Any money donated to Rotary eClub One goes directly to fund community service activities across the world.

Some of the projects funded by during the last 2 Rotary years are listed below.

2014 -2015

1.         Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate and Speech Therapy Trip in Peru –  Between 75 and 100 children will receive medical care that would otherwise be unavailable to them from a team of trained experts.  The team repairs cleft lips and palates and offers speech therapy.  A partner organization, Healing the Children, returns to the same area each year and is able to do follow up with previous patients.  Rotary eClub One will provide provide financial support for the children and their families. The support will contribute to transportation and lodging, rental of medical equipment, and purchasing of medications for surgeries and post-operative care. Two Rotary Clubs in Lima, Peru help recruit patients for surgery, assist with patient and family transport, and gather supplies needed to help patients.

2.         Planning for Water Service Project in Got Osimbo, Kenya –  This grant request is to fund the planning stages of a water project in the 6000-person Got Osimbo community in Kenya.  The planning of the project will be done through involving members of the community of Got Osimbo, the Kenyan government, members of the Utimishi Nairobi Rotary Club (host club) and Harambee Kenya leadership representing the Rotary Club of Evergreen, Colorado USA. (International partner). The proposed clean water system will include three boreholes, pumps, and holding tanks that feed 11 kiosks through piped gravity flow.  The kiosks will include water taps, community toilets, showers and tubs for washing laundry communally.  The first estimates of the cost are $300,000.  Funding would come through a Rotary global grant and other resources. The Kenyan Government has indicated the intention of some collaborative economic support. Rotary eClub One’s funding will go to support costs associated with initial investigation and planning for the project.

3.         Maternal Health in Afghanistan – Charkent is the poorest district in Balkh Province. Its population consists of small-scale subsistence farmers, herders and the landless sharecroppers. Charkent has few roads and its villages are hard to reach. One woman in every eleven dies of pregnancy-related causes in Afghanistan, and one in ten children dies before his or her fifth birthday. The situation is even worse in remote areas such as Charkent, where nearly nine out of ten women give birth at home on the floor without any medical assistance whatsoever.  While there are health centers in the area and a hospital 48 km away, they are poorly equipped and women would rather risk giving birth at home than risk giving birth on the way to them. Giving birth at home means they do not have the support of local health workers. HealthProm has been working in Charkent District since 2009 and is the only organization in the district focused on improving maternal and child health. HealthProm works in partnership with local organization, Bakhtar Development Network, to deliver the project.

4.         Water Tanks at Deva Kirubai Social Help Association in India – the Deva Kirubao Social Help Association was founded in 1993 to help the orphan and destitute population in the Manapparai, Tiruchirappalli district of India. Acute water shortage is a serious problem for the social help association. The obligation to buy water from outside water resources has been highly expensive and stressful. There have been times where water has been unavailable completely.  Lack of sufficient quantity of water at the right times has caused a number of on-going difficulties.

5.         One Lamp per Bure in Fiji – Remote islands of the South Pacific typically have no access to infrastructure like electricity. Village residents depend on kerosene lamps for light, which exposes them to carcinogenic fumes, the risk of fire, and poor light that is insufficient to study or work by. Vision is eroded and literacy and education standards compromised. Simple solar lanterns are fifteen times brighter than kerosene and can save hundreds of dollars a year by eliminating the need to purchase kerosene. They have been proven to increase child study time by 75%, increase household income by 25% due to the ability to work at night, and 94% of household users feel safer. Rotary eClub One will contribute to purchase lanterns for 25 families in the remote village of Togo.

6.         Literacy Global Grant in Guatemala –  Rotary eClub One will partner with Coeur d’Alene Rotary Club in Idaho and Quetzaltenango Rotary Club in Guatemala on this Global Grant project. The project serves the indigenous peoples in the western highlands of Guatemala, home of the lowest literacy rates in the western hemisphere.  Each year, Cooperative for Education, with help from the Guatemalan Rotary partners and the Guatemalan Ministry of Education, identifies potential communities that could benefit from Rotary assistance. The targeted communities in Guatemala’s Western Highlands suffer from (a) low literacy due to ineffective teaching methods, (b) low literacy due to a lack of books and (c) low technology literacy due to lack of computers.  The Global Grant consists of 3 parts: providing literacy training to teachers and reading books in 25 elementary schools, implementing 9 literacy-strengthening textbook projects and establishing 2 computer centers.  

7.         Scholarships for Practicing Primary School Teachers in Guatemala – Rotary eClub One will contribute $2,000 for Teacher Training Scholarships.  The purpose of the Teacher Training Scholarships will be to provide scholarships to primary school teachers already teaching at a recognized Ministry of Education (public) School in a geographical area in relatively close proximity to the community of Solola, Guatemala. 

8.         Scholarships for Students Pursing High School in Ecuador – Rotary eClub One will contribute to the scholarship funds available for students after they graduate from Colegio La Minga. While the initial benefit is for the individual student, the final impact is on the entire community. Students return from their education and contribute to the community: one is acting as a librarian and another has started a recycling program. In addition, other students are pursing degrees in elementary education, ecotourism, agro-industrial farming, veterinary medicine, and law. 

9.         Educational Materials for Tribal Children in South Calcutta, India – The beneficiaries of the project are students in Classes 9-12 (Junior and High school level) at three schools run by the Government of West Bengal, throughout the Dakshin Barasat area of South Calcutta in the West Bengal State of India. Students are from tribal families, a lower socio economic group, where their mothers are either illiterate or have a basic level of education. Schools in this area do not provide textbooks and/or exercise books consistently to enable students to complete their basic education; therefore it becomes the responsibility of the families to meet this expense (most families find this a financial burden). Most students have many siblings, and their parents are contractual laborers earning between $35 - $65 USD a month.

10.       Support for the Public Library in Tacna, Peru –  Built in 1957, the Tacna public library is the city’s only public library. It supports 300,000 residents and relies on private funding. The building is in need of repair. The employees of the library and members of the community will do much of the manual labor.

11 - Promoting Literacy at Rotary Wheel Primary School - Lagos State, Nigeria

The project involves providing support materials (uniforms & sandals) for pupils at a Rotary funded primary school for vulnerable children. Pupils at the school are mostly orphans, street children and children of beggars.

12 - Friends of the Arts - Wallace, North Carolina, USA

Funds are to be used to help students with rental of instruments and to purchase instruments that would become part of the school program.  Funds provide continued designated funding for musical instruments to be used in music program. This high school has a very active instrumental music program. Funds are used to help students with rental of instruments and to purchase instruments that would become part of the school program.

13 - Ninos de la Promesa Orphanage Furniture - Tijuana, Mexico

To join the Rotary Club of Tehachapi in supporting Ninos de la Promesa, a well-run program for homeless children from an impoverished neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico. This orphanage is just across the border in Mexico and not far from Tehachapi, CA.  The funds will be used for the purchase of several lightly used couches for the orphanage family room.

14 - PR in the Form of Support for culinary Contest for Adults with Developmental Disabilities – Salernes, France

The local vocational school for people with disabilities of Salernes, France, has programs to train people with disabilities as laundry workers, garden and grounds keepers and cooks and restaurant employees. This CSG will provide prizes for the top three chefs in a competition.  For the first time ever, the school will organize a cooking contest between various training culinary school for people with disabilities. The $500 represents about 1/10th of the total budget for this project: the funds from Rotary eClub One will be spent to purchase the three main prizes in form of kitchen tools and/or appliances. This would be in conjunction with funds from the Center itself, the local bank and the local Rotary Club amongst others.

15 - Village Sanitation Program – Kankradi Village, Taluka Umbergaon, Gujrat

This project is a community service project for the poorest section of society in the village.  We will be building separate toilet blocks for gentlemen and ladies.  The villagers will form a committee to maintain the toilets. The funds will be used for the supplies required to build the toilet.

16 - Scholarship to complete Higher Education – Deva Kirubai Social Help Association, India

These funds will be used to pay the balance of Esther Nancy’s final semester/college fees, fees and boarding required to complete her 3 months Field Project/Practical work expenses.

17 -  Action for the Minority Children – Uganda (“AMCU”) – Bwindi, Uganda

The Rotary eClub One grant will support one year of primary school tuition for 5 students who was have been abandoned by their parents and raised by the organization “Action for the Minority Children – Uganda.”  According to AMCU, Uganda has an extremely high percentage of its population who live without access to adequate housing, education, nutrition, and child care. Under these conditions many children are neglected by their parents and are forced to fend for themselves. AMCU provides basic needs and counseling to these children, and have been able to help over 100 children.  AMCU is seeking money to help pay tuition fees for primary school.  The funding will be used exclusively to pay for the education of the five students (not overhead, etc.).

18 - Students Today, Leaders Forever – Minnesota, USA

An integrated group of middle school students will identify, plan, implement, and evaluate service projects within our communities through an afterschool club held weekly during the 2nd semester of the school year. The group will also be assisting the Students Today Leaders Forever non-profit leadership team in identifying a location and plan for their “Pay it Forward” tour. Students will travel by bus to at least one state away and participate in providing service to meet a genuine need in a local area. During the evenings and in preparation, students will participate in leadership and team-building activities. For many of our students, they are the ones that benefit from food banks, clothing drives, and service from people in our communities. Many have never traveled outside of our local area. The funds will assist in providing partial scholarships for participation in the service-learning trip for up to 10 at-risk middle school students. Students will have the opportunity to help earn the other portion of their trip expenses.

19 - Refrigerator for Piet Van School – Dhaka, Bangladesh

Piet Van School serves 60 extremely poor children living in one of Dhaka’s slums. Most live in very unstable situations. Many are orphans, or have been rejected by their families. Many spend the afternoons and evenings begging in a busy intersection nearby. The school plans to expand to 75 children in January 2015. Piet Van School regularly receives donations of healthy snacks, milk and hot meals from a local voluntary organization called Thrive. A refrigerator will help to preserve food donations and cooking supplies, thereby ensuring food safety and freshness for the children. Funds will be used to purchase a refrigerator and a voltage stabilizer to protect against power surges, which are common in Dhaka. Any surplus funds will be used to purchase kitchen utensils, or to meet other urgent needs of the school and/or students, so that the children can focus on learning in a supportive, healthy environment.

20 - Sun Protection for Elementary School Children – Ite Peru

The Rotarians from the Miculla Club in Tacna Peru would purchase and install the tarp over the large play area of the elementary school. Ite Elementary is a school for the children of the local farm workers. The families are very poor and the school has many needs. The Rotarians from RC Miculla provide annual medical clinics and once per year accompany me for a literacy project. I noticed on my last visit that the tarp for the play area was destroyed and not providing shade. The old tarp lasted 4 years and since the school is located near the sea, the winds can be very damaging over time.  There are no shady areas for the children to play and the tarp provides not only a cool place to play but protection from sun damage.  The funds will be used to purchase a large protection tarp.

ALSO, IN 2013 - 2014

1.     Water & Sanitation Project in Umueze-Anam (South-Eastern Nigeria) – The community has no safe source of drinking water. Until fall of 2012, the community had depended on the water from Rivers Anambra & Ezu, which border the community. Though these water sources had not been safe for drinking or cooking, they were further polluted during the flooding of southern Nigerian communities in fall of 2012. The project will produce a safe drinking water source for the community.

2.      Pacific Desk and Book Aid in Vanuatu - Vanuatu has the lowest literacy rate in the Asia-Pacific region with only 37% of population being able to read and write.  The Vanuatu schools are under-resourced with lack of desks, chairs, books and writing materials. This project will provide 1,000 robust school desks (two children per desk) in Vanuatu, age-specific books written in English and French and writing materials for reading comprehension classes.

3.      Water tanks for the Kathyoli Primary School, Kenya - Currently, the school has one 10,000-liter water tank; however, the capacity is not enough to make the most of the wet season.  A total of 30,000 liters of storage capacity would be ideal.  An inadequate water supply also means that sanitation and hygiene levels are poor.  This project will provide funds for the transportation and installation of two 10,000 liter water tanks. These tanks will allow the school to meet its water needs.

4.      Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP) will serve the indigenous peoples in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, where you find one of the lowest literacy rates in the Western Hemisphere.  The GLP Global Grant consists of 3 parts: providing literacy training and reading books in 25 elementary schools; implementing 7 literacy-strengthening textbook projects and establishing 1 computer center.  The total cost of the project is $255,000 with a $2,000 contribution from Rotary eClubOne.

5.      Malingua Pamba Water, Sanitation and Health Project in the Andes of Ecuador will serve the indigenous Kichwa living in the watershed area of Malingua Pamba-Quinta Tunguiche (MP-QT) living in the Andes between 9,500 and 12,000 feet. Rotary and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) – Denver Chapter have been working with these communities, numbering around 1,500 people, since 2006 in various projects along with Centro Educativo La Minga, Inc. (CELM).  This project will address improvements and expansion in the existing MP-QT Potable Water System, exploration of use of drip watering, initiation of Erosion Control, providing modified Rocket Stoves, ‘family-sized’ hot “houses-greenhouses”, ‘family-sized composting toilets” with courses in how to properly use them. Rotary eClub One is committing $5,000 to the total project cost. 

Other projects funded during the 2013- 2014 year include:

·                     Operation Warm: Operation Warm provided winter coats for school children in the West Chester Area School District. 

·                     Brainwise: This project provided e-readers for homeless men to help them develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. 

·                     German Book Exchange: This project will provided funding for a book exchange to support cultural exchange and learning. 

·                     Project Horizon: This project provided a computer to serve students who do not otherwise have access to a computer at home in order to complete their homework. 

·                     THEARC: This project provided a scholarship for music lessons for a student in Washington, D.C. 

·                     Friends of the Arts: This project funds musical supplies for a high school music program. 

·                     The Carlson Spencer Foundation: CJSF provides care packages to be used in crisis to prevent suicide. The packages are $50 each, Rotary eClub One provided a grant to support 10 packages.

·                     One Spade Youth Packers: The program seeks to give the kids an outdoor experience with horses and mules that may otherwise be unattainable to them, to instill discipline and respect for themselves, others and nature.  Rotary eClub One provided a grant to support the program.

·                     Bijou Community School Playground: Rotary eClub One provided a grant to support the development of a new playground for the school.

·                     Langi Dispensary: A nurse-run community health facility in a rural part of Kenya. It serves a population of approximately 2,000 people, but lacks various items to support its operations. Rotary eClub One provided a grant to support the provision of waiting room chairs and privacy curtains.

·                     Rocky Mountain RYLA: Rotary eClub One provided scholarships to enable two students attend this program