From humble beginnings in the 1960s to hundreds of projects both in Australia and abroad, Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) has transformed the lives of countless people in need.
The Stanthorpe Rotary Club has a long history with RAWCS projects, having been involved in Fiji and East Timor in recent years. We are currently focussing attention a little closer to home supporting a National RAWCS initiative by holding a fundraising evening later this month in support of Drought Relief. Over the past 2 years, the Stanthorpe Club has lead the Cluster Clubs in the Southern Downs and Northern New England area to support health and education initiatives in Lakeba and Niyala, Fiji. In 2017, a group of Stanthorpe Rotarians teamed up with the Rotary Club of Ashmore to re-roof a school dormitory in Maliana, East Timor.
Now the Board is exploring a new opportunity in Bhaktapur, Nepal. This RAWCS project is being led here in Australia by Dr Lois Beckwith of the Deloraine Club in Tasmania who are partnering with our neighbours in Goondiwindi. They have secured a Global Grant and are set to begin Stage 1 to build a training centre and adjoining accomodation in an outer suburb of Kathmandu (Bhaktapur) which allows Nepalese from isolated villages with little access to education and resources to learn skills which will hopefully help them to climb out of the poverty cycle. This is a fantastic opportunity for the Stanthorpe Club to explore a new area of the world and also to reciprocate the support that Goondiwindi has shown for our Fiji projects in recent years.