On November 27th, Larry Hersh, member of the Rotary Club of Nashua, addressed the Rotary Club of Nashua, regarding International Project in Mexico Update
- Nearing completion
- Target recipients – Mexican children with neurological disorders (5% of children) due to poor conditions, limited prenatal care, poor water/sanitation, many are abandoned children
- Mexican Foundation for Pediatric Neurology Angel is a founding partner along with others
- We have a partner club in Mexico. Our club, Merrimack Rotary each contributed $10,000 along with other smaller donations from regional clubs
- Promised to provide portable diagnostic medical equipment – EEG, EMG/EP, Consumables (2 year supply), Hydroponics (10K square meters in greenhouses) to grow vegetables (primarily tomatoes), cash for sustaining treatments and diagnostic tests
- Total value of project is $107,000, all of which has all been spent.
- Equipment is all in good working order and has been used on more than 150 patients for making a diagnosis.
- Hydroponics system is complete and growing tomatoes and cucumbers. The construction of the greenhouses is done by bamboo and had modifications done after a hurricane and earthquake.
- Larry will be going to Mexico for the 3rd time next week to help keep the project moving forward. He is anticipating a positive visit as harvests are looking to be strong
- All funds spent on the project have been well tracked and accounted for.
- Lessons learned
- It takes time for Rotary International to get review and approval done. Often repeated nudging is needed.
- Shipping and getting items through customs is a challenge to approve acceptance as a donated item since it generates no duty fees.
- Hydroponics portion took more time than expected to get going and to keep construction/production up to targeted goals.
- Cost overruns due to re-design of the structure amounted to $20K. The local doctor sponsoring the project assumed the overruns to help complete the construction.
- Sale of vegetables will offset the cost of visiting remote sites to provide services.
- Next steps – remote tracking of production and equipment use. Tracking the funds obtained from produce sale and redistribution to cover treatment costs. Final report will be submitted in Spring 2018.
- Q& A
- There are two full crops a year
- The produce is primarily sold to restaurants, as the vegetables are organic and not easily available otherwise. Some is provided to patients at wholesale with profits (from resale) to be used for their child’s care.
- About 40 tons of vegetables per 6 month growing cycle
- Some of the treatments learned in providing care for the children are being taught in local medical schools.
- Clean water and electricity is needed for a hydroponic set up.
- We/Rotary has the ability to follow the project/funding/success into the future.
- All big projects have setbacks and challenges that are not anticipated at the start and require patience and creative thinking to resolve.