The application process for the 2023-24 Learn more about Programs of Scale award opens 1 June! Programs of Scale at rotary.org/programsofscale Through the annual Programs with experienced partners who are also of Scale competition, The Rotary committed to their long-term success Foundation selects an initiative that and sustainability. has demonstrated its success and is ready to expand in order to help more Concept notes from qualified Rotary and people in more places. The programs, Rotaract clubs and districts describing which receive US$2 million over three programs that have had an impact to five years, need to be sponsored and how they’re ready to scale will be by a club or district and implemented accepted from 1 June until 1 August 2023.

2023 Photo Awar An eye-opening journey Winner In Lagos, Nigeria, I was trying to document the introduction of District 9110’s 2022-23 Rotaract representative. In the thick of the chaos, this happy Rotaractor locked eyes with me, and I captured this celebratory moment in time. Edward Uhalla Rotaract Club of Ikate, Nigeria

ds Step right up for the magical Rotary tour as this year’s winners take us around the globe

W riting in this magazine Previous page in 1946, Paul Harris Judges say: remarked that “travel is The photo captures a good corrective for … the jubilance of mental near-sightedness.” the occasion and The same holds true the excitement for photography, especially if, like Rotary itself, the of the crowd photographer takes a global perspective. of Rotaractors. To verify that observation you need look no further Technically, the than this issue of Rotary magazine, where we reveal photographer’s the finalists in this year’s Photo Awards. Including the command of the cover, there are a dozen photographs that carry us image’s sharpness from Egypt to Idaho, from Nigeria to Taiwan. Along and its excellent the way we see everything from an intimate moment monochromatic as a medical team prepares for surgery to a sweeping shades are superb! nightscape illuminated by an aurora borealis. — Paul Keenon Though they are shot in different parts of the world, employ distinct palettes, and evoke different emotions, all of these photographs have in common an unseen beauty. These days we’re constantly bombarded with images — and in an era of AI and CGI, it can be difficult to know if what we’re seeing is real. But in these 12 photos we have the privilege of standing in the photographers’ shoes and experiencing an honest understanding of a particular moment. That generosity of spirit is another Rotary trait. By sharing their pictures, the photographers enable the rest of us to join them on their journey. — jacqueline cantu, art director, rotary magazine 26  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

The Judges Maurizio Gambarini Paul Keenon Chao-an Liang Ed Zirkle Maurizio Gambarini is chief Paul J. Keenon, the Chao-an Liang owns a A world traveler, storyteller, photographer at the Berlin- proprietor of Covenant wedding photography and documentarian, Ed based Bild am Sonntag Eyes Photography, is a past studio in Taipei, Taiwan. Zirkle began his career as newspaper. Previously, he president (2008-09) of the He graduated from Chung a photojournalist at the worked as a photographer Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn, Shan Medical University, Mansfield News Journal, a for news organizations Illinois, and has served as where he majored in daily newspaper in Ohio. such as Deutsche Presse- an assistant governor of medical laboratory science. And he has done work for Agentur, Deutscher Rotary District 6440. But after an internship the Associated Press and Depeschendienst, spent looking at medical United Press International. Süddeutsche Zeitung, A photographer of more specimens all day, he He has photographed Kölner Express, and Focus than 30 years, Keenon decided medicine was not many local, national, magazine. specializes in photography for him. Instead, he picked and international events, of architecture, fine art, up his childhood passion of including presidential He is a member of and real estate. That photography. elections, the Kentucky the Rotary Club of work has sent him from Derby, the Indy 500, PGA Berlin-Tiergarten. the Chicago suburbs to Liang’s life as a golf tournaments, the Rose locations across the world, photographer began Parade, the Rose Bowl, including refugee camps in when he was offered and the war in Ukraine. He Greece and the Karakoram a job taking photos for has won multiple awards Highway in northern a printing company. from the National Press Pakistan. In addition, Subsequently, he opened Photographers Association he volunteered as a his own studio specializing and the Ohio News photographer for his Rotary in graduation and wedding Photographers Association. district for seven years. portraits, landscapes, and theater photography. Zirkle has taught He is the founder of Local governments and photography at the Open Door for Teens foster Rotary clubs in Taiwan Ohio State University care agency. During the frequently ask him to and Columbus State past three decades, he photograph special events, Community College. He and his wife, Jill, fostered including the 2009 World opened a photography over 400 teens. Along Games in Kaohsiung gallery in Columbus, Ohio, the way they became and the New Year’s Eve and worked on the revival parents to 12 children with fireworks spectacular at of a historic movie theater 32 grandchildren and one Taipei 101. Liang’s works in Mansfield, Ohio. great-grandchild. won him a gold medal in photography at the Zirkle is a member of 52nd Taiwan Provincial the Rotary Club of Upper Fine Arts Exhibition and a Arlington/Grandview silver medal in the Canon (TriVillage), Ohio. PhotoMarathon. Liang is a member of the Rotary Club of Chumeng, Taiwan. JUNE 2023  ROTARY  27

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Winner: Judges say: The moment, People of Action the composition, the light. Very Dr. Dan Jacob (top simple and very, left), co-founder very impressive. of New Orleans — Maurizio Medical Mission Gambarini Services, prays with nurses and assistants, including Rotarian Jennifer Esler (bottom left), before heading to the operating room for surgery during a medical mission in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on 23 May 2022. Dan Milham Rotary Club of Metairie, Louisiana A mission to care For more than two decades, the volunteers of New Orleans Medical Mission Services have brought free medical care to people in need in Latin America. Co-founder Tom Kennedy, a retired OB-GYN, is a member of the Rotary Club of Metairie, Louisiana, which has partnered with the organization for years on medical missions and fundraisers. The nonprofit has completed dozens of missions in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The doctors, nurses, and nonmedical volunteers set up operating rooms, patient consultation areas, and clinics at host hospitals. “We try to bring everything we’re going to need on the mission so we don’t use up the local hospital’s supplies,” Kennedy told Rotary magazine for a June 2019 story. During the 2022 mission in the Dominican Republic photographed by Dan Milham, volunteers completed 44 surgical procedures and fitted patients with prosthetic hands. JUNE 2023  ROTARY  29

As the first light of Judges say: dawn breaks over The eyes are on a the horizon, people target and not on make their way from the photographer. fishing boats to the Where is he going, shores of Nungwi, where is he coming a coastal village in from? The picture Zanzibar, Tanzania. arouses curiosity about another Luca Venturi being. — M.G. Rotary Club of Siena Est, Italy 30  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

A northern pike Judges say: leaps into the air as How does one it tries to spit out a capture an image fishing lure. I shot such as this on an this photo with my iPhone while reeling iPhone 6 from the in this beauty? The cockpit of a kayak photo captures the — and then released struggle between the fish back into man and fish, the the water. colors of life and the life of the water, and Steve Begnoche the ancient ritual of Rotary Club of bringing sustenance Ludington, Michigan home for the family. — P.K. JUNE 2023  ROTARY  31

I took this photo Judges say: while traveling A nostalgic look in Nanzhuang at the symbol of Township, Taiwan. a bygone era. The At a noodle shop noisy graffiti-filled on Nanzhuang background serves Old Street, I saw as a stark reminder this traditional of the changing palm-leaf fiber times. — Chao-an raincoat hanging Liang on the wall. These coats were once worn by farmers in the mountainous regions in Taiwan but have largely disappeared. It triggered my memories of when my family lived in a farmhouse. Kuo-Hsiung (Kunio) Hsieh Rotary Club of Taipei Hwachung, Taiwan 32  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

The Northern Judges say: Lights provide an Wonderful arresting backdrop photograph. Love to a house in Battle the green reflection Harbour, a historic on the right. fishing village on a — Ed Zirkle small island off the coast of Labrador, Canada. Geoff Goodyear Rotary Club of Exploits, Newfoundland and Labrador JUNE 2023  ROTARY  33

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Motorcycle Judges say: waterfall: Under a The photo offers heavy November a peek at the rain, a cascade daily routine of of commuters in urban commuters brightly colored in Taiwan, a raincoats flows ubiquitous scene across a bridge in East Asia. — C.L. ramp in Taipei, Taiwan. Ting-Yu Yu Spouse of Yi-Cheng Chen, Rotary Club of Taipei Asia Link, Taiwan JUNE 2023  ROTARY  35

Village lights refract Judges say: through clouds Peaceful, full of life, and fog left behind mysterious, end of after heavy rain in a a day, start of a day. scenic area of Yuchi The balance of all Township, Taiwan. the photographic The mountains that elements is great. surround the village Camera placement, trap water vapor composition, after rainstorms. exposure. Well done The lights hitting all around. the mist produce a — E.Z. colorful effect like stained glass. Yeong Hsiou Chen Rotary Club of Taipei Hwachung, Taiwan 36  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

On an annual trek Judges say: to higher elevations I’m drawn to the for better grazing, fleeting moment a shepherd drives this image captured. his flock of sheep The askew framing, across the aptly setting sun, and blur named Sheep of sheep running Bridge, which spans to the bridge Idaho’s Payette contribute to the River. spontaneity. — Jacqueline Cantu Craig Vroom Rotary Club of McCall (Payette Lakes), Idaho JUNE 2023  ROTARY  37

Rebuilt after World Judges say: War II, Rotterdam’s A marvel in color city center is an and repetition! architectural The horizon line smorgasbord. These isn’t immediately cube houses are a apparent, which landmark for residents keeps the viewer’s and tourists to the eye moving around Netherlands. the composition. — J.C. Douglas Hartford Rotary Club of St. Paul, Minnesota 38  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

A feral cat Judges say: sunbathes in the Fun image. The back courtyard of an story of Egypt and Egyptian temple cats being magical to Isis, part of the creatures fills this Philae complex photograph. on the Nile River. — E.Z. Ancient Egyptians revered cats, believing them to carry divine energy. Terry Ip Rotary Club of Arlington North West, Texas JUNE 2023  ROTARY  39

Myron Thompson was treated for polio as a child at the Tuskegee Institute in 1949. Today, he is a senior U.S. District Court judge in Alabama.

‘hidPdOenLIfOigu’Sres’ At the height of segregation, a group of Black doctors and scientists focused on stopping polio B Y K AT E S I LV E R Photography by Nicole Craine

S It wasn’t until years later that Thompson realized how fortunate he was omething was wrong with to receive such top-notch care as a Black child with the disease. The facility Myron Thompson. In 1949, where he was treated — the Infantile Paralysis Center at John A. Andrew as polio was sweeping the Memorial Hospital, located on the campus of a Black college — was the American South, the tiny only place in the United States built specifically to treat Black children with toddler — just 2 years old polio. Elsewhere in the Jim Crow South, hospitals would regularly turn — spiked a high fever and Black patients away, or, if they did admit them, they might relegate them to struggled to move. Terrified, separate quarters or give them subpar care. “It wasn’t just that I was treated,” his mother rushed him to the says Thompson, his voice soft and measured, his eyes serious behind his nearby hospital in Tuskegee, wire-rim glasses. “I was treated with dignity.” Alabama — a magnificent, red-brick building where a The Tuskegee Institute, as the university was then called, was a special portico with four columns place — not only because children received high-quality treatment at its welcomed patients like a hospital like Thompson, but because on that same campus Black scientists grand hotel. There, doctors were conducting research that would play a critical role in the success of the and nurses who specialized first polio vaccine and help eliminate the deadly disease in the United States. in treating children with polio welcomed the child That story, in the shadow of a deeply segregated country, is one that’s not with open arms and began gotten its due. In Alabama, Rotary District 6880 is working to change that. helping him immediately. 42  ROTARY  JUNE 2023 F or Sam Adams, it started with a swimming pool. It was 2017, and as the governor-nominee for District 6880, he’d been visiting Rotary clubs in the southern half of Alabama to meet members and raise money for The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund. At a greasy spoon off the highway in Tuskegee, Rotary mem- bers told Adams two things that lit a fire in him: first, that Rotary founder Paul Harris traveled to Tuskegee several times in the 1940s, spending the winter there. And second, there was a rumor that the Civilian Conservation Corps built an indoor swimming pool in town for people with polio under the guidance of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was stricken with the disease in his 30s. “I said, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’” recalls Adams, a member of the Rotary Club of Montgomery. “This was really unique, because it had some- thing to do with polio.” Adams is a history lover. But until that day, his familiarity with Tuskegee was mostly limited to happenings that the town and the institute are most famous for: the Tuskegee Airmen, the military’s first all-Black flying unit, fighting for the country in World War II at a time when Black people were not allowed in many colleges, public pools, or libraries. He knew about the U.S. Public Health Service’s Tuskegee syphilis study, which became the poster child for human rights abuses after researchers and doctors lied to hundreds of Black men, most of whom were poor and illiterate, and let them suffer without treatment for syphilis from 1932 to 1972. His interest piqued, Adams began doing research to try to track down the site of the pool. In time, he enlisted the help of Bruce McNeal, who had become the district governor-nominee after Adams served as district governor. McNeal searched and searched but didn’t have much luck — that is, until he connected with Dana Chandler, the archivist and an associate professor of history at Tuskegee University. That, recalls Adams, is when the floodgates opened. “Bruce called me up and said, ‘Sam, I think I found what you were looking for, but it’s not a swimming pool. It’s a whole massive effort to help people with polio and prevent polio,’” Adams says. Chandler is a megaphone for all that Tuskegee University has accom- plished. He’s been the university archivist since 2007 and, with Edith Powell, co-authored the book To Raise Up the Man Farthest Down: Tuskegee Univer- sity’s Advancements in Human Health, 1881-1987. He regaled McNeal with the school’s illustrious past. Booker T. Washington, born into slavery, founded

the institute at Tuskegee in 1881, and it achieved university status in 1985. Paralysis gave out its largest grant to date George Washington Carver was an instructor and researcher, teaching stu- to establish the Infantile Paralysis Center dents and farmers about new agricultural techniques. And the school is the at the hospital. Roosevelt and his former backdrop for a remarkable array of “firsts.” Those include building the first law partner, Basil O’Connor, had recently hospital for African Americans in Alabama (the John A. Andrew Memorial established the foundation, which would Hospital) and organizing National Negro Health Week and the National become the March of Dimes. “Paralysis Negro Business League. In the first half of the 20th century, the Tuskegee Center Set Up for Negroes,” read The New Institute also played a large part in treating — and preventing — polio. York Times headline on 22 May 1939. In the 1930s, Black families had few options if a child got polio. Not The article quotes O’Connor: “The only was it difficult to find care — even Roosevelt’s Georgia Warm Springs Tuskegee polio center will do much more Foundation banned Black people from the waters — but the consensus in than provide the most modern treatment the medical establishment at the time was that African Americans were for Negro infantile paralysis victims. It much less susceptible to polio. The problem was that a lot of white doctors will train Negro doctors and surgeons felt that Black people didn’t get polio, says Chandler. for orthopedic work,” he said. “It will train Negroes as orthopedic nurses. It In reality, doctors working at Tuskegee’s John A. Andrew Memorial Hos- will train Negroes as physiotherapists. pital had been treating Black children with polio for years and had devel- Tuskegee will disseminate educational oped a stellar reputation nationally for their public health work. In 1939, in information to all Negro doctors with response to pressure from Black activists to end medical racism and offer respect to early diagnosis and the proper treatment options to Black families, the National Foundation for Infantile Rotary members connected with Dana Chandler, archivist and an associate professor of history at Tuskegee University. JUNE 2023  ROTARY  43

care and aftertreatment of infantile pa- would not speak down to me. He would stoop down to me. To him, no one ralysis. Tuskegee will constitute an im- was more important than the child.” portant sector in the foundation’s fighting front in combating the terrible crippling If health care experiences can be considered idyllic, Thompson’s was. And effects of infantile paralysis.” so was his childhood. He describes Tuskegee in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s as a kind of island in a society of total segregation. It had a vibrant middle class When the center opened in 1941, it was Black community. Most people who worked there were affiliated with the in- staffed by Black health care profession- stitute and its hospital or the local Veterans Administration Hospital. “The so- als to serve Black families. And it was the ciety in which I grew up was totally Black,” he says. It wasn’t until 1965, when only place you could go to in the nation if he went to Yale University that he was around white people for the first time. you were Black that exclusively provided polio treatment. For Thompson, learning how other Black people were treated in Alabama and across the country came as a shock. Growing up, he recalls visiting W hen Thompson, who is 76, family members in other towns and realizing how fortunate he was. “These remembers his time at the Black Alabamians did not walk through the front door of a stately building Infantile Paralysis Center, like Tuskegee,” he says. “They walked most often through the basement. he still feels a sense of And that’s assuming the hospital would take them.” awe. Everything about the place made him feel important, from the I n the 1950s, polio was spreading around the globe and paralyzing or building’s architecture to the people who killing more than 500,000 people a year, according to the World Health worked there. It was where he learned to Organization. Scientists were hard at work trying to develop a vaccine. use a wheelchair and then leg braces and One of those scientists was Jonas Salk, toiling in the Virus Research then began to walk, unsupported. The In- Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, more fantile Paralysis Center would, to him, re- than 600 miles northeast of Tuskegee. With the support of the National main a special place, where nurses hugged Institute for Infantile Paralysis, Salk developed a polio vaccine using in- and comforted him, and doctors treated activated poliovirus. He first injected the vaccine into monkeys, and when him with love and respect. that proved promising, he began administering it to volunteers, including himself, his wife, and his children. The next step, in 1954, was to test the One doctor who sticks out is John effectiveness of the vaccine on hundreds of thousands of school children Chenault, who was, according to The New known as Polio Pioneers, in what would become the largest field trial of its York Times, one of two Black orthopedists time. It was sponsored by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. in the country in 1939; he was head of or- thopedics at John A. Andrew Memorial Vaccine testing required a near endless supply of human cells. That had Hospital and became the first director of only recently become possible because of a Black woman: Henrietta Lacks. the Infantile Paralysis Center. “I remem- In 1951, Lacks sought treatment for a painful condition at Johns Hopkins ber him as kind and gentle,” he says. “He Hospital, one of the few hospitals where poor African Americans could get medical treatment. It turned out to be cervical cancer. A doctor took a cell When a laboratory sample from her large tumor without her knowledge or permission, which was needed to was customary at that time. Lacks died soon after, but those cells did not. produce massive They were unique in their ability to thrive and multiply, doubling within amounts of HeLa cells 24 hours, instead of dying as normal cells would do. Given the name HeLa to test Salk’s vaccine, cells, they would go on to become a critical component of medical research. the stars aligned at (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot tells an extensive the Tuskegee Institute. history of Lacks, her family, and the ethics of this now famous case.) And to test the effectiveness of Salk’s polio vaccine, scientists would need an 44  ROTARY  JUNE 2023 astronomical number of HeLa cells. Meanwhile, other important puzzle pieces had been coming together at Tuskegee, Chandler and Powell note in their book. O’Connor, as the presi- dent of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, had been named chair of Tuskegee’s board of trustees in 1946. Across campus, Carver had scrimped and saved his earnings to fund the George Washington Carver Foundation, established in 1940 to train Black scientists in advanced agricul- tural research. Carver, who died in 1943, had a keen interest in helping polio patients, including using peanut oil he developed to massage their muscles. When the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis needed a labora- tory to produce massive amounts of HeLa cells to test Salk’s vaccine, the stars aligned at the Tuskegee Institute. Writing in their book, Chandler and Powell address the question “Why Tuskegee?” “Why not turn to a white institution, previously experienced in laboratory research?” they

PHOTOGRAPHS: (BANNER) COURTESY OF MARCH OF DIMES; (ALL OTHERS) COURTESY OF TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES ask. “And if not a white institution, why not Meharry Medical College or Clockwise from top left: Children in Macon the prestigious Hampton [Institute]?” County, Alabama, receive polio vaccinations; the first Black child was featured on a poster for the Their conclusion: “Primarily, it was the intimate relationship between the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis circa NFIP [National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis] and Tuskegee that led to 1949; Jeanne M. Walton examines HeLa cells; John the important decision to construct and utilize a modern and up-to-date re- Chenault checks on a polio patient; President search facility for the propagation and mass distribution of the HeLa cells.” Franklin Roosevelt and Basil O’Connor, co-founders of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis; W hile Tuskegee researchers were well versed in cell biology, the original Tuskegee Institute infirmary. they needed to be trained in the process of developing and storing HeLa cells. Russell Brown, director of the Carver JUNE 2023  ROTARY  45 Foundation, was named principal investigator of the HeLa cell project, and James “Jimmy” Henderson, a researcher im- mersed in work with cell cultures, was named co-investigator. In the dead of winter, January 1953, both traveled to Minneapolis to train at the University of Minnesota with researchers who conducted early work using HeLa cells. In a 2021 Scientific American article, Ain- issa Ramirez writes of how the two arrived on a segregated campus and were given housing on the edge of the university. “Under the Minnesota stars, Brown and Henderson learned the basics of cell and tissue culture and designed their Tuskegee laboratory, preparing for the renovations that would begin when they returned,” she writes. In a few weeks, they

soaked up all they could and returned to In August 2022, a bronze Alabama, putting their new knowledge to statue depicting medical work in February. staff and a polio patient was unveiled in front of the former In April 1954, the Salk vaccine trials Infantile Paralysis Center, now began in McLean, Virginia, and reached the Legacy Museum. across the United States, Canada, and Fin- land. All told, 1.8 million children partici- T uskegee’s involvement in these efforts is well documented, and yet pated in the trial, some getting the vaccine, the contribution is relatively unknown, even to Alabama residents. others getting a placebo, and still others So as McNeal and Adams learned of these accomplishments, it serving as a control group. became clear to them that recognition of the hidden heroes was long overdue. “We decided as Rotarians and as a Rotary district To test the vaccine’s effectiveness, re- we wanted to bring to life some of the history there,” says McNeal. searchers would mix poliovirus with a blood sample from a vaccinated child, In 2019, McNeal made his first trip to Tuskegee University, where Chan- then add the mix to a tube containing dler introduced him to the archives. “We found a picture of one of the HeLa cells, which are very susceptible to famous physicians on campus, and a nurse that would take care of some poliovirus. If the vaccine worked, antibod- of the polio victims, and a polio victim,” says McNeal. “The picture itself ies in the blood would attack the poliovi- told the story of the love and the treatment that happened on campus.” rus, protecting the HeLa cells from infec- tion. If it didn’t, the surviving poliovirus That’s when the idea struck: What if they were to use that photo to would attack the HeLa cells, and scientists fashion a statue in front of the old Infantile Paralysis Center? After getting could see the resulting misshapen HeLa approval from the university’s trustees, Rotary District 6880 started rais- cells under a microscope. ing funds to pay for the monument. Adams enlisted the help of his friend Graham Champion, a lobbyist in Montgomery and past president of the A 1955 article in The New York Times Rotary Club of Montgomery. details the enormity of that work at Tuske- gee: 25 Black scientists and technicians participated in the testing, producing about 12,000 tubes of HeLa cells to ship to laboratories each week. “The cells are grown at Tuskegee in a long line of incu- bators, measured into culture tubes and shipped by air in special packaging that contains a substance that maintains a correct growth-temperature for at least ninety-six hours in the package,” it reads. The article details how 27 laboratories across the country were participating in the testing of 40,000 blood samples from children in the field trials. “About half of the laboratories are using HeLa cells pre- pared at the Carver foundation’s installa- tions on Tuskegee’s campus,” it notes. On 12 April 1955, researchers an- nounced the results: The Salk vaccine was deemed 80 percent to 90 percent ef- fective at preventing paralytic polio. Not long after, another vaccine developed by physician and microbiologist Albert Sabin was approved as well. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention, polio cases in the U.S. dropped from nearly 58,000 in 1952 to about 5,500 in 1957, and by 1965 had fallen to 72. At Tuskegee, the Infantile Paralysis Center closed its doors in 1975, no longer needed. Today, wild poliovirus has been eradi- cated in all countries but two: Pakistan and Afghanistan. 46  ROTARY  JUNE 2023

From left: Tuskegee University Trustee Henry Davis III with fellow Rotary members Bruce McNeal, Adell Goodwin, Sam Adams, and Graham Champion at Tuskegee University Museum JUNE 2023 ROTARY 47

The process was slow. Champion The unveiling was like the found that he needed to educate every- culmination of a 1,000-piece jigsaw one he spoke with about Tuskegee’s im- puzzle that took years to assemble. portant work. “When folks think about Now, the monument will forever research at Tuskegee, unfortunately what honor those men and women for they think about is the Tuskegee syphi- their dedication and service. lis project,” he says. “They don’t think about anything really this good. They T he impact of those doctors and scientists lives on through people don’t think about the work that George like Thompson, who is now a U.S. District Court judge. Over a Washington Carver did in terms of pea- video call in January, he sat in his Montgomery courtroom, a place nut research or the agricultural research so important to civil rights history it’s referred to as America’s that he did. They just look at Tuskegee as Courtroom, and reflected on how polio changed his life. As a child, being a small Black college. And it really he couldn’t run because of his affected leg. So he adapted. He rode his bike is a phenomenal institution.” and became a fast swimmer. He found solace and joy in books and studying and music. He developed inner strength and resilience. And he felt a deep Champion’s tireless work paid off, and appreciation for everyone who helped him along the way. Today, he walks he helped raise $177,000 — more than proudly, with only a slight limp. half of which came from appropriations from the Alabama Legislature, and the Thompson didn’t know until recently about Tuskegee’s role in the polio rest from individuals, foundations, Ro- vaccine. But when he found out, he wasn’t surprised; he knew some of those tary clubs, District 6880 grants, and other brilliant scientists personally, after all. What’s more amazing to Thompson entities. is that they were able to make this progress despite the period of history in which they were working. “They did these phenomenal things,” he says. In August 2022, the bronze statue de- “It’s just amazing, when you consider that they did it with this opposition.” picting Dr. Chenault, nurse Warrena Tur- pin, and a polio patient named Gordon After Thompson graduated from Yale Law School in 1972, he returned to Stewart was unveiled in front of the old Alabama. He became the first Black assistant attorney general for the state Infantile Paralysis Center, now the Legacy and then its first Black bar examiner. After President Jimmy Carter nomi- Museum. In attendance were Thompson, nated him to be a District Court judge for the Middle District of Alabama family members of the scientists and re- at age 33, he became the state’s second Black federal judge. He has presided searchers, leaders of the March of Dimes, over landmark cases, including the highly publicized 2002 case in which faculty and staff of Tuskegee University, Thompson ordered Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore to state officials, and the Rotary members remove a Ten Commandments monument from his courtroom. behind the project. Thompson credits his health experiences for shaping his view of the law For McNeal, the unveiling was like and how it should serve people. He says he doesn’t subscribe to the philoso- the culmination of a 1,000-piece jigsaw phy that everyone can lift themselves up by their bootstraps, because that puzzle that took years to assemble (al- wasn’t his experience. “We are all products of sacrifices, by our mothers, though he never did find that pool). Now, our dads, by our aunts, by our grandfathers, by our neighbors, by our whole the monument will forever honor those community. They come together to make us who we are,” he says. “I have men and women for their dedication and stood on the shoulders of many other people, and I’m very thankful for it.” service. “It’s a well-kept secret,” says McNeal. “Putting the monument and the When Thompson first saw the polio recognition monument, which bears statue there, it really brings it to life.” the familiar face of his childhood doctor, Dr. Chenault, he felt grateful that the important contributions from his hometown were finally being recognized. Help end polio forever. Make a contribution at He hopes that one day when people hear the word “Tuskegee” they won’t endpolio.org/donate. just think of the negative history. They’ll also know about the Black doctors and scientists who helped turn the tide on polio, even when the odds were against them.