Ambassador of the Philippines Her Excellency Maria Andrelita Austria receives a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow Award in Ottawa from Rotary District 5040 Governor Shirley-Pat Chamberlain and Assistant Governor Mary Anne Velayo. Paul Harris Fellow Award honourees are individuals who meet high professional and personal standards set forth by Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary International for extraordinary service above self.
Her Excellency inspired Shirley-Pat and Mary Anne to consider how Rotary can help as advocates in our local communities for those with health care skills currently not being utilized here in Canada. Also discussed at the ceremony was Rotary's opportunity in the Philippines to support action in addressing the 91 percent literacy poverty rate in the country. One idea for an international project in 2024 is to bring Rotary District 5040's Write to Read BC -- which has now opened 27 library/learning centres in remote BC First Nation communities -- to create literacy learning opportunities with the Indigenous communities in the Philippines.