The Rotary in Bangladesh on Wednesday kicked off 117 hours of service programme commemorating the founding day of Rotary International, a global network of more than 35,000 clubs and over 1.2 million Rotarians from diverse backgrounds.

Barrister Mutasim Billah Faruqui, District Governor for the Rotary International District 3281, inaugurated a series of service projects to be implemented between February 23 and 26 by more than 300 Rotary clubs in Bangladesh. District 3281 covers all regions but Sylhet and Chattogram Divisions.

The opening ceremony was organised at Rajdhani High School on Manik Mia Avenue in the capital city, said a press release on Wednesday.

The country’s top Rotary leaders and presidents for the Rotary Year 2021-22 joined the occasion and pledged to uphold the spirit of Rotary in serving people who need help to better their lives.

Read:Rotary Media Award in development journalism introduced

Under the three-day campaign, the clubs would plant trees, feed destitute children, organise health camps, provide scholarships to orphans and others in schools and madrasahs, donate water filters, and distribute sports materials among street children, and masks and sewing machines among other service projects across the country.

“This is a great moment to observe the Rotary’s birthday by the way of serving people. We, from Rotary, are supplementing the government’s tremendous effort to make people’s lives better under this year’s slogan of We Serve to Change Lives,” he said in a statement. We’re building comfort centres for 500 schools across the country to help our children maintain hygiene and dignity. This is just one Rotary example,” he said.

Under his leadership, Faruqui said Rotary is planting about 1 million trees this year across the country.

“As part of this effort and to mark the 117 years of Rotary, we’re going to plant 117 special coconut trees (Vietnam species) in Hatirjheel in partnership with Rajuk,” he said.

Read:Rotary Club of Uttara signs MoU with Backdoor, LegalX to promote cyber security campaign

The Rotary was founded on Feb 23 in 1905 by a Chicago attorney Paul Harris. Rotary has championed in eliminating polio in Bangladesh and other parts of the world by contributing more than $2 billion over last few decades.

More than 300 clubs under the District 3281 in Bangladesh work under Rotary International, headquartered in Illinois in the United States, in various fields including water and sanitation, maternal and child health, environment, basic education, disease prevention, peace and conflict resolution and economic and community development.