Tekera Resource Center in Uganda

Posted by Garry Shearer – ARRFC Zone 28 West
One of the prime objectives of our Rotary Foundation is to fund sustainable projects. A sustainable project is one that does not need perpetual funding from our Foundation and has local buy-in to maintain the project going forward.
 
The Rotary Club of Tsawwassen in District 5040 has funded the Tekera Resource Center in Uganda with matching District Grants over a 10-year period starting in 2010. The resource center was designed from its start to be self-sustaining in 10 years. The Tekera Foundation was founded by Tsawwassen locals Sonya and Bridget Sangster (Congo) and Scott Andrews – amongst others. The initial goal of working with Tekera was to provide public services to a community when the government wasn’t able to. These services include a full elementary school (300+ students), a vocational trades school, a farmers’ co-operative with over 42 farms, economic and business development, sanitation and water, and a level 2 healthcare clinic. These services support a community of over 15,000.
The idea was to build the basic infrastructure, services, and programs, and then launch small to medium businesses in Uganda whose revenue went back into funding the programs themselves - making Tekera eventually fully self-sustainable. Tekera Foundation aims to operate in a very specific de-colonial development model which ensures that the Tekera community has the final say in all development initiatives to ensure long term collaboration and continuity.
 
Tekera Foundation has been almost entirely supported by the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen, who has been their longest supporter since 2010, the Rotary Foundation, local Delta based businesses and private donors. The Rotary Club bought in their business plan of implementing infrastructure over a period of time and adding incremental components to the resource center to ensure their adoption and sustainability before moving onto the next step of the plan.
Tekera have implemented projects ranging from a three-wheeled outreach ambulance, girls’ sanitation and hygiene buildings, water wells, sanitation bathroom facilities, and solar power in the entire center and more! The Rotary Club of Tsawwassen and the Rotary Foundation have donated over $83,000 since 2010 which has greatly helped Tekera reach its goals.
One of the final projects the Rotary Club funded was a commercial livestock feed building, a water pump system, a maize grinder, and a piggery. With these projects completed, Tekera is now a fully sustainable resource center, using the revenues from their commercial farming and livestock businesses to fund their operations.
 
The Tekera Foundation feels so much gratitude for the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen whose vision of international global citizenship has helped Tekera on its path to self sustainability! The use of matching District Grants enabled the Rotary Club of Tsawwassen to leverage their local fundraising and sponsorships from local businesses to help make the Tekera dream a reality, and to achieve the objective of our Foundation: to fund sustainable projects.
For more information, please go to: www.tekera.org