Common Laborers?

Rotarians - "common" laborers???

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In my nearly twenty-nine years as a member of Rotary, I never cease to be amazed at the quality of my fellow Rotarians, and I marvel at the limitless scope most of them have with respect to how individually and as a group, each believes that we can make a positive difference in the lives of others. So when it comes time for us to roll up our sleeves and get down to serious business, perhaps even grovel in the mud and the dirt, we are not immune to the concept or deterred from jumping right into a project.

Such is the make-up of the members of my team, both from the United States, as well as from India. When the opportunity presented itself, not only to join literally tens of thousands of volunteers, including Rotarians from around the world, and to participate in yet another National Immunization Day (NID) against polio on February 11th throughout India, they responded to that invitation. However, through the efforts of two Rotarians in particular - Past President Ravi Dayal and President-elect Sanjiv Saran - both from the Rotary Club of Delhi-West, the scope of our mission expanded exponentially. Over the past seven years, I have known and worked closely with both Ravi and Sanjiv, and I am so pleased they have been able to identify an area where we could put our skills to work to benefit an entire village - Chahalka - by constructing a water treatment facility, in order to provide clean SAFE drinking water to the folks who live there.

For the past six or eight months, both Sanjiv and Ravi have met with the village elders in Chahalka, and determined that Rotary could once again LEAD THE WAY by working cooperatively with the villagers and Rotarians, to address the problem of unsafe drinking water there. At present, as you can see from the photograph, ladies are having to wash dishes and clothing at a community site, where the water is supplied by a sewage sump.

Once they have finished their washing, the further polluted water then trickles into a small stream, which flows directly into the playground of the local elementary school. Obviously, the possibility of water-borne diseases is far more than that - it is REALITY.

It is just this type of environment that leads to all sorts of health issues, and is one we hope to eliminate through the construction of a water treatment facility. This will not only provide safe drinking water, but with additional phases of this project in the future, the possibilities are limitless - proper septic systems to ensure no further pollution occurs and so much more. We will be working as common laborers, alongside of other Rotarians and laborers from the village to make this dream a reality. But, as stated before, there is nothing common about Rotarians.

At present, with only a week to go before we leave from the USA, team members here are beginning to pack their suitcases with "wellies" (high rubber boots), several pairs of socks, work pants, work shirts, and of course, goodies to bring to the children of the village. We will work at the village for about a week, and the Rotarians from Delhi-West will join us, and then continue on with the project after we depart. With the kindness of folks from my local hardware store, we will be able to protect our hands with rubberized work gloves. Folks from Wells-Fargo Home Mortgage pitched in for some shirts for the team members, as well as our friends at Winter People.

We are so blessed to be a part of Rotary International and to be able to share our blessings with those less fortunate than ourselves. With the support of family, friends and business associates, we will LEAD THE WAY...