If you have not heard the news, District 6420 is now the primary international partner on a Rotary Foundation Global Grant. Working with the San Juan Rotary Club (an English-speaking club of 77 members that is serving as the host Club), District 6420 is now supporting a project to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito from the entire island of Culebra (a part of Puerto Rico) and to do so using state-of-the-art mosquito control strategies.
If you have not heard the news, District 6420 is now the primary international partner on a Rotary Foundation Global Grant. Working with the San Juan Rotary Club (an English-speaking club of 77 members that is serving as the host Club), District 6420 is now supporting a project to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito from the entire island of Culebra (a part of Puerto Rico) and to do so using state-of-the-art mosquito control strategies.
This type of mosquito carries life-threatening diseases such as dengue and yellow fever.
Our District contributed $75,000 in District Designated Funds (DDF) to this project (which the Rotary Foundation matched!) and then led fundraising activities for the rest of this $199,500 two-year project.
Culebra is a small, sparsely populated island of about 1800 people. In the northwest, Flamenco Beach is a long crescent of white sand and turquoise water backed by tree-covered hills – ranked among the finest beaches in the world. Nearby Tamarindo Beach offers clear waters full of fish, sea turtles, and rays. In the southwest, Punta Melones Beach is known as a viewpoint for dramatic sunsets. Tourists flock to this island for the snorkeling, sun-bathing, and relaxation. Indeed, tourism is the island’s primary means of support and most locals are involved in the tourism trade.
Consequently, the Aedes aegypti mosquito is disruptive to the island’s way of life as well as its economy.
The implementing partner for our Global Grant is the Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit. They began by identifying and mapping every structure on the island of Culebra that could be a reservoir for mosquito transmission including abandoned, under-construction, occupied, and vacant locations that could be residential or commercial – a total of 1002 in all. With this completed, state-of-the-art traps developed by the CDC in Puerto Rico were strategically placed around the island to catch female mosquitoes during their breeding cycle. Larvicide was also placed strategically in areas with standing water, and inspections began of abandoned boats, tires, and containers of all shapes and sizes. When surveillance efforts indicated that a fountain in the middle of their little town was a major breeding ground for the disease-carrying mosquitoes, the Puerto Rico Rotary Club and members of District 6420 contributed extra funding to help remove the fountain and replace it with a community garden. Community education and awareness activities are now underway to involve all residents of Culebra in the mosquito eradication efforts.
To learn more about this exciting new project or if you are interested in visiting the project, please feel free to contact DGE Laura Kann at 678-315-2406 or LKK1@comcast.net.