As Tiara recently wrote, she along with Kaira and I, attended the 2011 Rotary District 5000 Interact Convention this past weekend. The presentation that we sat in on Sunday's meeting was about Youth being the future of rotary. The meeting also had guest speakers that had traveled internationally through Rotary. Around ten sophomores are getting the chance to travel internationally to five different countries. Some of the countries were announced on Sunday as Switzerland, France, Japan, Chile, and Italy. The students chosen were so happy to find out their prospective destinations and start learning the language. The program they were entered into is allowing them to live in another country with Rotarians from around the world. They stay for a year with the exchange and learn the language, culture, and attend school. I am excited for them to experience this journey!
At the meeting, we were also spoken to about the Polio Awareness projects, perspectively, and shown a slideshow of the vaccination efforts and fight to save lives. Bill Gates alone had donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Rotary for Polio. He gave Rotary one task: Match what he donated. And, true enough, Rotary International has raised almost 300 million dollars, and is only a couple million short. It turns out that many Rotarians have gone to South America, as a group, to distribute the cure. We found out that Polio cannot be cured, so once it is contracted, there is nothing that can be done to eliminate the virus. It can only be prevented. Through Rotary International's project "End Polio Now", we have the opportunity to possibly travel to a third world country and distribute the vaccine with others. If we do this, then lives will be saved, even if it is one-by-one.
I'm sure that, after that presentation, the whole room wanted to take part in making a difference! I know that i did, and would happily join the fight against Polio. Now, through our own interact clubs, we will spread the awareness of Polio and raise money to help. Our task as Interactors and Roteracters is to raise awareness and fund-raise in our clubs and communities. Together, we'll find the cure.
