Peter Pearce of Shelter Box Australia has just returned from Kenya and the Northern Borders where the infamous Dadaa camp is located.   Some of you met Peter at the D9700 conference in Bathurst and they are looking for more ShelterBoxes to help provide much needed shelter for these famine ravaged Somalis.  (click on the logo below)

ShelterBox tents providing shelter for families in need in Kenya

ShelterBox Response Team members Ben Spurway and Joe Cannon in Kenya

Thousands of Somali families fleeing famine and drought are receiving ShelterBox tents at a refugee camp in Kenya.

ShelterBox is working in partnership with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and IOM (International Organization for Migration) to provide shelter for up to 20,000 Somali refugees at the camp in Dadaab.

Tens of thousands of refugees are still waiting to be registered and relocated from transition shelters outside of the camps, which mostly consist of sticks covered by clothes, blankets, tarpaulins and any other materials the families can lay their hands on. ShelterBox Response Team member, Julia Schaper (DE), said: ‘The situation is desperate for thousands of families living in very bad conditions. Driving through the transit areas it became immediately obvious that there is a huge need and we now want to get our tents up and families moved into them as quickly as possible.’

FULL STORY HERE

Every year the Rotary International President awards clubs around the world his Presidential Citation and this is awarded to all the clubs in Rotary who achieve a certain level of service within the 4 avenues of service available in Rotary.  This year Coolamon was awarded the Presidential Citation by RI President Ray Klinginsmith.  The award was presented to PP Ian Durham by PDG John Egan at our regular meeting last night.

Those present at the meeting had a good night and the award was followed by a talk by Assistan Governor Gary Roberts.  Some photos:

Ron D. Burton, a member of the Rotary Club of Norman, Oklahoma, USA, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in 2013-14. Burton will become the president-nominee on 1 October if there are no challenging candidates.

Burton is choice to lead Rotary International from Rotary International on Vimeo.

28 July 2011 – UNICEF correspondent Priyanka Pruthi reports on an immunization campaign reaching children under the age of five in Liboi, a Kenyan border town where refugees from drought and conflict are crossing over from Somalia. The campaign is part of a broader effort to bolster child survival in the Horn of Africa, where drought conflict and soaring food prices have triggered an esclating crisis.

ShelterBox has committed emergency shelter for up to 2,000 families in Kenya as the worst drought in 60 years continues to cause chaos throughout the region.

SHELTER BOX AND KENYA FAMINE

DISTRICT GOVERNOR ERIC KIMANI FROM DISTRICT 9200 IS CALLING FOR HELP FROM ROTARY CLUBS AROUND THE WORLD:

FOOD APPEAL KENYA

We are this close to ending polio:

This Close from Rotary International on Vimeo.

This Close from Rotary International on Vimeo.

On May 24, 2011, in a speech to 19,000 Rotarians, Bill Gates challenged the organization to make polio a disease of the present so it can become a disease of the past.

Over 25 years, Rotary International has contributed more than $1B to eradicate polio, and has teamed with the foundation to raise $555 million and help stamp out “the final 1 percent.” At Rotary’s annual convention of Rotarians from 160 countries, Bill urged members to keep the issue alive globally and with their local government leaders.

RI President, Kalyan Banerjee and his wife Binota being received in  Bangalore, India on 13th July. Photo : Kishore Shampur

A new Rotary year has begun, and with it several programs aimed at supporting and strengthening clubs and districts. In addition, a fresh slate of leaders take over at the club, district, and international level.

Kalyan Banerjee, of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India, is Rotary’s 101st president, and the third from India. Read a profile of Banerjee from The Rotarian. William B. Boyd, of the Rotary Club of Pakuranga, Auckland, New Zealand, has taken over as Rotary Foundation trustee chair.

FULL STORY HERE

Kalyan Banerjee: Embracing Humanity from Rotary International on Vimeo.

You’re Welcome from Rotary International on Vimeo.