GUEST SPEAKER 

: STEVE RUTLEDGE – ADOPT A VILLAGE : LAOS

As you may know, Steve is a proud member of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise and Steve along with volunteers from right here in Durham Region in southern Ontario, Canada and also a group of Rotarians from Western Canada, travel each year, and for the last 9 years to Laos, to construct dams and series of tubing (that in essence is a water system) and sanitation to villages that have never had fresh water. You too can volunteer for a mission to Laos. You too can purchase a water filter and get your family's name and photo on the filter. When the filter gets to Laos, the receiving family with seeing a Canadian flag and your family's photo and the words "In friendship and Respect".

On Tuesday July 24,the Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood had the pleasure of listening to and watching as Steve Rutledge, co-founder of Adopt-A-Village Laos gave our club members an update of what he and his volunteers have done this year in Laos and their plans for next year in the northern, poorest villages of Laos, to bring clean water and sanitation to villages and schools for the first time in their lives.

Rotary Clubs from Southern Ontario, Gravenhurst, Lunenburg Nova Scotia, plus Ladner, Coquitlam Sunrise and Tsawwassen from the British Columbia west coast were the primary sponsors of the water projects.  Many, many more private sponsors and Friends of Rotary, plus Rotaract has helped us to help so many.  The prayers of thousands have been answered. 

With just a couple of weeks to go, we are busily completing a whole series of documents and closing reports for our many selfless donors.  Through so much amazing generosity, over 4,000 more rural villagers (this year alone) would be without hope of a better future. 

A few years ago we had seen the results of a water project that was completed by another NGO.  They ran the water pipe right through the river…and, of course, it was washed away during the first rainy season.  As a result, that village no longer had water.

From there, we headed straight to Ban Xiengda for a quick lunch and to inspect the completion of the project.  They still have a fair bit of pipe to bury but at least everything is operational and working well.

It should be noted that only 6 out of 17 teachers are actually on salary. The fellow (husband of the lady) still is not on salary, after 8 years.  So both are living on her small salary. 

Early the next day, we took the 2 1/2 hour journey to Mok Kok, and were lucky it didn’t rain, although there was still lots of mud everywhere.

First, we decided to head to Mok Kok (pronounced Moke Koke) Secondary School and village located way off the beaten path. This was to review their requirements for a permanent water supply for next year.  As we got about halfway, the village chief called us to say it was pouring rain there and suggested we cancel the visit for the day – the mud roads would be impossible to navigate, so instead we continue north along the main road past Nong Khiaw to another secondary school located in the highlands.

It has been a bit of a scramble to fit in the last of the commitments for the various projects. Plus, with our budget starting to run low we squeezed everything in one last trip to the villages, before my return trip to Canada and our next fundraising campaign begins for the 2018/19 season.

Steve's Report on his Final Villages Trip for the 17/18Season

The remote villages of Laos have never recovered from the ‘Secret’ war of the 1960′s and early 70’s. While rich in culture and tradition, their education, healthcare and hygiene conditions are severely lacking. The average lifespan is only 58 years average age is only in the mid to late 20’s, caused by poor quality water, poor hygiene and general poverty. BUT with your help, a positive difference has been made in the lives of thousands of villagers. We have completed over a dozen school projects, 12 water projects bringing water to several villages and a hospital (imagine a hospital with no water!) and have completed well over 20 toilet banks for schools and villages. We have also provided 3,900 water filter systems (about 20,000 people!), along with critical hygiene training for families, schools and hospitals to promote longer, healthier and happier lives. That’s not all! We are also sponsoring a lot of primary and secondary school kids, 1 university student and 2 interns, plus have installed numerous solar panels to bring light to the poorest of villages. More bicycles were distributed to get even more kids to and from school and there were a number of smaller projects completed too.and

Kris Sachdeva introduced Steve to our club tonight. Steve has 20 years of Rotary service and he is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow Adopt A Village Laos. awardee, and has volunteered on his most cherished project now for 9 years.

 

 

 

Through this link, bit.ly/2N7C6PY, you can view, download and share the latest version of the water filter brochure and purchase a filter which will be delivered next year, early in 2019 by Steve and his team of volunteers.

The volunteers not only pay for their way to Laos but also work there to build water dams and flow thru systems to get water from the mountains to the villages. And they also bring with them, water filters, so that each family in the village can have clean water for the first time in their home. Steve even has Dentidtd here in Durham Region, supply toothbrushes and toothpaste with the filter.

In the 9 years, Steve and his volunteers have installed 3,899 water filters, brought water to over 20,000 villagers in 35 villages.

Here are two photos from last night at our Rotary meeting. The first is a posted showing a very happy family in Laos with their water filter and the second is Steve with Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood President Linda Porritt showing how the water filter works.

 

 

The Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood has supported Steve Rutledge and Adopt-A-Village Laos for many years.

Be sure to visit https://adoptavillageinlaos.wordpress.com/ and see how you can volunteer and how you can purchase a filter and bring clean water and sanitation to a family in Laos.

This is a real one good example of Rotarians being "People of Action"

You can go on the February 2019 trip and help Steve and the rest of the Rotary volunteers. Your cost is approximately the flight about $2,000, plus 2 stops (likely Bankok and Hong Kong) plus 6 full days with Steve (another $465 Cdn).

Steve was thanked by PDG Ted Morrison who added that our club is honoured to take part in Steve's project.

IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT, MAKE UP : Go online at www.rotary.org go to the Rotary Club Locator and find a club or clubs near your destination. Or you can add the free App Rotary Club Locator to your phone for instant look up of any club in the world. Please mail or fax your make-ups to Secretary Robbie Larocque, or give your make-up card to the attendance/registration officer at the next club meeting.