March 2020

In Rotary, March is the month dedicated to clean waters, because clean water, sanitation and hygiene education are base necessities. Without those, we cannot build a healthy environment and a productive life. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, diseases transmitted through water decrease, children stay healthier and go to school regularly, and mothers can spend more time helping their families.

Clean water and sanitation are vital elements for not only a decent life, but a healthy one too. However, without proper hygiene education, one cannot be healthy for very long. Let’s look at the simple gesture of washing our hands with soap: this is the most efficient and cheapest way to prevent different afflictions that leads to sickness for millions of children annually. Proper hands hygiene can save us from over 200 diseases, among which: diarrhea, food poisoning, pneumonia and respiratory infections, bacterial infections, hepatitis A, other viral infections, dermatological and ophthalmological diseases.

We must teach our children and adults as well, about this common gesture of hand washing, NOW, especially considering the speed with which the coronavirus is spreading in the world. Properly washing our hands is taught practically, by teaching gestures and then repeating them. There are 6 steps that must be repeated like a poem. This is why you must concentrate on practical actions, to go on the field, in schools and kindergartens, to inform mass-media about the correct movements of washing your hands. Make partnerships with local mass-media and health organizations in your county and regularly inform the population about what the correct moves are when it comes to properly washing your hands, so as to help prevent disease. This way, you can save paper, trees and the money you would have spent on flyers can be used to build toilets in schools and kindergartens in the rural area, thus making sure they have the proper hygienic conditions, worthy of this century.

Washing hands is the MOST EFFICIENT and the CHEAPEST investment in public health, because it saves more lives than vaccines do. Infections that can be prevented through proper hygiene are very expensive for the health system, and the economic losses connected to crises situations, quarantine, stopping production, lead to terrible effects on the world economy.

Hygiene education begins with washing hands. Go in schools, kindergartens, highschools, universities in your communities and talk about how important it is to wash your hands and how important it is to use water as a limited resource. These are things many adults know nothing about.

It’s been 30 years since the Revolution, and in 2020:

39% of the Romanian students are functional illiterates. We occupy first place in EU’s ranking;

there are over 2000 our schools and kindergartens that have toilets in the yard, just like in the Middle Ages;

over a quarter (27.7%) of our population live in houses that do not have toilets inside the house;

health care expenditures have reached an all-time low – they are the lowest in the EU, both on capita and as a percentage of our GDP: 5.2% of our GDP in 2017, compared to the 9.8% average in the EU.

Let’s wake up and have the courage to admit the truth: life expectancy in Romania is one of the lowest in the EU and Moldova has the lowest. The reason behind this is the lack of education at a general level. The lack of education is the certain way to a low life expectancy, low wages, the dramatic decrease in the standard of living of the population, in a word: poverty. We cannot allow Romania and Moldova to be at the level of Africa in Europe. It is time to mobilize, to unite our efforts, to stop waiting for some kind of miracle, and to take control: the power to change is in our hands. We are people of action, ACTIONS speak for us, so let’s get to work.

Romania and Moldova need a healthy foundation. If we don’t have health, we cannot build on anything. Health is the foundation of a society. It’s here where it all begins. This is why, for the past 20 years, in the D2241 District, we have been providing medical departments with the latest equipment, we have been saving lives, we have been building toilets for children in schools and kindergartens, we have been teaching these children to wash their hands properly and we have provided clean waters to places forgotten by the world.

At an international level, Rotary offers people clean waters, sanitations and hygiene through multiple programs:

Rotary-USAID Partnership: Rotary has created a partnership with USAID in Ghana, Madagascar and Uganda, to implement durable programs, for providing clean waters, sanitation and proper hygiene.

WASH in Schools Target Challenge: Rotary has challenged our members to develop durable education projects for clean water, sanitation and hygiene in 5 countries: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, India and Kenya.

WASH Projects: Since 2013, the Rotary Foundation has invested in over 1.000 WASH projects in over 100 countries. Through subventions from the Rotary Foundation and through fundraising by Rotary clubs, our volunteers have supported purifying water, hygiene education, building toilets and waste management.

In Rotary, we bring an unique perspective on projects we get involved in, different from other non-governmental organizations. We have connections with local leaders and we know the needs and the capacity of our communities. We form alliances with other organizations, local administrations to successfully complete projects.

What can you do?

Rotarians sit at a table with other organizations that solve the needs of hygienic and sanitary education and that provide the necessary solutions. We identify the needs of our community and establish an action plan and set specific, measurable goals, which can be achieved in a realistic, achievable period of time. Make sure you have a team dedicated to that project and that they successfully achieve their goals.

WASRAG is an international group of rotarians, family members, program participants and experienced students who have a passion for clean waters, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). WASRAG offers advice on WASH projects for the club and for the district, but they also offer resources for improving these initiatives. If your club wants to do a project in this field, you can go to www.wasrag.org to find the necessary information, to become a member or to ask for advice.

GRANTS. Since January 2020, Rotary International has introduced a competitive grant model, highly selective, that allows rotarians to implement projects that have a great impact. These projects will benefit a large number of people in a significant geographical area using a sustainable, evidence-based intervention with measurable results and impact. Each grant will support, for three to five years, activities that align with one or more of Rotary’s areas of interest. To learn more about this ambitious opportunity for your club, go to rotary.org/grants.

ACTIONS. Information and education can be done occasionally or constantly, along with colleagues in your club or other local partners. What can you do in schools, kindergartens, high schools or in your community?