Rotarians install new District Governor

The Rotary Club of Montgomery Village has partnered with other Rotary clubs as well as with other non-profits to bring aid to the amputees of war-torn Basra, Iraq. It is estimated that there are in excess of 50,000 amputees in Iraq, many of whom are women and children. Prosthetics are desperately needed to improve the prospects and quality of life for these amputees. The Basra, Iraq Prosthetics Project is an all-volunteer project and a nationwide limb drive is being conducted to collect used prosthetics to be broken down into useful components and sent to Iraq.

The Potomac Rotary Club is working on water sanitation and malaria prevention projects and the North Bethesda Rotary is helping a school in Brazil. The Towsontowne Rotary helping to purchase a special ambulance that will be used to get patients in the highlands of Nepal to the hospital.

More than 250 Rotarians and their guests also heard the Friendship Heights Club talk about the Auto Mechanics Apprentice Program. Over $30,000 has been donated by 16 area Rotary clubs to the Washington Area New Auto Dealer’s Association Apprenticeship Training program. The program has successfully placed 151 people in jobs. Funds raised through the donations are used to cover the costs of tools given to apprentices and help defray the cost of tuition at Montgomery College.

The Carroll Creek Rotary in Frederick spoke briefly about the Police Activity League Center it helped to build. The $600,000 building cost Rotary only $100,000 because 18 different companies donated goods and services. Children of all ages are able to take advantage of the activities in the building.

Having just returned from the Rotary International Convention, Carson said that the next big international project for Rotarians may be getting clean water to people in need around the world by 2015. William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke at the convention and said Rotary should take on the water issue, Carson said.

Rotary has also been instrumental in the eradication of polio with its Polio Plus program. It has contributed more than $600 million to the polio eradication activities in 122 countries, according to Rotary International Web site. Since 2000, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $150 million in the polio initiative. Only four countries are still polio endemic: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Concerning the new water project, Carson told the assembled Rotarians that the project may be: Adopt a village — for water.