Tag Archives: Rotary Action Groups

“I Found a Purpose in My Pain:” Nigerian Oncologist Changes Lives

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Line for screening
People line up for cervical cancer screening and testing during a health day in Ikeja, Nigeria, organized by the Rotary Action Group for Family Health & AIDS prevention.
Dr. Omolola Salako
Dr. Omolola Salako

The pandemic did not just slow down the delivery of essential health services to vulnerable populations. In many cases, it completely cut it off. On 23-24 June, health days were organized at 60 sites in Nigeria. At two sites at Ikeja, Dr. Omolola Salako, a clinical oncologist, and her team witnessed hundreds of women queueing up to get their cervical cancer screening and tests done. Salako is founder of three organizations – Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre, Oncopadi Technologies and Pearl Oncology Clinic, and has spent over 16 years providing quality care and education to cancer patients in Nigeria. She recently shared her experience with Sneha Saloni, a communications specialist with the Rotary Action Group for Family Health & AIDS prevention.

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How I found a sense of belonging in Rotary

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Maricler Botelho de Oliveria, left, takes part in a program promoting Rotary in Brazil.
Maricler Botelho, right, takes part in a program promoting Rotary in Brazil. Maricler says the support and acceptance she has found in Rotary has given her a sense of belonging and demonstrates the organization’s commitment to inclusion.

By Maricler Botelho, a member of the Rotary Club of Marilia-Pioneiro, and assistant governor of District 4510

When I share my Rotary story, it is one of recognition, support, and acceptance. I believe it also tells the story of Rotary’s commitment to inclusion.

I was born in Tupi Paulista, in the countryside of São Paulo, and grew up in the northern part of the state of Mato Grosso, in the city of Juara. I come from a simple family that set a high value on respecting others. I had to move about 600 miles away from my town to pursue my desire to be a lawyer. I’m the first on my mother’s side of the family to get a college degree. Our socioeconomic status created real limitations, which is why I grew up accepting a feeling that I didn’t really belong. Then I was introduced to Rotary.

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Creating scholarships for Afghan refugees

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By Ademar Bechtold and Quentin Wodon, Rotary Action Group for Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Migration

Quentin Wodon

The number of refugees globally has been steadily rising. The ongoing war in Ukraine has created an even larger humanitarian crisis with millions of displaced people. There is much that Rotary clubs are doing, and can be doing, to help the resettlement of refugees.

About a month ago, Ademar and I joined a combined board meeting of our Rotary Action Group and the Rotary Fellowship for Global Development, discussing what could be done to help the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the United States. Ademar, a professor of economics at Notre Dame of Maryland University, suggested his university might be able to provide one or two scholarships for Afghan youth. We all thought this would be a brilliant idea.

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New Rotary club takes aim at human trafficking

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By Usha Reddi, president, Rotary Club of Community Action Against Human Trafficking

As a teacher, I have heard about children in my school as young as six years old being sexually exploited for money, and I felt powerless to do anything about it. This was happening within families as a business and to support drug habits. Children would be removed from a household for a couple of days but would be placed back again with the same family.

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My miracle and ending modern slavery

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Chiang’s class at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.

By Mina Chiang, Rotary Global Grant Scholar to University of Sussex, 2017-18

I will never forget the miracle that changed my life. I call it a miracle because the sheer chance of it happening is close to zero.

I was living in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, at the time supporting the establishment of a new science university for a local Catholic church. There was a small museum next to the university that tells the story of the town’s role as a major port and central hub during the slave trade centuries ago. I have always had a passion for helping the vulnerable and deprived, and had secured master’s degree offers from some of the best International Development programs in the world. But my family and I lacked the resources for me to pursue an advanced degree. Continue reading →