Louis Nigrini, the Arts Festival comes to an end and $450 million more to the Rotary Polio Plus Programme

Last Week

Our guest speaker, Louis Nigrini, really made us think about why we were sitting there and what we do.  It really made me wonder about The Ramble and if it was really the answer!  I spoke to him afterwards and asked him for the answers but there aren't any.  He said he was there to ask questions.
The example he gave of volunteers to New Orleans giving $250 service yet costing $1 000 to do that is certainly not equivalent to the time we give.  For example, mentoring a student cost the mentor time but that is all and I really do not think that Firlands Fete loses money because we run the bookstall!
Still it was an interesting series of questions and volunteer stereotypes.

Eric Hackett

Esther Okehi

It was a very depleted meeting because of the Rotary Arts Festival but we do keep up our reputation as a club that always seems to have visitors.  We were delighted to welcome Esther Okehi from Texas and Eric Hackett from the Rotary Club of Bedfordview.  He was seen chatting to the speaker subsequently, obviously feeling that he should give
Bedfordview a blast too!

Sunday 

It was the close of the Rotary Arts Festival which has been a resounding success.  Here are the deskwallers at the end.

Mark Franklin, Jean Bernardo, Thembi Ndlovu, Lyn Collocott and Neville Howes

This Week.
We will be celebrating our Eternal Youth on Youth Day so t here will be no Ramble next week so after Discon will be the next one.

ATLANTA, Ga. (June 12, 2017) – Today in Atlanta Rotary President John Germ and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a commitment of up to $450 million to support the eradication of polio.

To an audience of nearly 40,000 Rotary members attending the humanitarian organization’s annual convention, Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation renewed their longstanding support for ending polio – a paralyzing, life-altering scourge on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated. Rotary committed to raise $50 million per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. This expanded agreement will translate into $450 million for polio eradication activities, including immunization and surveillance over the next three years. This critical funding helps ensure countries around the world remain polio-free and that polio is ended in the remaining three endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

“In 2016, fewer children were paralyzed by polio than ever before, thanks to the dedication of Rotary members and our partners,” said Germ. “The paralysis of even one child by a preventable disease is unacceptable, and I'm proud to see our members redoubling their commitment to ensure we reach every single child with the polio vaccine.”

In a partnership spanning a decade, Rotary and the Gates Foundation, along with the other Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners, have led the effort to end polio worldwide. This funding extension reaffirms a commitment established at the 2013 Rotary Convention in Lisbon, Portugal, when the Gates Foundation pledged to match Rotary contributions two-to-one, up to $35 million per year through 2018. Rotary, including matching funds from the Gates Foundation, has donated more than $1.6 billion to polio eradication. 

“The vision of eradicating polio began with Rotary, and its support of that effort has been unwavering for more than 35 years,” said Gates. “Rotary’s commitment to raise $150 million over the next three years to end polio forever is a testament to the compassion, generosity, and kindness of more than a million Rotarians around the world.”

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the news that world governments and other donors have pledged to contribute US$1.2 billion total to the GPEI for polio eradication efforts. The government funding—also announced today at the Rotary Convention—will substantially help to close the US$1.5 billion funding gap, allowing partners to immunize 450 million children every year and support rigorous disease surveillance in both endemic and at-risk polio-free countries. While the government funding announced today makes considerable headway in the fight to end polio, continued support from donors remains vital to achieve a polio-free world.

The global eradication of polio has been Rotary’s top priority since 1985. Through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – a public-private partnership that includes Rotary, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF – the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year at the start of the initiative to just 37 cases in 2016.