Oleg and Oksana, their daughter Nastya, and twin boys Bohdan and Roman. By Doug Lee, Rotary Club of Dixon, Illinois, USA “Pajama Day?” Since I’d “met” her in mid-October, Oksana had sent me hundreds of e-mails through Facebook Messenger. I’m pretty sure this was the first one that made me laugh out loud. We’d just…
Rotary members in Serbia take part in a wine tasting event, advancing understanding and deepening connections between clubs involved in the Hearts of Europe initiative. By Ann Marie Ellis, Rotary Club of Austin, Texas, USA I had been to Serbia in 2019 before as a tourist, but I didn’t expect that I’d develop a life-long…
Mary Shackleton By Mary Shackleton, Empowering Girls Initiative Ambassador for Zone 32 (Bermuda; Northeastern USA) and Nikita Williams, Empowering Girls Initiative team member for Zone 28 (Canada; Michigan, Washington, and Alaska, USA) Teenage girls all over the world struggle with self-confidence. Recently, a team of Rotary members and Toastmasters in our Rotary zones set out…
Instructors teach a swimming class funded through contributions from Rotary members. By Eve Fraser, charter president of the Rotary Club of Global Water Safety & Drowning Prevention Who would have thought a soccer team getting stuck in a cave in remote Thailand would lead to the chartering of a new Rotary club for water safety…
Rotary Members in Turkey collect and transport emergency supplies for people impacted by the earthquake, including food and water, toys, heaters, hygienic supplies, and clothing. By Vesna Baur, Rotary Club of Čačak, Serbia There are times when events in the world leave you speechless. As I watched the news from Turkey and Syria following the…
Kennedy Brooks, right, and two other members of her small group, give the thumbs up during an activity at the a multi-district Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Academy in Missouri in July 2022. By Kennedy K. Brooks, a participant in Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Academy in Missouri, USA. Photos by Monika Lozinska/Rotary International Last July, I…
Bernard Vonn Sia, left, carries corrugated iron sheeting as part of ShelterBox’s response to Super Typhoon Rai in Cebu in 2021. Editor’s Note: In December 2021, Super Typhoon Rai hit the Philippines with gusts of up to 240 kilometers per hour, the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane. ShelterBox worked closely with Rotary contacts, local…
Gary Bren during a previous year’s Ride to End Polio in El Tour de Tucson. By Gary Bren, past governor of District 5650 (Iowa, Nebraska, USA) For more than two decades, my wife and I have been committed to Rotary’s effort to eradicate polio. The roots of my involvement go back to events before I…
Dr. John Philip with some of the medical supplies the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals has collected for Ukraine. By Dr. John Philip, a member of the Rotary Club of Newbury, Berkshire, England, and Chair of the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals I recently traveled 1,350 miles from my home in Newbury, South England, through…
A team from HelpingUkraine.us, including Rotary members from Georgia, USA, deliver supplies and generators to communities in Ukraine. Photo courtesy HelpingUkraine.us By Emory Morsberger, Rotary Club of Gwinnett County, Georgia, USA In August I wrote about my June 2022 trip to Ukraine, where I saw firsthand the devastation families were facing as they struggled to…