United States
OysterFest has been a calendar highlight of the Pacific Northwest’s fishing industry for more than four decades. The two-day festival is hosted by the Rotary Club of Shelton Skookum, Washington. Last year’s event, held in October, attracted 13,000 seafood enthusiasts and raised $170,000 for community organizations.
Suriname
Passing rates on secondary school entrance exams that have dipped as low as 50 percent have vexed officials in Suriname. The Rotary Club of Paramaribo Residence, whose members include several teachers or retired educators, is aiming to improve those results and reduce dropout rates. In October, the club instituted a mathematics training project for around two dozen teachers at schools serving older children.
Macao
The Rotary Club of Macau’s meeting place — one of the world’s most profitable casinos — has turned out to be an ace in the hole for the club. Sands China, the operator of The Venetian Macao, sponsors the club’s signature project, a Christmas party for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Nigeria
Nigeria has one of the world’s highest breast cancer mortality rates, a statistic that has not gone unnoticed by the Rotary Club of Ikoyi. “With an incredibly scary rise of the incidence of breast cancer in Nigeria, the club became saddled with the huge responsibility of combating this scourge with every resource available,” says club member Winifred Ebiye Imbasi.
Australia
A stroll inspired Rod Morrison to suggest that his Rotary club in southeast Australia offer public tours of a structure that has long loomed beside the Barwon River: the 1878 Fyansford Paper Mill. Though listed by Australia as a heritage site, the mill and its legacy hadn’t received their due, says Morrison, a member of the Rotary Club of Highton.
