Posted by Sharon Schendel on May 20, 2017
After receiving her Paul Harris fellow award from Rotary Foundation Chair John Baranowski, Karin Davies gives an update on her Global Grant
Karin and Jim Davies wearing shirts that highlight the Global Grant partnership of the Rotary Clubs of Del Mar and Gondar Fasiledes (Ethiopia)
 
Congratulations to Karin Davies on being recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow for the 8th time.  Karin is a retired pediatrician and the lead on the Rotary Foundation Global Grant “Saving Babies’ Lives in Ethiopia”.  This grant partnered with the Rotary Club of Gondar Fasiledes to fund a “train the trainers” project that has taught more than 40 medical doctors, nurses, and midwives to teach neonatal resuscitation and post-resuscitation care techniques. These newly trained teachers have since instructed more than 700 other practitioners. The techniques that Karin and her team taught in Ethiopia are making meaningful differences as reflected by the 50% lower infant mortality rate in areas served by the providers they helped train. Karin submitted a second global grant that will fund the incorporation of these resuscitation techniques into the curricula of medical schools in Ethiopia. Karin’s husband Jim Davies, also a Rotary Club of Del Mar member, has also worked tirelessly on this project and accompanied Karin on each of her trips to Ethiopia in support of this grant- in fact, they’ll both be leaving for Ethiopia in late June.
 
Rotary Foundation Global Grants support projects that align with at least one of the Foundation’s six areas of focus: Promoting Peace, Fighting Disease, Providing Clean Water and Sanitation, Saving Mothers and Children, Supporting Education, and Growing Local Economies.  Karin’s grants address several areas of focus, and also satisfy another requirement of global grants- that the projects be sustainable. We are so proud of the work that Karin and Jim have done to improve the lives of mothers and babies in Ethiopia and for their continued support of the Rotary Foundation.