WCS - World Community Service

The Rotary Club of Bethel Helps Children in Iraq

When Bethel Rotarian Robin Zinchuk asked her son, U.S. Marine Cpl. Brian Zinchuk, what he wanted for his birthday in September, the young man didn’t want gifts for himself. Instead, the 23-year-old Marine, on his second tour of duty in Iraq, asked for soccer balls and other toys for children in the area where he is stationed. His wish was publicized in several newspaper articles, and to date more than 200 soccer balls, along with many stuffed animals, have been collected and sent to Iraq. Coordination has been provided by the Bethel Rotary Club. Wrote Brian to his mother, “The children seem to be reacting really well to everything that you are sending. Sometimes it’s hard tell them that I don’t have anything left.” While soccer balls and toys continue to be donated, the charge to ship them overseas is quite expensive. If any other Rotary Clubs in the district wish to contribute funds to help with the shipping, it would be greatly appreciated. Checks payable to the Bethel Rotary Club may be sent c/o The Inn at the Rostay, 186 Mayville Rd., Bethel ME 04217.

“Reverse” Grant Planned to Aid Gulf Coast

Fishing Community

Two years after Katrina, an incredible amount of rebuilding has been done in the Gulf, but much, heartbreakingly much needs to be done, particularly south of New Orleans in St. Bernards Parish and even further south along the Mississippi delta in Plaquemines Parish. Plaquemines is fishing country (sushi-grade tuna), and two years after Katrina the towns of Venice and Buras still have no homes, no infrastructure. Fishermen in Plaquemines South either live in FEMA trailers or commute from Belle Chasse, 30 miles to the north. (Those with children need to commute, since the school has not reopened).

Amazingly, 23 stalwart Rotarians in the Plaquemines South Rotary Club continue to pay their Rotary membership dues, even though there is no building in town for the club to meet. Instead, they have been meeting with the Belle Chasse club for the past two years. What they want to do, however, is rebuild their town, starting with the school.

Many D-7780 clubs – including my own – have already given generously to Katrina relief; the sad news is that Gulf rebuilding, like literacy or clean water or polio eradication, will require ongoing support, not just a one-time deal.  I hope that clubs in our District could work together on a “reverse grant” to support an seaside community destroyed by the hurricane.

Through a reverse matching grant, such as the one pioneered by the Casco Bay club last year, we can supply Plaquemines with desperately needed literacy materials.  Already, D-6840's District Governor, Milton Wheeler,  has asked a Dutch district that knows the power (and failures) of levees to act as "international" contributors to this grant.  It is understood that, as part of this exchange, we would help the Dutch with a humanitarian grant of their choosing the following year. After all, Rotary shares.  

Please join with the Boothbay Harbor Club and contribute financially to this TRF matching grant.  Please and call/email me with any questions you might have! 

Marty Peak Helman
Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club 

Voice (207) 633-6336, email MPeak@polaris.net

  The Qarabagh District Girls School Project and Community Center Afghanistan

Falmouth Rotary Club

The Qarabagh District Girls School Project and Community Center Afghanistan

Project Summary: The Qarabagh District Girls School Project consists of constructing one school and community learning center for girls and women in Bogharak Sufora, Qarabagh District, Kabul Province. The school will be for 250 girls, grades one through six, and additional space for a community learning center will be included for women’s literacy and health education programs. The school will have eight classrooms, community meeting room, two administrative rooms, a library, one deep well, playground equipment, and surrounding wall. Project design is based on Ministry of Education approved plans.

Project Overview: Afghanistan’s plight has become well-known. Twenty-three years of war in Afghanistan has resulted in the collapse of basic institutions and infrastructure which desperately need rebuilding, including schools. Under the Taliban regime girls and women in particular endured educational, political, social and economic hardship. Despite recent efforts by the international community to rebuild educational infrastructure, the literacy rate in Afghanistan remains one of the lowest in the world, especially for women. An estimated 90% of women over the age of 18 are illiterate, although since the collapse of the Taliban considerable progress has been made with enrolling girls in school.

The Club’s connection to Afghanistan came via Anne Payson, a member of the Falmouth Rotary Club who in 2003 returned to Kabul, Afghanistan where she had lived in the early 1970’s while her father taught at Kabul University. She visited the Shomali Plain just north of Kabul and found it to be one of the hardest hit regions of Afghanistan. Because this area was the major frontline between warring factions and subject to callous devastation by the Taliban, it is no longer the productive, verdant agricultural area it once was, and instead is littered with military wreckage and land mines. Few school exist in the area. A chance visit to Bogharak Sufora revealed children being schooled in a tent, and the village elders spoke eloquently of their wish for school facilities for their children. Repeatedly she heard from Afghans that they believe the path to peace lies in educating their children.

Implementing Partners: The Club’s in-country implementing partner is the non-governmental organization Agriculture, Health and Development Organization (AHDO) who will manage project construction and facilitate program implemenation with the village elders. Teachers Without Borders has offered to help with providing school supplies. International Childhood Enrichment Program will fund installation of a playground. Kabul Rotary Club will be asked to participate in program implementation and oversight.

Project Budget and Funding: The project budget for construction is $85,000. As of March, 2007 a total of approximately $50,000 has been raised.

Donor partners participating with the Falmouth Rotary Club, include Barakat Foundation, Cabot Charitable Trust, and the George Link, Jr. Foundation. Numerous individuals have also donated to the project, including many residents of Thornton Oaks Retirement Community in Brunswick, Maine ,who initiated the fundraising. The Falmouth Rotary Club will seek grants from Rotary International for school supplies and programming.

Update! July 2007

For more information contact Anne Payson at amp@maine.rr.com.

To Guatemala and Back
Putting Textbooks in the Hands of Mayan Students - for the first time

For the past year, I have been involved in the Guatemala Literacy Project.  Three times in the last twelve months, I've traveled to Guatemala to help deliver textbooks to rural schools in the central highlands, schools that previously had no textbooks for their middle school students.  As an educator, I was stunned to visit schools where there are no textbooks for students.  Where the only materials a teacher has to offer her students are a blackboard and copybooks. 

The Guatemala Literacy Project has worked in the rural areas of the country to provide textbooks to students who previously never have had any books.  The project, which is substantially supported by Rotarians in the US and Canada, provides Spanish, math, science, and social studies textbooks to students at the secondary schools.  In return, families agree to pay a small rental fee for the books that is accumulated for five years providing the resources for the school to replace the books for students in future years.  In this way, the program has become a self-sustaining way for schools to provide books for their students.  It is through Rotary, that only the first books are provided.

As I have traveled to the various schools, it never ceases to amaze me how appreciative the parents, students, and the community are of the textbooks.  When we bring the books, there is an "inauguration," a community celebration.  The number of parents and people from the community that attend is frequently nothing short of amazing.  When you stop to consider that many of these adults are illiterate, that many of the women have not attended school beyond the second grade, and that time taken to attend this inauguration is time that means the adult is not working, it underscores the community's and each individual's commitment to helping their children learn to read and write.  

The students who benefit from this project are Mayan children.  They live in very remote, rural areas of Guatemala.  When the children begin school, they are learning Spanish for the first time, since many of them speak one of the 21 dialects of Mayan spoken in their area of the country.  The children and their families live in very poor conditions, many having no electricity and no plumbing.  Clean drinking water is virtually unheard of.  Most families make their living by subsistence farming.  In rural areas, only about seventy percent of the children ever begin school.  About seventy percent of those children don't finish "compulsory school," a sixth grade education. 

The Guatemala Literacy Project has made a huge difference in the lives of the children of rural Guatemala.  Currently, the GLP provides textbooks for about ten percent of the secondary schools in the country.  The results of the project show that school enrollment has increased by about 50% in the schools where there are textbooks.  The real results, however, is reflected in the pride on the faces of the students and their parents.

If you would like to learn more about the Guatemala Literacy Project, I am more than eager to share my experiences and stories.  This is truly an amazing project that is making a significant difference in the lives of so many people.

Carolyn Johnson
Rotary Club of Yarmouth
Cfj2@mac.com

Improved Water Supply Critical to Delivering Health Care

in Cap Haitien, Haiti

The Rotary Clubs of Damariscotta/Newcastle, Portsmouth and South Berwick are actively working on an application as co-international partners with the Rotary Club in Cap Haitien, Haiti to resolve the serious water problem at Justinian Hospital in that city. The Cooperating Organization is Konbit Sante, headquartered in Portland which, working with local professionals there and here, has developed a sound plan to remediate the important water problem as described below.  The above named clubs and the South Berwick Club have committed funds as the local match for a district designated funds and/or for Rotary Foundation funds for a total project cost of $67,600.00. We invite you to join us in supporting this project financially. Our contact names, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers appear below. We also offer to make a presentation on the merits of this initiative to your club board or club meeting.

Water Projects Will Improve Public Health

Two projects will deliver water essential to proper medical care at the Justinian Hospital in Cap Haitien, Haiti. The hospital provides medical care to an urban population of approximately 850,000 people, but it lacks water for the most basic needs. Doctors do not have enough water to wash hands between patients. Patients and their families have no water for hygiene and must buy drinking water from street vendors. "Throughout the Justinian Hospital, staff and families face the almost impossible challenge of providing adequate health care with inadequate water and sanitation," explains Dr. Dany Dugue, Chief of Internal Medicine, Justinian Hospital.

Justinian Hospital Lacks Adequate Water

The 250-bed Justinian Hospital relies on a single well, which delivers less than 4,000 gallons per day, about 10 percent of the flow needed. Daily power outages in the past year have further jeopardized the supply and a manual control system has required an operator to be present to start the pump whenever the power came back on.  The water that is available is contaminated with fecal coliforms and other pathogens. The pipe from the well to the storage tank passes through a burning medical waste pile. When the pump stops and the pressure decreases, contaminated groundwater can enter the pipe, infecting the hospital supply with various pathogens.

Short and Long Term Projects to Improve Water Supply

Konbit Sante has worked with the Ministry of Health, hospital staff, and officials from the Société Nationale d’Eau Potable (SNEP) to develop short term and long term solutions to the hospital’s water needs. Table 1 summarizes some of the projects, their benefits, and their approximate costs.

We are hoping to install a new water main in 2007. The water main will bypass a medical waste pile and eliminate a dangerous source of contamination. By using flexible plastic pipe we are able to minimize material and shipping costs and local workers will be able to complete the installation without expensive machinery.  We also hope to install automated controls and backup power supply for the well pump. Over the past year, the municipal power supply was available for only a few hours per day, often at night. Bon Jacques, the operator of the water system, often had to come in the middle of the night to make sure the hospital had water. The new controls will automatically start the pump whenever there is power. The battery backup supply will help maximize the output from the well.  Pending funding, Konbit Sante would also like to implement Project 2 in 2007 and Project 3 in the future.

Table 1 Water System Improvements

Project Outcomes

Transmission of infectious diseases by doctors and patients served by this 250-bed regional hospital will be reduced because of improved supply of water within the hospital.

Project Contact Information

Rotary Contacts:

John Atwood                                                         Leonard Seagren

Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club               Portsmouth Rotary Club

(207) 586-5557                                                    (603) 436-5363

atwood@midcoast.com                                      laseagren@attbi.com

Sharon Beckwith                                                  Ann Lee Hussey

South Berwick Rotary Club                                 South Berwick Rotary Club

sharona@maine.rr.com                                      annlee001@yahoo.com

Technical Contact: Hugh G. Tozer, P.E.

Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership

c/o 290 Capisic Street

Portland, ME 04102

(207) 774-2112

htozer@woodardcurran.com

http://www.konbitsante.org

Key Personnel Information

Hugh Tozer, P.E.

Project Manager and Civil Engineer

Mr. Tozer’s interest in water and sanitation began as a Peace Corps volunteer living through a drought in West Africa. He has focused his career on evaluating and developing solutions to meet the water and wastewater needs of communities in the U.S. and abroad. He volunteers his time with Konbit Sante, working on the water and wastewater needs of the Justinian Hospital and healthcare clinics. He works for Woodard & Curran in Portland, Maine.

Additional Resources

Summer 2004 Konbit Sante Newsletter at

http://www.konbitsante.org

"Haiti: The Struggle for Water," PBS Frontline,

http://pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/haiti

Mission of Konbit Sante

To support the development of a sustainable health care system to meet the needs of the Cap-Haitien community with maximum local direction and support.

Organization’s Programs

Konbit Sante works with the Ministry of Health and within the existing health structure in Cap-Haitien to create sustainable improvements by providing health education, making infrastructure improvements, sending needed supplies and equipment, supporting agents sante (community health workers) who diagnose and treat tuberculosis in an impoverished neighborhood, and by forming supportive relationships between U.S. and Haitian health professionals.

WCS News

WCS Q&A

PROJECTS EXCHANGE DISASTER RELIEF

Rotarians Committed to Sustainability of Safe Passage

Following Tragic Death of Founder

by Marty Peak Helman

Hanley Denning, founder and chief inspiration of Safe Passage, the project that has provided hope, schooling and a future for 600 children and their families who live on the Guatemala City garbage dump, died in a car accident on January 18 in Guatemala.

Hanley’s death, at age 36, leaves a gaping wound. The loss is personal not only to her family and those volunteers who were fortunate enough to know her and work with her, but also to the hundreds of children whom she loved and for whom she dedicated her life. Her death is also a personal tragedy to many, many District 7780 Rotarians.

Rotarians from numerous clubs in our District have volunteered at the program, fundraised for it, and sponsored three Rotary Foundation Matching Grants which have purchased two passenger vans and two pickup trucks for Safe Passage. Last year, the Yarmouth Rotary Club made Hanley Denning a Paul Harris Fellow and presented her with a special international award. This year, Wrap-a-Smile, sponsored by the Wells Rotary Club, presented 120 quilts to the children who visit the medical staff at the Safe Passage infirmary. At the same time, friends of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club, augmented by the Fellowship of Rotary Quilters, created 125 more quiltlets for the toddlers in the just-opened day care center at Safe Passage.

In addition, Rotary and Interact clubs throughout the District have donated school supplies and backpacks, shoes and clothing, and soap, toothpaste and other hygienic supplies.

Hanley’s life is a testament to the Rotary sentiment that all it takes is one person to change the world -- one life at a time. The Board of Safe Passage has recommitted itself to the movement that Hanley began, and friends of Safe Passage are determined to renew and redouble their efforts to secure her legacy of continuing to combat poverty through literacy and education and of giving young people a chance to lift themselves out of the garbage dump.

The Safe Passage Sustainability Fund has been established in Hanley’s memory. Donations may be made through the website, www.safepassage.org, or sent to Safe Passage at PO Box 663, Yarmouth, ME 04096.

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Rotary Club of Pretoria Capital

We are looking for some assistance possibly in the form of a matching grant to enable our club, contribute R250,000 towards the funding of Pretoria Community Ministries which assists street children, orphans, battered woman, empowering the homeless and Aids patients. The contribution will be used to supply clothes, bed linen, furniture, educational tools and other needs for the various projects. We held a very successful fund raising Pops Concert in March of this year where we raised R31,000.

We would also welcome twining with a sister club. Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa (population 47.5 million). It is called the Jacaranda City because at this time of the year the suburban streets are a blaze with purple blossoms. The city has two universities, Pretoria (40 thousand students) and the University of South Africa, which accommodates large numbers of students who study by correspondence. Pretoria is situated 40 kilometers North of Johannesburg and is a central point for visiting the game reserves, mountains, and coastal areas of Natal and Sun City.

There are 6 Rotary Clubs in Pretoria and all are involved in various projects, which contribute to raising the living standards of all South Africans (health, education, etc.)

I am President Elect of the Rotary Club of Pretoria Capital which last month celebrated its 25th anniversary. Our club although relatively small (23 members) is very active and we undertake 4 fund raising events per year, namely the Pretoria Pops Concert, Golf day, Eastern Evening and an Interschool's Quiz for Pretoria High Schools. We also undertake other small projects such as taking the elderly away for a week to a Resort, which has spa baths.  I have been a Rotarian for 30 months and joined Rotary shortly before I retired as Strategic Marketing Director of a Pharmaceutical Company. I'm also Chairperson of the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) and represent them on the Board of PHANGO (Patient Health Alliance Group of NGK’s).  My husband, Ian is also a member of Pretoria Capital and as an architect enjoys being involved in community projects. We have two children, a son who is Professor of Medicine in Texas and a daughter who lives in Pretoria.

Pat MacClements, President Elect
Rotary Club of Pretoria Capital, District 9250

Tel/ Fax: 027 12 460 9525
email: macclements@telkomsa.net
Address: 221, Canopus Street
& Postal Waterkloof Ridge
Pretoria 0181

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