Making a difference: Rotary is making things happen world-wide

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Published on Sunday, August 20, 2017

By Ken Waddell
The Neepawa Banner

Rotary District Governor Peter Neufeldt  has been a Rotarian for almost 40 years. Based out of the Regina Eastview Rotary Club,Neufeldt addressed the Neepawa Rotary Club noon meeting on Wednesday, August 9. He spoke on the theme of Rotary making a difference focusing on six Rotary themes, namely, humanitarian services, water & sanitation, disease prevention & treatment, maternal health, basic education & literacy. 

Neufeldt said, “School bus loads of kids die every day around the world due to unsanitary water.” That sobering statistic is the kind of thing that motivates him and Rotarians to reach out and make a difference. Rotary finances projects through their Ripple Effect Program and an example of such a project began with Rotary Club of Winnipeg West building one school in Guatemala. Neufeldt said, “Since 2000 there have been 80 schools constructed or renovated. This has led to improvements in water & sanitation and economic development around those schools. It has led to partnerships with local government and businesses.”
Another world-wide initiative of Rotary has been the push to eliminate polio. That push has been very successful. Neufeldt said that a few years ago, “There were 1000 cases of polio reported per day and now there has only been 8 cases reported so far this year.” Reportedly only there are three countries in the world that still have a polio problem and they are Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.