THE DOMINICAN ROTARY CLUB RECOGNIZES THE SOCIAL 
WORK OF DR. GABRIEL SERRANO 

The solidarity action of the founder and president of SESDERMA has been 
awarded by the members of the Rotary Club of Dominican Republic with the 
Paul Harris Fellow recognition

On Friday, February 23, the Rotary Club celebrated its 119th anniversary at the Universidad 
Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU) in Santo Domingo. In this event, Dr. Gabriel Serrano 
Sanmiguel was granted the Paul Harris Fellow Award for his social action in favor of the 
community of the Dominican Republic, and specifically throughout the Bayahibe area. 
Dr. Serrano received the award from Sr. Rubén Góico, current governor of the Rotary Club, and 
was accompanied by all his family and closest friends. During the event he explained his 
commitment to the most disadvantaged people and reviewed some of the solidarity actions that 
are being carried out in the Dominican Republic, in addition to the extensive remodeling and 
improvement plan in the Bayahibe community. In the words of Dr. Serrano: “This award reflects 
my commitment and love for all the initiatives I am carrying out in Dominican Republic. We still 
have a long way to go, but I am extremely happy and grateful for these first steps, which are 
already leaving their mark.” 
In addition to the award to Dr. Serrano, the attendees had the opportunity to enjoy the 
performance of the renowned soprano Virginia Tola, as well as the talented flamenco group led 
by Virginia Jaén.
This Rotary recognition is added to the one already awarded to Dr. Gabriel Serrano a few months 
ago by the Rotary Club Valencia, when his daughter Pilar Serrano was in charge of representing 
him and thanking the whole committee for the recognition of the social work carried out by 
Sesderma through the different foundations of Dr. Gabriel Serrano and his solidarity projects 
around the world.
The Paul Harris award of the Rotary Club
This award was established in 1957 and is an expression of gratitude to those who contribute 
remarkably and consistently to the Rotary Foundation. Many other personalities have received 
the distinction, including US President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, US 
astronaut James Lovell, UN secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, and the creator of the first 
polio vaccine, Jonas Salk.
The social action of SESDERMA and DR. GABRIEL SERRANO
In addition to the Sesderma Bali Foundation, which for years has been collaborating with humble 
families in Indonesia, the solidarity work of the Dr. Gabriel Serrano Foundation in the Dominican 
Republic has been underway for months. It is a non-profit organization that aims to collaborate 
in improving the health of Dominican families without resources, as well as in the education of 
children and young people in a state of vulnerability. Dr. Serrano also actively contributes to the 
Dr. Huberto Bogaert Dermatological Institute of the Dominican Republic. In addition to these 
projects, he also collaborates actively with the Carmen Sánchez Association of Mexico, which 
fights to improve the quality of life and self-esteem of women who have been victims of male 
chauvinist acid attacks by their partners or ex-partners.