Worldwide, Rotary Foundation Matching Grants are saving and
changing lives. Since the first
Matching Grant was awarded in 1965, more than US$335 million has
been distributed through more than 30,000 grants.
This is a tremendous achievement for Rotarians, who have made
these grants possible through their generous donations to the
Annual Programs Fund, and dedicated their time and talent to
help carry out projects that put Service Above Self.
By giving A$150 a year -- less than A$3 a week -- to the Annual
Programs Fund through the
Every Rotarian, Every Year (EREY) initiative, Rotarians become
part of the Foundation's mission to advance world understanding,
goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support
of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
Here are just a few of the projects made possible through
Matching Grants.
Repairing cleft palates
Australian, Dutch, and Indonesian Rotarians have helped repair
cleft lips and palates for more than 2,000 children. One of the most
common birth defects, clefts can interfere with eating, speaking,
and breathing.
Thalca Hamid, an orthodontist from the Rotary Club of Surabaya
Central, Surabaya, Indonesia, and two other club members began the
project in 2001, arranging patient transportation, educating parents
about postoperative care, and providing children with books and
toys. Rotarians also recruited local villagers to talk to rural
families about the benefits of the surgery.
"The children and their families have unbelievable pressure and
stress because many feel that such defects are a curse," Hamid says.
"Previously, few in our community realized how complicated this
defect is."
Read more.
New hope and self-esteem
The
Bitone Center for Disadvantaged Children , located in Kampala,
Uganda, is home to two dozen children ages 8-18. Many are orphans;
others have lost their homes or been estranged from their families
by disease, war, or economic hardship. The Rotary clubs of
Kampala-East and Traverse Bay Sunrise, Michigan, USA, are providing
support with help from a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant.
By connecting children to traditional Ugandan dance, music, and
theatre, as well as providing shelter, food, and education, the
centre strives to give them new hope and self-esteem.
Read more, and see some of the children perform a traditional
Ugandan dance.
Without water, there is no life
In many parts of the world, people lack access to clean water,
leading to disease and death. More than 3.5 million people die from
water-related diseases each year, and more than 40 percent of those
deaths are due to diarrhoea, which UNICEF lists as the
second-leading childhood killer.
Polio also spreads through contaminated water.
Rotary club members have helped install 19,000 bio-sand filters,
which make water safe to drink, through the Rotarian-led Children's
Safe Water Alliance in the Dominican Republic. They've reached an
estimated 100,000 people in 300 communities.
For seven years, more than 200 clubs in 18 districts in Canada,
the Dominican Republic, the United States, and other Caribbean
countries have supported the effort, as has the Foundation, with 30
Matching Grants.
We believe every Rotarian has a story about EREY. Why do you give
through Every Rotarian, Every Year? Send your story to
my.erey.story@rotary.org,
and it might be chosen to appear in the next EREY ad in
The Rotarian.
Your contributions to Every Rotarian, Every Year help make projects
such as these possible.
(Source: "Investing less than US$2 a week through the Foundation
changes lives" by Antoinette Tuscano, Rotary International News --
10 November 2009:
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/091110_news_mgroundup.aspx)
