Our guest speaker this week was Bernard Hunt, who traveled from the Rotary Club of Las Vegas West, in the rain and elements to speak to us about a very special project; his International Committee’s AIDS/Orphan Project.  Mr. Hunt calls himself a “retired boring old fart”, but in reality he is a former journalist/photographer who has achieved the pinnacle in his industry, the Pulitzer Prize.  He spoke to us about The Place of Hope, a preschool and day care center located in the town of Maun, in Botswana.  Botswana is located in South Africa, a desert area bordering Zimbabwe.  This area is the hardest hit by AIDS/HIV and it’s estimated that of the approximate two million in population, there are 270,000 living with the AIDS virus.  While one third of pregnant women are infected with the disease, there are 120,000 children who are orphans.  In the primitive town of Maun they still live in grass huts and the main form of transportation is the donkey.  At the preschool they desperately needed to replace the school bus, so Bernard Hunt and his committee went to work to raise funds to purchase one.  The nearest Rotary Club is located in Francistown, about 500 miles from the town of Maun.  Bernard, through his contacts with the Francistown Rotary, our own Bob Novell and District 5300, were able to apply for and receive a matching grant and purchase a 17 passenger minibus that is now in daily use.  He even went so far as to secure a long term maintenance agreement to ensure the preschool, its students, parents and teachers could “keep on truckin”.  Thank you Bernard Hunt, for your eloquent depiction of life in South Africa and the great help you provided people there through Rotary.

(Pat Dolphin)

Post By Esma Ali

AIDS is spreading like fire, in my motherland, India.   The biggest cause is truck drivers.  They meet prostitutes along the way.   Then they go home and share the virus with their wives.  (There is nothing like caring and sharing, I guess!!)  For a prostitue, her main concern is getting her next meal, NOT the possiblitity of dying from AIDS, a few years down the road.   That is how desperate the conditions are.

Perhaps, if the prostitute were educated, she would have found some other way of feeding herself.  Perhaps, if the truck drivers’ wives were educated, they could have protected themselves, and their progeny.   Overall, I believe that if we support education of women, there will be a ripple effect felt around the globe in terms of progeny and health care.  Let me know your thoughts.