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Rotary Club of Newport Beach, Rotary Global Service Club: Embracing the Future While Respecting the Past

Chaired by His Excellency Kithsiri Athulathmudali and Steve Bender

East Meets WestRotary clubs working as one
One Million Drops flyer: Where East Meets West. A pagoda and Mount Fuji on the left, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Statue of Liberty on the right, joined by a stone bridge over the water. One Million Drops Become One Million Lives.

A One Million Drops program of Rotary

Rotary clubs of the West and the East, working as one.

East Meets West pairs Rotary clubs in the Western Hemisphere with clubs in the Eastern Hemisphere. Together they share ideas, partners and funding, and every project is promoted across our whole network. No community should be left behind because of geography.

Submit your project Find a partner club
West   Newport Beach, California

Every drop counts

East   Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 2.1 billionpeople without safely managed drinking water
  • 3.4 billionwithout safely managed sanitation
  • 1.7 billionwithout basic hygiene at home
  • 1,000,000people, the One Million Drops goal

Figures as published on OneMillionDrops.org.

The story

What if East and West didn't just work in parallel, but truly worked together?

Under the shared banner of Rotary International, two leaders from opposite sides of the world came together with one purpose: bringing clean water to the communities that need it most.

His Excellency Kithsiri Athulathmudali, former Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the State of Qatar, represents the East. For years he has worked across Asia and neighboring regions, where access to clean water can transform an entire community. Steve Bender, Chairman of the United States Green Chamber of Commerce, has been advancing the same work throughout the Americas, building partnerships with volunteers and local leaders to design water systems that last.

Read the full story

Because when East meets West, water flows, and so does hope.

Chaired by

One partnership, two hemispheres

East

His Excellency Kithsiri Athulathmudali

Former Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the State of Qatar. Co-founder, One Million Drops.

Leads East Meets West initiatives across Asia, the Middle East and the Eastern Hemisphere.

West

Steve Bender

President, Rotary Club of Newport Beach. Chairman, U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce. Director, Western North America, Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group. Co-founder, One Million Drops.

Leads East Meets West efforts across the Americas and Africa.

  • Led from both sides. Each chair brings clubs, partners and local knowledge from his own hemisphere.
  • Shared, not parallel. Every project is jointly supported, shared and strengthened.
  • Open to every club. Any Rotary, Rotaract or Interact club can bring a project or offer to partner.

How it works

From one club's idea to a partnership across the world

  1. Enter your project on 47817.org

    Use the free entry form on the 4-7-8-17 platform and tick East Meets West. It takes about ten minutes, and you can enter any day of the year.

  2. Get your 4-7-8-17 Report Card

    Our team rates the project against the Four-Way Test, the 7 Areas of Focus, the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace and the 17 UN Global Goals, and suggests easy upgrades.

  3. Meet your partner club

    The chairs introduce you to a Rotary club in the other hemisphere that shares your cause. Western clubs meet Eastern clubs, and Eastern clubs meet Western clubs.

  4. Get promoted everywhere

    Your project is shared on this site, on 47817.org, across our network websites and on social media, so partners and donors can find it.

  5. Grow it into a Global Grant

    A Rotary Foundation Global Grant needs a host club where the project happens and an international partner club somewhere else. East Meets West gives you both.

Start step 1 on 47817.org Ask the chairs a question

East Meets West projects

Partnerships already flowing

Rotarians light a lamp at the opening of a school drinking water plant built by the Rotary Clubs of Calcutta and Colleyville
Photo: Arunangshu

Clean water, sanitation and hygiene Kolkata, India and Colleyville, Texas, USA

Pranadhara II: purified drinking water for a school

A Rotary Foundation Global Grant (GG-2578095) that installed a community water purification plant at Shyamsundarpur High School. One club in each hemisphere, several districts behind them, and a plaque that says Unite for Good. This is East Meets West in practice.

East
Rotary Club of Calcutta, with Kolkata clubs and RC Singapore (RID 3310)
West
Rotary Club of Colleyville, with RC Fort Worth (RID 5790)
Two women pour clean water from a basin into a bucket in a sunny village courtyard

Clean water, sanitation and hygiene Asia, Africa and the Americas

One Million Drops

The program East Meets West is modeled on. Wells and boreholes, solar water systems, rainwater harvesting and low cost filtration, with a goal of safe water for one million people. Launched at EarthX 2026 and presented at the Rotary International Convention in Taipei.

East
His Excellency Kithsiri Athulathmudali leads initiatives across Asia
West
Steve Bender leads efforts across the Americas and Africa
Visit onemilliondrops.org

Clean water, sanitation and hygiene Ukraine and the United States

Rebuild Ukraine Green

Ukraine is a region of One Million Drops with a challenge of its own: mobile purification units that deliver up to 20,000 litres a day, fixed treatment for hospitals and schools, and household filters at scale.

East
Ukrainian partners and clubs
West
Rotary clubs in the United States
Visit rebuildukrainegreen.org

See all East Meets West projects

Project categories

Seven causes, one partnership

Projects are collected and promoted under Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus. Water comes first, because that is where One Million Drops began.

  • 1

    Promoting peace

    Dialogue, conflict prevention and communities that trust each other.

    Peace forums, refugee support, youth exchanges

  • 2

    Fighting disease

    Prevention, treatment and stronger local care.

    Dental clinics, eye camps, health education

  • 3

    Clean water, sanitation and hygiene

    The heart of One Million Drops. Safe water people can maintain.

    Wells, solar water plants, school filtration

  • 4

    Saving mothers and children

    Healthier births and early childhoods.

    Birthing kits, clinics, nutrition

  • 5

    Supporting education

    Literacy, teachers and schools that work.

    School water, libraries, teacher training

  • 6

    Growing local economies

    Decent work and local entrepreneurs.

    Microloans, farm co-ops, water kiosks

  • 7

    Supporting the environment

    Protecting the land and sea communities depend on. Ridge to reef.

    Reforestation, reefs, watershed protection

  • Your project here

    Working on any of these causes with a club overseas, or looking for one?

    Enter it on 47817.org

Looking for a partner

Projects ready to meet a club across the world

These projects are on 47817.org with a Report Card. If your club is in the other hemisphere, you could be their partner.

Browse the full Project Library on 47817.org

Modeled on One Million Drops

Building bridges through water

East Meets West follows the One Million Drops model: every project, partner and idea is one drop, and together they become a river. Projects cover the whole water cycle, from ridge to reef.

  1. UpstreamForests, farms and freshwater sources
  2. MidstreamRivers, community water and wastewater
  3. DownstreamCoasts, reefs and the ocean
Visit OneMillionDrops.org

  • Clean water access

    Wells and boreholes, solar water systems, rainwater harvesting and low cost filtration.

  • Watershed protection

    Reforestation, wetland restoration and sustainable land management.

  • Water innovation

    Smart monitoring, water reuse and affordable purification.

  • Education and community

    Youth water stewardship, conservation training and public awareness.

Share ideas and partners

Find the people who can help

Every drop counts. Bring yours.

Enter a project, offer to partner, or share an idea. We promote every project across the network, 365 days a year.

Submit your project Contact us