March is water and sanitation month. Here's a article from RI on the topic.
Schools get help with clean water and hygiene
By Jenny Espino
An estimated 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation facilities that hygienically separate human excreta from human contact. Rotarian Alfredo Pérez knows the schools in Guatemala and neighboring countries can use all the help available in this area.
The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Target Challenge focuses on providing clean water and sanitation systems, and equipping teachers to educate students on better hygiene practices.
So, when Carlos Flores, then governor of District 4250 (Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras), asked Pérez in 2016 to get involved with the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Target Challenge, he quickly accepted. As the name suggests, the pilot program focuses on providing clean water and sanitation systems, and equipping teachers to educate students on better hygiene practices.
“The objective of the project is to develop good hygiene habits in children,” Pérez says. “By reducing absenteeism due to diseases that are acquired due to lack of water, sanitation, and hygiene in schools, we can increase their academic development. Training teachers to help children develop good hygiene habits is key.”
Indeed, more than a year after the effort began, the Rotary Club of Valle de Guatemala, where Pérez is a member, has improved conditions for as many as 1,793 children from 10 schools in the town of Escuintla, about 40 miles south of Guatemala City, the capital.
Corporación Energías de Guatemala, an energy company, backed the project with a $62,000 grant. Pérez’s club and the Rotary Club of Escuintla worked with local public health officials and urban and rural planners. The project provided toilets, washing stations, and water tanks, and also supported training for teachers so that the facilities would be put to good use.
This year, members of Pérez’s club have a budget of $30,000 for work at five more schools.
Pérez is giving talks around his country in hopes of recruiting more clubs to take up the challenge in their communities, and he’s seeking international partners to help expand the program.
Educators tell Rotarians that fewer students now miss school because of gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, which sometimes spread by poor hand washing or lack of safe water.
The Rescue Mission Alliance San Fernando Valley provides shelter and guidance for homeless families at their Home Again Family Success Center in Northridge. The shelter offers families the opportunity to recover from the devastating effects of homelessness by meeting the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter while identifying the underlying reasons for becoming homeless and establishing a plan of restoration.
The club delivered gift bags to Haven Hills for girls who are escaping violent home situations. The organization offers shelter, crisis intervention, counseling, advocacy, and activities supporting increased economic opportunity for over 2,500 women and men each year. In doing so, Haven Hills helps survivors of domestic violence to find the strength within themselves to break the cycle of abuse and build a new, productive, and joyful life for themselves and their children.
Members attended the Rotary District 5280 Breakfast on February 23. The breakfast was led by students from the Interact Rotary school programs, and these kids work hard to be involved and make a difference! The keynote speaker today was Mauricio (Tony) Becerra, who wrote "Freedom Writers" and shared private moments that shaped his life.
At the February14 meeting the club celebrated love and relationships. Members shared stories of how they met their significant others or spouses which helped everyone to know more about them.
The first four Rotarians. From left: Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram E. Shorey, Paul P. Harris.
On 23 February 1905, Paul P. Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram E. Shorey gathered in Loehr’s office for what would become known as the first Rotary club meeting. Harris’ desire for camaraderie among business associates brought together these four men and eventually led to an international organization of service and fellowship. Each of the first four Rotarians brought different professional perspectives to the organization.
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NOTE MEETING DETAILS: We will meet on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of each month live, in-person at BJ's RESTAURANT & BREWHOUSE for a lunch meeting; it will also be on ZOOM. Meetings on the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays of each month will be on ZOOM only.
March 2024
This year, members of Pérez’s club have a budget of $30,000 for work at five more schools. 
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