2020-10 October

Internet access for rural students page 14 Safe passage for monarch butterflies page 48 October 2020 The future is Polio eradication relies on in our hands working together page 44

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D Zoom meeting with Ro- Our club meets and manages most of its projects PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE tarians and Rotaractors, I looked at the online, using Microsoft Teams to engage 24/7 in topics smiling faces on my screen and realized that interest our members. This also means our club is how much our organization has changed not geographically bound to any one location: Although many of us are in Australia, we also have members in in a short period. It is clear that there is no Germany, Italy, Mexico, Tanzania, and the United States. going back to the “old normal” in Rotary — and I see Also key for our club is measuring the impact of our projects. For Plastic Free July this year, we created an that as an exciting opportunity! awareness campaign promoting ways that individuals could reduce their use of plastics, and we reached more Innovation and change are happening at so many than 6,000 people. It’s a project with a tangible impact that anyone can take part in wherever they are. I’m proud that, levels as we rethink and remake Rotary. Rotary’s new through our club, we are bringing people together for a new type of Rotary experience. I am excited for our future. flexibility is blending with digital culture to drive change All Rotary clubs have the opportunity to be innova- in ways that many of us have never seen before. We can tive clubs, just like Bec’s club. Let’s trust those clubs, learn from them, and lend them our support. Change in learn a lot from Rotarians like Rebecca Fry — who, at Rotary happens at the grassroots level, as clubs lead the charge, defining what this new Rotary can be. age 31, already has 15 years of Rotary experience. Change is constant, and we have more work to do Samuel Zuder I see Rotary as a phenomenal platform to change the in many areas. It is important that we celebrate the Rebecca “Bec” Fry world. I believe I can have the greatest influence by em- contributions of people of all backgrounds and pro- Rotary Club of Social powering others to create the change they wish to see in the mote people from underrepresented groups so that Impact Network world. I’ve gained leadership insights through my experi- they have greater opportunities to participate as mem- ences in RYLA and Rotaract, and now as charter president bers and leaders in Rotary. of the Rotary Social Impact Network, a new e-club. The tools to make Rotary more inclusive, more Engaging Rotary program alumni is key in forming relevant, and more fun for everyone are at our finger- new clubs. Our club is proof that Rotaractors and other tips. Let’s use them now, and we will see how Rotary alumni want to join Rotary — but sometimes they can’t Opens Opportunities for ourselves and for those yet to discover us. nd the Rotary club that’s right for them. Our club has 31 members, all between the ages of 23 and 41, and almost all HOLGER KNAACK of them are alumni of Rotary programs. President, Rotary International We need to be able to integrate and align Rotary with the other personal and professional goals we’re pursuing. In chartering this club, we set out to design a personal- ized model of Rotary that is focused on added value for our members. We have also sought to leverage connections — through Rotary Fellowships, Rotary Action Groups, and other international partnerships — in order to elevate our members’ experiences beyond the club. OCTOBER 2020 ROTARY 1

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WELCOME YOU ARE HERE: Lake Tekapo, New Zealand THE CLUBS: Should you find yourself on New Zealand’s South Island, spend some time exploring the Southern Alps. The peaks there might be familiar from the Lord of the Rings films, in which they stood in for the mountains of Middle-earth. But even in this remote location, you are not far from a Rotary club. A little more than an hour’s drive from this beautiful spot, you can visit several clubs, including the Rotary Club of Temuka Geraldine, which meets Monday evenings at the Tea Pot Inn. THE GEOGRAPHY: The Southern Alps rise as high as 10,000 feet. In one day, you can easily visit the seaside and a glacier. THE HISTORY: The first Rotary club in New Zealand was chartered in 1921. THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Marisa Fink, Rotary Club of Roseburg, Oregon OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  3

ROTARY GENERAL OFFICERS OF ROTARY TRUSTEES OF THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL, 2020–21 FOUNDATION, 2020–21 October 2020 PRESIDENT CHAIR EDITOR IN CHIEF COPY EDITOR Holger Knaack K.R. Ravindran John Rezek Nancy Watkins Herzogtum Lauenburg- Colombo, Sri Lanka Mölln, Germany ART DIRECTOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CHAIR-ELECT Jennifer Moody Vanessa Glavinskas PRESIDENT-ELECT John F. Germ Shekhar Mehta Chattanooga, MANAGING EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER Calcutta-Mahanagar, India Tennessee, USA Jenny Llakmani Marc Dukes VICE PRESIDENT VICE CHAIR SENIOR EDITOR DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Johrita Solari Michael F. Webb Geoffrey Johnson ASSISTANT Anaheim, California, USA Mendip, England Joe Cane SENIOR EDITOR TREASURER TRUSTEES Hank Sartin SENIOR EDITORIAL Bharat S. Pandya Jorge Aufranc COORDINATOR Borivli, India Guatemala Sur, Guatemala SENIOR STAFF WRITER Cynthia Edbrooke Diana Schoberg DIRECTORS Brenda Cressey CIRCULATION MANAGER Tony (James Paso Robles, ASSOCIATE EDITOR Katie McCoy Anthony) Black California, USA John M. Cunningham Dunoon, Scotland Hipólito Sérgio Ferreira Send ad inquiries and materials to: Marc Dukes, Mário César Martins de Contagem-Cidade Rotary magazine, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Camargo Industrial, Brazil Ave., 14th floor, Evanston, IL 60201; phone 847-866- Santo André, Brazil 3092; email [email protected] Per Høyen Virpi Honkala Aarup, Denmark Media kit: rotary.org/mediakit Raahe, Finland Jennifer E. Jones To contact us: Rotary magazine, One Rotary Susan C. Howe Windsor-Roseland, Center, 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201; Space Center (Houston), Ontario, Canada phone 847-866-3206; email [email protected] Texas, USA Hsiu-Ming Lin Website: rotary.org/magazines Jan Lucas Ket Taipei Tungteh, Taiwan Purmerend, The Netherlands To submit an article: Send stories, queries, tips, and Geeta K. Manek photographs by mail or email (high-resolution digital Kyun Kim Muthaiga, Kenya images only). We assume no responsibility Busan-Dongrae, Korea for unsolicited materials. Aziz Memon Aikaterini Kotsali- Karachi, Pakistan To subscribe: Twelve issues at US$12 a year (USA, Papadimitriou Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands); $16 a year Pendeli, Greece Barry Rassin (Canada); $24 a year (elsewhere). Contact the East Nassau, Bahamas Circulation Department (phone 847-424-5217 or -5216; Peter R. Kyle email [email protected]) for details and for airmail Capitol Hill (Washington, Ian H.S. Riseley rates. Gift subscriptions available at the same rates. D.C.), District of Columbia, Sandringham, Australia USA To send an address change: Enclose old address Gulam A. Vahanvaty label, postal code, and Rotary club, and send to the Floyd A. Lancia Bombay, India Circulation Department or email [email protected]. Anthony Wayne (Fort Postmaster: Send all address changes to Circulation Wayne), Indiana, USA Sangkoo Yun Department, Rotary magazine, One Rotary Center, Sae Hanyang, Korea 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201. Roger Lhors Pont-Audemer, France GENERAL SECRETARY Call the Contact Center: USA, Canada, and John P. Hewko Virgin Islands (toll-free) 866-976-8279. Elsewhere: Chi-Tien Liu Kyiv, Ukraine 847-866-3000, ext. 8999. Yangmei, Taiwan Unless otherwise noted: All images are Kamal Sanghvi copyright ©2020 by Rotary International or are used Dhanbad, India with permission. Katsuhiko Tatsuno Published monthly by Rotary International, 1560 Sherman Ave., Tokyo-West, Japan Evanston, IL 60201. Rotary® is a registered trademark of Rotary International. Copyright ©2020 by Rotary International. All rights Stephanie A. Urchick reserved. Periodicals postage paid at Evanston, Illinois, USA, and McMurray, additional mailing offices. Canada Publications Mail Agreement Pennsylvania, USA No. 1381644. Canadian return address: MSI, PO Box 2600, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A8. This is the October 2020 issue, Valarie K. Wafer volume 199, number 4, of Rotary. Publication number: USPS 548-810. Collingwood-South Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada GENERAL SECRETARY John P. Hewko Kyiv, Ukraine 4  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

HELP THE ROTARY FOUNDATION FIGHT DISEASE Your donation to our Annual Fund supports Rotary members around the world combating diseases like COVID-19, malaria, AIDS, diabetes, and polio. Your gift can also help prevent disease through health education and routine medical care. GIVE TODAY: rotary.org/donate

CONTENT October 2020 Vol. 199, No. 4 FEATURES 1  President’s message 2 Welcome 30 The road to Piyali Junction CONNECT Deepa Willingham was born in Kolkata at a time when women and girls were 8  Editor’s note second-class citizens. Sixty years later, 8  Letters to the editor things hadn’t changed — so Willingham 11  The specialist went back home 3D whiz fights pandemic By Jeff Ruby 12  What would you do? 38 Disease detectives OUR WORLD In a public health crisis, contact tracers are on the case 14 Fast track to the future By Diana Schoberg High-speed internet isn’t a luxury; it’s Illustrations by Gwen Keraval essential for a 21st-century education 44 Why partners matter 17 Profile Leaders from Rotary’s polio eradication Uganda’s Rosetti Nabbumba Nayenga partners discuss our critical role leads by example Illustrations by Bruce Morser 18 Rotary projects around the globe 20 A partnership with a history 48 Butterfly effect Rotary has worked side by side with Along the monarch butterfly’s migration the United Nations for 75 years route, the habitat it needs to survive is disappearing. Rotarians are pledging to 23 Keeping polio in our sights restore it The polio eradication infrastructure By Frank Bures has proved invaluable in the pandemic 24 Essay How sports bring us together — and what we miss without them On the cover: Frank Bures 48 OUR CLUBS Rotary and its partners 56 Virtual visit remain dedicated to Rotary Club of Lituanica International immunizing children against 58 In brief polio. 59 Trustee chair’s message Photography by Andrew Esiebo 60 Four questions 6  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020 Riikka Muje on Rotex 61 Taipei convention | Crossword 62 A tribute to Sir Clem Renouf 64 Found Tools of a polio immunizer

“We can’t just give these girls education. We have to give them something to heal their hearts and their psyches.” — Deepa Willingham 30 Trailblazing woman S ylvia whitlock made history in 1987 when she became the first woman to serve as president of a Rotary club. But Whitlock, who’s currently a member of the Rotary Club of Claremont, California, didn’t join Rotary to garner headlines. Like any other Rotarian, she joined to find opportunities for service. A former school administrator with a PhD in education, she’s a longtime supporter of the PACE Learning Center in India. In February, on her fifth visit to the school, the members of its Inter- act club surprised Whitlock with a scholarship established in the name of her daughter Meredith, who died last year after a long battle with sickle cell anemia. “Sylvia was very moved,” says Miriam Doan/Rotary International Illustration by Viktor Miller Gausa Deepa Willingham, the school’s founder. “It was our honor to celebrate this grand lady and her very brave daughter in this way.” — geoffrey johnson To read more about the PACE Learning Center, turn to “The Road to Piyali Junction” on page 30. OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  7

EDITOR’S NOT O n saturday, 24 october, Rotary will cel- Letters ebrate World Polio Day. This is when we to the editor turn our full attention to Rotary’s most important initiative — the audacious ef- OUR NEW PRESIDENT fort to eradicate the deadly, disfiguring, I was delighted to read about our RI president, Holger Knaack, and disabling disease of polio. When we are successful, we his wife, Susanne, in the July is- sue [“Young at Heart”]. My wife, and our partners will have, for only the second time in Lois, and I had the privilege of be- ing their aides at the 2019 Big West history, wiped out a virus affecting humans. The only Rotary Institute for Zones 26 and 27. They were everything the arti- other disease so subdued was smallpox. cle summarized: outgoing, friendly, organized, and fun loving, but with Rotarians know the facts, the scope, and the mo- a serious message. I hope that as we come out of our social distanc- mentousness of the work we are doing. After all we’ve ing, more Rotarians and friends will have the opportunity to inter- accomplished, it’s still an ambition that has the pow- act with them in the coming year. er to take your breath away. — David Bianchi, Reno, Nevada Every year in October, this magazine supports I am sure Holger Knaack will be an outstanding president. But what World Polio Day by highlighting, in depth, some about women? — Dick Henning, aspect of our eradication effort. This time, we have Mountain View, California woven many of those stories throughout the issue. Editor’s note: As this issue went to press, Jennifer E. Jones was nominated Our uplifting cover photograph, for example, was as 2022-23 Rotary president. Visit rotary.org for the full announcement. shot in Africa in July as part of our ongoing coverage WHAT GOES AROUND of polio vaccination and surveillance efforts. The essay “It’s Only Human” by In “Keeping Polio in Our Sights,” we report on Frank Bures in the June issue was insightful, valuable, and timely. how, to fight the spread of COVID-19, the Global Po- However, the “internal dimmer switch” analogy seems reversed to lio Eradication Initiative tapped into the infrastruc- me. While we have the ability to try to dehumanize people who aren’t ture built to stop polio. Simultaneously, it deployed like “us,” we don’t have the ability to dim their humanity; we can only resources to ensure the safe resumption of polio vac- dim our own. — Bryan J. Pett, St. cination efforts. We also highlight the critical work Catharines, Ontario being funded by Rotary grants. IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED? During the virtual convention in June, Rotary as- In the June issue [Inbox], two Rotarians responded to the ar- sembled leaders from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun- ticle about Rotarian Bob Quinn, a dation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF for a panel discussion moderated by Seattle Rotarian Mark Wright. With “Why Partners Matter,” we bring that conversation to our pages to showcase why our partnership is so successful, and so important, as we plan for the end of polio. In “Disease Detectives,” senior staff writer Diana Schoberg breaks down the crucial role that contact tracing plays in controlling the spread of diseases. One of the maddening hindrances to the process is that infected people can be asymptomatic — some- thing that’s true for both COVID-19 and polio. This year, we lost Past RI President Sir Clem Re- nouf, whose vision for Rotary laid the foundation for PolioPlus. In “An Extraordinary Gentleman” and “An Ambitious Idea,” we relate how that vision was con- sistent with Renouf’s 70 years of committed service to Rotary. Finally, take a moment to linger over Found, our redesigned last page, and explore the gear that polio vaccination teams rely on, courtesy of Aminu Mu- hammad, national PolioPlus coordinator for Nigeria. What’s not pictured is the hope and resolve of Rotar- ians everywhere — something that is present every day, in all the work we do to fight polio. After all we’ve JOHN REZEK accomplished, it’s Editor in chief still an ambition that has the power to take your breath away. 8  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

Montana rancher who uses organic I enjoyed reading your article Overheard on CONNECT practices [“Scientist, Farmer, In- “Never Too Young to Lead.”  My social media novator, Rotarian,” March]. One husband, Ed, was 41 when he author had praise for the chemical served as governor of District 7330 In our July issue, industry and its great impact on ag- in 1997-98, with its 43 clubs and we profiled RI riculture — and that is real. But the 1,700 members. I will never forget President Holger production and use of chemicals going with him to the Indianapolis Knaack and his have also had a significant negative convention and being told that my wife, Susanne. impact on the environment. I know two daughters, who were 7 and 9, what I am talking about: I worked and I could not sit in the section re- Félicitations! It on their cleanup for decades as served for district governor family was my pleasure manager for remediation projects members. The man who was seat- to sit with you for a chemical manufacturer. ing people could not comprehend both at Rotary that a district governor could have PETS in Denver. The other letter ends with, a young family. It would have been What a dynamic “I concluded that the rest of the interesting to see how many gover- couple and just article was trash …” This shows nors were under 50 then. Glad to see genuinely great what that gentleman thinks about times are changing! — Carol Olsa- people! I am people who have alternative ideas honored to be about the world and the environ- vicky, West Chester, Pennsylvania a Rotary club ment. He should be ashamed to ad- president during dress a fellow Rotarian in this way. HIGH PRAISE your year as RI Such behavior is unacceptable. president, Holger. It was with great interest that I I know you will — Rainer Domalski, State College, found a page in the June issue with be an inspiration a listing of Rotary Fellowships. as to all the Pennsylvania I’ve been a Rotary member for 38 opportunities Rotary offers the YOUNG LEADERS world. — Victoria Emmons, via I was glad to read your article LinkedIn “Never Too Young to Lead” [May]. It is a great idea to highlight young Check out Rotary people so we can attract more as International’s members. I myself am the young- Instagram story est district governor in Europe in on 14 October for 2020-21; I have not even turned 40. an interactive poll about butterflies. — Soledad Aguilar Oddershede, Salt- sjöbaden, Sweden NASHCO Montana Rotarian Bob Quinn, who was profiled in the March issue, is Follow us to get updates, employing innovative agricultural practices on his 4,000-acre farm. share stories with your networks, and tell us what you think.  Rotary.org  [email protected]  @rotary  /rotary  @rotaryinternational  Rotary magazine One Rotary Center 1560 Sherman Ave. Evanston, IL 60201 The editors welcome comments on items published in the magazine but reserve the right to edit for style and length. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or Rotary International leadership, nor do the editors take responsibility for errors of fact that may be expressed by the writers. OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  9

FFIINNDD AA CCLLUUBBANYWHEREINTHEWORLD! CONNECT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Find the list of all the Rotary Fellowships at: rotary.org/en/ our-programs/ more-fellowships Get Rotary’s free Club Locator app The International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians, which was founded aGawnnewddtwRfifi.ronnotddtaaaarryymm’.soeefreergett/iiecnnlggCublwwulhhobeecLrraoeetcovvaeertrroyyrooauupggpoo!! in 1965, is one of dozens of Rotary Fellowships. www.rotary.org/clublocator years and, as a pilot and aircraft we hold [people] in contempt, we Advertise owner for most of them, I was a lose something of the moral thread in Rotary member of the International Fel- that should be at the heart of our magazine lowship of Flying Rotarians. I used consideration. To feel contempt, to that aircraft for many Rotary trips, loathe, to hate — these are … dehu- [email protected] including flying all over District manizing.” I am reminded of Jesus’ 7600 (Virginia) as its governor in statement, “Truly, I say to you, as you the 1990s. I also attended many of did it to one of the least of these my the pig roasts put on by the Rotary brethren, you did it to me,” and of clubs in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, one of the most influential American area during the Experimental Air- poets in the 1800s, Walt Whitman, craft Association conventions at who said, “Whoever degrades an- the airport up there. Fond memo- other degrades me, / And whatever ries! — Jay H. Lowden Jr., Henrico, is done or said returns at last to me.” Virginia — Jim Dincalci, Tallahassee, Florida / (66 61 , 3 / $662 WORDS TO LIVE BY Correction: In June, “Snapshot” Courtesy of the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians $ / $ , &$1( $5&(' [Madurai, India] featured a Hindu ' , 57 $0$ 7 , 5$ 7 ( I appreciated the message from edi- temple rather than a Buddhist temple , 17 (51$ 7 , 21$ / tor in chief John Rezek in the June as we originally reported. We regret 1250$ 7521 1$9( issue. I found important his hon- the error. * 5 ( $ 7 + $ / 7 *: ( 1 esty and his reminder that “when 3(7 3($&($1' Reprinting articles: Rotary magazine frequently receives requests to reprint its articles. In the , '6 '56 63$ *$6 interest of raising awareness about what Rotary does, we encourage readers to share our articles 6(&85 , 7< (3+ in this way. Any article, in its entirety, may be reprinted in a Rotary-denominated publication such as / $56 9 , (6 / (&+( a club or district newsletter. For other publications, both consumer and nonprofit, reprints require (/2 , (/6( (/ /(6 the expressed prior permission of the magazine. 81 , 7 ('1$ 7 , 216 In all reprints, author, photographer, and illustrator credits must appear with the article, along 721*6 7 ($ / 385( with the following: Reprinted by permission from Rotary magazine, [month/year]. Copyright © $5*8( 7 $ 7 6 $' , 1 [year of publication] Rotary International. All rights reserved. &5(3( 25(2 '<.( If you wish to reprint an article from the magazine, contact us at [email protected]. After pub- lication of the reprint, please mail a copy to: Rotary magazine, 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201. See also myrotary.org/en/terms-using-rotary-international-trademarks-and-copyrights.

THE SPECIALIST print PPE. I researched designs in online maker groups. But the first designs that came out required Texas high-tech materials that we couldn’t get because stores were shut down. We needed to find designs that used resources we already had. A professor has taken personal Our face shield is made with a 3D-printed band protective equipment into a new dimension made of PLA plastic, which is a plastic commonly A bout three years ago, I decided used in 3D printing, and a shield made of transparency film. I discovered that the university had a stockpile to explore the possibilities of 3D of transparency film left over from when we used overhead projectors. We create our shields based on printing. I bought my first printer designs that are approved by the National Institutes of because I wanted to teach 3D concepts Health. When people heard about what we were doing, they started donating money and transparency film.   and take 3D models like paraboloids or When we started, we could make 12 face shields hyperboloids into class, where my students could play a day. My club received an $800 grant from District and interact with them. Not long after, we received an 5730 that enabled us to purchase another printer. Now we can make 20 shields a day. So far, we’ve Xcel Energy Foundation grant to hold weekend and distributed about 800 face shields to hospitals, wellness centers, doctors, and dentists. My daughter, summer workshops for high school and middle school Emily, is president of the Rotaract club at Wayland, and I’m the club adviser. Eventually, the Rotaractors students to learn 3D technology and 3D printing. The will use the printer for their own projects. goal was to get them excited about education and to get It’s rewarding to know I’m making someone’s job them to stay in school by playing with some cool tools. Scott Franklin easier or safer. I’m just a mathematician, but it Rotary Club of makes me feel good to know I’m helping in whatever When the shutdowns started in March, I took some Plainview, Texas way I can. — as told to annemarie mannion equipment home to have something to do. We have Professor of a 3D print lab with mostly low-end printers that I mathematics and computer could relocate to my house. I had started to hear science, Wayland Baptist about the need for personal protective equipment University [PPE], so we decided to fire up our printers and Photography by John Davidson OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  11

CONNECT WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Next question I did an analysis and discovered that 75 percent of the items were pur- Counting the During your chased by our club members, and 55 hours online club percent of the donations were from meetings, club members’ businesses or their Y ou’re planning the with less stress on the volunteers and members have friends and families. Even though live auction for an up- members. If you don’t lay the keel, been sharing the auction raised over $20,000 an- coming club fundraiser. you can’t build a ship. — Jack Harig, personal stories nually, we voted to cancel it. That You spend weeks se- of life during the took pressure off everyone, because Rotary Club of Akron, Ohio COVID-19 pan- we had started a rib fest that took curing sponsors and demic and dis- place seven weeks after the silent The real importance is the good that cussing ways the auction. The result is that our rib items. The event is a huge success, will come from the successful fund- club can help the fest is the best in the area. We make raiser. Don’t worry about personal local commu- more money than before, and people and your club meets its fundraising recognition. The people involved nity. Club leaders aren’t strained or stressed. — Fred in the success of the project know have decided goals. At the end of the Rotary year, who was working and who was not. to record these Mandryk, Rotary Club of Bowman- Accountability for hours worked in meetings and your club president asks members to the background is about the “look at share them on ville, Ontario me!” factor. The beneficiary of the social media and report their volunteer service hours. effort is ultimately going to thank the club website Report the planning hours. That’s Rotary, and that is good enough. as a way to the real time it took to provide the You report all the hours you spent promote the club service, or in this case, the fundraiser — Jim Saxton, Rotary Club of Chicago and attract new that makes the service possible. If Ro- working on the fundraiser, but your members. You tary didn’t want to count fundraising Heights-Park Forest, Illinois don’t feel com- as service, that would be different. club president does not count the fortable with the Then you wouldn’t want the non- meetings being planning hours (those spent in run- time spent on preparatory work as recorded and ning the fundraiser) to be counted, shared, particu- either. But Rotary wants to show out- a service project contribution. You larly because of side funders, nonprofits, and govern- the personal ments how many resources our or- believe the time you spent setting information ganization has, and the hours of our that members volunteers are the major part of those up your event for success should be discuss. resources. — Frederick C. Collignon, recognized. What would you do? What would Rotary Club of Berkeley, California you do? Tell us Preparatory hours are as much a part I have always tracked my hours. at magazine@ of the project as the project itself. How else does one do a qualitative rotary.org. With great preparation, the project assessment of the project? I worked is completed without a hitch and on our silent auction for seven years. Illustration by Ben Wiseman 12  ROTARY MAGAZINE  SEPTEMBER 2020

Rotary believes healthy communities are strong communities. That’s one reason we’ve worked tirelessly to help immunize 2.5 billion children against polio. Bringing the world closer to eradicating a deadly disease — that’s what people of action do. Learn more at Rotary.org.

OUR WORL BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY Fast track to the future High-speed internet isn’t a luxury; it’s essential for a 21st-century education W hen it comes to home, he explains, “and employ- global issues, ac- ers are looking to put their jobs in cess to high-speed places that have good internet ac- internet might not cess. Towns that have slow internet access are generally shrinking.” seem to be a high In 2010, as the Rotary Club of priority. But when a community Denver neared its 100th anniver- sary, members started thinking lacks internet access, its economy about a project to mark the event. Club member John Klug recalls that can suffer as residents deal with “we kept asking ourselves what we could do that 100 years from now, limited educational and employ- at our 200th anniversary, someone might look back at and say, ‘Wow. ment opportunities. What they did was amazing; it truly made a difference.’ ” In the United States, many peo- Roland Thornton, then the club’s ple face high internet costs and president and an executive at tele- communications company Qwest low, erratic — or nonexistent — Communications, knew that many rural schools lacked the high-speed bandwidth. The Federal Commu- internet access common in urban ones, putting their students at a dis- nications Commission estimates advantage. “There are countries in Asia,” Thornton remembers think- that 18.3 million Americans — 5.6 ing, “that have a considerably larger broadband footprint than the United percent of the population — lack States. I was trying to make us more competitive from a global perspec- access to high-speed internet. But tive. My focus was on those rural schools.” a study by BroadbandNow Re- Thornton heard about an or- search, which looked at the FCC ganization called the Eagle-Net Alliance (which stands for Edu- data in more detail, puts the num- cational Access Gateway Learning Environment Network), a coalition ber closer to 42 million people, of public and private groups that also wanted to bring high-speed or 13 percent of Americans. The internet to the far corners of Colo- rado. At the time, the state consid- issue is especially pronounced in ered itself a tech hub, but in terms of broadband connectivity, it was rural areas: According to the FCC, 22 percent of rural Americans lack broadband internet at home, 17 compared with only 1.5 percent of Leading the way urban Americans. in Uganda “Internet access is essential for 20 Rotary and the UN: rural communities,” says Chris- A history topher Mitchell, director of the 23 Community Broadband Network Polio infrastructure Initiative, a program of the In- underpins fight against COVID-19 stitute for Local Self-Reliance, a For more on Rotary’s basic 24 research and advocacy organiza- education and What we’re missing in literacy area a time without sports tion. “In some ways it’s even more of focus, go to rotary.org 14  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020 important than for cities. The two /our-causes /supporting things that immediately come to -education. mind are education and jobs,” he says. Homework options are lim- ited without internet access in the

among the lowest-ranked in the na- sue, featuring endorsements from The students “Almost all industry at this point tion. In some rural areas, internet former Senator Hank Brown, a of Silverton, is high tech and expects constant, costs were 10 times higher than in Republican, and former Governor Colorado, decent internet access,” says Mitch- Denver. Eagle-Net had applied for a Dick Lamm, a Democrat. They got have been ell, of the Institute for Local Self- federal grant from the government’s school boards, local officials, and able to learn Reliance. “And it’s not just about broadband stimulus program, but business groups involved to show online during speeds. It’s about reliability. Because the application had been denied. community support. The second the pandemic if you’re running a trucking com- So the Rotary Club of Denver took application was successful, and because the pany and you lose internet access, on the challenge. Eagle-Net received a $100.6 mil- town has you can’t participate in the real-time lion grant to start extending the a broadband bidding process, which is how that “We wanted to focus on the Colorado information highway to connection industry operates.” Farmers, too, use centennial of Rotary in Colorado, reach all the state’s kids. as part of the the internet to monitor market prices which is why this project was of Rotary project. and weather conditions and to find interest to us,” says Seth Patter- According to a study by the new markets for their goods. Even son, president of the Denver club Blandin Foundation, a Minnesota- so, 29 percent of U.S. farms have no in 2011-12. “It covered nearly every based nonprofit focused on improv- internet access at all. corner of the state.” ing rural communities, broadband access creates $1,850 in economic When the COVID-19 pandemic The club helped Eagle-Net reap- benefit per household per year and shut down classrooms earlier this ply for the grant. Members started increases home values. It expands year, students without broadband an online petition and put together online commerce opportunities and internet found themselves at a huge a YouTube video. The video empha- connects factories to supply chains. disadvantage as schools moved to sized that this was a bipartisan is- OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  15

OUR WORLD “Internet access is essential for rural Most connected communities. In some ways it’s even U.S. states more important than for cities. 1 The two things that immediately come New Jersey to mind are education and jobs.” 2 online instruction. But Silverton, 2,000 miles of new network lines What is Colorado, an isolated mountain town leased from other companies, the broadband? New York of 700 people, had been connected project is providing connections by Eagle-Net to fiber-optic cable — to 126 “community anchor insti- The word 3 which proved to be a lifeline. tutions” such as schools, libraries, broadband and nonprofit health care providers refers to Maryland “We were able to keep all our across Colorado. And of the state’s high-speed, kids connected,” says Kim White, 178 school districts, only 12 schools high-capacity, 4 superintendent of Silverton still are not adequately built out to reliable internet schools. “We had 100 percent of take advantage of high-speed fiber- access. Wired Rhode Island our kids continue to participate. We optic connections. broadband were able to do physical education access can 5 classes, after-school programming, “Eagle-Net had a tremendous be delivered and counseling sessions online. impact on our school,” White through a digital Florida There were lots and lots of oppor- says. “We didn’t have the capacity subscriber line tunities. If we hadn’t had that con- to have multiple kids on multiple (DSL), a coaxial Least connected nection, it would have been paper computers online at the same time. cable, or a U.S. states and pencil packets.” We couldn’t stream. We had the fiber-optic line equipment to do videoconferenc- (which sends 46 Eagle-Net installed more than ing, but we didn’t have the access. light through 720 miles of new fiber-optic line. It’s opened up new worlds to us.” glass filaments). Vermont With over 250 miles of exist- Broadband ing network upgraded and about — frank bures access can also 47 be delivered wirelessly. The Nebraska minimum speed to be considered 48 broadband is 25 megabits per New Mexico second (Mbps) for downloading 49 and 3 Mbps for uploading. Montana Better connections are 50 between 100 Alaska and 1,000 Mbps. Short Beginning 1 July 2022, Rotaract Since March, the International takes clubs will be able to sponsor Fellowship of Rotarian Doctors has Rotary Foundation global grants. organized virtual discussions to share best practices and offer support 16  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020 to COVID-19 frontline workers. Illustrations by Miguel Porlan

PROFILE Rosetti I n 2004, Rosetti Nabbumba Nabbumba Nayenga and her husband, Leader by example Nayenga Robert Kalumula Nayenga, were driving in their home- This district governor is raising up women Rotary Club of town of Mukono, Uganda, and young people in Uganda Mukono, Uganda when their car was involved in a head- on collision. Robert was killed in- stantly. In the aftermath of the crash, Nayenga knew that she needed a way to combat the deep grief she felt. “Many people who lose a loved one think the world has come to an end. But I didn’t let myself think that way,” she recalls. So when she was in- vited to a meeting of the Rotary Club of Mukono, she accepted. “Rotary filled the emptiness I was feeling.” Nayenga, who is deputy head of budget monitoring and account- ability in the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, recognized that Rotary was a place where she could put her professional skills to work. She took on increasing amounts of responsi- bility, and this year she is serving as governor of District 9211 (Uganda and Tanzania). She’s the first Ugandan woman to lead a district in Rotary. In Uganda, Nayenga says, “we grow up with the idea that men are superior, and they should be the leaders.” But she received encour- agement and support from her fel- low Rotarians and recognized that she had the opportunity to address women’s place in Rotary. She makes a point of encourag- ing women and young people to join Rotary — and to invite their friends to join as well. She has asked Rotary committees to offer Rotaractors lead- ership roles. And she has appointed women to such roles, including Juliet Kyokunda, district executive secre- tary, and Jane Nankabirwa Kabugo, chair of the 2021 district conference. In every way she can, Nayenga is planning for Rotary’s future. — nikki kallio As of 27 July, The Rotary The Rotary Peace Fellowship The Rotary Foundation Foundation had awarded Alumni Association held a raised $408.6 million $26 million to support clubs’ 24-hour Global Cyber Peace in 2019-20, exceeding efforts to respond to COVID-19. Conference on 27 June. its $400 million goal. Photography by Emmanuel Museruka/Malaika Media OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  17

OUR WORLD Rotary projects around the globe Mexico United States Despite making economic strides On 12 March, a jalopy stripped in recent decades, Baja California of its engine, fluids, and interior ranks 25th out of Mexico’s 31 states accouterments plunged through in housing quality. In February, a the ice covering Smiths Bay on delegation from the Rotary Club West Okoboji Lake in northern of Parksville AM, British Columbia, Iowa. A clock in the glovebox made its sixth annual visit to stopped at 8:38 a.m., and the the San Quintín Valley in Baja. raffle participant holding the ticket Since 2014, the club has built a printed with that time scored a kindergarten, a community center, $1,000 cash prize. The car drop, an an adult technical training center, a annual event held by the Rotary high school technology classroom, Club of Iowa Great Lakes (Spirit and three residences in the area. Lake), raised more than $7,000 This year, the team built two this year; all but seven of the 720 three-room houses for families available tickets were sold. selected by the club’s partner nonprofit, Live Different, which is “The car, donated by a local based in Hamilton, Ontario. towing company, is put on the ice each year once the lake freezes The group of 18 Rotarians, over,” with a permit approved by friends, and Interactors, led by the state Department of Natural a master carpenter, joined with Resources, says Kathryn Fahy, a four local workers to construct club member and past governor the homes in 10 days. “We divided of District 5970. The proceeds into teams based on interests have funded community projects, and skills,” says Jo Dunn, a past including a playground and a president of the Parksville AM club. YMCA camp. “An annual donation “We took a lot of time to help our is also made to the local fire and Interact students learn how to rescue department, which uses use the construction equipment.” the retrieval of the car as training District 5020 (parts of British for underwater and ice rescues,” Columbia and Washington state) she says. donated $2,600, which the club matched. The Mid Island Group, 138 FEET a charitable arm of a group of MAXIMUM DEPTH Rotary clubs on Vancouver Island, OF WEST OKOBOJI LAKE British Columbia, also contributed funds toward the $12,000 cost of building materials. 18 ROTARY OCTOBER 2020

1 IN 8 FRENCH WOMEN WILL DEVELOP BREAST CANCER France 200 tickets to benefit the Centre India In recognition of Breast Cancer Léon Bérard, which specializes After his wife developed Awareness Month, the Rotaract in cancer research. The event, degenerative tunnel vision in Club of Lyon Ouest staged a dubbed “Soirée Vénus” and 2004, Ram Bedi, a member of the fundraising exhibition in October held at an art center in Lyon’s Rotary Club of Slough, England, 2019 featuring photographs Croix-Rousse district, informed wanted to help others who have of women who have survived attendees about treatment and impaired vision. “My wife and I the disease. The Rotaractors the need for regular screenings. had regularly traveled to India to collaborated with students from France sees an average of more visit relatives, and I noted that the the medical and pharmacy than 50,000 new breast cancer dust and smog caused many eye schools of Université Claude cases each year. problems, including cataracts, Bernard Lyon 1 and sold about especially in villages among poorer people who do not have the 600,000 means to be treated,” he says. In 2005, Bedi and his fellow Slough COMMERCIAL MOTORCYCLES Rotarians began a collaboration REGISTERED IN KENYA AS OF 2017 with the Rotary Club of Shahabad Markanda, located about 100 Kenya miles north of Delhi. Every year Kenya’s boda-bodas, the country’s since, the Shahabad Markanda ubiquitous motorcycle taxis, convey club has overseen annual events, passengers, merchandise, and using money raised by the Slough food, and allow many drivers to Rotarians, to provide cataract earn a living. When the COVID-19 operations free of charge. “I think crisis significantly reduced we have restored the eyesight of passenger traffic, Cup of Uji — an over 2,000 people to date,” says organization founded in 2011 by Bedi, a Rotarian since 1974. The Francis Otieno Amonde, now a Shahabad Markanda club recruits member of the Rotaract Club volunteer doctors to perform of Thika — stepped up to offer checkups and surgeries, more than relief. Its #BeNiceKE campaign 100 of which were planned for 2020. has supported more than 500 families so far, providing them with — BRAD WEBBER a two-week supply of cooking oil, sugar, soap, cotton face masks, OCTOBER 2020 ROTARY 19 flour, beans, and rice. Donations, which come from Amonde’s fellow Rotaractors, Rotarians, and others, cover the $23 cost per bag.

OUR WORLD BUILDING PEACE A TIMELINE OF COOPERATION A partnership with a long history Since the UN was founded 75 years ago, it has worked side by side with Rotary I N 2020, the United Nations 1945 – In June, representatives from 50 nations celebrates its 75th anniver- gather for a conference in San Francisco to finalize sary. “You might ask, why and approve the UN Charter. Rotary is one of 42 celebrate this anniversary?” nongovernmental organizations that participate in wrote Past Rotary Inter- an official consultative role. Rotary members guide agendas, perform translations, suggest wording, national President Mark Daniel and help resolve disputes between the delegates. Maloney in the November 2019 is- sue of this magazine. “For Rotary, it is entirely appropriate, because 1950 we played such a critical leader- ship role in the San Francisco 1942 – Rotarians organize a conference in London Conference that formed the United that inspires the creation of UNESCO, whose aim is to build Nations in 1945.”   peace through knowledge 1940 and communication. Decades later, RI still has a voice What is Rotary Day at the 1930 at the UN through the Rotary Rep- United Nations? Every November, resentative Network, which gives Rotary Day at the United the organization a seat at the table Nations highlights the at high-level meetings. Our connec- humanitarian activities that tion to the UN also helps Rotary ac- Rotary and the UN lead around complish its most ambitious goals, the world. In past years, including the eradication of polio. members have 1920 spent the day at Rotary’s dedication to making UN headquarters in New York City the world a better place means that or one of the 1914 — Chesley Perry, acknowledged as organization’s Rotary’s first general secretary, writes, “Let continued involvement with the UN other offices, Rotary make International Peace and Good Will where they its mission as an international organization.” makes a great deal of sense. “No hear keynote speakers actor can address effectively and and share information. efficiently the most urgent problems To learn more of humanity alone. A global coali- about this event, visit rotary.org tion of governments, business, and /un-day. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR ROTARY TO WORK WITH THE UN? civil society organizations is needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” says Walter “We work closely with WHO “The Rotary representatives and UNICEF on the Global Polio ensure that Rotary has a voice in B. Gyger, Rotary’s representative to Eradication Initiative and with the international community and is other organs of the UN. These viewed as a relevant player on the the UN in Geneva. “The achieve- relationships enhance our profile, international stage.” our credibility, and our stature — Judith Diment, representative to ment of these goals is the basis to as one of the world’s leading the Commonwealth of Nations and and most respected civil society dean of the Rotary Representative maintain peace in the world, in- organizations.” Network — Peter Kyle, 2018-20 dean of the crease prosperity for all, and to ad- Rotary Representative Network dress the most urgent challenges.” To mark the anniversary, here’s a look at Rotary’s relationship with the UN over the decades. — VANESSA GLAVINSKAS 20 ROTARY OCTOBER 2020 Illustration by StoryTK

2013 – Retired RI General 2020 Secretary Edwin H. Futa is appointed as the first dean of the Rotary Representative Network. 2010 2000 – Rotary partners with 2000 the UN Foundation to raise money for polio eradication. 1 950s-1970s – Rotary’s relationship 1990 2 020 – The United Nations with the UN goes through changes, celebrates 75 years since its and Rotary takes a break from 1980 charter was signed. its advisory role. Its official consultative status with the ROTARY REPRESENTATIVE NETWORK UN is restored in 1980. The Rotary Representative 1970 1991 – Rotary establishes a network Network is made up of 32 of 30 representatives to the UN and members from a variety of 1960 other organizations. countries who represent Rotary at the UN, at its programs 1 989 – The annual Rotary Day at the and agencies, and at other United Nations is launched. international organizations, enhancing Rotary’s visibility within 1 985 – PolioPlus launches, the international community. prompting Rotary to forge a closer Here is a list of UN entities where connection with the UN, along with Rotary is represented: WHO and other agencies. U nited Nations (UN) in New York 1 946 – Rotarians attend City and Geneva the first meetings of the Food and Agriculture UN General Assembly. Organization (FAO) in Rome International Fund for WHAT DO YOU THINK THE NETWORK CAN ACCOMPLISH? Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome “The environment is becoming “Peacebuilding and conflict UNICEF in New York and Nairobi, an important issue to Rotary prevention is the most urgent Kenya members, and it is important for need. Without peace, all other UN Development Programme Rotary to reach out to international social service activities remain in (UNDP) in New York agencies that have the expertise vain. Thanks to the global network, UN Economic Commission for and experience to support club I organized the first Rotary Peace Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, efforts. Our connection with the Projects Incubator.” Ethiopia UN Environment Programme will — Walter B. Gyger, representative UN Economic Commission for have a major impact.” to the UN in Geneva Latin America and the Caribbean — Joe Otin, representative (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile to the UN Environment Programme UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris and Nairobi UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva U N Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in New York W orld Bank in Washington, D.C. W orld Food Programme (WFP) in Rome W orld Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  21

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT TheRotary magazine photo awards let you share your vision with Rotarians around the world. Enter for the chance to see your work published: The 2021 photo awards are openforsubmissions1 October through 15 December 2020. Foonr.rdoettaariyls.ogrogt/o photo2021. magazine 2020 photo submissions, from top: YEONG HSIOU CHEN / WILLIAM ROE / JOYCE FULLER

OUR WORLD GOODWILL In June, unteers who educate communities Rotary approved about polio have been trained to Keeping polio teach people about COVID-19, in- in our sights grants for: cluding hand washing and other preventive measures. Rotary and its partners have mobilized disease-fighting 19,306 infrastructure to respond to COVID-19 — PolioPlus grants continue to vehicles hired for while remaining dedicated to eradicating polio frontline workers fund critical work Polio immunization activities began T he covid-19 pandemic tries must be prioritized in order to in Afghanistan resuming in July, with precautions has created health chal- deliver on our promise of a polio- taken to protect frontline workers lenges that go beyond free world.” 90 million and communities. With funding the disease itself. In from Rotary members, Rotary issued In March, the GPEI helped doses of more than $50 million in PolioPlus May, the World Health mount a worldwide response to monovalent oral grants in June to support polio erad- the COVID-19 pandemic, tapping ication work in Afghanistan and Organization reported that, world- the infrastructure created for polio polio vaccine Pakistan (the last two countries vaccination and surveillance. All where wild polio remains endemic) wide, 80 million children under age the while, it dedicated funds and 12,139 and across Africa. In Afghanistan, other resources to resuming polio communications and community one were not receiving routine vac- vaccination efforts as soon as it was vaccinators outreach work (called “social mobi- safe to do so, and to adjusting the trained lization”) is crucial; this has includ- cinations for a variety of diseases. vaccination and surveillance infra- in Sudan ed distributing 3 million bars of soap structure as needed. to promote hygiene, protect against Pausing vaccinations — which in- 2,530 polio and COVID-19, and improve Polio experience underpins local reception of vaccination efforts. volve close contact between vac- community In Pakistan, the social mobilization pandemic response health workers effort has a special focus on outreach cinators, infants, and their families When COVID-19 emerged, the GPEI to local religious leaders, who can brought decades of experience to recruited in promote vaccinations in mosque — was necessary in the face of the the response. While critical func- Pakistan announcements and sermons. tions of the polio eradication effort pandemic. But as UNICEF Execu- continued, polio workers became Make sure your In June, WHO committed to involved in contact tracing, testing, World Polio Day funding a Subnational Immuniza- tive Director Henrietta Fore warns, and educating communities about event is registered tion Day in the Democratic Repub- hand washing and other ways to re- at endpolio lic of Congo in the first quarter of “We cannot exchange one deadly duce transmission of and exposure .org/register 2021. A $3 million grant from Rotary to COVID-19. In many cases, they -your-event. will help fund vaccinations for an outbreak for another.” carried out both polio eradication This year, clubs anticipated 8.4 million children in and COVID-19 response activities and members that country. Amid these challenges, Rotary’s simultaneously. that register their events by The WHO Regional Office for contributions toward polio eradi- The polio eradication infrastruc- 15 October will Africa continues polio surveil- ture has proved invaluable in the receive early lance in 47 countries across the cation are more important than pandemic: GPEI hotlines, emergency access to a continent. A $4 million PolioPlus operations centers, computers, and downloadable grant will fund lab and surveil- ever. In January 2020, the Bill & vehicles were all enlisted to support World Polio Day lance activities such as collecting the COVID-19 response. In Nigeria, program via and transporting stool samples and Melinda Gates Foundation and World Health Organization field of- email. The conducting training. It will also fices, which are used to coordinate program will support procedural changes made Rotary renewed their long-standing polio eradication efforts, have dou- also be available necessary by COVID-19. bled as hubs for WHO teams focused on the Rotary partnership, committing to raise on COVID-19. In Pakistan, hun- International As Rotary prepares to mark dreds of polio surveillance officers Facebook page World Polio Day on 24 October, an additional $450 million for po- have been trained in COVID-19 on 24 October. members know that even in the face surveillance. In Afghanistan, vol- of a pandemic, the important work lio eradication over the next three Learn more and of fighting polio must continue. Now donate at more than ever, the support of all years. Rotary is committed to rais- endpolio.org Rotary members is needed to help /world-polio-day. win the fight for a polio-free world. ing $50 million each year, with ev- — hank sartin ery dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. “While response to the COVID-19 pandemic is an ur- gent global health priority, we can- not let our progress against polio backslide,” says Michael K. McGov- ern, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee and a member of the Global Polio Eradication Ini- tiative (GPEI) Polio Oversight Board. “Our recent success in the African region shows that a polio-free world is achievable, but renewed focus and support for ongoing efforts in the two remaining endemic coun- OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  23

ESSAY Time out bottles of hand sanitizer. Some did push-up contests on Zoom. With sports on hold, we’ve begun Spectator-sports junkies binge- to understand how they bring us together — watched The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part Michael Jordan docu- and what we’re missing without them mentary, not to mention Rocky, Hoosiers, Slap Shot, Seabiscuit, A By Kevin Cook League of Their Own, Caddyshack, and Gladiator, which I contend is M y son and i were watching an nba game the best sports movie ever. when the news came: Basketball was over. It was the night of 11 March. The And as coronavirus lockdowns Dallas Mavericks were hosting the Denver dragged on all over the world, Nuggets when the NBA suspended its more than 35 million YouTube season “until further notice” because of viewers watched multicolored the coronavirus pandemic. Mark Cuban marbles roll downhill in got the news before we did. The Mavs’ billionaire owner was competitions called the sitting courtside, looking at his phone, when his jaw dropped. MarbleLympics and Marbula Soon the announcers confirmed that we were watching the last One. Sportscaster Joe Buck’s NBA game for a while — maybe a long while. “Quarantine Calls,” meanwhile, found him narrating videos that I flashed back to 2001. We went dark for six days. Now the Kevin Cook’s fans sent him, from dogs tussling were living five blocks from the mere act of gathering for a game latest book is for a stick (“Bruce Wayne clearly World Trade Center on the day the would put players and fans at Ten Innings toying with his opposition, Rocco towers fell. As we fled our stricken risk. Thinking back to how we’d at Wrigley. doesn’t seem to have a chance”) neighborhood, my son, Cal, then a spent my daughter’s birthday at He hopes to to a boy sinking a full-court third grader, asked, “Will the Mets Yankee Stadium, I could still see eventually rejoin three-pointer (“And he got it! To play tonight?” the message on the scoreboard, golfers Ken the delight of his dad!”) to, yes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY, and Kubik, Doug marble races. “It looks like a four- “Not tonight,” I said. “Not for a hear Sinatra singing “New York, Vogel, and Chris marble race,” Buck intoned. “Oh, while.” New York” as we left the stadium Carson in a we’ve had an accident! And the shoulder to shoulder with other rescheduled turquoise ball is behind!” In some ways the COVID-19 happy fans. When would that Kubik Classic. pandemic carries echoes of 9/11. happen again? Not for a while. My friend Ken told me he was Again our first reaction was to hanging in there. “It’s been a long cling together as a family. Next In the new abnormal, we spring,” he said. “I had some came sorrow for those who had sheltered in place. Every day was withdrawal when they canceled lost their lives, then worry for our the same: Wake up, fire up the March Madness — and then the city, our country, and the world, laptop, telework, eat, sleep, repeat. Masters, the Kentucky Derby, which would never be quite the I ached for the daily drama and Wimbledon, and everything else. same again. And again we played fun that sports provide. I’ve been practicing putts indoors a waiting game, wondering when and chipping golf shots in the the sports that we used to take In that, at least, I was in the yard. I’ve actually watched replays for granted would return. But this same crowded boat with mil- of Frisbee golf and the Soap Box would be a longer wait. The new lions of others. Some of us tried Derby, but I can’t get interested in crisis was different from 2001, our Rollerblades on treadmills or old Super Bowls and World Series. when sports in the United States bowled by rolling tennis balls at It’s no fun if you know who wins.” Our golf buddy Doug, a lifelong Mets fan, had a different approach. “I’ll watch anything baseball,” he said. “Bench-clearing brawls, really good national anthems, and of course the 1969 and 1986 World Series, which the Mets won. And there’s nothing anticlimactic about that. I know they’re going to win, but I still get nervous because, well, they’re the Mets.” Chris, the other member of our idled foursome, was an assistant 24  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

Illustrations by Fien Jorissen OCTOBER 2020 ROTARY 25

ESSAY coach of the Westfield (New business in an uncertain time, mud. After that ride, I started Jersey) High School girls’ soccer claims he’ll outdrive me when we sticking a few carrots in my pocket team. “I’ve got such sympathy for play golf again. I’ll maintain my for the animals, who munched high schoolers all over the country social distance when he tries to them hungrily. The fellow who who’ve lost part of their senior collect on our bets. Lily, who used looked after them told me their years,” he said. “My personal to text me from her room during names: “The big steer is Clifford, sports hack is cooking — I’m now Yankees games (Shd they bring the gray longhorn is Marley, and giving 100 percent to making infield in??), was pleased when the cow’s name is Sietchie.” our family’s dinner. Homemade the Korea Baseball Organization pizza? That’s a no-doubter. Grilled staged the first professional Clifford and Marley turned chicken sandwiches with roasted regular-season ball games of out to be bullies. When I began red peppers and mozzarella 2020, which were shown on bringing bags of apples, they cheese, with corn on the cob and television in the United States. shoved sweet-tempered Sietchie homemade strawberry shortcake? From apartments 180 miles aside and gobbled up hers as well Yesss! My goal is to win the trophy apart, we watched the KBO’s as theirs. To help her compete, I that really matters: a ‘Husband of Samsung Lions, Kia Tigers, and would have to raise my game. the Year’ coffee mug.” Doosan Bears face off in empty stadiums where the seats held Deciding that apples were Of the countless sports videos cardboard cutouts of fans. Home for amateurs, I found a farm- I’ve watched during this long, runs were met by the silence of supply store — open for curbside strange season of lockdowns, my crowds that weren’t there, but it purchases only — and bought a favorite features Chris’ soccer was the same game. Lily texted: 50-pound bag of cattle feed. That team and its winning performance Infield in?? was enough for 50 one-gallon- in the Toilet Paper Challenge. size Ziploc bags of premium With school closed, the Westfield Between KBO games and cow chow. Taking three at a time High girls — in their various living reports of U.S. sports leagues’ in a backpack, I made my rides rooms, bedrooms, driveways, and halting efforts to reopen their to Mudville, where the bullies yards — bop rolls of toilet paper seasons, I killed time with gulped down their servings and off their feet and knees. Clever bike rides. It was a joy to be knocked Sietchie away from her editing makes it look like they’re outside. I rode past joggers and plastic feed bowl. keeping a single roll in the air, other cyclists wearing surgical passing it back and forth through masks, but also birds, squirrels, With real sports on hiatus, northern New Jersey. Their chipmunks, apple orchards, and I began seeing Clifford and socially distanced teamwork made fields of ankle-high corn. The Marley as the other team. But my day. Olé, olé olé olé! countryside in spring didn’t know they ignored my warnings. They there was a pandemic. ignored the golf club I waved at My sports-minded family has them. It was like a game of musical its own sort of teamwork. Even Near the end of my ride, three chairs, with them hustling from apart, we’re together. Cal, now scrawny cows nibbled blades of bowl to bowl while I poured. a college grad starting his own grass in a field that was mostly What I needed was a winning Every day was the same: strategy. I needed to become the Wake up, fire up the laptop, Belichick of the Bovine Bowl. telework, eat, sleep, repeat. I ached for the daily drama and So finally, on one visit I tried four feed bowls, one for each fun that sports provide. animal plus a wild-card bowl. As the three of them dug in, I could almost hear Joe Buck calling the action: “Clifford the big steer dominates the first bowl, sending Marley to second and Sietchie to third. Now the shift is on and bam — they knock her aside. But the bullies can only cover two positions! It’s an end-around by Sietchie … Cook distracts them while she moseys from one to the other, and fans, look at this — she’s munching like there’s no tomorrow!” That was even better than the Super Bowl. 26 ROTARY OCTOBER 2020

TAKE ACTION ERADICATE A DISEASE FOREVER WORLD POLIO DAY 24 OCTOBER 2020 www.endpolio.org/world-polio-day

AFRICAN REGION IS FREE OF WPOILLDIOVIRUS

Our hard work has paid off. Through the work of Rotarians and our partners, the WHO African region has been certified free of wild poliovirus. This means that no child in any of the region’s 47 countries will ever again have to suffer from the wild poliovirus. While we celebrate this great achievement, we look to the next goal: to eradicate the wild poliovirus in the two countries where the disease has never been stopped, Afghanistan and Pakistan. “To all of our Rotary members: Thank you for your continued support and dedication, which has made possible the certification of the WHO African region as free of the wild poliovirus. We know this hasn’t been easy, and there is still work to be done, but you have helped achieve something remarkable.” Holger Knaack Rotary International President Help us meet the next challenge by donating at endpolio.org/donate

By Jeff Ruby THE ROAD TO PIYALI 30 ROTARY OCTOBER 2020

JUNCTION Deepa Willingham was born in Miriam Doan / Rotary International Kolkata at a time when women and girls were second-class citizens. Sixty years later, things hadn’t changed — so Willingham went back home OCTOBER 2020 ROTARY 31

“SHE PUT HERSELF AND HER asis. Everybody who visits Alyce Henson / Rotary International RESOURCES ON THE LINE TO CREATE WORTHY LIVES FOR the PACE Learning Center, ALL THESE GIRLS WHO WALK an all-girls school near Kol- THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE kata, India, uses the same PACE LEARNING CENTER.” word: oasis. They take a long look at the campus’s 32  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020 pristine green lawns and the swaying palm trees. They contemplate the se- rene meditation center, the O laughter-filled playground, and the outdoor complex full of girls in yellow polo shirts bending this way and that in yoga class. That’s when the ques- tions begin: Where did this gleaming, environmentally sustainable Shangri-La come from? Who made it happen? And why here, in the rural village of Piyali Junction in West Bengal, where much of the population is illiterate and extreme poverty abounds? Today, the girls swarm around a woman with a deep, intense smile and dark hair shot through with shades of gray and white. The older kids look up at her ador- ingly, as do the smaller ones, though they don’t really know who she is yet. They only understand by the way the teachers are treating her that she must be someone important. All of them call her Dida, which means “Grandmother,” and the hugs and kisses never seem to end. “Every time I come, they’re all over me,” says Dida. “There is not enough cheek space.” Dida is Deepa Biswas Willingham, and her deliberate manner and the proud look in her eyes suggest she might have something to do with this oasis. Sylvia Whitlock, a friend of Willingham and of the school, dispels any doubt. “Deepa is a selfless woman,” says Whitlock, a retired educational administra- tor who is herself rather extraordinary — she was the first woman to serve as presi- dent of a Rotary club. “She put herself and her resources on the line to create worthy lives for all these girls who walk through the doors of the PACE Learning Center. Where would these girls be if they were not in this school? For this Deepa deserves the credit.” But Willingham, a past president of the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, Califor- nia (and a past governor of District 5240), would never dream of taking credit for all this. She’d rather tell you about the tireless teachers, whose influence goes way beyond the classroom. She’d enumerate all the gen- erous people and organizations that have contributed time and money to the school. She’d sing the praises of the Rotary Club of Calcutta Metropolitan (where she’s an honorary member) and the many other

clubs in India and around the world that ALMA MATER and Muslims boiled over in Kolkata with have provided essential support. She’d widespread riots and massacres. Deepa single out those families and other Piyali Students at the watched as streams of children, women, Junction residents who took a chance on school adore Deepa men, and livestock took refuge on campus. something so completely at odds with a Willingham, the Then she saw her mother and father stand patriarchal society that all too often ren- school’s founder, between the students and the suddenly ders females invisible. But mostly, she’d and call her Dida, vulnerable Muslim settlement behind the pay tribute to the girls. which means school. “The students were threatening to “Grandmother.” kill people,” Willingham says. “My parents, B ORN IN KOLKATA IN 1941, particularly my mother, said, ‘You’re not Previous pages: going to kill anyone until you kill us.’” It’s Deepa Willingham was her As the school day one of her earliest memories. parents’ middle child and begins, girls walk only daughter. Her father, to the PACE Deepa attended Loreto Convent, a Ro- Manmatha Nath Biswas, Learning Center. man Catholic girls’ school where Mother was an English professor Teresa was her geography teacher. Willing- at Serampore College who ham recalls that, even then, the future saint later served as the school’s was troubled by the crippling poverty she principal. Her mother, La- could see from her window. It was a les- tika, was a homemaker son reinforced at home. “You know how who was frustrated that parents tell kids to finish the food on their plate because there are starving children in she’d never been allowed Africa?” Willingham asks. “I grew up with my mother telling me to finish the food on to attend college. (Instead, my plate because there were starving chil- dren outside the window. I saw those chil- her older brother had mar- dren on our way to school, and I thought to myself, ‘When I grow up, I will take care ried her off.) A free thinker, Latika rejected of children like that.’” the caste system and, as Willingham recalls, Willingham was a gifted student. After majoring in botany (with a minor in geolo- she never stopped reading. gy) at Presidency College (now Presidency University) in Kolkata and finishing first in Deepa and her two brothers grew up her class, she was recruited through a U.S. State Department program seeking the top in campus housing. A middle-aged couple science graduates around the world. She had never left India and did not want to go. whom they regarded as their grandparents Her father insisted — in part because he could not find a suitor for his dark-skinned helped raise them. Later Deepa learned BUS STOP that they were household servants who Cycle vans, a gift from the Rotary had been discarded by society because of Club of Calcutta Mayfair, transport their interreligious relationship (he was students and teachers to and Hindu; she was Muslim) and that her par- from school. ents, both Christians, had taken them in. During the summer of 1946, when Deepa was five, tensions between Hindus Miriam Doan / Rotary International OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  33

daughter. “I knew that was a huge burden But while working as a pathology de- YOUR MONEY AT WORK on my mother,” Willingham says today, partment administrative director at Santa “and from that point of view, I felt self- Barbara Cottage Hospital, she began coun- Rotary Foundation conscious.” She left for the United States seling the families of dying patients. “In grants have in 1964; over the next 12 years, she would the hospital industry, even physicians supported the PACE see her parents only once. don’t know how to deal with death very Learning Center well,” Willingham says. “But losing my and the surround- After earning her master’s at Miami own spouse gave me an inner feeling of ing community. University in Oxford, Ohio, Willingham how to counsel others by just listening to Here’s what those moved on to doctoral work at the Univer- them, holding their hand, and letting them Foundation dollars sity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she cry on my shoulder. From then on, a lot of helped to provide. studied molecular biology and met Richard people would call me if someone was hav- Peter Howmiller, a biology student from ing a hard time. That was the beginning of 2007 that city. (The couple married in 1971.) In my realization that something must be in Wisconsin, Willingham also found herself there, inside me. That I can help people.” Clean water for dodging tear gas in the middle of Vietnam local villages protests. Her embrace of social activism KICK-START I N 2001 WILLINGHAM was still $21,200 included a trip to Memphis in 1968 to listen living in Santa Barbara County. to and march with Dr. Martin Luther King In addition to their She had a grown daughter and a 2009 Jr. days before his death. classroom studies, successful career in hospital ad- students at the PACE ministration behind her, yet she Adult literacy When Howmiller landed a teaching Learning Center woke up on her 60th birthday and vocational job in Santa Barbara, California, he and participate in after- and was surprised to find herself training programs Willingham moved west to start their ca- school sports and ashamed. You have been on this $18,425 reers. One Sunday afternoon in 1976, the arts programs. planet 60 years, said a voice in her two were hit by a drunk driver while riding head, and you have done nothing 2009 Howmiller’s motorcycle. Howmiller died Opposite: A 14- to help the world. Whether right or two weeks later, and the crash broke both year-old student wrong, the voice did not go away. Community of Willingham’s legs. (Today she walks with concentrates “At the back of my mind was this development an artificial left ankle.) The agony she felt on the day’s program seemed bottomless. She was angry — at assignment. Some $330,000 the driver, at God, at the world. of the girls are the first in their families 2010 to attend school. Computer equipment for the school $10,696 2011 School toilets $55,555 2011 Diesel generator for the school $14,559 2012 School bus $23,020 2012 School furniture $49,215 2012 After-school programs $16,869 2013 Science lab and library $10,437 2013 Commercial kitchen $17,748 2013 Playground and landscaping $50,000 34  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

Both pages: Miriam Doan / Rotary International idea that I wanted to give the gift of educa- “AT THE BACK OF MY MIND WAS tion,” Willingham says. “But I didn’t know THIS IDEA THAT I WANTED TO GIVE where or how.” THE GIFT OF EDUCATION. BUT Around this time, spurred by a neigh- I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE OR HOW.” bor, Willingham attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, and she OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  35 found herself impressed enough to join. When she mentioned that she was inter- ested in opening a school for girls, things began to happen quickly. Willingham soon established PACE (Promise of Assurance to Children Everywhere) Universal, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to empowering girls and women through education. Her plan was to open a school in Mexico. Then, Willingham recalls, “the PACE board said, ‘You were born in Kolkata, and Mother Teresa was your teach- er. You should do the first one in Kolkata.’” With help from her brother Bashker Biswas and from a humanitarian organiza- tion in India, Willingham settled on a site for her school in Piyali Junction. Situated about 25 miles southeast of Kolkata, the village is in one of the biggest districts for sex traf- ficking in the country. Many girls there are abused and sold into sexual slavery by their overwhelmed families for as little as $30 — often by the age of five — or they are mar- ried off at 13. The lucky ones work the fields or become house servants. “Deepa identi- fied the main challenges facing the commu- nity,” says Jayanta Chatterji, the India direc- tor for PACE and a member of the Rotary Club of Calcutta Metropolitan. “They were illiteracy, child labor, child marriage, child trafficking, and other atrocities, including extreme physical and mental abuse. And she took an oath to address those issues.” (Willingham is equally effusive in her praise for Chatterji. “God was smiling on me the day I met him,” she says. “I’m not at the school every day. Jayanta is.”) Willingham secured a parcel of land and began recruiting girls for the school, only to find their parents resistant. “The girls were part of their family income, so they didn’t see any value in giving them an education,” she says. “Somebody told me, ‘You’re tak- ing a family’s commodity away. They may come after you; they may even kill you.’ But like Gandhi said, if they kill me, they will only have my dead body, not my spirit. And as long as I am alive, I will not allow the girls to be sold.” Willingham explained to the fathers in Piyali how her education had enabled her to take care of her own parents in their old age. But it wasn’t until she promised to feed their daughters two meals a day that parents began to agree to let their girls attend the school. In 2003, the PACE Learning Center opened. On that first day, 25 filthy and

“WE CAN’T JUST GIVE THEM hungry girls packed into a four-room EDUCATION. WE HAVE shack with a tin roof, straw siding, and a TO GIVE THEM SOMETHING mud floor. The school was equipped with TO HEAL THEIR HEARTS a few kitchen utensils, some portable fans, AND THEIR PSYCHES.” and a few benches. The early days were not easy. Girls sometimes disappeared 36  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020 from one day to the next. When teach- ers wanted to throw birthday parties, they found that the children didn’t know when they were born; they also didn’t know what a party was. Most of the girls had intestinal worms, so Willingham put in a well, providing them with clean water for the first time in their lives. “Soon, any time something went wrong in the village, they would come to the school for help,” she says. “The roof of someone’s hut blew off from the monsoon storms? We went to fix it. When a girl was on the verge of dying from a hole in her heart, we ar- ranged for her to get surgery free of charge in the city.” Within six months, enrollment had risen to 85 girls. Mothers began bring- ing their daughters and saying, I don’t want her to have a life like mine. Help me. As the school grew, so did its connec- tion to the adjacent village. When Willing- ham realized the girls were still drinking dirty pond water on weekends, she ap- plied for a Matching Grant from The Ro- tary Foundation for $15,200 to dig more wells in the village. (With a second grant, that amount grew to more than $21,000.) “That was the real beginning,” Willingham says. “The village saw that not only were we building the school, we were bringing them clean water.” With support from Rotary clubs and The Rotary Foundation, PACE began to build roads and plant 10,000 fruit trees throughout the village. They added wells and built 400 sanitation units. And then came the health clinic and the ambulance, the ultramodern commercial kitchen, and the self-contained soil biotechnology treat- ment plant. The PACE Learning Center also launched an adult literacy program and began offering vocational training for the students’ mothers. Little by little, what began as a tin-roofed hut grew into a sus- tainable village model for poverty eradica- tion. “PLC is not just a school,” Chatterji says. “It’s a movement that provides holis- tic education to the first generation of girls in their families to attend school, while also empowering women of the community.” Today, the campus covers 3 acres and educates more than 230 girls from nursery school through 12th grade. And those girls are thriving, often through force of will. With no place to study in her home, one 10th grader, Anamika Sarkar, lugged her

books to a nearby temple where she spent INDIA’S FUTURE a full-time vocational training center for hours preparing for the board exam, which students’ mothers, who are currently can significantly impact a student’s pros- Even kindergarten crammed into the space behind the stage pect of getting into university or pursing her students are eager in the auditorium. Next? Jewelry and spice choice of career. (She received the highest to learn at the factories, and maybe a village-oriented grade in the class.) Other girls, traumatized school, which bank. Only then will Willingham — now by years of sexual abuse, find solace in after- educates more a member of the Rotary Club of Central school sports and arts programs. More than than 230 girls from Coast-Passport, District 5240 — consider one student has written a play about the nursery school the school “complete,” a prototype that Ro- abuse she’s experienced — and performed through 12th grade. tary clubs and PACE can replicate in other it in front of an audience that included her places. “After my first visit to the school, attacker. “We can’t just give them educa- CELEBRATION the lingering memory I had was of happy tion,” Willingham says. “We have to give girls eager to be learning and developing them something to heal their hearts and A student prepares skills they didn’t even know they had,” says their psyches. The courage and persever- to observe Holi, Lulu Kamatoy, international chair of the ance that these girls show is amazing.” a jubilant Hindu Rotary Club of San Fernando Valley Eve- holiday, also known ning, California. “I then thought of possibly Both pages: Miriam Doan / Rotary International A T THE BEGINNING of as the Festival of opening something like this model in the each year, families line up Colors, that marks Philippines, where I was born and raised. in hopes of landing one the arrival of spring. We have rural areas in the Philippines with of the PACE Learning conditions similar to Piyali.” Center’s 25 coveted spots for four- and five-year- In February, during her most recent vis- olds. Admission is still it to Piyali Junction, Willingham wandered need-based, but a funny into an art class being held in the school’s thing has happened: The outdoor pavilion. She was blown away by school has been so suc- the creativity on display and the beauty of cessful that the average the girls’ paintings — vivid nature land- scapes and sophisticated statements about family income in Piyali climate change. “No painting outside the lines!” the teacher implored. has jumped from $1 a Willingham winced. These were the day to nearly $5 a day. kind of words she had heard growing up. “I understood,” she said later. “India is an The process of identifying the neediest old country, and by sticking to the same mode, they probably feel that’s the best among the children has become so inten- thing.” But she still encouraged the girls in the class to forget about the lines and sive that a former staff member joked that paint wherever their hearts led them. ■ it was easier to get into Harvard. If all goes as planned (and hoped), the PACE Learning Center will one day build OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  37

DISEASE DETECTIVES In a public health crisis, contact tracers are on the case By Diana Schoberg Illustrations by Gwen Keraval O N 20 JULY 2014, a Liberian- American man collapsed in an airport in Lagos, Nigeria, a city of more than 10 million people. Three days later, he was diagnosed with Ebola, the country’s first case. The arrival of the Ebola virus in one of the world’s largest cities was a scenario that, as one U.S. official noted at the time, generated worries of an “apocalyptic urban outbreak.” But what could have been a ghastly epidemic was averted; only 19 additional people in Nigeria contracted the disease, and seven died. The World Health Organi- zation (WHO) declared the country free of Ebola on 20 October, three months after that first case was diagnosed. 38  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

To achieve that, the work of the Rotary- down by a team of 150 contact tracers GLOSSARY supported polio eradication program — who conducted 18,500 face-to-face vis- Index case the strong partnerships that had been its to check for symptoms of Ebola. Only built between the Nigerian government one contact was lost to follow-up. Shoe- The first documented and other organizations, as well as the leather public health detective work had case of a disease in a infrastructure that had been put in place stopped the outbreak. population is the index — proved to be key. The Nigerian health case. The index case ministry swiftly declared Ebola an emer- CONTACT TRACING has been in the news gency and created a command center, lately because of the important role it can brings the presence modeled after those used by the polio pro- play in slowing the spread of the novel of the disease to the gram, to coordinate its response. A team coronavirus, but it has been a cornerstone of 40 doctors trained in epidemiology who of public health for much of the past cen- attention of health assisted in the country’s polio eradication tury. In 1937, then-U.S. Surgeon General authorities. campaign were reassigned to tackle Ebola. Thomas Parran wrote a book about syphi- Technical experts from the polio program lis control (melodramatically titled Shad- OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  39 trained health workers on contact tracing, ow on the Land), in which he described case management, and more. contact tracing in detail. The practice has From that first patient, called the “in- been a valuable tool ever since — for com- dex case,” health workers generated a list bating the spread of sexually transmitted of nearly 900 contacts, diligently tracked infections as well as vaccine-preventable

GLOSSARY Asymptomatic A person who shows no symptoms of a disease is asymptomatic. An estimated 40 percent of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic. What varies from diseases such as measles and tuberculosis. ment, and to build a list of that person’s disease to disease is who Smallpox was defeated not by vaccinating contacts in case the tracing chain needs entire populations, but by finding and vac- to expand. is considered a contact. cinating anyone who had been in contact What varies from disease to disease is with people who had the disease. Contact who is considered a contact. Investigators tracing has also played a part in the prog- look at the characteristics of the disease ress we’ve made against polio. and how it spreads to determine who is Regardless of the disease in question, at greatest risk of infection. Ebola, for contact tracing is based on the same example, is contracted through exposure premise: quickly identifying and monitor- to bodily fluids, so contact tracers moni- ing people who have been in contact with tored people who had had direct physical an infected person in order to diagnose contact with an infected person — who and treat them if they develop the dis- shared meals with them, cared for them, ease — and to prevent it from spreading did their laundry, or prepared their body further, whether through vaccination or for burial. With COVID-19, a respiratory isolation. (The word “quarantine” dates disease, U.S. health authorities have de- back to the Middle Ages, when sailors fined a close contact as someone who was had to remain aboard docked ships for a within 6 feet of an infected person for at 40-day period — in Latin, a quarentena — least 15 minutes. to prevent the spread of bubonic plague.) Some diseases, such as influenza, Contact tracing allows health workers to spread so rapidly that it’s difficult to keep find people who have been in contact with up, says William Schaffner, a professor of a carrier, to determine whether they are preventive medicine and infectious dis- also infected, to offer support and treat- ease at Vanderbilt University Medical 40  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

Center. “It’s one of the difficulties we’re vice,” she says. And her regular job as a A challenge in tracing having with COVID-19 today.” midwife was deemed essential — “you the coronavirus, one that Another challenge in tracing the coro- can’t weigh a baby online,” she says — so it shareswithpolio,isthat navirus, one that it shares with polio, is she did both. many infected people that many infected people are asymp- Like Garcia, the ideal contact tracer are asymptomatic. tomatic. “That very characteristic of po- has strong interpersonal skills. One of the lio baffled public health people for ages,” biggest challenges of the job, which is part GLOSSARY Schaffner says. “Before it was discovered detective and part social worker, is gain- Community spread to be an intestinal virus, they couldn’t fig- ing people’s confidence. “They have to ure out how it was spread. Some cases convincingly communicate trust,” Schaff- Contact tracers can trace didn’t have any contact with each other.” ner says. “Confidentiality is very impor- the spread of a disease In the United States, health depart- tant.” It can be especially challenging ments generally maintain a small staff of because of the social stigma of some ill- from an infected person. contact tracers; those teams are being ex- nesses and the mistrust in government by When someone gets panded to trace the spread of COVID-19. some groups of people. “People are wary San Francisco, for example, had only 10 of government intrusion, particularly at a disease without any people regularly working on contact trac- a time of turbulence — which there al- known contact with an ing. The city reassigned other public em- ways is when there is a disease outbreak,” infected person, it’s called ployees whose workloads had lightened he says. “You have to come with a smile because of the pandemic to act as contact and a helping hand. But you have to get community spread. tracers — staff in “the city attorney’s of- in the door.” fice, assessor’s office, and, my favorite, all When Garcia would arrive at the health the city librarians,” says George Ruther- ministry offices after her midwifery work in ford, a professor of epidemiology at the the morning, she would receive a list of peo- University of California at San Francisco ple to call. “Trying to contact people was the and principal investigator on California’s hardest thing,” she says. “It’s an unknown contact tracing training program. Ruth- number; a lot of people wouldn’t answer.” erford and his team were asked to train And the contact tracers themselves never 10,000 civil servants online throughout knew where they were calling — it could be the state. During a 20-minute interview a person on the other side of the world who with Rotary, he received 60 emails about had been on a flight with someone who had it. “You can get an idea of the volume I’m tested positive for the virus. dealing with,” he remarked. Once in touch with a person, Garcia says, she would inform them that they had IN NEW ZEALAND, Denise Garcia, a been in contact with someone who had member of the Rotary Club of Tawa, was tested positive for COVID-19. She would one of 190 contact tracers employed by ask them if they were well. She would the country’s Ministry of Health in the confirm the contact date and talk about early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. the need to isolate for two weeks, and ask As a health professional, she was sought whether the person needed to be tested out to do the work. “They wanted people or had already been tested. She would try who could interview people and give ad- to work out who else they had been in OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  41

GLOSSARY contact with and pass that information imprinted in my brain about how sacred Superspreader on to the health ministry. And she would the confidentiality of public health re- refer them to social service agencies if cords is,” he says. Superspreader is a they faced problems with access to food, general term for a medication, or money during their iso- ROSEMARY ONYIBE knows about the highly infectious person lation period. “It was a privilege to ring importance of trust in tackling a disease. able to spread the people and talk to them and make sure On 27 Febuary, the Nigerian government disease to an unusually they’re OK,” Garcia says. “You felt quite announced its first confirmed case of high number of people. good knowing people were doing all right COVID-19, and later that day, Onyibe, a The woman known as or that you could help them.” public health physician who has been Typhoid Mary would The contact tracers were never given working with WHO in Nigeria on the today be considered the name of the person who had the posi- polio eradication initiative since 2000, was a superspreader. tive test. That confidentiality helps build invited by WHO to assist in the country’s trust — if the person contacted never response to the novel coronavirus. The The polio structure in Nigeria discovers who was the source of their infrastructure set up through the polio has made the response infection, they can have faith that their program would once again be invaluable. to any disease outbreak own name won’t be revealed, either. The polio eradication effort has, over Schaffner recalls working as a disease time, put in place a vast grassroots sur- quicker and more focused. detective through what is now the U.S. veillance network by training more than Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 50,000 community members in Nigeria to tion early in his career. He remembers look for children with acute flaccid paraly- the man who was head of the sexually sis (a sudden weakness in the limbs), the transmitted disease division at the Rhode primary symptom of polio. These “com- Island Department of Health personally munity informants” — which include tra- hauling paper records from closed cases ditional leaders, birth attendants, healers, down to the basement furnace and watch- religious leaders, pharmaceutical vendors ing them burn. “Decades later, that is still called chemists, members of youth groups, 42  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020

and other influential members of the com- Onyibe says. “We are not starting fresh. HOW CONTACT munity — watch for people showing symp- When COVID-19 hit, we didn’t need to do TRACING WORKS toms of diseases of public health concern, any serious training of our surveillance including measles, tuberculosis, whooping teams at the state level. We repurposed The details vary by cough, and meningitis, and report what them. It was an easy transition.” disease, but the goal they see to disease surveillance officers. With COVID-19, community infor- remains the same: “These are people who are part of the mants or health workers who identify to stop the spread. community, live and work in the commu- a suspected case report it to the state, nity, and in most cases, are selected by the which deploys a rapid response team to STEP 1 community to be their reference points for take samples to test the person (though health-related issues,” Onyibe says. “They laboratory capacity has hindered testing A positive case have the trust of the people, who are likely rates). If the result is positive, the person is identified to freely communicate whatever health is evacuated to an isolation center and Depending on the conditions they have. They aren’t some their contacts are traced and monitored disease, a person strangers’ faces they’ve never seen before.” for at least 14 days. If one of them shows who tests positive Because of general suspicion of the symptoms, that person is tested as well may isolate, receive government, Onyibe says, many Nigeri- and the process begins again. treatment, or both. ans don’t think COVID-19 is real — which “The polio structure in Nigeria has makes this trusted network all the more made the response to any disease outbreak STEP 2 needed. Using posters and presentations, quicker and more focused. Because we have local governments trained the community people who are already knowledgeable from Close contacts informants about the symptoms of the the grassroots to the national level, we can are identified virus, and at health facilities, WHO also quickly equip them to respond,” Onyibe Contact tracers supported the training of health workers says. “That was why Nigeria was able to interview the person to look for COVID-19. “The polio initiative defeat Ebola, and why Nigeria is also able who tested positive has helped us train a lot of people who to fight COVID-19. The world has Rotary to find out where are now versed in disease surveillance,” International to thank for this.” they’ve been and who they’ve come in contact with. STEP 3 Contacts are interviewed Contact tracers get in touch with the person’s close contacts to inform them that they may have been exposed and to check for symptoms, provide guidance, and offer referrals to social service agencies. STEP 4 Contacts are monitored Contact tracers follow up with each contact to monitor for symptoms. If a person remains without symptoms throughout the monitoring period, the case is closed. If the person tests positive, the process begins again at step 1. OCTOBER 2020  ROTARY  43

WHY PARTNERS MATTER Leaders from Rotary’s S INCE 1988, more than a million Rotar- polio eradication partners ians have volunteered their time and resources to end polio. As community discuss our critical role leaders, Rotarians build awareness, raise funds, and encourage national govern- 44  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020 ments to donate to and otherwise sup- port the polio eradication effort. But eradicating polio is a complex job, and Rotary can’t do it on its own. Our partners in the Global Polio Eradica- tion Initiative (GPEI) provide technical support, investigate outbreaks, manage vaccine distribution, and more. “We know from our work in polio eradication and our areas of focus that the impact we make is greater when we leverage the expertise of our partners,” says Mark Wright, a news anchor and member of the Rotary Club of Seattle. Wright moderated a talk with leaders from sev- eral of Rotary’s GPEI partners about what they had learned over the past few months as their organiza- tions addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, and about how Rotary can draw on its experience fighting polio and play a leading role in safeguarding communities around the world. The conversation, part of the 2020 Rotary Virtual Convention in June, has been edited and condensed for clarity.

“Every Rotarian should feel proud that HENRIETTA H. FORE is the the infrastructure we have in place is now executive director of UNICEF, being used against COVID-19.” where her work has focused MARK WRIGHT: How has the legacy of polio eradi- on economic development, cation work informed the global health response to education, health, humanitarian COVID-19? assistance, and disaster relief. HENRIETTA FORE: I will highlight one example: CHRISTOPHER ELIAS is president the joint work that Rotarians, UNICEF, and all of our of the Global Development Division at partners have done to train community health work- the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ers. They are the backbone of the community engage- ment, which all came from our work on polio. Every OCTOBER 2020 ROTARY 45 Rotarian should feel proud that the infrastructure we have in place is now being used against COVID-19. CHRISTOPHER ELIAS: In 35 years, the global po- lio eradication effort has built up incredible assets: laboratory testing, surveillance, a frontline workforce of hundreds of thousands who deliver vaccines in polio campaigns around the world. In pretty much every country where the polio eradication initiative is active — over 50 countries — those assets have been dedicated to the COVID-19 response. A lot of the frontline workers doing the contact tracing, doing the surveillance, and looking for cases of COVID-19 are polio workers. I was in a discussion last week with the minister of health in Pakistan. He thanked me, Rotary, and the rest of the polio partnership for how useful the polio team in Pakistan has been in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak there. That’s true in many coun- tries. The world is benefiting — particularly in the poorest countries, where we’ve been chasing down the last cases of polio — from the infrastructure that the polio initiative has built over the past three decades. REBECCA MARTIN: Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) teams are people that we put on the ground to help with surveillance to ensure that we have real- time data for decision making. In early May, in 32 countries where we have Stop Transmission of Polio officers, 48 percent of their time had been spent on COVID-19 activities such as contact tracing and com- munication planning about physical distancing, the need for quarantining, and the importance of data analysis and collection. We have seen this in Liberia, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Over 18,000 GPEI workers are helping with health worker training, infection preven- tion control measures, and risk communication. So we already see polio playing a large role in supporting the COVID-19 response. Illustrations by Bruce Morser

REBECCA MARTIN is director WRIGHT: What lessons can Rotary apply from of the Center for Global Health both our partnership and our experience working at the U.S. Centers for Disease to eradicate polio that will help us to better define and measure impact in our other work? Control and Prevention. BRUCE AYLWARD: What we have come to respect BRUCE AYLWARD is senior and rely on with Rotary is the tremendous grassroots adviser to the director-general at organization that you are, and the confidence and presence that you have in your communities. I think the World Health Organization. one of the greatest assets is the ability to draw on 46 ROTARY OCTOBER 2020 that when we have challenging initiatives like the ef- fort to eradicate polio and now to control COVID-19 — and there will be other challenges in the future. You build the trust. You build those local partner- ships in peacetime with club-level work on projects and initiatives that communities want. Then when it comes to the big crises, you’ve built the bridges that partners like the World Health Organization will rely on. WRIGHT: Can you tell us about the partnership be- tween your organizations and Rotary International? How have we worked together, and what are some of the highlights of what we’ve accomplished? FORE: I think our biggest lesson is that partners have different skills, and partners matter. It’s rather like being married, where you’re going to be with your husband or wife for 20, 40, 50 years. How do you adjust to each other and how do you love and respect them? We’ve grown to love and respect Rotarians in every country. Rotarians are rolling up their sleeves. In some countries, they come out and help with community workers. In others, they are survey- ing and supervising to check the quality of what is going on in these communities. In others, they are out talking to the legislators so that those people have a greater understanding of and commitment to ending polio in their country. As a team, we can carry out all of the things that you need to do in order to end polio. ELIAS: I think what’s critical about our relation- ship is that it’s a partnership. It’s not just a fund- ing relationship. Together we’re funding the critical partners that are delivering polio vaccine around the world. But we’ve also worked together in the gov- “What we have come to respect and rely on with Rotary is the tremendous grassroots organization that you are, and the confidence and presence that you have in your communities.”

“As we consider the lingering effects of the MARK WRIGHT is an award-winning current pandemic, Rotary is going to take journalist and television news anchor from this a great sense of satisfaction that, yes, you are focused on the right areas.” in Seattle. He was president of the Rotary Club of Seattle in 2017-18. ernance of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. I’ve worked with quite a few people from Rotary’s To end polio, we must stop leadership over the past 10 years in helping to shape transmission of wild poliovirus in the the strategy and be an advocate for keeping the focus two countries that continue to report on the progress we’ve made and on the eventuality of eliminating a scourge that has killed and paralyzed cases: Afghanistan and Pakistan. children for many years, when there are many com- Rotary’s goal is to raise $50 million peting demands for attention in the global health and annually, to be matched 2-to-1 by development sphere. the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. So we’ve jointly been funders, we’ve been advo- Make your contribution at cates, and many Rotarians have gone out and worked endpolio.org/donate. to support polio campaigns around the world. It is one of our most critical partnerships in the success On World Polio Day, 24 October, of one of the most important things that the Bill & join us for an online event at Melinda Gates Foundation is pursuing. endpolio.org/world-polio-day. MARTIN: Rotary’s important and impactful con- tributions are the individual Rotarians themselves OCTOBER 2020 ROTARY 47 collectively working from community to national to global leadership levels, and their unmatched abil- ity to raise resources for over three decades. With Rotary, we have been able to reach key leaders and influencers in communities to vaccinate children in India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and many other countries. Rotary has also been a strong partner to the CDC in our global fights against malaria and HIV, and in wa- ter and sanitation and hygiene efforts. We’ve worked closely in countries such as India, Nigeria, and South Africa on Rotary Family Health Days so that we can deliver immunizations, prevent HIV/AIDS, and screen for cervical cancer. WRIGHT: Communities and other response orga- nizations count on Rotary during challenging times. How can we become a more effective partner? AYLWARD: As we consider the lingering effects of the current pandemic, I think it will be a great time to reflect on your priorities and the priorities of The Rotary Foundation to see if you are working in the right spaces. Rotary is going to take from this a great sense of satisfaction that, yes, you are focused on the right areas. When we look at the challenges to saving lives and preventing disease posed by COVID-19, some of the greatest barriers have been illiteracy, poverty, and marginalized populations. These have always been at the forefront of Rotary’s goals as a great service organization.

By Frank Bures EF F Along the monarch butterfly’s migration route, the habitat it needs to survive is disappearing. Rotarians are pledging to restore it B T RF Y U L T E L ate last winter,just before the world shut terflies covered the branches and trunks of the now BUILD down, my family flew from Minneapolis orange-tinged trees, huddling together for warmth as A GREENER to Mexico City, then drove two hours they have done every winter for thousands of years. FUTURE west toward the city of Valle de Bravo. When the sun emerged from behind the clouds, the From there, we continued on to Santu- insects, warmed by its rays, filled the air, and the beat- The Environmental ario Piedra Herrada, a nature preserve ing of their wings sounded like a soft rain. Sustainability situated in the forested mountains of Rotary Action central Mexico. In a few weeks, those same butterflies would Group participates The next morning, as the sun rose take off from these hills — Santuario Piedra Her- in a wide range behind the mountaintops, we began our rada is one of a handful of places where monarchs of projects hike up a mile-long trail. The air was gather to spend the winter each year — and fly to devoted to cool, and the sky was obscured by patchy Texas and other parts of the southern United States, protecting our clouds. Higher up the path, we noticed where they would lay their eggs on milkweed plants. environment. the oyamel fir trees start to take on a dif- Those offspring would then fly north as far as Can- Find out what ferent appearance. They looked solid. They looked so ada to lay their own eggs. After a third generation, ESRAG is working heavy that they might fall over. They looked like they at the end of the summer, a fourth, “super” gen- on and get involved had been colonized by some strange creature. eration, whose life span is as long as nine months at esrag.org. When we reached the top, we could see that in fact (as opposed to its predecessors’ two to six weeks), it wasn’t one creature that had colonized the trees, but would embark on a journey back to Mexico, fol- many: Millions of orange-and-black monarch but- lowing the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains until reaching the hills around Piedra Herrada. 48  ROTARY  OCTOBER 2020