Projects - International Projects

Mary Hickey, recipient of RCCR’s Mentor Award , is currently in Tanzania, teaching English to girls students at the AGAPE OPEN School, nine kilometres outside a town called Shinyanga.

 

‘’ These girls were often in situations of no power. The Tanzanian government no longer allows them to attend public schools because of the pregnancy. The remaining girls in our school come from families so poor that they cannot pay the school fees of public school, but they want their daughters to receive an education. The forty students share one classroom that has been divided into four with partial partitions. We have very few learning resources. The girls share one room as a dormitory. All the teachers, including the head teachers are volunteers.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facilities at the school are scarce and the school had only one English book for each grade level. RCCR was able to help with financing the purchase of reading books and textbooks. Mary would also like to help bringing clean water to the school and a better diet to the students.

RCCR remains very supportive of Mary’s work and hope to remain a faithful partner in this cause.

 

A new three year project, entitled Food Empowerment of Kenyan Farm Women, has been launched by the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty on PEI and Farmers Helping Farmers.

 

The project will help women in Nkubu, Kenya, become self sustaining through the purchase of gardening tools, water storage tanks, and, just as important, training in the growing of vegetable crops for use and sale. The Nkubu Project has the financing in place and work will start very soon.

 

Rotary club member Winston Johnston, a lifetime achievement member of Farmers Helping Farmers spent three years getting this project started and approved. 

 

"A big congratulations needs to go to Winston for getting this project up and running," said Tom Campbell of the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty,  the sponsor club.  "This is a Rotary International Global Grant, which means Rotarians around the world are supporting the initiative."  This project is being managed by the Rotary Club of Nkubu, Kenya.

 

This project has evolved from an earlier Rotary project in Kenya which evaluated the vegetable production methods which will be applied to this new project.  "The previous district project was very successful with significant enthusiasm shown by the Kenyan farm women," said Winston Johnston. 

 

Farmers Helping Farmers will provide the project with their resources and technical expertise, primarily with their experienced trainers already on the ground in Kenya.

 

"Food empowerment refers to the empowerment of farm women to increase their knowledge and skills to produce, store, manage or use, and to sell foods surplus to family needs."  "The goal is to empower women in Kenya for economic gain to be able to sell food surplus to fulfill daily needs, and to pay school fees to educate their children for a positive future.  "The women farmers will be active participants of the project by taking part in all aspects of the work.” Campbell said.  

 

The Rotary Clubs of Charlottetown Royalty, Hillsborough, Summerside, Kentville, Wolfville-Mudcreek, Rotary District of 7820 (PEI, NS, NL, and St. Pierre & Miquelon) and Rotary International are all contributing to the $87,900 project.