International Programs with Fargo-Moorehead AM club
During their regular noon hour meeting at Prante's on Tuesday December 30th. members heard from Rotarian Keith Brokke of the FM AM Club on the status of various international projects Wahpeton Rotary has done with them. He spoke of the Wahpeton Club as one of the first to partner with FM AM with their projects from 2003 on.
Initially he spoke of the 2010 to 2013 involvement with "STAND PROUD" an NGO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that fits polio victims with braces. Most recipients are between 5 and 25 years of age and most of the time their problems were caused by polio. The organization works to have recipients of braces become builders of braces to pay it forward. They have provided 198 sets of braces; 46 crutches; 207 shoe upgrades and 645 repairs. The host Rotary club working on these projects is located in the DRC capital Kinshasa,
The FM AM club has been doing projects in India since 2006 and Wahpeton Rotary has also supported these. Specifically the projects have been done with the Rajapalayan Rotary and involve the Meenahshipuram Secondary School. In 1984 the school was built for 54 students. In 2010 by doing two shifts a day it was educating 866 students. The project was to build 8 new classrooms and would cost $ US 129,000 of which the local community pledged 33,000 (and these are not rich people) while the Rajapalayan Rotary pledged $ US 10,000 but put in $ US 20,000. Desks were supplied and a reverse osmosis water system was put in as well as lavatories and lab equipment.
As he ended his presentation he gave a summary of the work the two clubs did in Guatemala and answered questions.