Rotary E-Club Of Greater Sydney
International Projects Update March 2021
From Cheryl Duffy
Our International projects continue to help those in need.
Feeding Dreams The school and training centre have been shutdown for 2 weeks by the Ministry of Education due to a COVD outbreak. The children will revert to learning at home with school books until the school reopens again.
School for Life
We’re so pleased to announce the successful completion and opening of the girls' boarding school which will be home to 300 girls. This is a huge milestone and a new chapter in our history. |
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The United Nations has forecasted a rise in underage labour, with teenage girls forced into sex work, and families on the verge of extreme poverty in a post-Covid world, nothing is more important to us than ensuring all our students are in a safe, supportive and happy environment. The transformational impact the boarding school will have on our students' lives will be felt for generations to come. Click the link below to hear directly from the parents, staff and the girls as they settled into their new boarding house KINI Mara Academy has opened 2021 with 31 students in our Kindergarten class (at present there is only one class - a second class will start in July). Because the children live quite a distance from the school Barbara picks children every morning from the local centre and return them when school finishes. Sadly the vehicle we use has a lot of work and the engine has become tired and needs a lot of work done to it to get it running again. Repairs will be $2,000. However because of the number of children now needing to be picked, it would be better to purchase a small van. This would cost $5,000 and would allow us to more comfortably transport the children as well as cater for the increased enrolment that is expected in July. The other vehicle could be sold and the money used to revamp any new vehicle purchased. |
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Sewaid
Due to COVID and International travel restrictions, not a real lot is happening; But in trying to keep all our projects alive we have been able to organise the following:
Sustainable Cambodia, Pursat Cambodia.
After our shipment of Days for Girls fabrics has been sitting in a container here in Sydney for more than 12 months, it has finally been shipped. Many thanks to Jenny Knight of REECH, who has organised this shipment and the customs clearance for us. We were also able to add a further 600m of PUL fabric to the shipment along with some cutting mats, rotary cutters etc., and now they will have enough fabric in this shipment to make 3,600 Days for Girls kits. Thanks also to Janelle Dodd of Ryde Rotary who donated $650 worth of fabric in the shipment.
Kiribati
Progress is finally being made on getting our shipment off to Kiribati. We are talking with a church group in Melbourne who have a container going, and we are hopeful that we can send them our pallets of over 30 sewing machines , plus some industrial machines, fabrics and other sewing supplies , some of which have been waiting in our warehouse for more than a year. Some of these machines have been donated by CWA clubs in Australia and the industrial machines have been donated by a Mrs Wendy Flahive of Days for Girls in Warragul Victoria.
Solomon Islands
We are also hopeful to dispatch a shipment of machines to our sewing facility in the Solomon Islands. Additionally the Soltuna factory which supports our project there, is purchasing a special embroidery machine which will be capable of embroidering the company's logo on their T shirts and caps etc.
Lautoka Rotary Club
Days for Girls Avoca, is helping Lautoka Rotary Club to establish a Days for Girls chapter in Fiji. I have been asked to help with freight of materials from Australia for this project.
DAK 1. Worldwide Maternal & Child Health Project
The Maternal & Child Health project is working with a local NGO in Kenya called Dandelion to upgrade logistics for providing family planning products to women in remote areas that have no alternative access.
DAK 2. Worldwide Med Equip Project
The Med Equip Project is working on a joint venture in Malawi to install an oxygen plant. The partner will integrate into the hospital where the plant will be built. Our project will distribute oxygen cylinders filled at the plant to 25 smaller hospitals in a 100 klm radius.
Bo Childrens hospital is in the process of purchasing and updating the following:
* New perimeter fence
* Upgrade incinerator
* Installation of internet to benefit from Telehealth
* Purchase new digital x ray machine to replace old analogue one.
* 2 new oxygen concentrators have been donated to the hospital.
Oecusse, Timor Leste Obviously things have been quieter than usual due to covid restrictions. There has been a worrying increase in the number of covid cases in Timor Leste in the last few weeks. Community transmission from people testing positive and illegally crosssing the border from West Timor.
Heavy monsoonal rain has hampered delivery of good around the enclave. GREENTL is trying to deliver food packages to isolated villages where starvation is becoming a severe problem due to the lack of goods coming into the enclave, closure of local markets and the increase in costs of available items.
I have recently sent money to a local NGO in Oecusse, PRADET, which helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The money will be used for food, personal hygiene items, baby clothes and goods for the Safe House.
Hand up Congo
Congolese resettlement on NSW Mid North Coast
In collaboration with Emmanuel Musoni and GLAPD
www.glapd.org.au, the resettlement of 19 Congolese refugees in Taree and Wingham presents almost daily challenges and opportunities. Few speak English and only two people have driver’s licences. There is one family with 8 children, and now a new grandchild. The first Congolese baby was born March 19 in Taree. Adam Hero Yusofu is a delightful armful, charming everyone. We are hosting a shower for the new baby, fostering relationships between community supporters and the Congolese. Emmanuel joined me recently in Taree for a range of meetings with government and community leaders, as we continue to seek more housing and employment options. Due to the recent floods on the Mid North Coast, many residents have been displaced, making rental housing even more difficult to find.
A well-th of support for a Congolese village
With the help of a Rotary club in Addison, Texas USA, a remote village in the Democratic Republic of Congo now has 5 new wells. Lotumbe’s 3000+ residents can now obtain clean water much more easily, reducing water borne diseases. An American foundation, Light My Fire, continues to provide support to the Lotumbe sewing school, where single mums are trained with useful new skills. We just received this video showing some of the trainees enthusiastically thanking the foundation for machines, fabric, scissors and other supplies that help them earn a living. This village collaborates with HandUp Congo
www.handupcongo.org and is registered as RAWCS project 20, established 2013-14.
A remote village in DR Congo where HandUp Congo's RAWCS project is based. The photos show villagers collecting water from a natural spring, a new water cistern and wells made possible by Rotary Club Addison (Texas USA). A villager painted ''gift of Rotary International" on the wall of a new well. We celebrate the reduction of water borne illnesses today, thanks to Rotary!
