Mothers Grow Future Peacebuilders

Clubfoot is a birth defect in which the foot is twisted out of shape or position. If left untreated, children with this deformity have limited mobility that hinders their ability to walk, play, and eventually work, leading to a higher risk of neglect, poverty, and abuse. Clubfoot is the most common skeletal deformity in newborn babies around the world, affecting 1 in every 750 live births, that's over 200,000 children every year. 

Dr. Ignacio Ponseti from the University of Iowa developed the Ponseti Method to treat children with clubfoot using a series of gentle manipulations with weekly plaster casts. In newborn infants, club foot can be corrected in as little as 4-6 weeks and would require a nightly foot brace until age 4. The technique is a highly effective, low-cost, low-risk alternative to surgical correction. The Ponseti Method is now the "gold-standard" treatment for correcting clubfoot around the world. 

Past District Governor, Herb Wilson (District 6000) was inspired by Rotary's efforts to combat Polio and decided to start the Rotary Action Group for Clubfoot (RAG4Clubfoot), an action group dedicated to spreading education and treatment of the Ponseti Method around the world. The RAG4Clubfoot has grown from District 6000 to Districts 5970, 5240, 5020, 9640, 5950, and 4420. The RAG works as a clearinghouse to facilitate links among Rotarians and their partner, Ponseti International Association to organize and plan Ponseti Method training grants to communities around the world that need it most. 

When doctors around the world are trained to provide the Ponseti Method to children in their community, fewer children will have to live with a physical disability that may prevent them from fulfilling their dreams. Just like Polio, clubfoot is a preventable health concern that when corrected, will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children each and every year.

Watch the video below or visit their website to learn more about RAG4Clubfoot.

Violence against women and gendered violence worsened during the 2020 pandemic. When everyone was forced into their homes, those in unsafe situations at home were less able to leave or avoid violent oppressors. France's interior minister has reported that the number of cases of domestic violence had increased by 36%. In the United Kingdom, the National Domestic Abuse helpline had a 25% increase in calls and online requests. In India, the National Commission for Women started a WhatsApp helpline to support the surge of complaints during the lockdown. 

In response to the surge in gendered and domestic violence during the pandemic, United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, appealed for "peace at home." He stated, "For many women and girls, the threat looms largest where they should be safest. In their own homes. And so I make a new appeal today for peace at home -- and in homes -- around the world. We know lockdowns and quarantines are essential to suppressing COVID-19. But they can trap women with abusive partners."

Rotary Peace Fellow alumni from Chulalongkorn University, Elsa Marie D'Silva, has been an advocate against gendered violence for many years. She started the Red Dot foundation 8 years ago to help prevent sexual violence against women using technology and data. Using a crowd-mapping platform, she created Safe City, an app where women are encouraged to document their experiences in public spaces, collecting data on sexual, domestic, and gendered violence in and around their communities. 

Through the data her foundation has collected, local authorities are able to better patrol areas where women feel unsafe in real-time. When women are provided a safe means to speak up against the violence they face, governments can provide a safe community for all.

As the world recovered from COVID-19, we as a global community need to ensure that we prevent future lockdowns from being enablers of domestic violence.

Learn more about Elsa's Red Dot Foundation on her website or by watching the short film below.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have instilled restrictions on movement, closing borders, and increased police presence and controls in the streets seem to have led to a reduction of certain crimes but forced organized crime to evolve "underground."

Human trafficking is the exploitation of a person for commercial sex, forced labor, forced begging, and forced marriage, or removal of organs. Human Trafficking is the fasted growing and second-largest criminal enterprise in the world, bringing in $150 billion annually worldwide. There are between 25-42 million victims around the world, youth and women being the primary targets.  

Rotary Districts 5950, 5960, and 5580 have banded together to create a website of resources called Rotary End Human Trafficking. Their goal is to raise awareness, educate youth, reduce risk factors that make children vulnerable, and stop the demand for human trafficking. Take a look at their End Human Trafficking Toolkit for more information. 

RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs La Jolla Golden Triangle and San Diego Coastal focus and the rest of District 5340's focus for the 2020-2021 Rotary year is Anti-Human Trafficking. Check out their site for online seminars on how their district is combatting Human Trafficking in their region.

The Rancho Santa Fe Rotarian, Don Meredith produced a 3-minute video entitled "The Signal" that may save lives in the fight against human trafficking by using a discreet hand signal to call for help. Watch and share this video to help stop and prevent human trafficking.  

Rotary Projects in search of support: 

MCH and peace are fundamentally connected. When pregnant women are given high-quality prenatal and post-partum care, they are better equipped with the tools, education, and health to provide for their children and not die from childbirth. 

When children have access to high-quality care, they are more resilient to preventable diseases or conditions that may hinder their economic and physical opportunties in childhood and adulthood. If women and children are less impaired by the cost or access to quality healthcare, they can spend more time living their dreams.

Peace requires our collaboration and participation.  Check out just some of the MAC projects  and Global Grants Rotarians are conducting around the globe. 

Equipping Larteh Health Center for Maternal and Child Delivery 
Help the Ghana Rotary Club raise $98,000 for a delivery center in Larteh, Ghana. This health center provides care to 145-160 pregnant women and their children every week from communities in Larteh-Akuapem, Akropong, and surrounding villages. With better equipment, the health center can help decrease the maternal mortality ratio, especially for more rural areas of Ghana. Learn more.

Addressing Fistula in Sierra Leone.
Rotary Clubs in Scotland, India, and Sierra Leone are working together with partner organization, Freedom From Fistula to support the delivery of obstetric fistula. Fistula is a childbirth injury sustained after obstructed labor with no access to medical intervention. The project will equip the Aberdeen Women's Centre in Freetown with educational resources for the public as well as provide high-quality training to 50 healthcare professionals. The health center cares for 25,000 impoverished and vulnerable women and children every year. This project will help provide high-quality maternal and child health care for this vulnerable population in Sierra Leone. Learn more. 

Gift of Life in New Dehli, India.
Nearly 20% of infant mortality is due to Congenital Heart Diseases (CDH). Children from impoverished families have little to no access to quality medical care and cannot afford the cost of the required surgery. Rotarians from the Gold Coast Rotary Club started the Gift of Life project in 2005 in New Delhi, and it has benefitted over 3,000 children all over the world. This is an ongoing project to help families gain access to heart surgery free of cost, and provide the children with the proper medicine, accommodation, food, and conveyance for free. Learn more.