July 2, 2024 • 32 mins
Can the power of one small, nutritious peanut butter product change the world? Join us to discover how Dr. Mark Maneri’s innovative ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is revolutionizing the fight against severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Maneri, visionary CEO and founder of Project Peanut Butter, alongside Arthur Santos, President-Elect of the Palm Springs Sunup Rotary Club, shares the remarkable journey of this life-saving initiative. Learn about the profound impact of RUTF, the critical role of Rotarians, and the inspiring success stories that have emerged from this global collaboration.
Travel with us to Payatas in the Philippines, a community built around a vast garbage dump, where hope and resilience shine through the darkest conditions. Hear how a brave group of nuns set up a feeding center for malnourished children and partnered with Project Peanut Butter to create a small-scale production facility. This powerful story illustrates the ingenuity and determination of the local population, transforming lives by tackling malnutrition head-on. Discover the impressive success rates of these interventions and how they extend crucial support to malnourished pregnant women, nurturing both maternal and child health.
Finally, look towards the future with us as we explore the potential for global grants in the Philippines and the vital role of visual storytelling in humanitarian efforts. Understand how even a modest $100 donation can treat two and a half children, showcasing the profound impact of community support. Celebrate Rotary's unwavering commitment to optimism and service, and feel inspired by the tangible, life-saving results of Project Peanut Butter. Join Judy Zulfikar and Jamie Zinn in this heartfelt episode, and be moved by the incredible stories of hope, gratitude, and global collaboration.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Rotary Community Heroes of Hope.
I'm your host, judy Zulfikar,and I'm thrilled to be joined by
my amazing co-host, jamie Zinn,district Governor of Rotary
District 5330.
Together, we will take you on ajourney to discover the
incredible impact Rotarians haveon our community and around the
world.
Get ready to be inspired by ourRotary Heroes of Hope, by our
(00:27):
Rotary Heroes of Hope.
Today we have two very specialguests that we're and we're
talking about Project PeanutButter, another one of our
international projects that isvery impactive and has been
going on a long time.
Have you been involved muchwith Project Peanut Butter,
jamie?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I have been involved with it in the past.
But, of course, the PalmSprings Sunup this is where it
all emanated with and I'm surethat Arthur is going to give us
a little history the past.
But, of course, the PalmSprings Sunup this is where it
all emanated with, and I'm surethat Arthur's going to give us a
little history on that.
But it is a fantastic project.
Fantastic and it impactsmillions of children.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, we're going to jump right in and I'm going to
go ahead and have Arthur Santosintroduce himself and get us
started on this conversationabout Project Peanut Butter.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Great.
Thank you, Judy.
My name is Arthur Sankos.
I am a member of the PalmSprings SANA.
We're the morning club in PalmSprings.
I've been a Rotarian since 2015.
I guess I should mention that Iam the president-elect.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, definitely mention that.
I love that as the districtgovernor-elect, I'm going to be
able to work with Arthur quiteclosely.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I have not forgotten that it's coming really soon
Very fast.
As many of our Rotarians in thedistrict know, dennis Spurgeon
is quite legendary in terms ofhaving started the work with
Project Peanut Butter and we'revery lucky this morning that we
(01:50):
are joined none other than theCEO and founder of Project
Peanut Butter himself, dr MarkManeri.
Dr Maneri, do you want to sayhi?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Hi, I'm delighted to have this time to talk and look
forward to working togetherfurther.
Arthur, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So for our guest Arthur, can you explain what is
Project Peanut Butter?
We have a lot of listeners thataren't necessarily Rotarians or
in our district that might notunderstand this program at all.
Sure, might not understand thisprogram at all.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Sure, unfortunately, even to this day, millions of
children, especially insub-Saharan Africa, are still
affected by what is calledsevere acute malnutrition, and
Project Peanut Butter really hasbeen in the forefront of the
(02:44):
fight against SAM severe acutemalnutrition and the reason why
I asked Dr Maneri to join us,not only because he knows more
about French peanut butter thanI do.
In the early 2000s, really, drManeri and his colleagues were
responsible for creating what iscalled RUTF ready-to-use
(03:05):
therapeutic food and, if I cansay, the invention of that
really revolutionized the battleagainst severe acute
malnutrition, because originallychildren who were affected by
these by Sam mostly were treatedin hospitals and the recovery
(03:28):
rates, even having been taken tothe hospital, the recovery
rates are not as impressive.
In fact they are not as good.
And with Dr Maneri's creationand his colleagues' creation of
RUTF and his colleagues ofcreation of RUTF because RUTF is
(03:49):
home-based therapy and themothers can be taught how to
administer it to their childrenthe success rate really of
saving these children from SAMis phenomenal.
And so really that is thegenesis of Project Peanut Butter
and to give our listeners abetter background on how we got
(04:10):
started, dennis Spurgeon, whohas been a longtime member of
our club really initiated thework with Project Peanut Butter
going back to 2009.
And when I looked at the 2009.
(04:30):
And when I looked at the,dennis actually shared his
binder of Project Peanut Butterinformation with me recently and
Dr Maneri correct me if I'mwrong, but I think over the
years going back to 2000,starting in 2011, we have funded
through global grantapplications close to $760,000.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Wow, that's quite an amount.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
These are projects that have been, you know,
through Project Peanut Butter,implemented in countries like
Malawi, ghana, sierra Leone, theIvory Coast and, interestingly
enough, including thePhilippines, where I am
originally from, and so, as Imentioned, dennis has been doing
(05:10):
it for so long.
At some point, dennis had toretire from doing all the work
that he has done for ProjectPeanut Platters.
About a year and a half ago, hevolunteered me to take over the
work of doing the global grantapplications on behalf of
Project Peanut Butter, and aschallenging and as difficult the
(05:35):
work has been, I am actuallygrateful that I am able to work
with Dr Maneri and ProjectPeanut Butter.
It has been quite a learningexperience, but with this new
global grant application that westarted this year, we are
actually embarking on doingsomething a little bit new than
(05:59):
what we are used to in terms ofworking with Project Peanut
Butter.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So I'm going to interrupt you here and see if
maybe Dr Maneri, can you tell usabout this therapeutic food and
how it's helping the childrenof sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
For sure.
So I'm a pediatrician and I'vebeen working in sub-Saharan
Africa since 1985.
So we're pushing 40 years here.
And when I say working in, Imean physically working there,
not talking about it or showingor just, you know, hearing about
it or something.
(06:34):
And it's a huge problem amongchildren who I would say are six
months to 24 or 36 months, thatthey don't get enough to eat.
They have a couple of otherinsults and they get themselves
to the point, as Arthur said,they're severely malnourished
and at that point half of thosechildren, unhelped, will die in
(06:58):
three months and the other halfwill go on to have all kinds of
terrible disabilities.
Ok, so it's really a badproblem and I worked very hard
for about the first 15 years orso in Africa trying to improve
the care of these kids and madein the standard party line deal
was that we would admit thesekids to the hospital and we give
(07:21):
them milk-based foods, andthere's absolutely nothing wrong
with milk-based foods.
But this was not a good strategyfor these kids at all and so
what we saw was that less thanhalf recovered.
No matter what, no matter if wetried a lot and pulled out
every stop and made specialfoods, we had no uh success
(07:44):
higher than 50.
So I was very interested inhome based therapy.
I lived in a village in 1999for 10 weeks.
I cooked with women every day,I held firewood and water and I
look it's going to be home-basedtherapy.
It's going to have to besomething that's full of fat and
protein, something that does nofirewood necessary, doesn't
(08:06):
need cooking, doesn't spoil andtropical, tropical conditions
and bacteria can't grow in it.
And I'm an american.
So what is that?
We devised and of course, anybig project has lots and lots
and lots and lots, lots of ofcollaborators and helpers and so
forth.
We made, we devised food thatwould complete.
(08:30):
In other words, you don't needto eat anything else but it to
recover from severe malnutrition.
That could be administered athome.
It's peanut butter with somemilk powder, vegetable oil,
sugar and my and micronutrientsmixed in.
It's not magic, it's not comingfrom special leaves on special
trees, it's just basic nutrition.
And what we saw when we startedusing that was absolutely
(08:53):
amazing.
Recovery rates zoomed to 95%.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Wow, that's a big change, that's huge.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
You don't have to be a statistician to say, oh well,
that's different here orsomething like that.
I mean it was statistician tosay, oh well, that's different
here or something like that.
I mean this, it was like I was.
I often say, you know, hikingup a steep hill with a 40 pound
pack and somebody comes by andtakes the pack.
What does the rest of thejourney feel like?
Easy.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
It feels like the weight has been lifted, and so
we therefore endeavor to takethat to further steps further.
And in the early 2000s welooked at what we were doing
after three years and said youknow, this is great, the success
(09:36):
is very robust.
How can we make this availableto people outside that we're
never going to see, never goingto touch, never going to treat?
And we, a friend and I lookedat each other and we said we got
to do three things.
We've got to make this, makethe experts embrace what we're
doing, because what were theysaying?
Careless, reckless, dangerous,killing children.
(09:56):
Why would you take people outof the six so sick out of the
hospital only to make them back?
We needed to make a lot more ofthis food, and we needed to get
rid of researchy elements andsort of extra monitoring
elements, you know, to reallyput this in the hands of
community health workers inAfrica.
And so Project Peanut Butterwas created, for the production
(10:21):
of food principally, although wedo spend lots of time on the
other areas as well advocacy andcare of children, and we were
working in Malawi.
We pushed that forward inMalawi, we started doing that in
Sierra Leone, and what I'vereally appreciated about working
(10:42):
with Dennis and now Arthur isan ability to use funds and
resources as an investmentthat's going to pay itself off
10 times over or 20 times overor some much bigger number than
that.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Because I understand the food isn't made in the
States any longer, or hasn'tbeen for a long time.
You now have factories in thecountry that they're being
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
And can you share with our viewers how the food is
made and how you get it out tothe people that need it, and in
what type of form are theyreceiving it?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
So it looks like peanut butter, peanut paste.
It's a little bit thicker and,of course, it looks like the
natural peanut paste, the oilsitting on the top.
It's a mixing process.
It's clean, you know.
So we're using the highestsanitation standards, we're
mixing it in 200 kilogrambatches and we're putting into
(11:45):
packets or plastic jars.
And only the children who have asmall arm circumference, who
are genuinely malnourished,receive the food, and they
receive it until they are nolonger severely malnourished,
and then they they don't.
This is not something likechanging their diet forever,
giving them a supplement.
This is all they would need torecover their.
(12:08):
Their habitual diet has gotten.
They've gotten in such badtrouble that they've walked to
the edge of the cliff.
They're facing death's door.
We just pull them back with thefood and we are not.
It's not something directed toeverybody who's poor or some
people who are at risk.
You have to actually havesevere, acute malnutrition and
(12:30):
then you get the treatment.
We've improved the food over thelast 10, 15 years by adding
some fish oil.
Fish oil is very important forneurocognitive development and
so these children, when they arethin, every part of their body
is thin, so their arm may lookvery thin, they may look like
skin and bones, but if you couldsee their heart, it is also
(12:52):
paper thin.
And if you could see theirbrain, it is shrunken inside
their skull as malnourished.
So the food we give needs torestore all of that.
So we have made somemodifications.
So, in other words, this isn'ta static story from the early
2000s and now we're kind ofpropagating.
We're propagating and bettering, and the fish oil adds 10,
(13:15):
excuse me, six to 15 IQ pointsto every child who's treated.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Wow, Arthur.
How did the funds get from ourRotary Club in Coachella Valley
to help Dr Maneri in his effortsin Africa or around the world?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I know that in the past, like in Malawi, we have
given funds when the factory wasbeing established there to
manufacture our UTF.
We've also provided funds toprovide transport for the
employees of Project PeanutButter.
(13:52):
We have to understand, for oneinfrastructure over there isn't
anything remotely similar towhat we have in the US.
I mean no highways, mostly dirtroads right, and a lot of the
places that they go to wherethey have established the
clinics are not in the capital.
I mean a good example the grantthat we're putting together
(14:17):
right now where we will beestablishing prenatal clinics in
a town called Coindu.
It's five hours away from thecapital in Sierra Leone, and so,
because of the generosity ofthe clubs that we have in the
district, we have actuallyaccumulated more than the
(14:40):
initial $50,000 grant that wewere shooting for.
Now we have a little bit extra,and so we will help Dr Munari
and Project Unit Butter purchasea vehicle just for the purpose
of moving the supplies for theseclinics and moving the
employees that we'll have aroundthe three clinics that would
eventually be providing prenatalservices in those areas In the
(15:03):
Philippines.
And help me, dr Monari, Ibelieve they work with actually
a Catholic organization run bynuns that basically established
a feeding center for children.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I think it's still.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
is that still ongoing , Dr Maneri, Because I know it
was in 2012.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
It is.
It's a pretty innovativeprogram there in the Philippines
.
It's one of the first weinteracted with.
So, at, payatas is a hugegarbage dump.
It's one of the biggest one inthe world.
It is miles across a craterwhere trash is brought and
disposed of, and there arecommunities of people that sort
through that trash and livearound that trash.
And then there are communitiesof helpers, such as these nuns
(15:53):
there, the Argentinianorganization, and they said hey,
we're hearing about what you'redoing in Africa.
You know, we have a lot offolks here with tuberculosis and
so forth, with nutritionalneeds.
And so I said great, this isn'tso hard.
(16:19):
We can start up a small scaleproduction facility for $25,000,
you know, buying the mixer andgetting things going.
And we did that.
We did that, I think, in 2009 or2010, arthur, one of those
years and they've been doing itever since.
And they've started, actuallysoon after that, a preschool for
kids who are only malnourished.
Your entry ticket for thepreschool is to be malnourished
(16:42):
and you it's.
You stay in the school for fourmonths.
I mean, you don't live thereand sleep there, but you come to
school every day for fourmonths and, um, they have all
kinds of other kinds ofenrichment programs as well as
nutritionally refeeding thesechildren.
Um, and that's, they're justabsolutely uh, wonderful and
powerful, um, uh, people makingthe world a better place, and
(17:07):
there is a Rotary Club that wevisited there too, and they have
helped with maintaining andestablishing that production
facility and volunteering at thepreschool as well.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Judy, I think one thing that we need to keep in
mind is, you know, not only isProject Peanut Butter combating
this disease called severemalnutrition, but having to do
that, you know, against thebackdrop of severe poverty in
the areas that they're doingthis important work in, and not
(17:43):
only poverty, but in certaincases even political unrest,
right and the lack ofinfrastructure.
So I think it's nothing shortof a miracle that they're even
able to do all the things thatthey're you know this doubt that
Dr Moneri is talking aboutoutside.
I grew up in Manila, I knowwhere it is, I've never seen it.
(18:04):
But if you can just imaginethis gigantic garbage dump, I
mean literally thousands ofpeople live right in that area.
Wow, right around the dump.
You know whose livelihoodsaround the dump.
You know whose livelihoodsmostly depend upon.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You know what they pick up from the dump right, and
their health depends upon whatthey pick up from the dump, with
all the diseases and all thethings that that entails as well
.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
So tell us you know, you mentioned that they stay on
this food until they are out oftheir malnourishment stage and
then they go back to, I wouldassume, what their normal diet
is.
So how do we ensure that, whenthey go back to their normal
diet, that they don't regressand become malnutrition again?
(18:57):
Are there other programs outthere helping these individuals
get the right kinds of food thatthey need?
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So the wonderful thing about that is that you
know when we check, when we'vedone surveys of children that
have been recovered six monthslater, 98% are well nourished
and 12 months later, 96% arewell nourished.
So recidivism isn't really inthe cards so often.
(19:27):
And the way that it's a bithard to understand, because as
an American you might think likeif somebody's starving to death
in your family, there must betotal breakdown of the caring
system.
I mean this, this has got to beextraordinary.
But the populations we workwith, which are are very, very
common, are the most common inAfrica, are people who live on
(19:50):
the edge and if everythingpretty much goes right, their
family is going to going to makeit Okay.
So so they haven't losteverything.
They're living in a, you know,putting together a couple or
three jobs, gardening, all thedifferent things they do to make
it, and most that works.
That works for most people,that works for for 98 or 99% of
(20:12):
the people.
But if it doesn't work, if yourchild has two illnesses in six
weeks, if you lose a part-timejob, if there's flooding, if
there's this, if there's that,any catastrophe puts you over
the edge and there's no safetynet.
So what Project Pink Butter isdoing is taking that child and
putting them back away from thatedge.
(20:34):
And you know, sure, bad luckhappens, but if bad luck, if you
needed bad luck to happen threetimes to get you over the edge,
but is this bad luck reallygoing to happen again Another
three times?
No, and to try to make a bridgehere between some of the things
we've been talking about isthat we have in 2016, we started
(20:57):
treating malnourished pregnantwomen the food's a little
different in a similar way, in2016, we started treating
malnourished pregnant women thefood's a little different in a
similar way, and now we areexpanding that through this
(21:18):
current Rotary initiative goingto starve to death, but they
were going to have a terribleoutcome in their pregnancy and
some serious medicalcomplications themselves.
So we have the opportunity tointervene in two, two for one or
something in the project thatwe're able to bring.
(21:39):
We don't try to rebuildfacilities or build hospitals or
health centers, and when wetalk about clinic, we're really
just talking about distributionactivities.
We're moving to a place onceevery two weeks, measuring,
treating, and we'll be backthere in two weeks.
We measure again everyone whocomes the first time.
It comes back, they measureagain.
(22:00):
We measure again.
Everyone who comes the firsttime comes back.
They measure again.
If you're malnourished, youkeep getting more.
If you're not, you're not.
And then with the pregnantwomen the burden of pregnancy
usually doesn't start gettingbetter until they give birth,
and then it amazingly gets.
You know, not amazingly, butreadily gets better.
But the kids for severe, notamazingly but readily gets
better.
But the kids for severe, it'sabout six to eight weeks, some
(22:23):
kids might be three weeks, somekids might be nine weeks but
we're there for both.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
So what do you think?
I mean, you've been working onthis for a very long time.
I don't know if you have thenumbers for all that time, but
how many children have you beenable to affect and what is the
impact over the years?
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Well, project Peanut Butter itself has seen certainly
tens of millions of kids in ourclinics.
Now, in 2007, when I talkedabout, you know, moving that
project forward, the UN agenciesgot together and said that
home-based therapy with RUTF,the peanut butter-based food,
(23:01):
was the best way to treatmalnutrition.
So that has been adoptedworldwide and you know I mean.
Last year, 7.2 million peopleexcuse me, 7.2 million kids
received that food.
Now, that doesn't all come fromProject Peanut Butter in any
way, shape or form.
(23:28):
Project Peanut Butter ispushing frontiers, particularly
in remoter areas or areas withless access.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
And how integral has Rotary been in the success of
your program.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Absolutely Integral and you know, the part that that
also may doesn't go getmentioned first anyway, is we
have local rotary clubs that weare partners with right and and
help us in a, I would say, monthto month sort of way and they
can like for for these.
We have factories that makethese foods.
(24:00):
You know places of production,if you will, that Project Peanut
Butter runs in Malawi, ghana,sierra Leone and Ivory Coast,
and having our factory managerand some other leaders attend
and be part of that Rotary group, being in a climate where, with
(24:21):
other entrepreneurs, otherpeople running enterprises, that
amount of mentoring is alsovery valuable.
It's not something that getswritten down, it's not something
that somebody is paying forwith a donation, but I would say
it is the primary source oftraining and mentoring for the
(24:43):
leadership of our productionfacilities.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Well, they get to see in action what the Rotarians
are trying to do, and theycontinue to get that support
100% of the time, so we can helpthem move forward with what
they need to have done.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
So, Arthur, you got voluntold and are now very
involved and engaged in thisproject.
Have you been out on anyhands-on Project Peanut Butter
opportunities?
Are there any of thoseavailable?
Are you looking to go at sometime in the future?
I know that was a lot ofquestions.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Some time in the future, and the agreement
between Dennis and I when I tookover was that hopefully someday
we can push for a global grantapplication for the Philippines.
Oh, that would be lovely, Idon't know what shape or form.
I mean I will take instructionsfrom Dr Maneri when that time
(25:38):
comes.
I mean I will take instructionsfrom Dr Maneri at that, you
know when that time comes.
But that would be a personalvision as far as I'm concerned.
But we got to get through theone that we're working on at the
moment.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
You know, Judy, it sounds like this could be a
great VTT opportunity to move itto the next level.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yes, maybe we'll talk to Niren in Niren's year and,
arthur, you and I will go andsee Dr Maneri in the Philippines
.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Dr Maneri said, anytime we wish to see him
somewhere in the world.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
We can follow him around.
We can follow him there you go.
So well, what?
What would you, uh, like totell our viewers if they would
like to participate in this andhave a passion for this?
How can they reach out and helpyou with this wonderful,
wonderful project that you'redoing?
Do?
Speaker 4 (26:32):
you want to go first, yeah, the first thing I would
say is a picture's worth athousand words.
It really is.
The first thing I would say isa picture's worth a thousand
words, it really is.
You should go towwwprojectpeanutbutterorg, look
under the my Stories tab, lookat the videos and picture
yourself in that situation.
That is how you can understandthe problem the environment, the
(26:58):
food, making the food.
Two minutes, five minutes thelongest one is 10 minutes and
that completely puts you intothat milieu.
And then join us in helpingwith one of the projects.
You can do that through thewebsite too, but you know, the
(27:25):
words that Arthur and I can addtoday pale with the story being
told by the pictures.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, that's true, arthur.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well, I would be remiss if I don't take this
opportunity first of all, toreally say thank you to the
Rotarians in our district.
I mean, the work that we havedone over the years would not
have been possible without theclub's generosity, going back
2009, 2010, and to this day, andso I just hope that well of
(27:57):
generosity will continue on andwe will certainly be as rigorous
as we possibly can in doing allthe work required when we put
all these global grantapplications together.
But Dr Maneri is right Visitthe website, look at the
pictures and the videos.
Look at the pictures and thevideos.
(28:20):
You know, recently, when Ifirst started work on this
global grant, I shared with myclub that you know, because this
is my first grant that I'mputting together I'm so I'm knee
deep in.
You know all the logistics andyou know am I doing it right?
Is this the next step?
Logistics, and you know, am Idoing it right?
(28:43):
Is this the next step?
And it just felt almostimpersonal because I was so
focused on procedure.
But then, when I was relayingthat to the members of my club,
I realized that you know whenthis grant is approved and the
clinics are up and running, andwe see the pictures and the
videos of the women lining up toget prenatal services.
I think that is exactly themoment that would hit me as to
(29:06):
what we've been working on thispast few months.
I mean, women in areas whereprenatal services would not have
been available or possible hadwe not put the work together
that we are now doing and justto see the you know the image of
(29:28):
what that's going to look likeon the day that the services
start from our grant.
I think I'll be crying a lot onthat.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
That'll bring tears to the eyes.
Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
So I have one last question, and that is can you
give us an idea, Dr Venari, ofwhat a hundred dollar
contribution can do?
How many children can thataffect?
Speaker 4 (29:54):
That a hundred dollars can treat two and a half
children.
A hundred dollars can treat twoand a half children.
I want to also put addsomething to what Arthur was
saying and what I think is veryimportant for for our world
today.
I mean, the rotary is a placeof optimism.
I went to a rotary club here inthe in Missouri a couple of
(30:15):
weeks ago and it was a noonmeeting.
Like many of you, many, many,many, many times, I've gone to
and shared a bit about projectpeanut butter.
There were other people sharingabout exchange students from
brazil and this and that, andthat is such a it's.
(30:35):
It's an important perspective.
It's not all about violence andconflicts and the end times are
coming and politicalcompetitions and all these other
things.
That's not the whole story ofour lives on this planet.
And what I love about Rotary ina very broad way is they're
(30:57):
still in the clubs, in theirpresentations, in the community
work, maintaining optimism andliving optimism and putting
their resources where they talkabout optimism it's.
You know, we need it more thanever, right.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Right, Especially in this day and time.
Right.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Well, we appreciate you both joining us today.
We're looking forward to seeingthis project go forward and
sharing as it gets funded.
I'm sure we'll have you bothback when we can share the
pictures and the videos of allthe things that you're able to
do with this particular grantand I'm sure many more that will
come.
Thank you so much and I'm suremany more that will come.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Thank you so much, thank you so much, thank you
very much.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
We appreciate you being here and thank you for all
the good work that you're alldoing and continuing to create
hope in the world and changelives one day at a time.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
So that wraps up this episode of Heroes of Hope.
We are so happy that we have anaudience out there listening.
We want you to subscribe, shareand tell your friends about the
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the
word out about the impact we'rehaving in this world.
Welcome to the Rotary Community Heroes of Hope.
I'm your host, judy Zulfikar,and I'm thrilled to be joined by
my amazing co-host, jamie Zinn,district Governor of Rotary
District 5330.
Together, we will take you on ajourney to discover the
incredible impact Rotarians haveon our community and around the
world.
Get ready to be inspired by ourRotary Heroes of Hope, by our
(00:27):
Rotary Heroes of Hope.
Today we have two very specialguests that we're and we're
talking about Project PeanutButter, another one of our
international projects that isvery impactive and has been
going on a long time.
Have you been involved muchwith Project Peanut Butter,
jamie?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I have been involved with it in the past.
But, of course, the PalmSprings Sunup this is where it
all emanated with and I'm surethat Arthur is going to give us
a little history the past.
But, of course, the PalmSprings Sunup this is where it
all emanated with, and I'm surethat Arthur's going to give us a
little history on that.
But it is a fantastic project.
Fantastic and it impactsmillions of children.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, we're going to jump right in and I'm going to
go ahead and have Arthur Santosintroduce himself and get us
started on this conversationabout Project Peanut Butter.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Great.
Thank you, Judy.
My name is Arthur Sankos.
I am a member of the PalmSprings SANA.
We're the morning club in PalmSprings.
I've been a Rotarian since 2015.
I guess I should mention that Iam the president-elect.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, definitely mention that.
I love that as the districtgovernor-elect, I'm going to be
able to work with Arthur quiteclosely.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I have not forgotten that it's coming really soon
Very fast.
As many of our Rotarians in thedistrict know, dennis Spurgeon
is quite legendary in terms ofhaving started the work with
Project Peanut Butter and we'revery lucky this morning that we
(01:50):
are joined none other than theCEO and founder of Project
Peanut Butter himself, dr MarkManeri.
Dr Maneri, do you want to sayhi?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Hi, I'm delighted to have this time to talk and look
forward to working togetherfurther.
Arthur, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So for our guest Arthur, can you explain what is
Project Peanut Butter?
We have a lot of listeners thataren't necessarily Rotarians or
in our district that might notunderstand this program at all.
Sure, might not understand thisprogram at all.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Sure, unfortunately, even to this day, millions of
children, especially insub-Saharan Africa, are still
affected by what is calledsevere acute malnutrition, and
Project Peanut Butter really hasbeen in the forefront of the
(02:44):
fight against SAM severe acutemalnutrition and the reason why
I asked Dr Maneri to join us,not only because he knows more
about French peanut butter thanI do.
In the early 2000s, really, drManeri and his colleagues were
responsible for creating what iscalled RUTF ready-to-use
(03:05):
therapeutic food and, if I cansay, the invention of that
really revolutionized the battleagainst severe acute
malnutrition, because originallychildren who were affected by
these by Sam mostly were treatedin hospitals and the recovery
(03:28):
rates, even having been taken tothe hospital, the recovery
rates are not as impressive.
In fact they are not as good.
And with Dr Maneri's creationand his colleagues' creation of
RUTF and his colleagues ofcreation of RUTF because RUTF is
(03:49):
home-based therapy and themothers can be taught how to
administer it to their childrenthe success rate really of
saving these children from SAMis phenomenal.
And so really that is thegenesis of Project Peanut Butter
and to give our listeners abetter background on how we got
(04:10):
started, dennis Spurgeon, whohas been a longtime member of
our club really initiated thework with Project Peanut Butter
going back to 2009.
And when I looked at the 2009.
(04:30):
And when I looked at the,dennis actually shared his
binder of Project Peanut Butterinformation with me recently and
Dr Maneri correct me if I'mwrong, but I think over the
years going back to 2000,starting in 2011, we have funded
through global grantapplications close to $760,000.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Wow, that's quite an amount.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
These are projects that have been, you know,
through Project Peanut Butter,implemented in countries like
Malawi, ghana, sierra Leone, theIvory Coast and, interestingly
enough, including thePhilippines, where I am
originally from, and so, as Imentioned, dennis has been doing
(05:10):
it for so long.
At some point, dennis had toretire from doing all the work
that he has done for ProjectPeanut Platters.
About a year and a half ago, hevolunteered me to take over the
work of doing the global grantapplications on behalf of
Project Peanut Butter, and aschallenging and as difficult the
(05:35):
work has been, I am actuallygrateful that I am able to work
with Dr Maneri and ProjectPeanut Butter.
It has been quite a learningexperience, but with this new
global grant application that westarted this year, we are
actually embarking on doingsomething a little bit new than
(05:59):
what we are used to in terms ofworking with Project Peanut
Butter.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So I'm going to interrupt you here and see if
maybe Dr Maneri, can you tell usabout this therapeutic food and
how it's helping the childrenof sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
For sure.
So I'm a pediatrician and I'vebeen working in sub-Saharan
Africa since 1985.
So we're pushing 40 years here.
And when I say working in, Imean physically working there,
not talking about it or showingor just, you know, hearing about
it or something.
(06:34):
And it's a huge problem amongchildren who I would say are six
months to 24 or 36 months, thatthey don't get enough to eat.
They have a couple of otherinsults and they get themselves
to the point, as Arthur said,they're severely malnourished
and at that point half of thosechildren, unhelped, will die in
(06:58):
three months and the other halfwill go on to have all kinds of
terrible disabilities.
Ok, so it's really a badproblem and I worked very hard
for about the first 15 years orso in Africa trying to improve
the care of these kids and madein the standard party line deal
was that we would admit thesekids to the hospital and we give
(07:21):
them milk-based foods, andthere's absolutely nothing wrong
with milk-based foods.
But this was not a good strategyfor these kids at all and so
what we saw was that less thanhalf recovered.
No matter what, no matter if wetried a lot and pulled out
every stop and made specialfoods, we had no uh success
(07:44):
higher than 50.
So I was very interested inhome based therapy.
I lived in a village in 1999for 10 weeks.
I cooked with women every day,I held firewood and water and I
look it's going to be home-basedtherapy.
It's going to have to besomething that's full of fat and
protein, something that does nofirewood necessary, doesn't
(08:06):
need cooking, doesn't spoil andtropical, tropical conditions
and bacteria can't grow in it.
And I'm an american.
So what is that?
We devised and of course, anybig project has lots and lots
and lots and lots, lots of ofcollaborators and helpers and so
forth.
We made, we devised food thatwould complete.
(08:30):
In other words, you don't needto eat anything else but it to
recover from severe malnutrition.
That could be administered athome.
It's peanut butter with somemilk powder, vegetable oil,
sugar and my and micronutrientsmixed in.
It's not magic, it's not comingfrom special leaves on special
trees, it's just basic nutrition.
And what we saw when we startedusing that was absolutely
(08:53):
amazing.
Recovery rates zoomed to 95%.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Wow, that's a big change, that's huge.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
You don't have to be a statistician to say, oh well,
that's different here orsomething like that.
I mean it was statistician tosay, oh well, that's different
here or something like that.
I mean this, it was like I was.
I often say, you know, hikingup a steep hill with a 40 pound
pack and somebody comes by andtakes the pack.
What does the rest of thejourney feel like?
Easy.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
It feels like the weight has been lifted, and so
we therefore endeavor to takethat to further steps further.
And in the early 2000s welooked at what we were doing
after three years and said youknow, this is great, the success
(09:36):
is very robust.
How can we make this availableto people outside that we're
never going to see, never goingto touch, never going to treat?
And we, a friend and I lookedat each other and we said we got
to do three things.
We've got to make this, makethe experts embrace what we're
doing, because what were theysaying?
Careless, reckless, dangerous,killing children.
(09:56):
Why would you take people outof the six so sick out of the
hospital only to make them back?
We needed to make a lot more ofthis food, and we needed to get
rid of researchy elements andsort of extra monitoring
elements, you know, to reallyput this in the hands of
community health workers inAfrica.
And so Project Peanut Butterwas created, for the production
(10:21):
of food principally, although wedo spend lots of time on the
other areas as well advocacy andcare of children, and we were
working in Malawi.
We pushed that forward inMalawi, we started doing that in
Sierra Leone, and what I'vereally appreciated about working
(10:42):
with Dennis and now Arthur isan ability to use funds and
resources as an investmentthat's going to pay itself off
10 times over or 20 times overor some much bigger number than
that.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Because I understand the food isn't made in the
States any longer, or hasn'tbeen for a long time.
You now have factories in thecountry that they're being
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
And can you share with our viewers how the food is
made and how you get it out tothe people that need it, and in
what type of form are theyreceiving it?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
So it looks like peanut butter, peanut paste.
It's a little bit thicker and,of course, it looks like the
natural peanut paste, the oilsitting on the top.
It's a mixing process.
It's clean, you know.
So we're using the highestsanitation standards, we're
mixing it in 200 kilogrambatches and we're putting into
(11:45):
packets or plastic jars.
And only the children who have asmall arm circumference, who
are genuinely malnourished,receive the food, and they
receive it until they are nolonger severely malnourished,
and then they they don't.
This is not something likechanging their diet forever,
giving them a supplement.
This is all they would need torecover their.
(12:08):
Their habitual diet has gotten.
They've gotten in such badtrouble that they've walked to
the edge of the cliff.
They're facing death's door.
We just pull them back with thefood and we are not.
It's not something directed toeverybody who's poor or some
people who are at risk.
You have to actually havesevere, acute malnutrition and
(12:30):
then you get the treatment.
We've improved the food over thelast 10, 15 years by adding
some fish oil.
Fish oil is very important forneurocognitive development and
so these children, when they arethin, every part of their body
is thin, so their arm may lookvery thin, they may look like
skin and bones, but if you couldsee their heart, it is also
(12:52):
paper thin.
And if you could see theirbrain, it is shrunken inside
their skull as malnourished.
So the food we give needs torestore all of that.
So we have made somemodifications.
So, in other words, this isn'ta static story from the early
2000s and now we're kind ofpropagating.
We're propagating and bettering, and the fish oil adds 10,
(13:15):
excuse me, six to 15 IQ pointsto every child who's treated.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Wow, Arthur.
How did the funds get from ourRotary Club in Coachella Valley
to help Dr Maneri in his effortsin Africa or around the world?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I know that in the past, like in Malawi, we have
given funds when the factory wasbeing established there to
manufacture our UTF.
We've also provided funds toprovide transport for the
employees of Project PeanutButter.
(13:52):
We have to understand, for oneinfrastructure over there isn't
anything remotely similar towhat we have in the US.
I mean no highways, mostly dirtroads right, and a lot of the
places that they go to wherethey have established the
clinics are not in the capital.
I mean a good example the grantthat we're putting together
(14:17):
right now where we will beestablishing prenatal clinics in
a town called Coindu.
It's five hours away from thecapital in Sierra Leone, and so,
because of the generosity ofthe clubs that we have in the
district, we have actuallyaccumulated more than the
(14:40):
initial $50,000 grant that wewere shooting for.
Now we have a little bit extra,and so we will help Dr Munari
and Project Unit Butter purchasea vehicle just for the purpose
of moving the supplies for theseclinics and moving the
employees that we'll have aroundthe three clinics that would
eventually be providing prenatalservices in those areas In the
(15:03):
Philippines.
And help me, dr Monari, Ibelieve they work with actually
a Catholic organization run bynuns that basically established
a feeding center for children.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I think it's still.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
is that still ongoing , Dr Maneri, Because I know it
was in 2012.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
It is.
It's a pretty innovativeprogram there in the Philippines
.
It's one of the first weinteracted with.
So, at, payatas is a hugegarbage dump.
It's one of the biggest one inthe world.
It is miles across a craterwhere trash is brought and
disposed of, and there arecommunities of people that sort
through that trash and livearound that trash.
And then there are communitiesof helpers, such as these nuns
(15:53):
there, the Argentinianorganization, and they said hey,
we're hearing about what you'redoing in Africa.
You know, we have a lot offolks here with tuberculosis and
so forth, with nutritionalneeds.
And so I said great, this isn'tso hard.
(16:19):
We can start up a small scaleproduction facility for $25,000,
you know, buying the mixer andgetting things going.
And we did that.
We did that, I think, in 2009 or2010, arthur, one of those
years and they've been doing itever since.
And they've started, actuallysoon after that, a preschool for
kids who are only malnourished.
Your entry ticket for thepreschool is to be malnourished
(16:42):
and you it's.
You stay in the school for fourmonths.
I mean, you don't live thereand sleep there, but you come to
school every day for fourmonths and, um, they have all
kinds of other kinds ofenrichment programs as well as
nutritionally refeeding thesechildren.
Um, and that's, they're justabsolutely uh, wonderful and
powerful, um, uh, people makingthe world a better place, and
(17:07):
there is a Rotary Club that wevisited there too, and they have
helped with maintaining andestablishing that production
facility and volunteering at thepreschool as well.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Judy, I think one thing that we need to keep in
mind is, you know, not only isProject Peanut Butter combating
this disease called severemalnutrition, but having to do
that, you know, against thebackdrop of severe poverty in
the areas that they're doingthis important work in, and not
(17:43):
only poverty, but in certaincases even political unrest,
right and the lack ofinfrastructure.
So I think it's nothing shortof a miracle that they're even
able to do all the things thatthey're you know this doubt that
Dr Moneri is talking aboutoutside.
I grew up in Manila, I knowwhere it is, I've never seen it.
(18:04):
But if you can just imaginethis gigantic garbage dump, I
mean literally thousands ofpeople live right in that area.
Wow, right around the dump.
You know whose livelihoodsaround the dump.
You know whose livelihoodsmostly depend upon.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
You know what they pick up from the dump right, and
their health depends upon whatthey pick up from the dump, with
all the diseases and all thethings that that entails as well
.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
So tell us you know, you mentioned that they stay on
this food until they are out oftheir malnourishment stage and
then they go back to, I wouldassume, what their normal diet
is.
So how do we ensure that, whenthey go back to their normal
diet, that they don't regressand become malnutrition again?
(18:57):
Are there other programs outthere helping these individuals
get the right kinds of food thatthey need?
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So the wonderful thing about that is that you
know when we check, when we'vedone surveys of children that
have been recovered six monthslater, 98% are well nourished
and 12 months later, 96% arewell nourished.
So recidivism isn't really inthe cards so often.
(19:27):
And the way that it's a bithard to understand, because as
an American you might think likeif somebody's starving to death
in your family, there must betotal breakdown of the caring
system.
I mean this, this has got to beextraordinary.
But the populations we workwith, which are are very, very
common, are the most common inAfrica, are people who live on
(19:50):
the edge and if everythingpretty much goes right, their
family is going to going to makeit Okay.
So so they haven't losteverything.
They're living in a, you know,putting together a couple or
three jobs, gardening, all thedifferent things they do to make
it, and most that works.
That works for most people,that works for for 98 or 99% of
(20:12):
the people.
But if it doesn't work, if yourchild has two illnesses in six
weeks, if you lose a part-timejob, if there's flooding, if
there's this, if there's that,any catastrophe puts you over
the edge and there's no safetynet.
So what Project Pink Butter isdoing is taking that child and
putting them back away from thatedge.
(20:34):
And you know, sure, bad luckhappens, but if bad luck, if you
needed bad luck to happen threetimes to get you over the edge,
but is this bad luck reallygoing to happen again Another
three times?
No, and to try to make a bridgehere between some of the things
we've been talking about isthat we have in 2016, we started
(20:57):
treating malnourished pregnantwomen the food's a little
different in a similar way, in2016, we started treating
malnourished pregnant women thefood's a little different in a
similar way, and now we areexpanding that through this
(21:18):
current Rotary initiative goingto starve to death, but they
were going to have a terribleoutcome in their pregnancy and
some serious medicalcomplications themselves.
So we have the opportunity tointervene in two, two for one or
something in the project thatwe're able to bring.
(21:39):
We don't try to rebuildfacilities or build hospitals or
health centers, and when wetalk about clinic, we're really
just talking about distributionactivities.
We're moving to a place onceevery two weeks, measuring,
treating, and we'll be backthere in two weeks.
We measure again everyone whocomes the first time.
It comes back, they measureagain.
(22:00):
We measure again.
Everyone who comes the firsttime comes back.
They measure again.
If you're malnourished, youkeep getting more.
If you're not, you're not.
And then with the pregnantwomen the burden of pregnancy
usually doesn't start gettingbetter until they give birth,
and then it amazingly gets.
You know, not amazingly, butreadily gets better.
But the kids for severe, notamazingly but readily gets
better.
But the kids for severe, it'sabout six to eight weeks, some
(22:23):
kids might be three weeks, somekids might be nine weeks but
we're there for both.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
So what do you think?
I mean, you've been working onthis for a very long time.
I don't know if you have thenumbers for all that time, but
how many children have you beenable to affect and what is the
impact over the years?
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Well, project Peanut Butter itself has seen certainly
tens of millions of kids in ourclinics.
Now, in 2007, when I talkedabout, you know, moving that
project forward, the UN agenciesgot together and said that
home-based therapy with RUTF,the peanut butter-based food,
(23:01):
was the best way to treatmalnutrition.
So that has been adoptedworldwide and you know I mean.
Last year, 7.2 million peopleexcuse me, 7.2 million kids
received that food.
Now, that doesn't all come fromProject Peanut Butter in any
way, shape or form.
(23:28):
Project Peanut Butter ispushing frontiers, particularly
in remoter areas or areas withless access.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
And how integral has Rotary been in the success of
your program.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Absolutely Integral and you know, the part that that
also may doesn't go getmentioned first anyway, is we
have local rotary clubs that weare partners with right and and
help us in a, I would say, monthto month sort of way and they
can like for for these.
We have factories that makethese foods.
(24:00):
You know places of production,if you will, that Project Peanut
Butter runs in Malawi, ghana,sierra Leone and Ivory Coast,
and having our factory managerand some other leaders attend
and be part of that Rotary group, being in a climate where, with
(24:21):
other entrepreneurs, otherpeople running enterprises, that
amount of mentoring is alsovery valuable.
It's not something that getswritten down, it's not something
that somebody is paying forwith a donation, but I would say
it is the primary source oftraining and mentoring for the
(24:43):
leadership of our productionfacilities.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Well, they get to see in action what the Rotarians
are trying to do, and theycontinue to get that support
100% of the time, so we can helpthem move forward with what
they need to have done.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
So, Arthur, you got voluntold and are now very
involved and engaged in thisproject.
Have you been out on anyhands-on Project Peanut Butter
opportunities?
Are there any of thoseavailable?
Are you looking to go at sometime in the future?
I know that was a lot ofquestions.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Some time in the future, and the agreement
between Dennis and I when I tookover was that hopefully someday
we can push for a global grantapplication for the Philippines.
Oh, that would be lovely, Idon't know what shape or form.
I mean I will take instructionsfrom Dr Maneri when that time
(25:38):
comes.
I mean I will take instructionsfrom Dr Maneri at that, you
know when that time comes.
But that would be a personalvision as far as I'm concerned.
But we got to get through theone that we're working on at the
moment.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
You know, Judy, it sounds like this could be a
great VTT opportunity to move itto the next level.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yes, maybe we'll talk to Niren in Niren's year and,
arthur, you and I will go andsee Dr Maneri in the Philippines
.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Dr Maneri said, anytime we wish to see him
somewhere in the world.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
We can follow him around.
We can follow him there you go.
So well, what?
What would you, uh, like totell our viewers if they would
like to participate in this andhave a passion for this?
How can they reach out and helpyou with this wonderful,
wonderful project that you'redoing?
Do?
Speaker 4 (26:32):
you want to go first, yeah, the first thing I would
say is a picture's worth athousand words.
It really is.
The first thing I would say isa picture's worth a thousand
words, it really is.
You should go towwwprojectpeanutbutterorg, look
under the my Stories tab, lookat the videos and picture
yourself in that situation.
That is how you can understandthe problem the environment, the
(26:58):
food, making the food.
Two minutes, five minutes thelongest one is 10 minutes and
that completely puts you intothat milieu.
And then join us in helpingwith one of the projects.
You can do that through thewebsite too, but you know, the
(27:25):
words that Arthur and I can addtoday pale with the story being
told by the pictures.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, that's true, arthur.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well, I would be remiss if I don't take this
opportunity first of all, toreally say thank you to the
Rotarians in our district.
I mean, the work that we havedone over the years would not
have been possible without theclub's generosity, going back
2009, 2010, and to this day, andso I just hope that well of
(27:57):
generosity will continue on andwe will certainly be as rigorous
as we possibly can in doing allthe work required when we put
all these global grantapplications together.
But Dr Maneri is right Visitthe website, look at the
pictures and the videos.
Look at the pictures and thevideos.
(28:20):
You know, recently, when Ifirst started work on this
global grant, I shared with myclub that you know, because this
is my first grant that I'mputting together I'm so I'm knee
deep in.
You know all the logistics andyou know am I doing it right?
Is this the next step?
Logistics, and you know, am Idoing it right?
(28:43):
Is this the next step?
And it just felt almostimpersonal because I was so
focused on procedure.
But then, when I was relayingthat to the members of my club,
I realized that you know whenthis grant is approved and the
clinics are up and running, andwe see the pictures and the
videos of the women lining up toget prenatal services.
I think that is exactly themoment that would hit me as to
(29:06):
what we've been working on thispast few months.
I mean, women in areas whereprenatal services would not have
been available or possible hadwe not put the work together
that we are now doing and justto see the you know the image of
(29:28):
what that's going to look likeon the day that the services
start from our grant.
I think I'll be crying a lot onthat.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
That'll bring tears to the eyes.
Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
So I have one last question, and that is can you
give us an idea, Dr Venari, ofwhat a hundred dollar
contribution can do?
How many children can thataffect?
Speaker 4 (29:54):
That a hundred dollars can treat two and a half
children.
A hundred dollars can treat twoand a half children.
I want to also put addsomething to what Arthur was
saying and what I think is veryimportant for for our world
today.
I mean, the rotary is a placeof optimism.
I went to a rotary club here inthe in Missouri a couple of
(30:15):
weeks ago and it was a noonmeeting.
Like many of you, many, many,many, many times, I've gone to
and shared a bit about projectpeanut butter.
There were other people sharingabout exchange students from
brazil and this and that, andthat is such a it's.
(30:35):
It's an important perspective.
It's not all about violence andconflicts and the end times are
coming and politicalcompetitions and all these other
things.
That's not the whole story ofour lives on this planet.
And what I love about Rotary ina very broad way is they're
(30:57):
still in the clubs, in theirpresentations, in the community
work, maintaining optimism andliving optimism and putting
their resources where they talkabout optimism it's.
You know, we need it more thanever, right.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Right, Especially in this day and time.
Right.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Well, we appreciate you both joining us today.
We're looking forward to seeingthis project go forward and
sharing as it gets funded.
I'm sure we'll have you bothback when we can share the
pictures and the videos of allthe things that you're able to
do with this particular grantand I'm sure many more that will
come.
Thank you so much and I'm suremany more that will come.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Thank you so much, thank you so much, thank you
very much.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
We appreciate you being here and thank you for all
the good work that you're alldoing and continuing to create
hope in the world and changelives one day at a time.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
So that wraps up this episode of Heroes of Hope.
We are so happy that we have anaudience out there listening.
We want you to subscribe, shareand tell your friends about the
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the
word out about the impact we'rehaving in this world.
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