HAPPY NEW YEAR to Applecross Rotary members and friends,
GOOD NEWS WORTH SHARING
Like many of you, I’m often left feeling a little disconsolate by what we see and hear going on around us — especially through the constant news feeds delivered straight to our phones.
Yet good news rarely makes the headlines, even though it is very much happening — and on a global scale.
I recently read a wonderful newsletter shared with a worldwide audience, and I thought it worth passing on a few of the genuinely positive developments that are making our world a better place for so many people:
1. Preventable blindness is being reduced
Trachoma — a tiny organism that causes blindness, particularly in poorer countries — is being eliminated across many traditional hotspots. Just ten years ago, 192 million people were at risk. That figure has almost halved, with those blinded falling from 2.8 million to around 1.2 million. The reason? Simple but powerful changes: better access to water, improved hygiene, cleaner faces, and fewer flies that carry the disease.
2. The data tells a more hopeful story than the headlines
Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year was “brain rot”, followed this year by “rage bait” — reflecting the overload of negative news that causes many people to tune out. Yet behind the noise, key indicators such as child mortality rates, vaccine coverage, emissions intensity, and deforestation are all making steady progress in the right direction. Annual surveys across 142 countries show that 33% of people now report they are “thriving” — the highest level ever recorded. A decade ago, that figure was just 12%. Much of this improvement is linked to growing economic optimism.
3. Hunger and unemployment are easing
Global hunger is falling for the first time since the COVID pandemic, helped by record agricultural harvests that have lowered prices and improved affordability. At the same time, global unemployment is at its lowest level since 1991. Extreme poverty remains concentrated in conflict and fragile states — but progress elsewhere is real.
4. Basic living standards are improving worldwide
UNICEF and WHO report that over the past decade:
Nearly 1 billion people gained access to safe drinking water
1.2 billion gained safe sanitation
1.5 billion gained basic hygiene services
Electricity availability is now at the highest level in human history.
5. Health and safety are improving
Humanity’s overall burden of illness and early death has dropped by 12.2% since 2010, and homicide rates have fallen sharply in many of the most dangerous countries in Central and South America.
At Applecross Rotary, we play our small part in this broader improvement for those less fortunate. It’s easy to feel that these problems are endless — but progress is happening.
Let’s keep up our wonderful world-community effort and do what we can to turn today’s “rage bait” into the kind of positive outcomes reflected above.
On another matter:
We’ve received approval to extend our District Membership Grant application, giving us more time to develop a strong and worthwhile membership project in conjunction with the Melville Cockburn Chamber of Commerce and other local Rotary clubs.
More to come on that soon.
Warm regards,
Kenn
