District 7770 Gift of Life Program welcomed their fifth patient this year with the sixth and possibly seventh coming in June. Myrlande Milfort, 2 yrs. old,and her father Jamahel came from Haiti to Charleston for open heart surgery in early May. Her operation was a complete success and they will staying with several Rotary families during her recuperation period.
St. Andrews Rotary Club Celebrates Brazilian Exchange Student
St. Andrews Rotary Club recently honored Brazilian exchange student Tassiana Pietra for outstanding achievements in cultural immersion and English language mastery while attending West Ashley High School this year.

Tassiana with WAHS Principal Runyon, wearing all the pins
she’s collected from her travels around the U.S.
District 7770 Rotary Youth Exchange Students Visit Truluck Island
Recently, 16 Inbound Rotary Exchange Students (who have been attending high school in District 7770 for the 2012-13 school year) and 9 outbound Rotary Exchange students (who will study abroad school year 2013-14) and 1 Short Term Rotary Exchange student (who will got to Switzerland this summer) came together at Truluck Island for fellowship.
Also included in this picture are 3 previous District 7770 Rotary Exchange students from past years. Rotarians pictured include: District Governor Elect Lou Mello, RYE District Chair Vicki Tatum, Jay Cook, Nick & Rosemary Hunt and Karen Colie.
If you look carefully, you will see a future exchange student, Tolli Rosol (age 11).
12 different countries from all of the world are represented in this terrific group!
Rotary International Director Anne Matthews Participates in Rotary Institute in Ismir, Turkey
Rotary International Director & District 7770 club member Anne L. Matthews spoke this past week in Ismir, Turkey at a Rotary Institute event. Safak Pavey, pictured with Ms. Matthews in the news article below, is a member of the Turkish Parliament. Ms. Pavey lost her left arm and leg in a train wreck.
Updates from District 7770 Ambassadorial Scholars Available via Blog Posts
We’ve added links to our District 7770 Ambassadorial Scholars’ blog pages to our website here:
https://www.rotary7770.org/what-we-do/district-projects/ambassadorial-scholarships/
Follow along as they share how they are spreading Peace through Service around the world.
More Blog Links to come!
Dr. Bill Green provides update on Polio to Carolina Forest Sunrise Club

The President of Chicora Rotary Club Dr. Bill Green and President of Carolina Forest Rotary Andy Kiracofe
Dr. Bill Green recently provided the Carolina Forest Sunrise Rotary Club with some of the latest statistics about Polio – Bill Gates has told us we are this close – we are at 99% success! Before the polio vaccine, there were 350,000 new cases of the awful illness each year in175 countries.
Salk vaccine began being used in 1954 and Polio was abolished in the USA in 1979. Rotary Club’s involvement began in 1985, in cooperation with UNICEF, WHO and CDC, 25 years later $8 billion total spent, 2.5 billion immunization. In June 2009 Gates Foundation issued a challenge grant of $355 million to Rotary International: if Rotary raised $200 million in 3 years!
3 years later, Rotarians around the world have raised over $215,754,500. Gates added $50million as our bonus for a good job. 2 years ago, India had the world’s highest
infection rate. This year India was declared free of Polio for 12 months! Polio’s last victim in India was an 18 month-old girl in West Bengal. Reinfection has occurred this year in Angola, Chad and Congo. This has been controlled in Congo and Angola $60 provides 100 immunizations.
5 million children have been saved from disease,Yet this progress is threatened by a funding shortfall of almost $1 billion for 2012-2013 . The world’s health ministers, meeting this May, declared polio an “emergency for global public health”.
We presently have the lowest infection rate in history in the world. We have never had a never had a higher world immunization rate. Polio can and must be eradicated everywhere.It will be only the second time a disease has been eliminated; the first was Small Pox. There are truly only political and social barriers left. 50% of adults who contract Polio die. The president of Nigeria has pledged $30 million per year for eradication.
Thank you for all you do as Rotarians to ensure our goal of Polio eradication is met.