International Signature Project

The Village Health Partnership (VHP), a non-profit chartered in 2013 and based in Denver was selected as the International Service Committee signature project for the next 3 years. VHP serves people in remote southwest Ethiopia. Its work regarding maternal health care and WASH -- two of Rotary's foci -- is central to its mission of safer motherhood. Clinics and small rural hospitals are featured. Our assistance will help to cover the training of nurse midwives in seven new target villages and clinics. These professionals are the primary caregivers for pregnant women; very few doctors and nurses are available. A six-person DSE committee, all with Ethiopian interests, will advise.

DSE Project Champion for this endeavor is Peter Van Arsdale, Ph.D., co-chair of the Rotary District 5450 WASH Committee, affiliate faculty member at Regis University, Editor in Chief of The Applied Anthropologist and recent author of Encounters: 50 Fascinating Stranger from My Life on the Road. (Amity Bridge, 2022)

Over the next 3 years, we’ll be learning more about the remarkable history of Ethiopia. Dozens of ethnic groups are present in this ancient land, from Tigrayans in the northeast to Me'en in the southwest. Amharic is the lingua franca. Over the past three thousand years, a rich heritage has evolved, with achievements in religion, mathematics, engineering, and science rivaling ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. The kingdom of Aksum was among the most prominent and powerful in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is one of two sub-Saharan nations that was never colonized.