Ayuda International · Mexico

Building Bridges Through Rotary

A decade of clinics with the Rotary clubs of Rosarito taught Ayuda that neighbors do their best work together. In 2016 that friendship became Building Bridges Through Rotary: build bridges, not walls.

Our special relationship with Mexico

It started with a trailer

In October 2012 Ayuda brought its first mobile dental clinic across the border to Rosarito with USC students and Dr. Harris Done. The Rotary clubs of Rosarito hosted the clinics year after year. Rotarian Rolando Quintero helped design the Oral Hygiene Initiative and The Cleft Project for Rosarito and Ensenada, and in 2015 the town honored Steve Bender with a parade. When clubs on both sides of the border started asking to join, Steve turned the partnership into a program any club could use.

Today Building Bridges Through Rotary links Rotary clubs in Mexico and the United States in shared service, from dental clinics and The Cleft Project to disaster relief and the Tijuana River Project.

buildingbridgesthroughrotary.org The Rosarito parade The Cleft Project

Timeline

A decade of building bridges

October 2012First Ayuda free dental clinic in Rosarito, with USC students and Dr. Harris Done.
2013 to 2015Yearly clinics with the Rotary clubs of Rosarito.
2014 to 2015The Cleft Project begins with Club Rotario Rosarito and Club Rotario Playas de Rosarito.
September 13, 2015The Rotary clubs of Rosarito honor Steve with a parade.
December 2015A strategic plan with Rolando Quintero for the Oral Hygiene Initiative and The Cleft Project in Rosarito and Ensenada.
2016Building Bridges, Not Walls begins, and a Rosarito global grant starts.
January 2018Building Bridges Through Rotary wins a standing ovation at the district presidents meeting.
March 3, 2018District launch at Chapman University.
June 2018Outreach to Mexico’s District 4100 at the Rotary International Convention in Toronto.
2018 to 2019Clubs in Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rocky Point and Cancun ask to join; Rosarito clinic in December 2018.
April 2020COVID supplies for clubs in Cabo San Lucas and face shields for Tijuana with District 4100.
March 3, 2023The Rotary Club of Rosarito celebrates its 50th anniversary.
2026The Tijuana River Project joins Building Bridges.

All our Rotary Club partners

Building Bridges Through Rotary

It started with a trailer

A decade of building bridges

Join us at a clinic