On February 23, 1905, attorney Paul P. Harris founded the first Rotary club in Chicago. Today there are clubs in almost every country in the world. In total there are over 36,000 local associations with more than 1.2 million members. In Germany there are 1,097 clubs with around 56,700 members. The Rotary Club Kirchheim-Nürtingen currently has 50 members. But there is also the Club Nürtingen-Kirchheim, which was founded much later.
According to Florian Bopp, prejudices are widespread. “Many consider us to be an elitist association where we do business for each other. But that’s not how it is, ”says the current president of the Kirchheim-Nürtingen club. In addition to money, the members also make their labor available to improve the world in small steps – be it in the fight against diseases such as polio, be it in environmental protection projects or through exchange programs in which schoolchildren, students and young professionals have the opportunity to meet strangers Get to know cultures.
Polio is a disease that vaccination can eradicate. The American virologist Jonas Salk (1914-1995) developed the first vaccine. He first used it in 1952. In memory of this pioneer in the fight against polio, his birthday, October 28, has been declared World Polio Day.
Nigeria has been polio-free since the end of August – and with it all of Africa. However, there were still a total of 32 infections in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2019. The goal of ridding the world of polio is still within reach. For comparison: In 1988, 32 years ago, there were still 350,000 cases of polio every year – in 125 countries
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