Dr. Joe Boyle introduced our speakers, Tom and Catherine Wilbur who I believe are from the Freeport Club. They are friends of Joe’ he met while chairing the Rotary Youth Exchange for the District back when the district included parts of Quebec and the glaciers were still receding.
Tom and Catherine came in to tell us about the efforts of the Freeport and Bethel Rotary Clubs to support the Kakamego Child Care Center and associated programs in Kakamego, Kenya located in the western part of Kenya. They described Kakamego as having about 500,000 people but it is very rural, kind of like Banger but it has 25,000 people. They were also impressed with the modernization efforts in Kenya thanks to Chinese investments. They went from 15% paved roads to 65% paved road in just 10 years which is a higher percentage of paved roads than Aroostook County. They also have high speed rail in Kenya.
The Kakamega Child Care Center originated as an orphanage for children of AIDS victims. The Freeport Rotary Club began supporting the facility in 2002 and by 2005 they had built a building that houses 48 children. The program supports about 400 kids.
The program is also promoting self-sufficiency through home based programs that provide families with seeds, fertilizer, and agricultural training. I can only imagine how much fertilizer our club could supply them. The children in the sponsored homes get school uniforms and books along with a mattress, blanket and a solar lamp (many areas of Kenya still do not have electricity). It costs $450.00 to sponsor a home for a year. All of this is done in coordination with the Kakamega Rotary Club.
The Bethel and Freeport Rotary Clubs have sponsored what they refer to as 26 Strong Young Women, apparently the weak ones are not worthy. These young women receive agricultural training, along with health and entrepreneurial education. They receive seeds and fertilizer to grow crops for their families and to sell. Some have been successful enough to purchase pigs, chickens and even cows which traditionally are only owned by men in Kenya (so much to say, but I will hold my pen).
Some of the young women were widowed and some were married but their husbands worked elsewhere to help support their families. The program seems very successful in promoting self-sufficiency and a sense of pride and accomplishment while promoting their self-image. The program is also providing materials to help families build homes.
The Freeport and Bethel Clubs will be pursuing a Global Grant and they are letting us know about their efforts, The Wilbur’s were a fun and interesting couple. I thought they were going to come to blows over who was going to do what part of the presentation, but they got the message out in the end. The bigger message was the Rotary is clearly international, helping individuals, one person and one small farm at a time.
