Renovating run-down anganwadis is a major project of RC Mysore South East, RID 3181, for the last four decades. These days, if the government-run creches in the neighbouring Ashokapuram and Vidyaranyapuram villages sport a spanking new look, it is thanks to the efforts of the club members. “Most of these anganwadis are poorly maintained and in bad shape — the doors and windows are creaky and broken, the paint is non-existent and the buildings generally look gloomy. Right from the club’s inception, our members decided to transform these ramshackle buildings into warm, welcoming homes. This is the least we can do for the little children who spend hours here when their parents, mostly construction or sanitation workers, are out on work,” says K N Muralidhara, president of this club which was chartered in 1983. He shares that all 64 members are involved hands-on in all the service projects being done by the club.

Supported by RC Pune Sports City, RID 3131, the Rotary Dialysis Centre at the Symbiosis University Hospital,

Rotary Club of Chandan Nagar, RID 3291, has entered into a partnership with L&T Construction Skills Training

Holding a pride of place at the transgender award ceremony titled Matram (change in Tamil) hosted by the Rotaract Club of Shri ­Krishnaswamy College for Women in Chennai was the veteran Noori Saleem, a transwoman from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, who emerged victorious after battling long years of societal pressure, taunting, and all other forms of humiliation and discrimination to create a home for over 300 HIV positive children abandoned by their families because of their infection.

The motive power of Rotary is friendship,” said Paul Harris at the Rotary Convention held in Edinburgh in 1921. The friendships that are forged between Rotarians can be the beginning of great things for our community.

Near the market yard of ­Panvel city in Raigad district of Maharashtra, a two-acre urban forest — Rotary Ghandat (dense in ­Marathi) Jungle — with a park in the front has sprung up, thanks to RC Panvel Central, RID 3131. This green hub has become a centre of attraction for locals and tourists alike.

Rotary Club of Calcutta, RID 3291, in association with the Howrah ­Municipal ­Corporation (HMC), has set up the district’s first blood centre — the HMC Rotary Blood Centre — at Howrah, ­Kolkata. The facility was inaugurated in February by Arup Roy, state minister-in-charge for urban development.

A multipurpose mega service project titled ­Create Hope reached out to over 800 beneficiaries from diverse fields at the Ayana ­Convention Hall, Vijayawada, on the sidelines of the two-day ­district conference of RID 3020 named Sneham (friendship) in January. RC ­Vijayawada Midtown hosted the ­Discon in which 1,200 Rotarians from around 90 clubs took part in the sessions and other events.

On World Diabetes Day (Nov 14) last year, RC SPIC Nagar, RID 3212, in collaboration with Dr Arul’s ­Diabetes Centre in Thoothukudi, organised a ­diabetes awareness camp in the port city. A range of medical examinations including testing blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, HBA1c (test to diagnose type 2 ­diabetes), ­biothesiometry (to detect neuropathy), dental and eye checkup were conducted. Over 500 people availed the services at the camp.

Over 500 individuals with a deformity of their upper limb were fitted with LN4 prosthetic hand at a special camp organised by RC Mangalagiri, RID 3150, at Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh.