My family has been “enjoying” recent interesting plumbing issues at our home – the latest was our well needing a new pump. As I watched the well company folks work this past weekend, removing and installing a pump and piping down 100 feet, I could not help but think about our Rotary Club’s support for building wells in Haiti.
Did you know that our club has helped bring clean drinking water and latrines to several areas of Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake? Club members Cynthia Witham, Bo Nyleen, and Howard Baumann saw a need for clean drinking water there and have diligently worked to make that happen. Working with a local Rotary Club in Haiti, they pursued funding through Rotary International Global Grants with matching support from our club, the Rotary Club of Salem, to build several wells. This past year alone, six new wells and a set of latrines were constructed!
Gigantic thanks to our club members for their generous donations that make projects like this possible! Thanks to Bo, Cynthia, Howard, and the rest of folks on the International Service Committee for your work on this important area! Thousands have and will benefit from these wells and latrines, hugely impacting people’s health. Talk about touching lives and “Making a Difference”  . . . a world away from right here in Salem, Oregon. Only through Rotary!
Safe drinking water and access to restroom facilities – simple, basics things but so very essential to our lives – as my family has seen played out in our home.
I’ll see you at Rotary!