COMPUTER LAB PROJECT AT ST. JOHN’S MEMORIAL ANGLICAN SCHOOL, PLACENCIA, BELIZE: Not all Rotary projects are started by Rotarians! For example, a recent project in the small village of Placencia, Belize, Central America, came about, because a couple of Canadians, on holiday there, saw a need.....
In 2013, the Canadians, Rob and Jane Aman, met the Principal of St John's Memorial Anglican School in Placencia. He was a Rotarian, who had a dream of a secure, air-conditioned, fully equipped computer lab for his school. When the Amans got home they talked to their neighbour, John Brewster, a member of Stirling Rotary Club, in Ontario, Canada. He suggested they come to a meeting and talk about this to the club. And so an RI project was born!
Stirling Rotary Club was the lead club, with the Rotary Club of Placencia as the local lead. The Rotary Clubs of Trenton, Quinte Sunrise, and Brighton, plus the Stirling Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion #228 all contributed, together with the Rotary Club of Fort Atkinson, USA, who were already funding another project at the school. The project was also supported by District 7070 and by Rotary International. Work to raise the funds began in early 2014 and the funds were received in Placencia by Spring 2015.
The project was begun, supervised by the Rotary Club of Placencia, and was completed by February 2016. It was an immediate success. The students now have a real chance to learn and to become equipped to go out into the modern world, and, as they grow up, to get much better jobs.
And that's how a simple meeting can turn into an International Rotary project - and change people's lives.