Lt. Kerry Bartsch has been an officer with The Salvation Army since 2012. In January Kerry and her husband visited a Salvation Army school in Tanzania. The two-week mission trip focused on repairing and remodeling the Matumaini Salvation Army School for Children with Disabilities.
Kerry's involvement with the Salvation Army began when she was a child. At the age of five, Kerry began attending vacation bible school and summer camp at The Salvation Army because it was a place she always felt loved and accepted.
Following her passion for social work and helping others through Christ, Kerry found a career with The Salvation Army. She graduated from Southeastern University in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services and later attended The Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training with Johnny Bartsch, her husband since 2002. The couple has three children – Gracie, Selah and Chloe – and a new Rottweiler puppy named Faith. In her free time, Kerry loves kayaking, running and spending time with her family.
The Bartschs came to Michigan City last year to oversee the local Salvation Army Corps, coming from their most recent assignment in Wichita, Kansas.
Every year, Bill and Melinda Gates publish an annual letter to broaden awareness and interest in key global health and development programs. This year’s Annual Letter mentioned polio among their foundation’s ongoing efforts to fight disease and inequality, specifically, the incredible progress that’s been made towards polio eradication. Melinda Gates offers these kind words to reaffirm the important role Rotary has had leading the way to a polio-free world:
“We’re awed by the teams of vaccinators who take risks to reach each child. And we’re inspired by the infinite persistence of Rotary International. They were leading this fight long before we joined it, and they’ve just kept moving forward.”
She goes on to say, “They know going from 350,000 cases to 37 is amazing, but success is zero.” Even though a handful of polio cases have been reported this year, there is a chance these are the last cases of polio in history. This June, Bill Gates will speak at the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA to discuss how we can — and will — end polio together
On 25 March, more than 190,000 polio vaccinators traveled by foot and bike to immunize more than 116 million children under the age of 5 throughout 13 countries in west and central Africa. The goal was to increase childhood immunity against polio and stop the disease for good. In August 2016, four children were paralyzed by polio in the Borno state of Nigeria, an area widely considered to be the last remaining stronghold of the disease on the continent. African public health ministers from five Lake Chad Basin countries declared the outbreak a regional public health emergency and have committed to multiple synchronized immunization campaigns.
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