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This week: January 16, 2026 - Arianna Ross & Kellie Butsack - Story Tapestries
By Rotary Service and Engagement Staff
Clean water and sanitation is a human right, but not everyone is afforded that right. Rotary members are providing communities with sustainable access to safe water, improved sanitation, hygiene management training. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, improved sanitation facilitates, and better hygiene habits, they lead healthier and more successful lives.
During March, Rotary Water and Sanitation Month, we encourage members to work towards Rotary’s goal of providing everyone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030. Here are just a few examples of club service projects that are working towards that goal:
In Nepal, the Rotary Club of Durbarmarg collaborated with their twin club and the Rotaract Clubs of Phulbari and Eco-Himal Nepal, to provide access to safe drinking water for students at a government school. Students were drinking visibly contaminated, untreated water directly from the water source. Rotary members installed 14 low-cost colloidal silver-enhanced ceramic water filters with strong filtration systems. These filters were manufactured locally, and are a traditional practice in availing safe drinking water to those lacking access.
In the Philippines, the Rotary Club of Lubang Island trained mothers and children living in rural mountain areas on proper handwashing and sanitation methods. The community was getting their water from a local river and not washing their hands regularly. Club members trained the community how to keep their hands clean while conserving water.
The Rotary Club Loja Los Zarzas in Ecuador aimed to provide safe water in the province of Loja to improve the living conditions of 50 rural families. Members installed a small pumping system powered by a solar panel, a distribution tank, a basic sanitary unit(shower,hand basin and toilet), a wastewater treatment system, and then implemented an organic family garden irrigated by gray water.
In India, the village of Kolawade was consuming unsafe water delivered by a rusted 40-year-old water pipeline. The Rotary Clubs of Pune Central and Pune Kothrud came together to provide a new pipeline for the village, allowing 1200 villagers to have access to clean and safe water.
Steve is a retired pathologist and lives most of the year in Goshogawara, a small town on the north end of Japan’s northern-most prefecture of Admori.
He is a member of a Rotary Club where little English is spoken. He visits his family for two months each year and makes up at our Club. He previously talked about the typhoon, four meter snow drifts, local Rotary customs, and politics. Steve is currently Emeritus Professor of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he was previously Director of Anatomic Pathology.
Last week we heard of the outstanding work being done by the Ronald McDonald Houses, both locally and nationally. For nearly 40 years, the charity has provided housing and meals for families of sick children. The charity does not rely on government funding or contributions from the McDonald Corporation, but instead gets its funding from contributions of the individual restaurant owners, donations by customers, and other donations. Currently, there is a short waiting list for the services, which typically last several weeks while kids are undergoing treatment. In our area, similar services are performed by the Fisher House at NIH, for kids involved in clinical trials at NIH.
