Turning Scarves into Drinking Water

When Rotarians apply their imagination and work ethic to a problem, magic can happen!  For years, the Boise Sunrise Rotary club has been working with Rotarians in Ecuador in mutually beneficial ways.  We procure scarves made in Ecuador from Alpaca wool and sell them at various events. These scarves can command a significant profit and the buyers get a beautiful accessory for a reasonable cost.  All of those profits from scarf sales are then devoted to projects benefiting people in a variety of communities in Ecuador and Peru. 

 

San Carlos Amaguaña is a community of 350 people who make their living by farming small plots of land on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador. For years they depended on untreated water from a spring above the community as well as tanker truck water deliveries during the dry season. Three years ago they were able to connect to the city water supply, but that water is delivered with such pressure that the 30 year-old pipes then developed significant leaks. The community must pay for the water that passes through the large meter, but only a portion of that water actually gets to the users. The Rotary project seeks to replace the pipes and provide flowmeters so that each user can be billed for their use.  When Boise Sunrise Rotary contributed $1500 from scarf sales to this project, a total of $4575 ended up going to the project when that contribution was combined with the matching funds from District 5400 and the Rotary Foundation.  This is a shining example of how We Strive to Leave it Better Than We Found it at the Rotary Club of Boise Sunrise!

 

Scarves come in a variety of styles and vibrant colors and are available for purchase right now! Please visit our homepage at boisesunriserotary.com to learn more. And please consider joining us for breakfast any Tuesday at 7:00 AM at the Riverside Hotel in Boise if this kind of service work appeals to you. We’d love to meet you and discuss how we deploy the Rotary motto of Service Above Self in numerous ways.