As avid sailors, my husband Dennis Wallace and I have explored the eastern Caribbean for years. Amid its beauty, we’ve also witnessed a deeper issue — a widespread literacy gap. Many adults read at only a fourth-grade level, making everyday life a challenge. And when parents struggle with reading, it’s difficult for them to support their children’s learning, creating a cycle that’s hard to break.

On a chilly late fall morning, Henry H. Houston Elementary School Principal Leroy Hall leads a cheerful “ABC Song” with third grade students who were excitingly waving dictionaries in the air.

“A B C D E F G… now I know my…” Accompanying Hall in the school’s library were teachers and a half dozen Chestnut Hill Rotary volunteers.

At the Kade Presbyterian School, students wash hands at the toilet with water from mechanized water borehole system donated to the school through the Rotary International-USAID Partnership projects. Kade, Ghana. Rotarians from 35 clubs across the country are partnering with USAID and national and local agencies of the government of Ghana in a large-scale $4 million program in water, sanitation and hygiene serving 75,000 people.

Southeastern PA Foundation Chair and Past District Governor, Peter Mardinly reported that there were 15 applications that were received and funded this past year for 12 local and three international projects, totaling more than $161,000.

One of Rotary’s seven areas of focus is disease prevention and treatment. Rotary believes that good health care is everyone’s right. Yet 400 million people in the world can’t afford or don’t have access to basic health care.