RI president Message

May 2009

In this issue of The Rotarian and in all regional Rotary magazines this month, you will find a new edition of Global Outlook. It takes a close look at the problem of child survival, and what Rotarians are doing about it. I hope that you will be inspired by the accounts of what your fellow Rotarians are accomplishing – and motivated to expand your own club’s work against child mortality.

When I first chose Make Dreams Real as my theme and asked Rotarians to focus on reducing the rate of child mortality, I was confident that we would be able to make a real difference. I knew that the same areas that are critical for saving children’s lives – water, health and hunger, and literacy – are the areas in which Rotary service excels. And I knew that Rotarians are overwhelmingly the kind of people who would be inspired to work toward this goal.

Still, the way that Rotarians have responded has exceeded even my own hopes. Our club and district projects are saving lives, one at a time, with determination and with success. And as we all work together to eliminate polio, we know that we are saving lives for generations to come.

In the months since Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge was announced, I have had many opportunities to explain to Rotarians just why it is vital that we work to bring so much new funding to the polio eradication effort in so short a time. The answer, put simply, is that we are at a critical, and I believe final, stage in the campaign. Only four polio-endemic countries remain: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. All present obstacles to the eradication effort, such as war, unreliable infrastructure, difficult terrain, poor sanitation, and high birthrates. In India’s Uttar Pradesh alone, 500,000 children are born every month. And in this region, the usual number of vaccine doses required to confer immunity – six – must be doubled. Why? Because the children there are exposed to so many different viruses and carry so many different bacteria, all of which “compete” with the oral polio vaccine.

To wipe out polio in these final four countries will take a coordinated effort of intensity and strength, requiring the support and participation of many individuals and organizations. We in Rotary have been part of the polio eradication effort from the beginning, and we are committed to seeing it through to the end. In this way, we know that we will Make Dreams Real – not only in this Rotary year but for generations to come.

Dong Kurn (D.K.) Lee
President, Rotary International