2022-07 July

July 2022 The movement to stop human OUR NEXT CHAPTER trafficking President Jennifer Jones page 12 embraces her role as a different kind of leader Clubs collaborate to aid Ukraine page 24 page 18 Rotary taps into the Navajo Water Project page 36

DIVERSITY STRENGTHENS OUR CLUBS New members from different groups in our communities bring fresh perspectives and ideas to our clubs and expand Rotary’s presence. Invite prospective members from all backgrounds to experience Rotary. REFER A NEW MEMBER my.rotary.org/member-center

Telling PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE our stories E very month since I joined Rotary, I’ve looked forward to reading this magazine, especially the opening essay from our Rotary president. I’ll admit that as much as I appreciate a digital copy, I still revel in the tactile sensation of sitting down and leafing through the magazine’s glossy pages. They are a treasure trove of photos and memorable stories about our great organization — the one we all know and love. I have learned so much over the years about service projects and the lives that each of you have transformed. As a communications professional, I have longed for the day our stories would be a regular part of mainstream media and our flagship magazine might populate doctor’s offices, coffee shops, or anywhere else people sit, wait, and browse. It’s great that Rotary members are better informed about all we do — and wouldn’t it be that much better if more people knew our stories? All this was top of mind as I thought about our plans for promoting Rotary worldwide during the upcoming year. Over the next 12 months, we are going to shine a light on projects that put Rotary service on display to the world, and we are going to do it strategically. Nick and I will focus on some of the most impactful, sustainable, and scalable Rotary projects from our areas of focus, in what we call the Imagine Impact Tour. We are inviting top-tier journalists, thought leaders, and influencers to use their channels to help us raise awareness by reaching people who want to serve but have not yet realized they can do it through Rotary. But there was another important issue to consider — our carbon footprint. I take seriously Rotary’s emerging leadership position on environmental issues. The example set by our members during the COVID-19 pandemic is fundamental to how we carve out our future. That means we will harness digital technology to tell our stories — “We are going to shine we will be tweeting, posting, and “going live” to anyone who will listen. a light on projects that We must consider the environment, and part of that means not always put Rotary service on PHOTOGRAPH: MONIKA LOZINSKA/ROTARY INTERNATIONAL traveling but continuing to connect in meaningful ways as we have for display to the world, the past two years. and we are going to do it Of course, we are social people, and we still need to be together. strategically.” We simply need to be more mindful of our decisions and think about how we gather just a little bit differently. For example, if we travel to visit a project, we will plan successive visits in neighboring areas. So, what are your stories and who can help tell them? I hope you might consider your own Imagine Impact efforts — your story might be something you can promote just as easily on social media or during a Zoom call. Think about ways to showcase notable projects in your clubs and districts. We all feel the impact that Rotary service and values have on us. Now it’s our opportunity to share that feeling with others. JENNIFER JONES President, Rotary International JULY 2022  ROTARY  1

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WELCOME Photograph by An Rong Xu YOU ARE HERE: Dadaocheng District of Taipei, Taiwan GREETING: Nǐ hǎo OLD MEETS NEW: The Dadaocheng District holds a special place in Pete Ma’s heart. “It’s where my father was born and raised,” says Ma, a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei North. Today, he takes visitors to the vibrant neighborhood, where storefronts with tradi- tional spices or silk fabrics on offer keep company with chic cafes and art galleries. A RENAISSANCE: “This was the com- mercial center of the city in the 19th century, known for its tea and fabric trades,” Ma says. He suggests you take in the sights along Dihua Street, or head to Wangtea Lab, a tea shop owned by the same family since the late 1800s. Another must-see, Ma says, is Little Garden, which still hand-crafts colorful, tradi- tional embroidered shoes. THE CLUBS: The Rotary Club of Taipei, the oldest club in Taiwan, was chartered in 1948. Now, Taiwan has 935 clubs and about 35,000 members. — paula m. bodah JULY 2022  ROTARY  3

ROTARY GENERAL OFFICERS OF ROTARY TRUSTEES OF THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL, 2022–23 FOUNDATION, 2022–23 July 2022 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 SENIOR EDITORIAL VICE CHAIR COORDINATOR VICE PRESIDENT Larry A. Lunsford SENIOR STAFF WRITER Cynthia Edbrooke Nicki Scott Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, Diana Schoberg The North Cotswolds, England USA CIRCULATION ASSOCIATE EDITOR MANAGER TREASURER TRUSTEES John M. Cunningham Katie McCoy Ananthanarayanan S. “Venky” Jorge Aufranc Venkatesh Guatemala Sur, Guatemala COPY EDITOR Chennai Mambalam, India Kristin Morris Marcelo Demétrio Haick DIRECTORS Santos-Praia, Brazil Send ad inquiries and materials to: Marc Dukes, Alberto Cecchini Rotary magazine, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Roma Nord-Est, Italy Martha Peak Helman Ave., 14th floor, Evanston, IL 60201; phone Boothbay Harbor, Maine, USA 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 for Muthaiga, Kenya unsolicited materials. Muhammad Faiz Kidwai Karachi Karsaz, Pakistan Aziz Memon To subscribe: Twelve issues at US$12 a year (USA, Karachi, Pakistan 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, and Virgin Enebakk, Norway Islands (toll-free) 866-976-8279. Elsewhere: GENERAL SECRETARY  847-866-3000, ext. 8999. Vicki Puliz John Hewko Sparks, Nevada, USA Kyiv, Ukraine Unless otherwise noted: All images are copyright ©2022 by Rotary International or are used with Yoshio Sato 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 ©2022 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 July 2022 issue, volume 201, number 1, of USA Rotary. Publication number: USPS 548-810. ISSN 2694-443X (print); ISSN 2694-4448 (online). GENERAL SECRETARY John Hewko 4  ROTARY  JULY 2022 Kyiv, Ukraine

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July 2022 Vol. 201, No. 1 CONTENT FEATURES 1 President’s message ILLUSTRATION: MIGUEL PORLAN; PHOTOGRAPH OPPOSITE : JULIA RENDLEMAN 2 Welcome 24 CONNECT Storyteller in chief 8 Staff corner 9 Letters to the editor 2022-23 President 11 The specialist Jennifer Jones is eager to advance Rotary’s narrative E-waste recycling CEO discusses the health benefits of a circular economy By Diana Schoberg Photography by Monika Lozinska OUR WORLD 36 12 ‘We tackle the tough issues’ Rotary members aim to root out the Tó éí ííná át'é: Water is life global scourge of human trafficking Alongside Rotary and the 15 ‘What do we do with this gift?’ nonprofit DigDeep, the Navajo A civil engineer finds his calling are bringing a vital commodity to their ancestral homeland 16 People of action around the globe 18 Rotary responds: support for Ukraine By Geoffrey Johnson 20 Listen up! Photography by Julia Rendleman It’s the most important communication 46 skill you were probably never taught The shape of water OUR CLUBS A Navajo professor offers 50 Virtual visit ancient tales as a luminous Rotary Club of Columbia South, pathway out of her people’s Missouri fraught and fractured history 52 Calendar By Jennifer Nez Denetdale 53 Trustee chair’s message Artwork by Ed Singer 54 Dispatches from our sister magazines 56 Apply yourself On the cover: Jennifer Jones Serve on a Rotary committee plans to hit the 60 Council on Legislation elevates equity ground running when she takes and inclusion office 1 July as 61 In memoriam RI president. Bhichai Rattakul, 1926-2022 Photograph by 62 2023 convention | Crossword Monika Lozinska 64 A Down Under delight 6 ROTARY JULY 2022 Aussies will whip up a sweet, fruity pavlova for any occasion 20

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CONNEC STAFF CORNER PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF RASHID ABDULLAH Rashid Abdullah People & Culture partner Follow us to get updates, I’ve always been fascinated with the E ducation Master’s in applied share stories with your linguistics from the American University networks, and tell us what theatrical arts — acting, directing, and in Cairo and a bachelor’s in history with you think. writing — and I fancied a career in the a minor in international studies from entertainment industry. Growing up, I the University of Illinois Chicago Rotary.org became a big fan of comedy and took classes in improv at Chicago’s Second Languages Speaks conversational [email protected] City, the world’s most influential improv Arabic, French, and Spanish theater. I even worked as a night staff @rotary member there. Since 2008, I’ve been A vocation Comedy performing on and off around Chicago, /rotary and I just hosted a comedy fundraiser for I first heard about Rotary in 2018 while a nonprofit in Chicago. I was living in Egypt. A friend came to @rotaryinternational visit me. He was on his way to Rwanda to As a comic, I talked a lot about my help his mother start an English lan- Rotary magazine guage program for a group of mediators. One Rotary Center background. For example, I come from a His mother, Emily Gould, is a Rotarian 1560 Sherman Ave. mixed-race family. My mother is a Moroc- and law professor in the U.S. She serves Evanston, IL 60201 can native, and my dad, who looks like as a law reform consultant to Rwanda Santa Claus, is from Michigan — not the on alternative dispute resolution, and The editors welcome comments North Pole. I made jokes about them and she secured a global grant to support a on items published in the about my everyday life, including some of community peace center there. I traveled magazine but reserve the right to the racism I encountered. This is a com- to the central African country with my edit for style and length. Published mon theme among comedians, especially friend and did volunteer work. Seeing letters do not necessarily reflect those from marginalized backgrounds. We how people who had lived through the the views of the editors or Rotary use humor to cope with life’s challenges. horrors of the genocide were able to International leadership, nor do come together, reconcile, and build back the editors take responsibility Stand-up comedy is so interwoven with a community was really inspiring. for errors of fact that may be expressed by the writers. freedom of speech, and comedians I returned to the United States in late always push the boundaries. Bassem 8  ROTARY  JULY 2022 Youssef, one of my favorite comedians 2018 and began to research Rotary, in Egypt, had to flee his country after which, to my surprise, was headquar- his satire offended authorities. I admire tered in Evanston, Illinois, near where Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the comedian- I grew up. Having gained some relevant turned-president in Ukraine, who is now experience with a smaller nonprofit in leading his country in a war of resistance Chicago, I joined Rotary, where I now against Russian invasion. support managers and staff on issues such as hiring, staff diversity, equity In 2012, I took a break from comedy and inclusion, employee relations, and learning and organization development. I after getting a job teaching English at became a Rotarian soon after. the American Language Center in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. I also ran an In October, I helped charter a Rotary English program for MBA students at a local university. Being a good teacher is club in Rubavu District, Rwanda, where very similar to stand-up: You need to be a I had volunteered. good communicator and a good story- teller. Nowadays, I still get a kick out — as told to steve johnson of seeing former students on LinkedIn or social media and feel proud of what they’ve accomplished.

Letters to the editor ACTION FOR ANIMALS Cliff Dochterman OVERHEARD ON [“The Happiness SOCIAL MEDIA Thank you for the article on the efforts of Helping Others,” to save African animals from extinction April] to make In April, we [“White Rhinos and Black Mambas,” Rotary an impor- highlighted the April]. This article brings attention to the tant part of my life. strength of Rotary work of Rotary Action Groups and raises When he was gov- members in awareness of the good things that can ernor of District Ukraine during happen because of them. As a longtime 5160, Cliff visited recent and past member of the Rotary Action Group for the Rotary Club times of crisis. Endangered Species, I am glad to see it of Weaverville, recognized. California. Many Still practicing years later, when Service Above — Barbara Shayeb-Helou, Greenville, I first met Cliff Self in a country and told him I was suffering an South Carolina from Weaverville, invasion is he told me about remarkable. My Having been on a photo safari to South his visit and rattled heart goes out to Africa some years back, I truly enjoyed off the names of you all. the article on the Black Mambas. The the club’s officers Catriona Ferrie only thing missing was information on that year. Over the ► via LinkedIn how to support this operation. next 40 years, I met Cliff about 10 times, and he always remembered my name Truly an act of — Marshall Works, Kimberling City, and asked by name about the Rotar- tenacity and ians in Weaverville. I was amazed by his resilience. Proud Missouri phenomenal memory, sense of humor, of our Rotarians humility, and ability to inspire. in Ukraine and Editor’s note: The Black Mambas are globally. funded in part by the Rotarian-led — David Hammer, Rancho Mirage, California Dawn Rochelle nonprofit Rhino Mercy, which accepts ► via LinkedIn donations at rhinomercy.org. FROM THE TOP MAKE AN IMPACT Bravo! The remarkable story of John Hewko, Rotary’s general secretary and The April issue was filled with reminders a charter member of the Rotary Club of about the perils of a changing climate. Kyiv, Ukraine, is a great start to the Staff In the “Taking Action for Change” ad, Corner column [March]. His Ukrainian we learn that Rotary wants to invest roots are of very timely interest. resources in programs that will have the greatest impact and that align with — Jerry Bilton, Wilmington, Delaware our areas of focus. Climate action meets both requirements. Nothing will have a WATER WAYS greater impact on people everywhere. In addition, such programs will attract Rotary’s 2022-23 president, Jennifer new members — younger people who Jones, asks us to Imagine Rotary and are looking to join organizations that are to think about it as a movement [“The addressing their concerns. Connector,” March]. I thought about her request while watching a film that All of Rotary’s good work will fail in describes how the world’s water cycles the long run — and perhaps within the affect the environment. It is believed next few decades — if we do not stop that up to 95 percent of the Earth’s heat rising global temperatures. For more on dynamics are regulated by hydrological how you and your club can help, visit the processes. Rotary members concerned Rotary Climate Action Team Network about supporting the environment could site at rcatnow.com. make a tremendous impact by restoring natural water cycles. — Alan Anderson, Northfield, Minnesota — John A. Lawrence, Chatham, Ontario A LASTING LEGACY I joined Rotary in 1975. Like many Rotar- ians of my generation, I was inspired by JULY 2022  ROTARY  9

CREATE. LIDERANÇA. LEADERSHIP. LEADERSHIP. SHARE. VOYAGE. ITNRSAPVIREAL.ÇÃO. ITNRSAPVIRELA.TION. INSPIRATION. CONNECT. 学海奉び仕外。。体験FDVO。ÉIARCMOJEUASVT. EIORNTLSAE.TSLEEC.EREARTARAVDIOVRVIECNEENRE.L..SD..GLHSIERVIEAPOER.RRWVNTDSIR.C.IÃSAEOCV..OEVLASLLTSE.EECEREARRTARAVDYIVRVO.IENEECNR.LE..S..FGLHUSERIENAPOR.R.WVNTDI.R.CISAECV.OELSAVLEE.ECARRTVDIYO.IECNRE.S.FHUINP.. AVENTURAS. FRIENFUDNS.HIP. FRIENFUDNS.HIP. TRAVEL. DISCOVERY. FUN. DIVERSIÓN. FUN. FUN. Descubra um mundo novo fora da sala de aula. Discover a world outside the classroom through Discover a world outside the classroom through Participe de um programa intensivo de liderança que an intensive leadership experience that builds an intensive leadership experience that builds ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE psluerRLLgoobOaObnarNlTesgmAeGm-itRea-ealTYrhsemEomeYRr.eOmMtxéUcachTnnaHeicniraEgasXes dsCdebeHucAtiorlNadmnGpuseEfnoaicrcmaeçaoãrnooe, solução de csyoooLRLolumOOvnriNnmTsgeAgG-ult,fRn-eaTbYricnmEuadYRtteOitMcohxhUnceahTslwalHkenionlEglrgslXe,desCt.sebHyauoAciuhlNdetGspoeEccarhecaaentoigvneeepnyroootubonlengmlyp-erson communication skills, teaches creative problem- LONG-TERM mundo num solving, and challenges you to change not only Long-term exchanges build peace one young person yourself but the world. young person 目新標世を代も交って換海を渡り、異aoaa国tcnfaoamでdttheoiのmmerer奉eicct.huy仕Salettnuua活rdr1.ee動0B,n0eaにtcnscodo参lemulai加nevrentしariwaeg、siln短t.ohebwhalolcasitntigfJatlzeaoouceamitnandPSNdiog.ireEelEtoineSverhRWf,steseetVadloisofrngIGisotspCbilcryooEiEunooinabNnivulEaoandEferlXlnuorRdacmelCvlAoeabHovmTteveiAIvtmelOetoNmeNupsGrenmoSwEniltuetyontoraoaaiatolfcntdfnwnaoy.amdsdoitEttheomtuhxiommercneoarhtgeibhcactp.hilunelueySialzgearttwnepuueadordre1y.iedrseor0B,lesednu0ea:at’trscnasUscofdkmonlrwemiiuineloaviinevngtesrhenttdrarssiwaiegtysilnt.ohebwhalolcasitntigfJatlzeaoocueamiSNPtnanddiroEg.iEeoeltnRieSWvrhfees,tVsetasldoiIoGfsnrgCiotipsboElEycroiunnNoiobanEiauvlEaondlXferRlnuodrCacmelAveloHavbTomteAeIvilOvtmeoNetmNpeGusrmSenoEwnieltutnyototraaoaiaolfntcwdfnnaoy.amdisdtotEhtheomtuxiommercnaoerhgteibphcact.iuhluneleySiralzgeattpwneuueadoordrey1si.edreore0lB,sedn:u0eaat’tUrscnasscfonkmdolrwemiiivuneolaiienngtevsrrhenttdsarisiwtaegysilnt.ohebwhalolcasitntigfJtalzeaoouceamitnanddiog.ieeltnieSvrhe,stesetadloiofrngiotspblcyroiunooibanivuloandferlnuoracmelvloabomtevivtmeetmeusrenowniltutyotoriaolfdnn.ydsoEmtuxocnohgtbhailneleizgaweedoeyidrorlsdeua’trsasfkmrwiineoingtshtds 期間の滞在で新しいスキルを学びたいと思う大学生やフ prehssstkusuiilmndlsge,annlcetioatsamrarninmaadnolynasoencurghvnuiacgalelgepdenrou,gfraeeinnss.dgsiotsahnkoaelrsta-ltceetariormnn,ntcRSheuHOwrsoOtTuoARgmRThi-YzTaEYbROleMUTH EpXrCesshktsHuusilmAidlnseN,agnnlGectiastoEarmarninamadnolyasnoenurgcvnhuicgaaelglpedernou, gfraeinnssdgs.iotsahnkoaelrsta-ltceetariormnn,ntcheSRuwrsHOotuoOTgmARhRiTz-YaTbEYleROMUTH EpXrCesHsiAnNg GcoEmmon challenges. ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE レッシュ社会人にとって、この上ない特別な経験ができる Take action, bSuhildoritn-tteerrmnaetixocnhaalnugnedseexirmcshtmaannedrgsienesg.y,oung people in Take action, bSuhilodrtin-tteerrmnaetxiocnhaalnugneds eimrsmtaenrdsiengyo, ung people in SHORT-TERM でしょう。 Short-term exchanges immerse young pe Toma acción, promueve la comprenseióxcnhianntegrensa. cional and make newanforitehnedrscaurlotuurned. Stohme we olivrled.wDitehvheloospt families for aunpd make newanforitehnedrscuarltouurne.dStohme ewloivreldw. Dithevheolospt families for up another culture. Some live with host fam y forja nuevas amistades alrededor del mundo. your leadershitpostkhilrlesewmhoilentyhosu, wdihsciloevoetrhtehres epmowbaerrk on a tour oyor ur leadershtipo stkhirlelsewmhoilnetyhos,uwdhisicleovoetrhethrseepmobwaerrk on a tour or to three months, while others embark on Desarrolla tus aptitudes de liderazgo mientras of Service Abogvoe tSoelcfaamnpd ffoinrdaofeuwt hwoweekses.riGouoson an adventureofinService AbogvoetSoeclfamanpdffoinr da ofeuwt hwoeweksse.riGoouson an adventure in go to camp for a few weeks. Go on an a descubres el poder de Dar de Sí antes de Pensar en Sí leadership canobnee soefrmiouosrelytfhuann! 100 countries. leadership canonbee osef rmioourselythfuann!100 countries. one of more than 100 countries. y cuan divertido es el verdadero liderazgo. Create your own promotional cards to showcase your youth activities. Available now in Rotary’s Brand Center. YouthProgramsCard_RotarianAD_halfpage.indd 1 2/6/17 2:32 PM WHAT WILL YOU FIND A CLUB Do you need Rotary-branded merchandise? WATCH TODAY? ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Then shop with Rotary-licensed www.yw.oyuotutbue.bce.ocom/rm/ortoatrayirynitnetrenrantiatoinoanlal vendors, many of which are local Rotarian-owned businesses. watch. learn. connect. Shop now at on.rotary.org/shop Shop With A Licensed Vendor_EN-20.indd 1 7/13/20 3:56 PM $:$ 5 ' . $ 1 ( $ ) $ 5 9 , '(2 $'26 6$1' , 0($1 +286(6 , 7 6 $33 / ( 785129(5 Use Rotary’s free 1<7 '$1( , 7:$ 6 Club Locator and find a meGeettRinotgaryw’shfreeereClvubeLroycaotour agpop ! 6(*$ 3$ / $8. and find a meeting wherever you go! $ 520$ ' (: $ *5 , wwwww.wr.orottaarryy.o.orgr/gcl/ucblulobcalotocrator 9$1 , / / $ , &(&5($0 (5$ 7 $50 $36(6 5 ( 9 (:( 0( 1 6 75((6 72$' 625 5$63%(55<&$.( 67$7( / , 1( %2; , 1 +8*( $ 721 $ /21( 2;(1 1(52 5$1*(

THE SPECIALIST facturers to build equipment that checks off all those boxes. Finally, we must take responsibility for our Waste not, own waste and not carelessly dump it. want not The long-term solution is a more circular economy, The health benefits of a circular economy as opposed to a linear economy where disposable products are used, trashed, and become waste. Cir- T he Waste Electrical and Electronic Equip- cular manufacturing means producers of electronics ment Centre, where I’m the CEO, disposes build equipment that can be refurbished or recycled. Governments need to enforce laws that clearly define of, or recycles, anything that uses batteries the roles of all stakeholders when the equipment is designed, manufactured, exported, sold, used, re- or electricity: mobile phones, computers, paired, refurbished, reused, and finally recycled. microwaves. We remove heavy metals such We must teach our children to be conscious of the environmental impact of e-waste and to practice cir- as zinc, copper, gold, mercury, lead, and cadmium, cularity and proper waste management. At the WEEE some of which can cause kidney disorders, repro- Centre outside Nairobi, we often have young ones vis- ductive complications, irreversible brain damage, or iting to learn about e-waste, as early as kindergarten. cancer through inhalation, contaminated water, or the food chain. We’ve safely disposed of more than Many governments in Africa give little attention to e-waste. They need to understand that prevention is 10,000 tons of e-waste and created 2,000 jobs. much better than cure. Promotion of proper waste My first electronic device was a battery-powered toy. Later, I had a music player, a small radio, and, when management is far cheaper than remediation, the mobile phones became popular, one of those old same way it’s cheaper to prevent cancer by taking care Motorolas. I have no idea where any of these went; at of e-waste than it is to pay for cancer treatment. that time we had no information on e-waste. Our work is intended to create an impact: cleaning up Bonnie Mbithi the environment, creating green jobs, and developing Rotary Club of We need to rethink our consumer behaviors and Syokimau, Kenya awareness programs. I joined Rotary several years make sure that the equipment we do buy is durable, E-waste recycler ago, and the connection feels very natural. We share repairable, and recyclable. We need to pressure manu- the same values. — as told to pete nelson Photograph by Khadija Farah JULY 2022  ROTARY  11

OUR WORL ROTARY ACTION GROUP AGAINST SLAVERY ‘We tackle the tough issues’ Rotary members aim to root out the global scourge of human trafficking 15 When Dave McCleary first heard ing today,” says Karen Walkowski, Visit An engineer about human trafficking, it seemed founder of the Rotary Club of Dis- ragas.online with no like something that happened far trict 5950 Ending Human Traffick- to find more borders away, probably overseas. But not ing. “Bigger than all the refugees, information and in the United States. And certainly all the displaced people. It’s one of get involved. 18 not in his hometown. the three largest illegal industries, Rallying bringing in about $150 billion in around Then one day he invited a revenue every year.” Ukraine speaker who knew otherwise to talk to his Rotary club in Roswell, “I tell people to think of New 20 Georgia. Her name was Melissa. She York City or London or any major A guide was originally from Roswell and city in the world,” says Sujo John, to active had gone to the same high school founder of the nonprofit YouCan- listening McCleary’s girls had attended. Me- FreeUs, which has partnered with lissa dropped out at 16 and was of- Rotary clubs. “Now think of six 12  ROTARY  JULY 2022 fered a modeling job by a man who or seven times the population of turned out to be a sex trafficker. those cities that are now in slavery. For two years, she was trapped and These are people who have been trafficked in downtown Atlanta be- kidnapped or cheated or told that fore police and a local organization if you come to the city, or go to an- helped her escape. other country, there’s a better op- portunity waiting for you.” After the meeting, another Ro- tarian approached Melissa and gave Sex trafficking is one kind of her a big hug. McCleary asked him modern slavery, but there are oth- how he knew the young woman. He ers that fall under “labor traffick- said she used to babysit his kids ing,” where people find themselves when she was 12, and he had won- trapped in jobs in forestry, farming, dered what had happened to her. restaurants, carnivals, and traveling sales crews of young people ped- “For me, that was when it be- dling magazine subscriptions, and came real,” says McCleary, who they are not allowed to leave. is now chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Slavery. “Now it “People ask me where slavery wasn’t someone else’s problem. And is going on in America,” John says, I remember thinking at the time: “and I say drive through any city Rotary — we’re in 200 countries, in America late in the night. If you with 34,000 clubs and 1.2 million see a neon sign that says ‘Massage,’ Rotarians, and we tackle the tough chances are that is where slavery is issues. Why not slavery?” happening. There might be foreign women kept there against their Of the many global issues, will and forced to provide sexual human trafficking (or modern slav- services.” ery, as it is sometimes called) is one of the toughest to combat. It’s Mark Little, a member of the Ro- estimated that more than 40 mil- tary Club of Norwich St. Edmund, lion people are trafficked across England, didn’t know any of this the world. “It’s probably the larg- until his wife persuaded him to est human rights travesty exist- watch a BBC documentary about

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANINDITO MUKHERJEE / ROTARY INTERNATIONAL the subject. “I thought, ‘Slavery in Top: Students on their way to morning class at Pace Universal, a school for girls in the United States? Surely not. Slav- Piyali Junction, outside Kolkata, India, that is funded in part by Rotary clubs and The ery in the United Kingdom? Never. Rotary Foundation. It was founded by Rotarian Deepa Biswas Willingham to educate Millions of slaves in India?’” girls and protect them from slavery, trafficking, and early childhood marriage in a community where these are common dangers for girls. It includes a guarded home But sure enough, there they were. where girls who need one can live. Above: A student at Pace prepares to celebrate the “That really shook me to the Hindu festival of Holi. core,” says Little. “Within four months, I was out in India to visit two of the child slavery rehabilita- tion centers which were featured in that documentary film. I listened to the testimony of some of the survivors I met on that first visit, who were in the process of rebuild- ing their lives. I thought, ‘My God, what’s going on in the world? We’ve got to do something about it!’” Little founded the Rotary Ac- tion Group Against Slavery, whose newsletter reaches some 3,800 people and which has about 675 members in 49 countries. Meanwhile, in the U.S., at least three new cause-based clubs have JULY 2022  ROTARY  13

been formed to fight human traf- From left: ficking. In addition to Walkowski’s RAGAS Chair club, there is the Rotary Club of Dave McCleary; Community Action Against Human 2021-22 Trafficking, which was started in RI President Kansas, and the Rotary Club of the Shekhar Mehta; Pacific Northwest Ending Sex Traf- and Virginia ficking, based in Seattle. McKenzie, founder of the The latter was founded by Vir- Rotary Club ginia McKenzie after a speaker from of the Pacific a local anti-trafficking organization Northwest told her former club, the Rotary Ending Sex Club of Seattle, about a fake adver- Trafficking, at a tisement that posted a 15-year-old Rotary institute for sale for sex. Within two hours in Tucson, it received 250 calls, mostly from Arizona, in downtown Seattle businesses. November 2021. “There was an audible gasp,” McKenzie says. “For myself, it was Of the many global issues, human 40.3BY THE NUMBERS like I was struck by lightning. In- trafficking is one of the toughest stantly I felt cold anger, red hot fear, MILLION and deep sadness, all at once.” to combat. It’s estimated that more than 40 million people are People in forced For several years, McKenzie labor, sexual worked on her club’s peacebuild- trafficked across the world. exploitation, ing committee doing trafficking- domestic related projects. Among other a McDonald’s restaurant had the slavery and to work toward solu- servitude, PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF VIRGINIA McKENZIE things, they trained 1,000 health National Human Trafficking Hot- tions. and forced care professionals to see signs that line number printed on tray liners, marriages someone is being trafficked (such which resulted in five girls being Some success stories aren’t even as marking tattoos, hypervigilant saved in a month. project related: A Rotarian in Argen- 4,750worldwide escorts, not knowing what city they tina got a message from a woman are in or what day it is) and how In Sacramento, California, there in Mexico she knew through her Dollars made to respond in a trauma-informed, was a major Rotary-sponsored network of activism groups. The per second from HIPAA-compliant way. But she educational program, and in south- woman had learned of a girl who wanted to do more, so she started ern California, more than two dozen was being trafficked in the state of 71forced labor the new club, which was chartered clubs have joined the Rotary Clubs Michoacán, where she was chained last year with 25 members — most Fighting Human Trafficking initia- to a bed and tortured. The Rotarian Percentage of of them new Rotarians, along with tive. Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of in Argentina got in touch with the people in forced several who had left Rotary. Community Action Against Human Rotary Action Group Against Slav- labor who are Trafficking received several global ery. Members of the action group women or girls “This is a very trending topic,” grants to create a drop-in center reached out to their contacts in she says. “It’s like the whole world for victims in Topeka, Kansas, and Mexico City, and the girl was freed Source: is waking up to this. I’m so proud of a plan to educate people on how to within 24 hours. International Rotary for taking this on, and I’m so spot victims. And in February, the Labour optimistic about the role that Rotar- RI Board of Directors approved an “That’s the kind of impact that Organization ians can play to make an impact.” anti-human trafficking resolution Rotary can have,” says McCleary, that encourages Rotary members adding that he wants Rotary to do Other clubs have been taking to become more familiar with the even more. “We believe that this action as well. McCleary’s club or- growing problem of modern-day is a movement, not just a series of ganized a training to help school projects.” — frank bures bus drivers recognize signs of traf- ficking and learn how to respond. A fellow club member who owned Short In April, the RI Board renewed Rotary’s The Global Polio Eradication takes partnerships with the Institute for Initiative announced in April Economics and Peace, Mediators that it is seeking $4.8 billion Beyond Borders International, and to finance the implementation ShelterBox for three years each. of its 2022-26 strategy. 14  ROTARY  JULY 2022 Illustrations by Miguel Porlan

F or nearly three decades, Mike Paddock, 57, worked as a civil engineer and program manager for the global engineering firm CH2M Hill. He led billion-dollar projects, including the construction of two highway interchanges in Milwau- kee. In 1993 his employers assigned him to help solve the largest water- borne disease outbreak in Ameri- can history: the Milwaukee crypto- sporidium outbreak of 1993, which is believed to have resulted from poor filtration in one of the city’s purification plants. It killed 69 people and sickened about 403,000 more, including his wife, Cathy. “I was working pretty much all night,” Paddock says, “and I came home and found my wife sick with crypto. That really made it personal.” Paddock faced another health scare in 1997. He went into the hos- pital expecting to have his appendix removed. He left with a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and was told he had less than six months to live. When he learned later that he would survive, he sat down with his wife to answer a question: “What do we do with this gift?” “It really wasn’t a choice,” Pad- dock says. “It was an obligation.” He joined Engineers Without Borders and began doing pro-bono engineer- ing projects around the world. More recently, he’s worked as a senior tech adviser on COVID-19 for the United Nations Development Programme. And last year, he traveled to Guate- mala to repair pumps, drill a well, PROFILE and install a water tank at a hospital. ‘What do we do Wherever he goes, Paddock with this gift?’ appreciates the aid and presence A civil engineer finds his calling of Rotary members. “They really know and understand what the Mike Paddock situation is, and how to get things Rotary Club of Milwaukee done in that particular environ- ment.” — whet moser A total of 133 Rotary The Rotary Foundation awarded its Starting this month, Rotaract members, including two second $2 million Programs of Scale clubs will pay annual dues of Rotaractors, received grant to a program reducing maternal $5 per member for university- the Service Above Self and neonatal mortality in Nigeria. Learn based clubs and $8 per member Award for 2021-22. more at rotary.org/programsofscale. for community-based clubs. Photograph by Jack Bornhuetter JULY 2022  ROTARY  15

OUR WORLD Colombia 80% PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF ROTARY AND ROTARACT CLUBS Public safety in Cali has People of action improved since the mid-1990s, Cali cartel’s around the globe when drug cartels lorded over share of the the city. The Rotaract Club of mid-1990s By BRAD WEBBER Cali-Norte is promoting peace cocaine trade and conflict resolution through 20,000 its Re-Créate initiative, “a social and psychoeducational Average number intervention project” involving of eggs laid by a role-playing, discussions, Pacific herring arts and crafts, music, and each year athletics at a local school, says Diana Rivera, immediate past Canada president of the club. Since Herring are food for salmon, 2017, hundreds of children have halibut, lingcod, seabirds, participated in the program, and orcas and other marine which covers social topics such mammals, and are a traditional as bullying, setting personal staple of First Nations tribes’ boundaries, and team building. diet. But herring populations “We make two visits per are in decline because of semester on Saturdays,” Rivera overfishing and the degradation says of the initiative. Though of preferred egg-laying the COVID-19 pandemic has surfaces such as kelp fronds sidelined a popular soccer and eelgrass. In February, tournament fundraiser, Rotarian “sea foresters” in individual donors, raffle British Columbia dropped proceeds, and other initiatives herring curtains into Porpoise have filled the gap as the club Bay, northwest of Vancouver. works to enhance Re-Créate The curtains — heavy-duty with digital offerings. landscape fabric cut to lengths of about 8 feet, floated with CClulbubofoFf pCoalfip-Noofrptoe foam and nylon rope or PVC pipe, and anchored with rocks — are ideal surfaces for the fish’s eggs. Since 2020, nearly 30 volunteers have installed more than 100 curtains and returned weekly to monitor them through the spawning cycle. Six Rotary clubs are participating in the project, led by the Rotary Club of Sechelt. CClulubbooffFSpeochfpeolt 16 ROTARY JULY 2022

England 80 39% The Rotary Club of Boston rallied donors from the Air ambulance Area of Saipan community and other local flights daily that is forested Rotary clubs to aid a public-run in the UK air ambulance service. With Northern Mariana Islands more than $20,000 generated CClulubbooffFBpoosftpoon Blessed with unusually through a crowdfunding site, consistent year-round the club far exceeded its goal temperatures, Saipan, the of raising $13,500 to install most populous island in the lighting for the grass helipad Northern Mariana Islands, is and a windsock at Pilgrim hailed as a tropical treasure. Hospital in Boston. “The lights But even paradise can use are dual-visual and infrared, a little sprucing up, figured solar-powered, and can be eco-minded members of the switched on from the cockpit Rotaract Club of Saipan. “We of a helicopter,” says Geoff thought about how some Day, the club’s immediate of the villages haven’t been past president, noting that cleaned by community service civil aviation regulations groups,” says Richard Baleares, prohibited flights to and from the club’s president. “So we the facility during darkness made it a goal to do a village without the upgrade. With cleanup before the end of the regional major trauma 2021.” Baleares met with Joann center in Nottingham more Aquino of the Rotary Club of than an hour’s drive away, the Saipan to pinpoint a worthy improvement will save lives, recipient: the village of Chalan Day says. Extra money that was Kanoa, where on 2 October a raised will be used to fund a mile-long strip of beach was blood warmer for the helicopter. cleaned of litter. “We expected around five people to attend Uganda 3,000 but ended up with a little more Although the island of Buyiga than 30 due to the participation is located in a swamp adjacent Islets in Lake Victoria of all our [four] amazing to Lake Victoria, the largest Interact clubs and students lake in Africa, its nearly 20,000 Club of RubCalugba oLfakFepoVifepwo from the Northern Marianas residents face a shortage of College,” Baleares says. potable water; the island’s one private well regularly Club ColfuFbpoffSpaoipfpaon served only 10 percent of the population. Enter the Rotary JULY 2022 ROTARY 17 Club of Rubaga Lake View, which teamed with Swedish Rotarians from District 2390 in an adopt-a-village effort. By late 2021, six boreholes had been sunk across Buyiga, providing water to a school and the island’s sole medical facility. Kristian Rankloo of the Rotary Club of Burlöv-Karstorp visited in 2019 through his charity Help at Hand, spurring him to solicit the $30,000 needed for the project from Swedish Rotary members and businesses, says Paul Kagga of the Rubaga Lake View club. “The community provided local materials like sand, bricks, and land. Our club was responsible for the monitoring, implementation, and evaluation,” Kagga says. Now the club is focused on raising $25,000 to expand Buyiga’s schools.

OUR WORLD PEOPLE OF ACTION Rotary responds: support for Ukraine The Rotary Foundation has raised more than $15 million in contributions that are already helping provide people in Ukraine with essential items such as water, food, shelter, medicine, and clothing. Donations made to the Disaster Response Fund after 30 April will be available to all communities around the world that need assistance recovering from disasters. A family that stands by you Lessons from a “It is Rotary doing what Rotary does Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, Iryna hurricane hot spot best. It networks, pulls people together, Bushmina fled her home in Kyiv and jour- “Maria, Dorian, Michael…” Padraic E. “Pat” and gets the job done,” says RI Director neyed to Vienna, Austria, staying with Mulvihill is rattling off a list of the hurri- Pat Merryweather-Arges, who has helped Rotary members along the way. Their gen- canes he’s responded to as a disaster relief coordinate the shipments. erosity inspired Bushmina, a member of coordinator for his Rotary district (6970) in the Rotaract Club of Kyiv-City, to organize northeast Florida. The storm-tested logis- North American and Argentine Ro- a larger-scale relief effort — and now, she tics networks he has helped set up are what tary clubs combined their resources to works with Rotaract Europe to find shelter have made Rotary members in the Jackson- purchase medical supplies and worked for thousands of refugees through a web- ville, Florida, area so effective at responding with pharmaceutical companies and site called United for Peace. to the war against Ukraine, including help- medical equipment manufacturers to ar- ing find housing for around 140 refugees. range donations. For example, a hospital “I used to just say that Rotary Interna- in Peoria, Illinois, sent an ambulance and tional is a big family. Now I really believe “We have the institutional knowledge networked with others to have seven am- it,” Bushmina says. “And I am convinced already in place and the infrastructure,” bulances shipped to Ukraine. that this is a family that will stand by you.” explains Mulvihill, a semiretired business executive who has served as an infantry Supplies streamed into a warehouse Music for peace officer, paratrooper, and Green Beret in operated by the Ukrainian Medical Asso- Olena Bondarenko Hiraishi grew up in the U.S. Army Reserve. ciation of North America near Chicago’s the city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine. O’Hare International Airport. Rotary clubs Her father is Ukrainian, and her mother His district’s Rotary clubs have raised in Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Iowa col- is Russian. At the age of 21, she moved to more than $95,000 for Ukraine relief ef- lected supplies to ship to the warehouse. Hiroshima, Japan, where she met her hus- forts. They have channeled food, protec- band, Masashi, a member of the Rotary tive equipment, and EMT supplies to “It’s amazing what one Rotarian talking Club of Hiroshima Southwest. When the Ukraine. They even organized a day at to another Rotarian can accomplish,” says war against Ukraine broke out, Satoshi the Jacksonville Zoo for the children of Saginaw, then governor of District 2710, refugee families. invited her to talk with the Hiroshima Southwest club. Bondarenko Hiraishi Rotary clubs unite connected the Japanese club with Rotary across continents leaders in Ukraine to assist in the relief Rotary members in North America, South work. America, and Europe have collaborated with a U.S.-based association of Ukrainian Her youngest son, who studies the health care workers and used their connec- violin, also joined the effort — through tions to collect and ship more than 350 music. He and a pianist friend performed tons of critical medical supplies to Ukraine. at a series of chamber music concerts in the spring, and the proceeds have gone to As of May, five cargo planes packed support Ukrainians. with medical supplies such as tourni- quets, blood-clotting gauze, negative “I think music is a universal language pressure wound therapy equipment, and that can be understood by people from any medications have been flown from Chi- country,” she says. “My son says he will cago to Europe, where members have play it with the utmost prayer for peace.” helped deliver them to Ukraine. 18  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Left: Rotary members and other volunteers pack donated supplies at a rented warehouse in Zamosc, Poland, a major hub for refugees and a centralized coordination location for aid from clubs in Europe. Above: Krystyna Wilczynska Ciemega (second from left), a member of the Rotary Club of Pulawy, Poland, hosts two Ukrainian mothers and their children in her home. “The war in Ukraine brought the Rotary community even closer together. During this difficult time, you can rely on Rotary. We are a big family.” — Wojciech Wrzecionkowski, 2021-22 governor of District 2231 (Poland) Marga Hewko, immediate past president pared hot meals and delivered them to plies and equipment. Members of the Ro- of the Rotary Club of Chicago. residents of Kyiv and its suburbs of Irpin tary Club of Gdansk Centrum have pro- and Bucha. Members purchased hygiene vided accommodations and jobs for four Rotary clubs in Ukraine products and medicine and delivered them refugee families. are leading relief efforts to young mothers and the elderly. Ukraine has 62 Rotary clubs and seven In Germany, the Rotary Club of Berlin satellite clubs — about 1,100 members Rotary relief efforts in Europe Platz der Republik, supported by the Ro- in total, as well as 25 Rotaract clubs that Poland has taken in more than 3 million tary Club of Berlin International and the combined have more than 300 members. refugees, and Rotary clubs all over the Rotary E-Club of Wall Street New York, country created a central account for has developed a housing-specific platform The Rotary Club of Cherkasy purchased contributions. The Rotary Club of Ol- called Spaces for Ukraine. Nearly 400 refu- medical supplies and medicine and deliv- sztyn collected and managed donations gees have found homes through the site, ered them to local hospitals. Members of for more than 150 Ukrainian refugees, and 925 host families have registered. the Rotary Club of Kharkiv International most of whom are unaccompanied chil- have traveled to border countries to help dren whose parents stayed in Ukraine. In Hungary, the Rotary Club of Kis- refugees adapt to their new situations and Four cars full of supplies including food, várda coordinated contributions and mo- have worked, through their project Yellow clothes, toiletries, and toys were donated bilized members to donate necessities and Help, to evacuate families near war zones. to a local refugee center hours after it deliver the items to where they’re needed. began accepting refugees. Rotary members in Romania and Moldova The Rotary Club of Kyiv Synergy col- used WhatsApp to organize shelter for lected 350 boxes of medical supplies Also in Poland, members of the Rotary refugees. In Slovakia and the Czech Re- from Italy and distributed them to areas Clubs of Zamosc and Wolsztyn partnered public, clubs partnered with a railway and within Kyiv and Sumy. with other organizations to collect sup- cargo company to transport some 2,300 refugees to safety. The Rotary Club of Kyiv-Sophia pre- Photography by Monika Lozinska JULY 2022  ROTARY  19

OUR WORLD BIG PICTURE LISTEN WITH YOUR VOICE. Listen up! “Ahh.” “Mmhmm.” These are “fol- lowing sounds” — the vocalizations It’s the most important of listening that express interest communication skill you and encourage people to continue, were probably never taught Bolton explains. “A company did an A-B test,” he says, “and found W hen you’re talk- that interviewers who use those ing to someone, do mmhmms and ahhs got 30 percent you ever get the more information than those who feeling that they’re didn’t use them.” busier looking for LISTEN WITH YOUR BODY. an opening in the conversation than You may associate body language with talking, but leaning in or listening to what’s being said? That if nodding agreement physically ex- presses that you are interested and you were to stop and ask, “What was helps you to listen better because you’re investing more of yourself in I just saying?” they’d give you a deer- the conversation. in-the-headlights stare, maybe repeat ASK CLARIFYING QUESTIONS. a few words you spoke, but definitely On the one hand, asking questions sends a message that you’re listen- fail a pop quiz on the content? ing. On the other hand, interrupt- ing builds roadblocks. “Researchers Most of us have learned some have found that most of the re- sponses people have when someone basics of public speaking: enunciate, is talking end up shutting down or hijacking the conversation,” Bolton make eye contact, repeat the most im- says, not moving it forward. People ask questions to express interest portant points so they stick. But “we and minimize their own discomfort, but often the questions are either haven’t had good teachers in terms of off-topic or argumentative. The best questions clarify and probe at the listening skills,” says Jim Bolton, pres- speaker’s meaning, rather than tee it up for a debate. ident of Ridge Training, a company CLARIFY AND REPEAT BACK. that specializes in teaching commu- Ashley King, a licensed counselor nication skills to business leaders and who specializes in couples ther- apy, says that many issues between trainers. Bolton makes a distinction partners have to do with a failure to listen actively. To listen better, she between hearing and listening. True recommends periodically repeating back what was said, asking clarify- listening requires your full attention. ing questions, and maintaining eye contact with the speaker. Say things You need to make an effort. like, “This is what I’m hearing … am I getting it?” Also, King says, let the Failure to truly listen is a missed speaker know how something they are saying is affecting you. “If it de- opportunity — not just to learn, but lights you, say so.” to deepen our rapport with others. —louis greenstein When people feel heard and can speak without being criticized or interrupted, says Bolton, “they start to feel a deeper sense of relatedness. Even in professional relationships, it’s knowing that someone has enough respect for you to set their own agenda aside and learn from you.” When you are actively listening, you get more information than you would otherwise — and not only because you’re paying closer atten- tion. “When you listen well, people share more,” says Bolton. “People are more open because you are more receptive.” So how can we sharpen our active listening skills? 20  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Illustration by Miguel Porlan $62.4THE PRICE OF NOT LISTENING MILLION The average annual cost of misunderstood directions, policies, business processes, or job functions to a 100,000-employee company in the United States or the UK — often the result of not actively listening $26,041 Cumulative cost per worker per year due to productivity losses resulting from communications barriers 3.47% Increase in total returns to shareholders over the past five years when companies are led by those who are perceived as highly effective communicators, as compared to firms with leaders who are perceived as less-effective communicators Source: Provoke Media JULY 2022  ROTARY  21

The ROTARY ACTION PLAN EXPAND OUR REACH A CONVERSATION WITH KATEY HALLIDAY “We all can and should be working on this. It isn’t something that leaders alone can do.”

Learn what your club can do at MEET KATEY HALLIDAY. A member of the Rotary Club of Adelaide Light, Australia, rotary.org / ac tionplan and a charter member of the Rotaract Q. Our Action Plan calls for Rotary to expand our Club of Adelaide City, Halliday reach. How can we get beyond thinking about serves on Rotary’s Diversity, membership in terms of numbers? Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. KATEY: In the past, there’s been a lot of focus on achieving a certain head count: “How many the vast majority of members are feeling people did you get to join?” But if we want empowered and energized by the positive a Rotary that’s strong, effective, and able to changes we’re making. prepare the next generation to lead, we need to make sure more people feel welcome and at Q. How can clubs expand their reach and fulfill home in Rotary, year after year. And that means their commitment to DEI? we must become more diverse and inclusive and provide equitable opportunities for everyone. KATEY: There are three key things. First, make your club more accessible through Q. Why is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) so flexible membership models and meeting crucial to Rotary expanding its reach? formats. Second, give all members something meaningful to do. It’s not enough to invite KATEY: Above all, because it’s the right thing people from diverse backgrounds to our to do. Diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a meetings and events; we need to include them political issue; it’s a responsibility we have to in planning and decision making, and we need each other and to our communities. We all have to value their contributions. Finally, bring in the right to be treated with dignity and respect, outside help. Collaborate with a local expert to have equal opportunities for fellowship and on diversity, equity, and inclusion training. It’s a service, and to be given the same platforms for great way to forge new kinds of partnerships. our voices to be heard. As an organization that’s both global and grassroots, we have And Rotary has so many resources! Check to lead the way. out the DEI-themed posts on the Rotary Voices blog for inspiring stories and ideas. But it’s also the smart thing to do. Potential Make a plan using the Diversifying Your members, especially those who have experience Club assessment, which you can find at with DEI initiatives in their own workplaces, my.rotary.org/membership. Or take one may be put off by a club that is not DEI-friendly. of the DEI courses in our Learning Center. But when those people experience a club that welcomes all kinds of people — all kinds Q. What should every Rotary member know of leaders — you’ll turn them into our most about DEI? effective ambassadors. They’ll tell their own friends and networks about Rotary. KATEY: We all can and should be working on this. It isn’t something that leaders alone can Clubs also report that when participants have do. When we have a truly diverse, equitable, many different perspectives, they come up with and inclusive culture, we will expand our ideas and projects that make a bigger impact. potential to create lasting change and realize That doesn’t surprise me. Workplace studies our vision of a world where people unite and of diversity, equity, and inclusion demonstrate take action. that diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints is a strength. It’s an ongoing effort, of course — and an opportunity for continual growth. I think

2022-23 President Jennifer Jones is eager to advance Rotary’s narrative By Diana Schoberg Photography by Monika Lozinska 24  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Jennifer Jones with her husband, Nick Krayacich, during a visit to northern California in February JULY 2022  ROTARY  25

AT a training seminar for Rotary club front-row center, stands up, turns presidents-elect at a Dallas-area around, and warms up the crowd. “Is hotel in February, sergeants-at- this the best district?” she asks one. arms wearing yellow vests and Stet- She challenges a district to dance, sons lead participants, grouped by busting a groove on the tan and gray Rotary district, into a small room patterned hotel carpet. Another, she for a photo op with 2022-23 Rotary teases, is the best looking. And then International President Jennifer there’s the “party” district, whose Jones. As the groups enter, the club members give a raucous cheer. leaders mob Jones — the room a flurry of handshakes, fist bumps, Click. Click. Click. hugs, and the occasional squeal. For The groups file out. More than a each photo, the Stetson-clad Rotar- few people linger to get selfies with ians (nicknamed “Rangers”) give Jones and her husband, Nick Kray- instructions on who should stand acich. One young woman, dressed where, then Jones, who is seated in cobalt blue, shouts, “Congratu- lations and thank you for being a 26  ROTARY  JULY 2022

leader for women in Rotary!” More “She makes cheers. She and Jones bump fists as everyone feel she departs. special” was a common refrain “She’s just amazing. She’s a rock during a whirlwind star,” says Rhonda Walls Kerby, past weekend Jones and governor of District 5890, who has her husband, Nick been observing the scene. Krayacich, spent visiting with Rotary When the photo session is fin- members in three ished, Jones signs several Star Wars cities. Clockwise, collectors’ helmets that will be auc- from left: Jones tioned at an upcoming district con- addresses a ference in Houston. She pulls on a training seminar Stormtrooper helmet. The phones of for Rotary club the Rotarians still in the room shoot presidents-elect up in unison to capture the moment. in Dallas; poses for selfies in Los Click. Click. Click. Angeles; celebrates with members of Rotary in Dallas; compares dog snapshots; delivers a speech in Danville, California; and leads attendees there in a rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in honor of Ukraine. JULY 2022  ROTARY  27

“She makes everyone feel spe- Both Jones and Krayacich are realized she had found her home. cial. That’s why everyone feels like originally from Windsor, but the “It was clearly one of the greatest they are best friends with Jen,” says two met in the Caribbean. Burned gifts I’ve ever received,” she says. Eric Liu. Liu met Jones at the Inter- out after finishing university and “I didn’t think walking through the national Assembly in 2016, when he working in the newsroom at a door that day that it would change was an incoming district governor radio station, Jones took time off the trajectory of my life.” and she was the incoming RI vice and worked at a resort in the Carib- president, and they hit it off. bean, while Krayacich, a physician, T he next day at the Dal- had just finished his internship in las training seminar, Liu’s sentiment is among the Toronto and went to the islands to during a soup and salad common refrains heard during a go scuba diving. They struck up a lunch, the 1980 Kool & whirlwind weekend traveling with friendship, and when they both the Gang song “Celebra- Jones. Over and over, people men- eventually moved back to Windsor, tion” blares over the speakers. Peo- tion that she has an easy way with they started dating and got married ple around the hotel ballroom begin people, that for years everybody shortly thereafter. to dance, clapping and swaying to “knew” she would be the first fe- the music. Among them is Jones, male Rotary president, that she’s a In many ways, Krayacich, the waving a colorful light stick above new kind of leader. governor-nominee of District 6400, her head. She dances among the is the opposite of Jones. He’s qui- tables, stopping for a selfie here, a And that she’s the leader Rotary eter and more serious, preferring hug there, grooving with the crowd. needs right now. one-on-one conversations, traits The flash mob lines up in front of that are suited to his vocation. the stage, Jones at the center. When The laughter in the room grows “Jennifer is definitely an Energizer the song ends, Past RI Director to a warm buzz as Jones jokes Bunny. She’s outgoing and very Don Mebus introduces Jones, who around with her friends. But it’s much a connector,” he says. “We makes a heart with her hands as she been a long day after an exhaust- complement each other very well.” arrives onstage. ing trip. Jones and Krayacich spent nine hours in the airport the previ- Jones started her own television Her speech brings listeners ous day due to weather delays, then production company when she through the full range of emotions. had to solve logistical issues with was in her late 20s, wowing bank As she speaks about witnessing a their travel to Dallas. They are in officials with her business plan, ne- pediatric heart surgery in Jordan, bed by 11, a brief respite before the gotiating a lease, and investing in pre-presidential duties start all over hundreds of thousands of dollars’ again the next day. “I’ve always wanted to carve my own path. Sometimes that’s meant taking risks and making yourself open to new experiences.” J ones, 55, was born in Wind- worth of equipment. “I’ve always the room is so quiet you could hear sor, Ontario, and — save wanted to carve my own path,” she a Paul Harris Fellow pin drop. When for a few post-college years says. “Sometimes that’s meant tak- she finishes, the crowd stands and working in the Turks and ing risks and making yourself open erupts in applause. But there is no Caicos Islands and Man- to new experiences.” time to bask in it. Jones has a plane hattan — has lived there her whole to catch. The emcee asks the throngs life. The oldest of three children, One of those was Rotary. As a of enthusiastic Texans to please let she’d run lemonade stands to earn rookie radio reporter in the late her through. And with that, she’s off money to give to charity, and recalls 1980s, she’d covered the organiza- to the airport, her sprint aided by organizing a carnival in her family’s tion and remembers attending club a pair of purple sneakers that she yard to benefit kids with muscular meetings where the members were wears throughout the trip (“I save dystrophy. “Growing up, my parents nearly all men. “I remember feel- heels for when I’m presenting,” she had given us wings to do service in ing very intimidated by the experi- says). She doesn’t like to eat before our community,” she says. Today, ence,” she says. “I was in my early she speaks, so now she grabs a bag of her mom, dad, and one of her broth- 20s. It was the power brokers of the chips and settles into her seat to rest. ers and his wife are Rotarians. Her community.” Fast forward to 1996, other brother created a painting months after she’d started her busi- Four hours later, she arrives in that inspired Jones’ presidential- ness, Media Street Productions. The Los Angeles for another presidents- theme ties and scarves. manager of the local cable station elect training seminar. Tonight’s invited Jones to a meeting. She duties involve stopping by the hos- 28  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Jones at the Southwest presidents-elect training seminar in Los Angeles. “All I can think about is the energy she has,” comments an observer at the event. JULY 2022  ROTARY  29

“She believes in something that is so necessary. This time calls for peace and unity, for embracing despite our differences.” 30  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Clockwise, from top pitality suites to meet Rotarians chartered, two minutes from their left: Jones huddles from the participating districts. house. “She wasn’t even the one with her aide, Brad In one room, Rotarians drinking who asked me to join Rotary,” he Howard, and his umbrella-festooned mai tais mingle chuckles.) They went for five weeks wife, Marcia, in as Hawaiian music emanates from to the Brazilian Amazon, where northern California; speakers decorated with grass Krayacich ran a medical clinic and prepares for the skirts. Jones barely makes it in the Jones produced a fundraising video day’s events in a door before she is again swarmed for the clinic and created a training hotel suite in Dallas; by Rotarians eager to meet her. program for local journalists. “Once smiles from the Randy Hart, 2022-23 governor of we went on an international Rotary front row; readies district 5000 (Hawaii), presents service trip, it resonated very pro- for a photo shoot; her with a lei. “All I can think about foundly with me,” she says. “I knew and addresses an is the energy she has,” comments this was something I wanted to do audience in Los one man. “To think, this is the third more of — to help people tell their Angeles. “She’s room she’s visited!” stories, to find the narrative in what so warm and we were doing and come back and genuine,” says Lakecia King is one of the well- share it.” Lakecia King, one wishers, embracing Jones when of Jones’ well- they meet. “She’s so warm and In 2001-02, she served as wishers in L.A. genuine,” says King, the incom- president of the Rotary Club of and the 2022-23 ing president of the Rotary Club Windsor-Roseland. Every meeting, president of the of East Honolulu and the diversity, she’d randomly pick a member, Rotary Club of equity, and inclusion chair for Dis- have them stand, and tell them why East Honolulu. trict 5000. Eight weeks out from they were important to the club. surgery for a torn meniscus, King “Every week, people would show up has flown from Hawaii for this op- to see who the next person would portunity, drawn by Jones’ rally for be,” she says. diversity in Rotary. “I was not going to miss it for the world,” King says. It taught her a lesson about the “She believes in something that is importance of taking care of mem- so necessary. This time calls for bers, a priority now that she is RI peace and unity, for embracing de- president. “We were having fun, spite our differences and based on doing good work, and we liked each what we have in common.” other,” she says. “Sometimes we try to over-manufacture the reason Jones finally makes it to the back why people join and stay.” of the room, where she’s swept into a hula dance with seven other women At that point, her district had in front of an “Aloha” backdrop. She never had a female governor. She visits a few more of the hospitality was under 40, and she “wanted to suites and ends in that of District try to take that for a ride,” she says. 5500 (Arizona), where she chats “I knew I wanted to put my full-on with a circle of Rotarians. As she energy into Rotary. I loved it.” raises her glass to leave the room — “Well, cheers, everybody!” — an After her term as governor in older woman with close-cropped 2007-08, she chaired the local white hair calls out, “Thank you for chamber of commerce and the Uni- being the first!” Jones responds, not versity of Windsor board of gover- missing a beat: “But not the last.” nors. “It was the most amazing precursor to sitting on the board of J ones and Krayacich took directors of Rotary,” she says. “Each their first international one was a building block.” service trip in 2000, shortly after Jones joined In 2009, when Jones was diag- Rotary. (Due to schedule nosed with breast cancer at the age conflicts, Krayacich didn’t join until of 42, her days turned to chemo- 2010 when a breakfast club was therapy and radiation. She got the diagnosis in the fall, and she had been asked to speak at the Interna- tional Assembly, the training for in- coming district governors-elect, in JULY 2022  ROTARY  31

January 2010. Then-RI President- but she still thought she’d be back elect Ray Klinginsmith encouraged out on the road within weeks for a her to come if she was able. In con- scheduled appearance at a district sultation with her oncologist, she conference in Nairobi, Kenya. decided to attend. “The Sunday be- fore, I lost all of my hair,” she says. Then, suddenly, the world “I showed up at the event in a wig.” changed. “I remember the moment I heard that the border between Some technical issues inter- Canada and the United States shut rupted her speech, but it still made down,” she says. “In my life I could an impact, most of all on her. “At never have envisioned hearing one of the lowest points in my life, those words.” someone didn’t count me out,” she says, tearing up. “It was just such Jones and Krayacich isolated at a message that I needed at that their cottage on Lake Erie, about point in time. That I had value, that half an hour from their house. “I still I could contribute and participate. remember waking up at 3 o’clock in He gave me hope at a time when you the morning and flipping open my think that maybe hope isn’t what phone to look for a newsfeed to find you’re going to get.” out what was going on. That sense of unknown we all went through at Jones went through eight rounds that time was so horrific.” of chemo and 21 rounds of radiation. Her employees stepped up to keep Jones was a Rotary Foundation her business running as she stepped trustee at the time. She watched back. That too proved pivotal. When with pride and amazement as Ro- her health improved and she pre- tary members quickly applied for pared to re-engage with her work, disaster response grants from The she looked at what her team had ac- Rotary Foundation to fund ser- complished. “I sat back and thought vice projects. But she wanted to do about it,” she says. “If I go back in as more. Previously, she’d drawn on I was, I’m going to rob them of the her vocation to plan large fundrais- leadership growth they would have ing events for the Foundation, such had.” She decided to pass the day- as a golf outing with Jack Nicklaus to-day operations of the company to in 2019. She called then-RI Presi- her team so she could pursue Rotary dent Mark Maloney and pitched the almost full time. idea of a telethon. “I wouldn’t orchestrate having The idea came together over a cancer again,” she says, “but I can matter of weeks. Jones reached out definitely say I wouldn’t be sitting to her vast network of contacts in here where I am today if all of these the Rotary world and asked them things hadn’t happened.” to send videos. “We really wanted to capitalize on what we could do in W hen the COVID- real time for people,” she says. “Yes, 19 pandemic shut raising critical funds was impor- down the world tant, but more than anything, it was in March 2020, an opportunity to bring together Jones was fresh people from around the globe and off a monthlong Rotary trip, which to showcase that we’re people of started in India for its Rotary cen- action — even though we were all tennial, continued in Nepal to isolated in our own homes, we were visit a project started by a Rotary able to do something.” (More than Peace Fellow, and concluded in 65,000 people tuned in to the event, New Zealand for the South Pacific hosted by Past RI President Barry presidents-elect training seminar. Rassin and Past RI Director John In the airport traveling home, she Smarge, which raised more than began to see people wearing masks, $525,000 for the Foundation.) One of the people who contrib- uted a video was Anniela Carracedo. 32  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Jones and Krayacich pose beside a towering redwood tree during their stop in northern California.

Jones shares a quiet moment with Krayacich during their visit to northern California (top) and holds a stack of thank you cards (bottom). Invited to a meeting in 1996, Jones found a home with Rotary. “It was clearly one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received,” she says. “I didn’t think walking through the door that day that it would change the trajectory of my life.” 34  ROTARY  JULY 2022

A Rotary Youth Exchange student in Jones gives a speech in an exhibit Mississippi in 2019-20, Carracedo about the American West. “I knew could not return home to Venezuela back in 2013 that someday she’d when the pandemic struck. Stuck in be RI president. She has an aura the United States, she started Ro- about her,” says Joe Hamilton of tary Interactive Quarantine, a global the Rotary Club of Cupertino, who youth network for Interactors and has been mingling in the crowd. Youth Exchange students. Jones The vibe is more subdued than it messaged her in a chat during an was at the seminars she’d attended online zone meeting and asked her earlier in the weekend. Sequined to create a video about the youth partygoers line up to take photos network for the telethon. with Jones, who is elegantly dressed in a flowing cream-colored top and “After that, I googled her,” Car- palazzo pants with gold embellish- racedo recalls. “Who is this person, ments that she bought on her trip to and why is she organizing this? I India before the pandemic. told my host mom about it, and she said, ‘People say Jennifer will be the Click. Click. Click. first female Rotary president.’” It’s dinnertime now, and the do- nors leave the American West for Carracedo and Jones kept in the classic car exhibit on the first touch. They’ve never met in per- floor, where tables are set up among son, but they’ve formed a strong a kaleidoscope of gleaming sports bond. Jones has spoken at Car- cars. The weekend has felt like an racedo’s meetings and invited her episode of The Amazing Race. In the to speak at the International As- past 48 hours, Jones has taken two sembly. Carracedo has made Tik- flights, spoken at three major events Toks about Jones. In an interview in three cities, and posed for possi- over Zoom, she holds up her phone bly hundreds of selfies. (“There’s the to show Jones-themed stickers on paparazzi — this is the Rotarazzi,” WhatsApp. “I’m her biggest fan, Krayacich jokes.) I guess,” she says. “She really in- Even so, Jones, standing in front spires me to keep doing what I’m of a black screen with the words of doing. That it’s OK that I’m a leader her presidential theme, Imagine Ro- and that I’m a woman. If she did it, tary, projected behind her, is practi- that means that I can do it too.” “She really inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing. That it’s OK that I’m a leader and that I’m a woman.” And Carracedo’s not the only one cally glowing as she speaks again. who feels that way. Another TikTok The war in Ukraine has intensified posted on the @interactivequaran- over this weekend, and this speech tine account juxtaposes a video of ties the troubling current events to Jones with an audio clip declaring, the peacemaking power of Rotary. “She’s an icon, she’s a legend, and She says, “You can’t underestimate she is the moment.” the importance of what you’re doing today.” J ones’ ability to inspire extends beyond young Jones calls the district governors women. Following her and governors-elect onto the stage visit to Los Angeles, Jones and leads everyone in attendance in attends a District 5170 a teary rendition of John Lennon’s dinner at the Blackhawk Museum “Imagine,” in honor of Ukraine. in Danville, California. At a pre- People in the crowd hold hands and dinner reception for Major Donors, sway along, imagining the power of Rotary with Jones at the helm. Click. Click. Click. JULY 2022  ROTARY  35

Tó éí ííná át'é Water is life 36  ROTARY  JULY 2022

Alongside Rotary and the nonprofit DigDeep, the Navajo are bringing a vital commodity to their ancestral homeland BY GEOFFREY JOHNSON In the Navajo Nation, signs of PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIA RENDLEMAN drought are visible around a former watering hole near Cameron, Arizona. JULY 2022  ROTARY  37

If there were one place on the planet  impervious to the ravages of the rate than any of the 50 U.S. states. pandemic, you might have guessed it As of mid-May 2022, more than Elijah Bitsaie would be the Navajo Nation. Viewed 53,000 COVID cases had been con- trains a horse at from a distance, it seems impregna- firmed there — that’s a 32 percent his family home ble, a remote, self-contained coun- infection rate — and 1,770 deaths. near Tuba City, try spread across three U.S. states With a population of about 165,000, Arizona, the largest — Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah there has been one death for every community in the — and encompassing more than 93 people living in the Nation. Navajo Nation. 27,000 square miles, its ancient boundaries marked by four sacred “That’s a huge percentage of 38  ROTARY  JULY 2022 mountains: Dibé Ntsaa (Hesperus our population,” laments Emma Mountain) on the north, Tsoodził Robbins, who grew up not far (Mount Taylor) on the south, Sis- from the Grand Canyon. “It hit all naajiní (Blanca Peak) on the east, of us hard on the reservation. We and Dook'o'oosłiid (San Francisco lost so many Elders, and so we’ve Peaks) on the west. lost libraries of wisdom, language, tradition. That’s something we’ll As it turns out, you would have never get back. That’s not just a guessed wrong. Terribly wrong. The loss of life; it’s a loss of our cul- first cases of COVID-19 in Navajo ture. It highlighted what has always Nation were diagnosed in March 2020, the outbreak spread by a church gathering in a small town in northeastern Arizona. Two months later, there had been 100 pandemic deaths in Navajo Nation, which re- ported a higher per capita infection

existed: We don’t have the same “We lost so many cess to what was recommended as things that other Americans do.” Elders. That’s not just a principal deterrent to the spread a loss of life; it’s a loss of the illness. “When COVID came, Those disparities contributed what’s the first thing they said?” directly to the tragic losses suffered of our culture.” asks Curt Ward. “‘Wash your hands.’ by the Navajo during the pandemic. Well, when you don’t have running Many residents travel great dis- water, that’s tough to do.” tances to find a grocery store or a place to buy other necessities, and A member and past president when they would return to the res- of the Rotary Club of Gilbert, Ari- ervation, the infection came with zona, Ward is a relative newcomer them. And with several generations to the Southwest. “I moved here of a family often sharing one small from Iowa in 2014, and water pov- home, and a third of households liv- erty was a new thing to me,” he says. ing below the federal poverty level, Even before the pandemic, Ward Navajo Nation became a fertile had begun reading about the water breeding ground for COVID-19. problems in the Navajo Nation, and he was shocked to learn that while Furthermore, in the months be- the average American uses 80 to 100 fore a vaccine became available, gallons of water per day, the aver- the Navajo Nation lacked ready ac- age Navajo uses only seven. “And in some cases,” Ward says, “it’s less than that.” Robbins knows all about the shortage of water in the Nation, only she learned about it firsthand. She’d grown up in Tuba City — which she describes as “the largest community on the rez” — and her family had access to running water. But she re- members how, when she was a girl, her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins would travel to her family’s home to shower and fill contain- ers with water before returning to their own waterless homes. And she blames her grandmother’s death from cancer on the scores of aban- doned uranium mines that dot the Nation and pollute below-ground water sources. Ward lives in a suburb of Phoe- nix, about 200 miles south of Tuba City, but he and, as it turned out, other Rotarians were eager to do what they could to assist the Navajo in their quest for water. “People who think the Navajo wouldn’t know what to do with water if they had it are just dead wrong,” he says. “They value it; they worship it. They just don’t have any of it. We don’t need to teach the Navajo about water; we just need to help them get it.” Rotary stood ready to do that, as did Robbins, who had left the reservation in her teens to attend college and begin her career as an JULY 2022  ROTARY  39

artist. And, as ever, the Navajo peo- college and immediately wanted to without access. We hadn’t even  ple, the centuries-old caretakers do something about it.” thought about working in the U.S.” of their homeland, were poised to He would more fully comprehend In Arizona, Amelia proceed. Only one more thing was Two years after graduation, Mc- the breadth of the problem as Horse sits inside needed to complete the tetrad, that Graw started an organization called DigDeep and the U.S. Water Alli- her hogan, a fourth point of the compass with DigDeep. Today, on its website, it’s ance prepared Closing the Water traditional Navajo which to map out the way to water. described as “a human rights non- Access Gap in the United States: A dwelling. She profit working to ensure that every National Action Plan, a 95-page re- remembers a ■ “I have always been obsessed American has clean, running water” port published in 2019. “We didn’t time when she with water,” admits George — but it didn’t exactly start out that even know that the total number of could “scratch the McGraw. “My mom would take me way. DigDeep initially operated in people [in the U.S. without access ground” to produce to the zoo, she would turn around, Cameroon and South Sudan, where to water and basic indoor plumb- water for her sheep and I would be stripped naked and it built water systems in rural areas. ing] was 2.2 million until we did — that is, before running in the fountain by the en- Then, in 2013, DigDeep got a phone that study,” McGraw says. the decades-long trance. You can’t keep me out of it.” call from a woman who wanted to drought currently make a donation — only she insisted DigDeep handed off its last inter- plaguing the In 2009, McGraw graduated that the money be used in the Na- national project to local partners in Southwest. from Loyola University Chicago vajo Nation. She had been volun- 2016 and has since concentrated its with a bachelor’s in philosophy, teering there and saw homes built efforts in the United States, work-  though the most significant thing without kitchens or bathrooms be- ing in Appalachia and other parts he learned there lies outside that cause there wasn’t access to running of the country. But DigDeep’s great- Stanley Holiday realm. “As a millennial from a water. In fact, as McGraw learned, 30 est impact has come in the South- (left) and Donovan middle-class background, I was percent of the families in the Nation west with its Navajo Water Project, Smallcanyon privileged,” he explains. “I didn’t were living without running water. which began in 2014 when the or- fill water barrels know that so many people didn’t ganization installed a water system for Gene Yazzie’s have access to water. I was flab- “That was definitely an aha for a Navajo family in Thoreau, New family near bergasted to find out about that in moment for me,” McGraw says. Mexico. Thoreau — pronounced Tuba City. “I hadn’t realized there were so thuh-ROO — is also home to the many people in my own backyard 40  ROTARY  JULY 2022

out of the decision making about water in the beginning. So first and foremost, engaging impacted com- munities around this work, giving them agency and power back, and letting them make these decisions is a way to right that wrong.” Of course, members of Rotary are familiar with that approach, which they employ globally in all their projects, many of which involve water and sanitation. So perhaps it was inevitable that DigDeep and the Navajo would before too long find a committed ally in Rotary. St. Bonaventure Indian Mission DigDeep worked closely with St. ■ In 2016, members of the Ro- and School, which provides oppor- Bonaventure and Arviso, and it also tary Club of Gilbert attended tunities for education, employment, cultivated close relationships with a water conference in Phoenix, and and housing and offers a variety of the residents of the Navajo Nation. one of the presenters was DigDeep. social services that, among other “The entire Navajo Water Project is Its representative explained the or- things, make available clothing, Indigenous-led from top to bottom,” ganization’s work in the Navajo Na- food, and water to the people of says McGraw. “That really is every- tion, and how it was bringing water the eastern portion of the Navajo thing. It’s the key to long-term sus- to the people living there. Nation. Among the mission’s em- tainability for these projects. We’re ployees is Darlene Arviso. Most building off-grid systems at people’s DigDeep’s method is ingeniously days you can find her driving a big homes, and those systems will be simple. It begins with an explanatory yellow tanker truck filled with 3,500 owned by those homeowners and visit by DigDeep project managers to gallons of water, which she delivers maintained and upgraded by them. the home of the family it’s assisting. to Navajo homes scattered among Our projects last a long time only The next morning, DigDeep deliv- the mesas in the desert outside if people feel a sense of ownership ers a 1,200-gallon cistern, which is Thoreau. Only half-jokingly, Mc- and participation. then buried outside the home (so Graw calls Arviso the real founder the water won’t freeze). Technicians of DigDeep. Everyone else knows “But it’s also a way to right the plumb a sink, water heater, filter, and her as the Water Lady. wrong that caused the problem ini- drain line; where families don’t have tially. These communities were left electricity, which is often the case, they install a solar panel, battery array, and electrical hookup to pro- vide electricity to power the pump and lights. A tanker truck arrives and fills the cistern with clean water through an above-ground valve, and the homeowner receives training to operate, maintain, and repair the system, as well as a number to call should they encounter problems. All that unfolds over 24 hours. The culminating moment occurs when everyone gathers around the “These communities were left out of the decision making about water.” JULY 2022  ROTARY  41

sink, the faucet is turned on, and fresh water pours out, a moment often accompanied by the shed- ding of tears. “It can be really emo- tional,” explains Emma Robbins, who, after attending art school, living in Argentina, and running an art gallery in Chicago, returned to her people and now serves as the director of the Navajo Water Proj- ect. “The most impactful moment for me can be when there are Elders who have never had running water. It’s really beautiful, and, in an in- direct way, when somebody gets running water, especially an Elder, it helps us continue to thrive as a people and a culture.” The Gilbert Rotarians attending the DigDeep presentation learned another detail: each installation cost $4,500. Curt Ward explains what happened next: “Our members came back and said, ‘What do you think? Could we raise 4,500 bucks and sponsor one of these tanks?’” The answer was a resounding yes — and things took off from there. “I was just minding my own business, reading up on this stuff, when I got a call from a Rotarian in our district who attends an annual friendship conference with District 4185 in Mexico,” Ward recalls. The caller said there was “quite a bit of interest” among members of the Mexican district in co-sponsoring a global grant to support the Na- vajo Water Project. If the Gilbert club could raise $30,000, he was confident the members of Rotary in Mexico would match it. “That was beyond the scope of our small club,” Ward says. “But we could go around to other clubs in Phoenix’s East Valley, describe the project, and see if we could stir up interest.” He also reached out to Jim Bissonett, a member of the Rotary E-Club of the Southwest and the district’s Rotary Foundation chair. (After a 2017 district merger, Ward’s and Bissonett’s clubs became part of the newly created District 5495.) Not only did Bissonett provide in- formation about securing a global grant, he too became an ardent 42  ROTARY  JULY 2022

supporter of the project — a not- “Those [Rotary] champions of uncommon response. “You wouldn’t ours really went to bat for us.” believe how many people want to  participate,” Bissonett says. “Once like a mountain freshet and rais- systems had been installed by early we got a little publicity, we got calls ing interest in the project, and the 2020. That’s when the pandemic A water hauling from around the country. There was money to support it, at an unprec- struck, and everything shut down. station in Tuba City so much enthusiasm.” edented rate. When she was done, St. John, the 2019-20 governor of Well, not everything. Due to strict  Other people of action emerged District 5280, had helped secure a quarantine restrictions, DigDeep to make significant contributions significant portion of another round could no longer interact directly Shanna Yazzie and take leadership roles, including of funding, which included cash with residents of the Navajo Na- stands near David Simmer, the 2019-20 gover- contributions from 56 clubs, as well tion, but it still had a job to do. “For water tanks that nor of District 5495 — McGraw calls as District Designated Funds from the first 18 months of the pandemic, will be delivered him a “champion” — and, in Cali- 13 districts in six countries. we had to pivot to emergency water to homes in the fornia, Rotary Club of Hollywood work,” McGraw says. “We delivered Navajo Nation. member Melody St. John, whom “We actually had to shut down more than a million gallons of water Simmer describes as the project’s the funding on the grant” because and set up temporary water access “fundraising diva.” And members so many people wanted to contrib- tanks at almost 1,500 homes.” of Rotary from across the South- ute, says Simmer. At the time, in the About a fifth of those 275-gallon west also leapt at the opportunity to fall of 2019, Simmer’s zeal was ex- tanks were funded by members take part. “The real story is, this is ceeded only by his optimism. “We of Rotary, who, according to Curt our backyard,” says Bissonett, who will soon be working on the next Ward, “peeled off” $75,000 of the particularly recalls the eagerness of grant in the series, the fourth in grant money to provide interim pan- Gary Whiting of the Rotary Club of what may turn out to be 12 to 20 demic relief. Sun Lakes, Arizona, a past district grants to work on this problem in governor, who said, “We want to do the Navajo Nation.” “It was amazing how available a project like that!” these Rotary folks were,” says The final tally for the third global McGraw, “not getting lost in their Soon enough, they’d all get their grant for the Navajo Nation totaled own fear for themselves and their chance — that is, until the unex- $395,000; its international partner families, but asking, ‘How can we pected intervened. was the Rotary Club of Mérida- help the people that are the most Itzaes, Mexico, and its host club vulnerable?’ Those champions of ■ In May 2018, the Rotary Club was the Rotary Club of Four Peaks ours really went to bat for us and of Gilbert and its international (Fountain Hills), Arizona — though, were able to make some of the partner in Mexico, the Rotary Club due to St. John’s efforts, participants dollars a little flexible and extend of San Andrés Cholula, launched considered the project as “jointly timelines a little. But the thing that the first phase of Rotary’s partici- hosted” by Districts 5495 and 5280. really stands out was the level of pation in the Navajo Water Project. (Erica Gwynn, the manager of The availability and communication at Backed by a $78,000 global grant, Rotary Foundation’s water, sanita- a time when it was tough to get in they provided home water systems tion, and hygiene area of focus, also touch with anybody.” for 18 families — that’s 64 individ- singled out for praise the thorough uals — near Thoreau. A year later, community assessment conducted And now DigDeep had another Whiting and the Sun Lakes club in the preliminary stages of this ingenious idea, although one sadly finally got their chance when they third phase of the project.) The inspired by loss: the death in May partnered with the Rotary Club of grant would provide home water 2020 of Ernest Largo, a member of Brantford-Sunrise, Ontario, and systems for about 80 Navajo fami- the Navajo Water Project and another completed a second phase; also lies near Dilkon, Arizona, and nine casualty of the pandemic in Navajo set near Thoreau, it provided home Nation. “It really shook the organiza- water systems to 33 families — that’s more than 100 individuals — with the support of a $144,000 global grant. Exactly as Jim Bissonett had seen, word spread and enthusiasm among members of Rotary for the Navajo Water Project grew exponen- tially. That’s when St. John came on board, coursing through California JULY 2022  ROTARY  43

tion to its core,” McGraw remembers, mer visited RI headquarters in IS LIFE in large, colorful letters. Or  but the loss inspired the team to find Evanston, Illinois. Like everybody as the Diné — the Navajo — would a way to continue working. who hears about the project, I was say it, tó éí ííná át'é. Lake Mead in immediately and immensely inter- Nevada is the Desperate, like other members of ested, and I followed up Simmer’s I already had a limited sense of primary source of the team, to get back to work despite visit with a long telephone conver- the place, especially from a four-day drinking water for the quarantine, DigDeep water tech- sation with George McGraw and hike I’d made years earlier through about 25 million nician Kenneth Chavez had an idea. an exchange of emails with Emma the rugged Paria River canyon, fol- people. It was He recalled a winter night he had Robbins. I wanted to visit the Na- lowing and, for the first two days, created in the spent on his land in Navajo Nation. vajo Nation and report this story on wading through that waterway 1930s by damming He’d brought some bottled water, site, and they advised me to come from a remote point in Utah until the flow of the and when he awoke the next morn- the following spring when the heat it spilled 38 miles later into the Colorado River ing he remembered he’d left it out- would not be so intense. Colorado River in Arizona, right up — but lately the side in his car. He went to retrieve against the northwestern border of level of water in the it, fully expecting to find it frozen, I made plans to fly into Albu- the Nation. Along the way, I’d seen lake has fallen to but when he opened the suitcase querque, New Mexico, in April and petroglyphs of human figures and historic lows. where he had packed it, he found drive for several days to see for half-familiar animals that had been the bottled water nestled among his myself what DigDeep, Rotary, and carved high up on a wall of red Na- clothes, unfrozen. the Navajo had accomplished near vajo sandstone more than 100 years Thoreau and Dilkon. As it hap- before Columbus was born. Soon, DigDeep was employing pened, Melody St. John had plans a heated “suitcase” as a temporary to be out there at the same time, as adjunct to its home water system, did McGraw and Robbins. Most im- an above-ground, outdoor unit con- portant, Robbins promised I’d have nected to the underground cistern the opportunity to meet and speak that allowed homeowners access to with the Navajo families who had water without worrying that it would benefited, or were about to benefit, freeze. Now DigDeep, again with an from the project. assist from Rotary, was able to re- sume installation of the water sys- We all know what happened tems without entering homes — and — or didn’t happen — next. Since the systems could be easily upgraded then, I’ve been viewing everything to in-home systems when the impact that’s been going on in the Navajo of the pandemic diminished. That’s Nation from a distance. Like ev- exactly what began to happen earlier eryone else, I suppose, I assumed this year, and Bissonett is hopeful the pandemic would be short-lived, that Phase 3 of Rotary’s involvement and when that proved not to be the in the Navajo Water Project can be case, I let this story sit dormant completed by spring 2023. for a spell. And then, with the pan- demic well into its second year, I As for Ward, he remains as com- began to report the story again: mitted to working with the Navajo conducting long interviews by as when he first learned about water phone; studying maps; and reading poverty in the Southwest. “You can’t through global grant applications, walk away from it,” he insists. And the ancillary reports and studies Robbins, who has worked closely that Curt Ward sent me, and a half with Ward, looks forward to con- dozen books about Navajo history tinuing her partnership with him and culture. and with Rotary. “I love it when Na- vajos are doing work for Navajos,” Ward and Jim Bissonett and oth- she says, “but it’s also important for ers sent me snapshots of the work us to have strong allies and advo- on the Navajo Water Project that cates. And that’s what Rotary has had been conducted near Thoreau been for us.” before the pandemic. I studied them closely, though I was more intrigued ■ I first learned about Rotary’s by the photos they sent me of the involvement with DigDeep desert, the red buttes and mesas, and the Navajo Water Project in and the two separate photos of September 2019 when David Sim- brightly painted graffiti from the Navajo Nation: the words WATER 44  ROTARY  JULY 2022

But this wasn’t enough, and I “There’s no I was grateful for all of this. Some pressed everyone I spoke to with other place in the of the gaps in the story were fill- one question: What’s it like in Na- United States like it. ing in, but something was missing, vajo Nation? “Intense and very It’s so beautiful.” something I thought I’d never get to beautiful,” says McGraw, “a place see: the moment when the water is of extremes.” I asked Robbins what turned on. Then I got a gift in the it was like to grow up there, and form of a URL link. after dismissing my question with a laugh — “What’s it like to grow In spring 2018, a film crew and up in Chicago? Or Beverly Hills? reporter for the PBS NewsHour Or Kentucky?” — she went on to had traveled to New Mexico to file rhapsodize the desert and the rock a story about the lack of water in formations, the canyons and the Navajo Nation and the efforts by dinosaur tracks, the juniper and DigDeep to ameliorate that. Some of piñon trees that grow at higher el- the Rotarians who had been raising evations. “There’s no other place in funds for McGraw and his team were the United States like it,” she says. invited to come up and lend a hand, “Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful. I’m so and several traveled to Thoreau to lucky to be from here.” assist in the installation of a water system in the small home that Tina Bicenti shared with her five children. The seven-minute report, which aired 20 June 2018 — it’s still online, if you want to take a look — begins with Darlene Arviso driving her big yellow St. Bonaventure tanker truck across the desert, so I finally get to see the Water Lady in action. Bicen- ti’s yard is swarming with men and women in yellow T-shirts and other Rotary garb. Among them are Curt Ward and Jim Bissonett, who says, “We’re going to change the lives of this family dramatically from the water they were carrying in pickle jars to their house to actually having running water.” Annie Begay, a 23-year-old field coordinator for DigDeep who, like Robbins, had grown up in the Na- tion, tightens the last screws on a rooftop solar panel. Inside the home, Bicenti flips a switch and hol- lers, “Lights! We have power!” Ev- eryone gathers around the kitchen sink, including ginger-haired George McGraw, looking boyish, despite the mustache, and holding one of Bicenti’s twin 6-month-old girls. Bicenti twists a faucet and water gushes into the silver sink. The big, bright smiles around the room outshine the newly installed electric lights, and Bicenti’s preteen son wipes a tear from one eye. He’s wearing an electric-blue T-shirt, and in big white and yellow letters it shouts: MY TIME IS NOW. JULY 2022  ROTARY  45

Theshape T his is a story I have told PHOTOGRAPH: DANIEL BEDELL ofwater more than once. Dad and I are driving A Navajo professor offers ancient tales home from Moab, Utah, to as a luminous pathway out of her Tohatchi on the Navajo Nation. As people’s fraught and fractured history we drive east, dark clouds billow in the spacious sky ahead. Dad peers BY JENNIFER NEZ DENETDALE at the looming clouds that promise ARTWORK BY ED SINGER rain. He says in Diné Bizaad, our language, “It’s an in-law chaser.” Opposite: Łeetsoii shaa yíjooł II (Dear Downwinder II) Dad tells me what an “in-law Ed Singer, Oil on Canvas, 60 x 45\" chaser” is. A newly married couple Private collection, Golden, Colorado are in bliss, but after they have 46  ROTARY  JULY 2022 their first argument, the husband is so distraught that he rushes back to his parents, thinking the mar- riage is over. But a few days later, the couple are back in harmony with one another. The dark clouds had lifted without a downpour. Diné have other stories about water, and yet, as I discovered, these stories are not accessible in the forms we often expect of stories. That’s because, for the Diné — the Navajo — the sacred- ness of water is expressed in their creation stories and through ceremonies, prayers, and gestures, such as offering water to the earth for blessings. An appreciation for how precious water is requires a context of lived Diné practices around water. Because of our fractured history, some Diné may not be privy to stories about water, stories that reflect our relation- ships to all beings: to the earth, our mother, and to the sky, our father. The stories, which reach back to an era when the Diné were created by the Diiyin Diné — the Holy People — are teachings that are to be lived to ensure a pros- perous life as we walk the path to Beauty and Old Age. The stories of the Creation are our history, and they remind us about our origins and evolution as a distinct people who emerged from three lower worlds into the present one, the Glittering World. One of the reasons the beings who would become our ancestors left the last of those lower worlds has to do with the Coyote of disreputable fame. Coyote had stolen the Water Mon- ster’s baby, and in a fury, the Water Monster unleashed a flood. But,

JULY 2022  ROTARY  47

assisted by Locust and lifted by the water, the beings entered the Glittering came to herd the sheep into the World through a reed. In our stories, water always plays a crucial role. mountains, some family mem- bers would stay behind to tend In the Fourth World, a new era was ushered in as, through trial and to the crops of corn, squash, and error, the beings learned how to live in harmony. The Holy People estab- melons; in July and August, the lished Diné bekéyah by placing mountains in the four cardinal directions. monsoons brought flash floods, These mountains set the boundary of our homeland. Two inner moun- and the rushes of water from the tains were formed in Dinétah, the original homeland — that is, the land mountains brought rich soil for the where our ancestors emerged from the lower worlds. These two moun- cornfields. Years later, when my tains, Dził ná'oodiłii (Huérfano Mountain) and Ch'óol'í'í (El Gobernador father took us children to visit his Knob), are located in what is now northern New Mexico near the San relatives who still lived along the Juan River. In Dinétah, the interactions between the beings and the Holy San Juan River, he’d point out the People established the teachings of how we must live in this world. We fields of wheat, corn, beans, and call it Sa'ah naagháí bik'eh hózhóón, or, more simply, hózhó. hay, and I would wonder if these crops were growing on some of the F arming and raising livestock is a core facet of Navajo life that 10-acre farms allotted to Navajo predates any U.S. claims to the Southwest. That way of life families after the livestock reduc- ended, at least temporarily, in 1863 when, by order of the U.S. tions of the 1930s and ’40s. government, Kit Carson — known as Bi'éé Łichíí'í, or Redshirt — led a scorched-earth campaign against the Navajo people, burning My father and mother are argu- their crops and killing their sheep. Following their surrender, in the ably part of the last generation brutal and, for many, deadly Long Walk, surviving Navajo were removed of Diné who lived in an economy some 400 miles to the Bosque Redondo (“round grove”) near Fort Sum- where livestock — sheep, goats, ner in what is now east-central New Mexico. Finally, in 1868, the Navajo and horses — were the backbone signed a treaty with the U.S. government and the Diné returned to a of Navajo life. The way of life that portion of their homeland to begin restoring as best they could their old my parents describe — one of plen- way of life. tiful grazing pastures, adequate watering sources, and self- My parents were great storytellers, and it was from them I learned subsistence — was stressed from about Diné life based upon farming and raising livestock. My mother, decades of overgrazing on a limited Rose Dennison, was the primary sheepherder for her family when she land base and a long drought was a child. The place where she was raised, about 4 miles north of that denuded grasses and eroded Tohatchi, New Mexico, is known as Dibé bitó (Sheep Springs), and my the soil. Overgrazing led to flash mother and her family drew water from that spring for themselves and floods, which resulted in gullying for their sheep. But raising livestock also involved a seasonal pattern that stripped away pastures. Com- of movement, herding sheep across an arid land and searching for the petition with non-Indian ranchers pastures that grew near watering holes or springs and rivers. In warmer and herders along Navajo borders weather, they’d climb to the higher, shadier altitudes of the mountains, only aggravated the situation. where different kinds of grasses grew. In the 1930s, after decades of That’s when my mother’s grandmother would load the children into Indian agents expressing their a wagon and take them up to the Tohatchi mountains. Once they arrived concerns to Washington, D.C., John at the hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling, Grandmother went in, swept Collier, the commissioner of Indian the dirt floor, sprinkled water, and started a fire. Only then did the chil- Affairs, acted upon the non-Indian dren enter with all their belongings. reports that Navajo land was liter- ally blowing away. He instituted a Sharing her childhood memories always sparked my mother’s livestock reduction program that, laughter. Her stories in their retelling brought her remembered love and despite the conservation impulses joy for her grandmother, siblings, and clan relatives. It was only later in that prompted it, decimated the my life, when I was a young woman, that I realized from my mother’s Navajo herds and dealt a devastat- stories that we are the descendants of the Diné leader Hastiin Chi'il ing blow to the Diné culture and Hajiin and his wife, Aszdáá Tł'ógi, who are better known in Diné history economy. Almost simultaneously, as Manuelito and Juanita. After the great leader died in 1894, his widow other efforts were underway to followed her daughters to Dibé bitó, where members of my extended bridle the region’s waterways so as family currently reside near Tohatchi. to transform the deserts and create the modern Southwest — a super- My father, Frank Nez, was from Fruitland, New Mexico. His father, human and perhaps presumptuous Hosteen Frank Nez, was a Lightning Way singer who performed healing feat made possible only by system- ceremonies for his ailing patients. Dad’s boyhood was spent along the atically dispossessing the Diné and San Juan River, where he herded sheep and helped with the farm work. Hopi of the natural resources that He spoke of standing on the riverside, waiting for pieces of wood to float were rightfully theirs. by so he could wade out and retrieve them for firewood. When the time 48  ROTARY  JULY 2022