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<DIV><FONT size=2> <STRONG><FONT size=3>Messages In This Digest (3
Messages) </FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV id=ygrp-summary><A name=toc></A>
<DL>
<DT>1. <A class=ygrp-subj href="mhtml:mid://00000092/#1"><FONT face=Georgia
color=#1e66ae>1492: R I President's April Message</FONT></A> From: Sunil K
Zachariah
<DT>
<DT>2. <A class=ygrp-subj href="mhtml:mid://00000092/#2"><FONT face=Georgia
color=#1e66ae>1493: TRF Chair's April Message</FONT></A> From: Sunil K
Zachariah
<DT>
<DT>3. <A class=ygrp-subj href="mhtml:mid://00000092/#3"><FONT face=Georgia
color=#1e66ae>1494: Key Indian state turns the tide against polio</FONT></A>
From: Sunil K Zachariah </DT></DL></DIV>
<H1><FONT size=3>Messages </FONT></H1>
<DIV>1. <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1410;_ylc=X3oDMTJxZDd1a2NmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzE0MTAEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIwNzk5NjAxNQ--"
name=1><FONT color=#1e66ae size=2>1492: R I President's April Message
</FONT></A></DIV>
<H4 class=last><FONT size=2>Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:39 pm (PDT)
</FONT></H4>
<DIV class=ygrp-content>R I President's April Message<BR><BR>Dear fellow
Rotarians, <BR><BR>Rotary is uniquely privileged to be a well-established,
religiously <BR>and politically neutral organization with no governmental ties
or <BR>obligations. We are known and respected as a group of men and women
<BR>who simply come to help – by bringing clean water and food, teaching
<BR>literacy and numeracy, providing assistance after a disaster, ending
<BR>polio. <BR><BR>When there is a need, a crisis, or an emergency, Rotary is
there. We <BR>know that, as Rotarians, part of our role in any crisis is to
bring <BR>people together, rather than drive them apart. It is our role and
<BR>also our responsibility. <BR><BR>Today, we are faced globally with a new
crisis: the changing <BR>environment and the changing climate. It's a
frightening situation <BR>that will affect everyone but will hurt the poor and
the weak far <BR>more than the wealthy and the strong. The days of wondering and
<BR>considering and hoping are at an end, as it has become ever clearer <BR>that
we are on a course that can be slowed but not stopped. <BR><BR>This past summer,
the Arctic ice cap melted at a pace that exceeded <BR>even the most pessimistic
expectations. The rate of melting and <BR>warming is accelerating in what seems
to be a cycle of ever-<BR>increasing speed, and we cannot pretend that it will
not affect us. <BR>It already has. In the American West, water is becoming more
and more <BR>scarce as less snow falls every winter to refill lakes and streams.
<BR>From my window in Evanston, I can see Lake Michigan, whose water <BR>level,
like the other Great Lakes, is near or already at a record <BR>low. And as the
supply of fresh water diminishes, the sea levels are <BR>rising, putting
low-lying nations – many of them poor and developing –<BR>at increasing risk.
<BR><BR>We know that in the years and decades to come, there will be crises,
<BR>and there will be challenges. Will we let them drive us apart, or <BR>will
we use them to bring us together? Will we be fragmented, or will <BR>we come
together to address the universal needs of all people? Will <BR>we choose to
address the desires of the rich over the needs of the <BR>poor, or will we do
what is best for everyone on our planet? <BR><BR>The greatest challenges lie
before us, now and in the years to come. <BR><BR>Wilfrid J. (Wilf) Wilkinson
<BR>President, Rotary International <BR><BR>Source: The Rotarian<BR>Courtesy:
eFlash_Rotary </DIV>
<DL>
<DT>2. <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1411;_ylc=X3oDMTJxb2p1a2h2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzE0MTEEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIwNzk5NjAxNQ--"
name=2><FONT color=#1e66ae>1493: TRF Chair's April Message </FONT></A></DT></DL>
<H4 class=last><FONT size=2>Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:50 pm (PDT)
</FONT></H4>
<DIV class=ygrp-content>Message from the TRF Chair: April recognizes magazines
and more <BR><BR><BR>Dear family of Rotary, <BR><BR>In this world of immediate
information through the Internet, e-mails, <BR>blogs, and cell phones, the very
idea of celebrating Magazine Month <BR>sounds somewhat old-fashioned. Although
information about Rotary <BR>Foundation programs is immediately available at
www.rotary.org, your <BR>Rotary magazine is still the best place to read
in-depth accounts of <BR>the Foundation's remarkable work around the world.
<BR><BR>In fact, the many pamphlets, guides, and request forms available from
<BR>The Rotary Foundation continue to play a major role. For example,
<BR>printed take-home instructions are still the most effective way to
<BR>ensure that Foundation seminar information is reviewed at a later <BR>date.
Every Rotarian should carry a copy of the latest Rotary <BR>Foundation Facts
(159-EN), a concise, up-to-date summary of the <BR>activities of the Foundation,
which is published each November and <BR>available from the RI Secretariat.
<BR><BR>When recognizing our magazines and other printed materials, let's not
<BR>forget that the timeliest way to get information is on our Web site.
<BR>During April, for example, the Future Vision Committee will report to
<BR>the Trustees, who will be making many decisions about the future of <BR>the
Foundation. These decisions will be reported on Rotary.org, and I <BR>ask you,
as so many did in October, to comment online so that your <BR>Trustees will have
the benefit of your opinions. Since its inception, <BR>the Future Vision
Committee has relied very heavily on the opinions <BR>of Rotarians at all
levels. In this final lap, we need these thoughts <BR>more than ever, and our
Web site provides an excellent way to get <BR>your feedback. <BR><BR>Our Web
site is indeed essential today, so let's include it in our <BR>celebration of
Magazine Month. <BR><BR>Robert S. Scott <BR>Trustee Chair, The Rotary
Foundation, 2007-08 <BR><BR></DIV>
<DL class=last>
<DT>3. <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1412;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcG9raWJoBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzE0MTIEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIwNzk5NjAxNQ--"
name=3><FONT color=#1e66ae>1494: Key Indian state turns the tide against polio
</FONT></A></DT></DL>
<H4 class=last><FONT size=2>Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:56 pm (PDT)</FONT>
</H4>
<DIV class=ygrp-content>Key Indian state turns the tide against polio<BR>By Dan
Nixon <BR><BR>If current trends continue, however, India's most populous state
will <BR>no longer qualify as the "poliovirus capital of the world," as some
<BR>health experts have called it.<BR><BR>Eighty percent of Uttar Pradesh's 339
polio cases occurred in the <BR>Muslim community in 2007. But a Rotary-led
initiative helped drop <BR>that rate to 30 percent of 20 cases during the first
three months of <BR>2008.<BR><BR>Overseeing the state's effort to end polio is
the Ulema Committee for <BR>Polio Eradication, established by Rotary
International in July 2007. <BR>(Ulemas are leading Muslim legal experts in
Islamic law.) Nearly 200 <BR>Muslim clerics and school representatives at the
meeting received a <BR>booklet published by India's National PolioPlus
Committee, which <BR>linked polio immunization to the duties of parents as
explained in <BR>the Quran. The booklet also listed the names and phone numbers
of <BR>Ulema committee members who could be contacted to clear up any
<BR>misconceptions about the polio vaccine.<BR><BR>Since that meeting, committee
members have visited districts in Uttar <BR>Pradesh that reported large numbers
of polio cases and convinced <BR>parents that the polio vaccine was safe and not
contrary to Islam.<BR><BR>"The ulemas have done a remarkable job in making the
polio program <BR>acceptable to hitherto ignorant Muslim parents," said RI
Director <BR>Ashok Mahajan, chair of the committee, at a meeting of the
executive <BR>committee in January. "We want to spread the message of good
health <BR>through the ulemas, who are so much revered in the Muslim
community."<BR><BR>"Misconceptions and rumors that were widespread in the
community <BR>against polio have almost been removed, due to the efforts of the
<BR>Ulema committee, and we will continue with our efforts until polio is
<BR>eradicated," said committee member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi <BR>Mahali,
president of the Ulema Council of India. "Our religion is not <BR>against
immunization. Even the Saudi Arabian government has issued a <BR>directive that
pilgrims visiting Mecca and Medina along with their <BR>children should carry
polio vaccination certificates.<WBR>"<BR><BR>In February, The Rotary Foundation
awarded US$5.65 million to the <BR>World Health Organization and UNICEF for
social mobilization <BR>activities and operational support focused on more than
4,300 high-<BR>risk communities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Foundation
disbursed <BR>the funds from the $100 million challenge grant for polio
eradication <BR>it had received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
<BR><BR>"Rotary's Ulema committee is a very positive development,<WBR>" said
<BR>Ananth Mishra, health minister for Uttar Pradesh. "Eradication of <BR>polio
is possible due to the pioneering efforts of organizations like <BR>Rotary, and
more NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] should pitch in <BR>to mobilize the
masses to achieve such health goals."<BR><BR>Source: Rotary International
News<BR>Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary<BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>