A lifetime as a Rotarian brings honor to local man

Rotarian Philip J. Silvers of Green Valley recalls visiting one impoverished corner of Africa where women walk five to seven hours a day—every day—to bring water to their families.

“Often it’s foul smelling and dirty,” said Silvers, one of Rotary International’s 17 directors.

He also tells of being where efforts by Rotarians helped build a water station with four taps to help provide water for half a million to a million people in a remote rural area.

Rotary International is encouraging and guiding the men and woman there to develop products that help insure their survival.

Silvers retired as assistant vice chancellor at Pima Community College seven years ago and had previously worked at West Point, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

He worked a year as an exchange teacher in Russia.

Rotary started as a four-member club in Chicago in 1905. They rotated meetings among their four offices, hence the name Rotary.

Chicago lawyer Paul P. Harris started it and the other members were a coal merchant, a mine engineer and a tailor.

Today, Rotary International has more than 1.2 million members in more than 32,000 clubs.

Mrs. Silvers, Kathleen, is also a Rotarian and has traveled widely with him on business.

Together, they organized two different Rotary clubs in Russia.

Women have been in Rotary since 1976, when a California club accepted three female members. At first, Rotary International opposed the idea, but yielded under court pressure to include women members.

Rotarians Phil and Kathleen Silvers started in Tucson the first minority-majority club, where the majority of the members are from minority groups.

Rotary has a successful program overseas to help provide polio vaccine to children in undeveloped countries.

“Rotary is doing this for the kids,” said Silvers in a recent interview.

The program, PolioPlus, has received more than $600 million to try to eradicate the crippling disease.

More than two billion children have received the vaccine.

Rotary works with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in this global effort.

Rotary has just acquired a strong partner in fighting polio.

In 2007, the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation awarded a $100 million challenge grant to battle the disease.

In the interview, Silvers said at one time there were 350,000 cases of polio per year, “but it’s less than 1,000 a year now.”

Rotarians were also involved in the worldwide eradication of smallpox.

Silvers is principal of SilverLode Associates, a research and planning firm, helping development of non-profit organizations and Native American tribes.

Rotary International has divided itself into 34 zones worldwide and each of the 17 directors is assigned to watch over two zones.

Said the new international director Silvers, “I was a work a day Rotarian and did not set out to be a director.”

“It was one job after another,” he said of his years in Rotary.

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