Kim Towar -- Rotary International Foundation
Kim talked about the importance of the RI Foundation with a story from her year as District Governor (2010-2011).
Attending District Governor training in San Diego, Kim met an incoming DG from Australia and the two of them decided to take part in a RI Foundation pilot program where two countries partner to address an area of concern in their respective districts. This led to a team of local midwives heading to East Timor, a fourth-world country, that had a 60% infant mortality rate.
After this three-week educational visit, the mortality rate has consistently dropped over the past 10 years. The Australian district then sent a team of educators to train adult literacy tutors in Detroit, where 50% of the adults read at a 4th-grade level or lower.
As Kim always says, “it’s not about the money but about what the money can do”. She shared two short videos that showed all of the good the Foundation does around the world.