In 2002, the Rotary Club of Bay City began providing support to the Adopt-a-Village program in Guatemala. That year we collaborated with other clubs to provide libraries t the schools in seven villages. A year later, member Chuck Cusick and his wife Nancy visited those libraries and returned with a report to the club.
Adopt-a-Village is a small, grassroots non-profit working in the remote and rugged northwestern Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. Some of the worst levels of poverty are found in villages of this area. There are few forms of assistance and little public service for the region.
Adopt-a-Village partners with Rotary Clubs, local leaders, and others to improve the lives and future of the Mayan people of these regions. The goal is to build a more promising future through education, training, gardening and infrastructure improvements.
The Rotary Club of Bay City has participated in these major efforts:
Adopt-a-Village is a small, grassroots non-profit working in the remote and rugged northwestern Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. Some of the worst levels of poverty are found in villages of this area. There are few forms of assistance and little public service for the region.
Adopt-a-Village partners with Rotary Clubs, local leaders, and others to improve the lives and future of the Mayan people of these regions. The goal is to build a more promising future through education, training, gardening and infrastructure improvements.
The Rotary Club of Bay City has participated in these major efforts:
- 2002: Collaborated with other clubs to provide libraries to schools in seven villages.
- 2008-09: Donated $1,500 for computers and $500 for garden seeds.
- 2010-11:
$500 for teacher's guides and books.
$500 in Internet fees, which were matched by students.
$1,000 Solar power equipment for use in a new Nutritional Training Center used to provide training to people of neighboring villages.
$1,000 for three water catchment tanks for use in the school garden.
- 2011-12: $3,000 toward materials for construction of the Nutritional Training Center including plumbing, kitchen counters and storage, doors and windows.
- 2012-13: $1,000 was sent to provide a partial scholarship ofr a student to attend the Maya Jaguar School.
- 2013-14: $1,500 provided additional computers for a new Computer Science Program.
- 2014-15: Funds combined with District funds for the Amaranth Project .
What is it like taking a large team to Africa? It has probably been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. In mid February, I began leading Rotary members from all over the East Coast of the United States through Ghana. I’ve tried to give the team a warm Ghanaian welcome like I’ve received on my earlier trips. A large trip is a real blessing because each person sees Ghana and our work in a different way.
Throughout India and around the world, Rotary clubs are celebrating a major milestone: India has gone three years without a new case of polio. The last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal on 13 January 2011. To mark this historic triumph, Rotary clubs illuminated landmarks and iconic structures throughout the country with four simple but powerful words, "India is polio free."