Wow - what a meeting! This past Friday, RCSE welcomed three new members to our club - Conni Reynolds and transferring Rotarians Toni Marwitz and Tom Stanley. The club also saw Bill Von Alt being recognized for his contributions to The Rotary Foundation by receiving a Paul Harris +2 pin. President Andrew Cosey reminded everyone of the school supply drive for Haven Elementary. Next Friday, July 21, will be the last day the club will be accepting donations. Once all Rotary business items were discussed, Kim Campbell introduced our very own Miriam Rittmeyer who presented on two Rotary Global grant projects.
The two grants that Miriam talked about are jointly funded by the Rotary Foundation and Rotary clubs in Georgia. The first is a grant that focuses on maternal and child health. There is a high mortality rate amongst children and mothers within the indigenous population in Guatemala and Panama. This grant trains midwives to help pregnant mothers. Miriam has been able to show the impact the money has had and how it has helped improve medical care. The program was so successful in Guatemala that they expanded to Panama and now have 28 communities that are benefitting from the grant.
The other grant that Miriam presented on is teaching women how to grow hydroponic lettuce in Guatemala. The goal of this program is develop economic initiatives and opportunities for women to help create a pathway for home ownership and the ability to afford education for their children. It is a sustainable project run by the community that provides money for these women. The project has been successful and the lettuce will be sold in 25 supermarket stores in Guatemala. Miriam concluded her presentation saying that over the next few years, Rotary International will start focusing more on mother and child health and that with these grants, clubs in Georgia are already poised and ready for this initiative.