Club Meeting

On Thursday 29th July, President Derek Clark welcomed members and guests to a virtual meeting of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry. The speaker was Mark Wilson, a one-time schoolfriend of Rotarian Craig MacKenzie. Mark went from High School in Paisley to Agricultural College and university in Britain and subsequently the United States where he has been recognised by Illinois, Harvard and Houston universities. Mark worked for the World Bank for thirty years and has been a consultant for a further fifteen. As Mark explained in his well-illustrated presentation, by 2050 the world population will be 10 billion. At present, one in eight go hungry to bed and 13.5million will die of hunger. The World Bank looks at ways to help farmers in threatened countries reach the market to sell their produce. Climate change, political policies and conflict can all influence this. One of the main strategies of the World Bank is to make water accessible so that women and children no longer have to walk long distances to collect it. This eases the burden on women and lets more children, particularly females, go to school. Mark's virtual presentation, which included pictures from Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Pacific Regions was much appreciated by the audience. Jim McCulloch's closing remark in his vote of thanks 'every picture tells a story' summed up the club's appreciation for Mark's presentation and admiration for the World Bank.