International

The Rotary Club of Annapolis, South County Rotary, and Annapolis Rotaract Club partnered on a Rotary International grant with the Kololo Kampala Club to improve quality care and access to reproductive health services at St. Stephen’s Hospital in Npererwe, Uganda.

The $53,000 grant was made to address Uganda’s high infant mortality rate.  The grant funds outreach clinics, neonatal home visits, school programs teaching reproductive health, and a template for training traditional medicine midwives in delivery protocols.  Vital equipment including an infant crash cart (resuscitator), a fetal doppler ultrasound, and an ambulance were also funded.

Patrick Semwogerere, leader of the visiting delegation and past president of the Kololo Kampala Rotary, will speak at the Rotary Club of Annapolis' meeting on September 26 about the grant’s implementation, benchmarks reached, and plans for the future.  While in the area, the delegation will tour Anne Arundel Medical Center’s maternity department and facilities throughout Annapolis and Washington, D.C.

Patrick Semwogerere’s counterpart, Annapolis Rotary International Lane Director Lydia Hohman,    Renata Davis, and Rotarians Staff Warren, Sue Weber, Sharon Taylor, and Mike Datch visited the Uganda site a year ago. The Uganda delegation is reciprocating from that exchange as guests will be hosted by those who were themselves hosted last year.   

Children of Hope Uganda: A Fence to Protect Income Generation. The Rotary Club of Annapolis contributed $5,011 to complete a fence at the Barlonyo Technical and Vocational School.

The school, operated by the Canadian NGO, Children of Hope, sits at the site of a 2004 of 301 villagers by the Lord's Resistance Army. It aims to empower war-affected youth impacted by actions of the Lord Resistance Army.

The 1,395 linear feet fence protects an area of approximately 1 acre of land enclosing the Poultry House, the Piggery, the Tilapia Fish Pond, and a crops field, all of which are income generating activities for the Barlonyo Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) in

Barlonyo, northern Uganda. The school trains around 200 formerly abducted and war-affected youth.

CanUgan: Empowering the Disabled. A $1,000 contribution has provided people in the Kasese District (Uganda) with assistive devices to enable them to earn a living in spite of their disabilities. The Annapolis Rotary Club is pairing with CanUgan Disability Support, a Canadian charity,

Of Uganda’s population of 35 million, people with disabilities are estimated at five to six million. They are one of the most poverty-stricken and vulnerable groups of people. Because of a lack of education and vocational skills, they barely survive. To meet their need for independence, mobility, communication and economic empowerment, CanUgan Disability Support provides them with assistive devices like hand-pedaled tricycles, white canes, hearing aids, crutches, calipers, raised shoes, etc.

The most painful aspect for people with disabilities in Uganda is the stigma associated with being dependent on others for their livelihood and daily activities. Therefore, economic empowerment is their most important and urgent need.

To assist people with disabilities in becoming economically independent, the projects focusses on providing assistive devices that would help them with income-generating activities. One outstanding example (shown opposite) is a tricycle with an attached solar panel for use by the recipient to charge mobile telephones of others in their village and thereby earn an income.

Among the disabled, children and youth are the most vulnerable. They suffer from congenital disabilities or disabilities incurred because of abductions, malnutrition, accidents, injuries and diseases like HIV/AIDS. Without help, they remain dependent on others all their life and are shunned by their communities and often even by their own families. Children are provided with assistive devices so they are able to attend school.

Nepal: Shelter for Earthquake Victims in Nepal. On Saturday, April 25, 2015 a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, just northwest of the capital of Kathmandu. It was the worst quake to strike the region in more than 80 years.

The area was hit with a second 7.3 magnitude quake just 17 days later, on May 12, causing further damage and suffering for those who had survived the initial disaster.

Nepal, well known for its rich cultural heritage and extreme tourism, is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. The damage done by the quake has put a strain on its citizens that will last for many years.

The Annapolis Rotary Club joined many other Rotary clubs and Shelterbox in providing tents and other nonfood items to quake victims.
A ShelterBox assistance package includes a disaster relief tent for a family, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, mosquito nets and children’s activity pack.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene in Aloi and Barlonyo —Northern Uganda (Wash Project). The project was sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Oakville Trafalgar, Kampala and Lira, as well as various clubs in the United States and Canada and was able to bring water, sanitation, hygiene education and income generating micro-credit to the villages of Aloi and Barlonyo in Northern Uganda. The people from these two communities suffered during the insurgencies perpetrated by the soldiers of Joseph Kony's Lord’s Resistance Army. During this period, there was massive displacement of residents, more than 300 people were massacred (Barlonyo), infrastructures were destroyed, and economic activities ground to a halt.

TODAY ...In Uganda, diarrhea, which is due to lack of clean water and basic hygiene, is the second biggest cause of child deaths contributing to an under five mortality rate of 152 deaths per 1,000 live births.

AS A RESULT OF THE WASH PROJECT, the 6,600 strong community of Aloi and Barlonyo with:

• Improved access to safe and adequate water, and to sanitation facilities

• Creation of awareness on sustainable hygiene practices and sanitation behavior

• Building local capacity to sustainably manage water and sanitation facilities

• Creation of  income generating opportunities for approximately 400 women

Executive Summary: Teacher-Training Program for Primary School Teachers in early grade reading using the USAID Centers for Excellence in Teacher Training (CETT) Model

Country: Ecuador

Project Type: Education in primary schools in the Quito metropolitan district, evaluated by the Ministry of Education, Ecuador and executed by the University Andina Simon Bolivar

Target Population: 60 Teachers from marginalized areas, 15 schools

Beneficiaries: Over 3,000 primary school children

Global Grant #25003: Approved by The Rotary Foundation on 10 November 2010 for $61,375 (Pilot Project)

Host Club: Quito Occidente Rotary Club

International Club: Annapolis Rotary Club

Contributing Clubs: Bethesda Chevy Chase Rotary Club, Washington DC Rotary Club, Capitol Hill Rotary Club, Greenbelt Rotary Club, Bladensburg Rotary Club, Woodlawn-Westview Rotary Club, Dover Capital City Rotary Club, Camden Wyoming Rotary Club

Contributing Districts: Rotary Districts 7620 and 7630

Cooperating Organizations: The Rotary Foundation, The Organization of American States, the University Andina Simon Bolivar, the Ministry of Education (Ecuador), the International Reading Association

Contact person(s): Rachael Blair, District 7620 Grants Chair

Proposed Literacy Initiative in the Americas

How can Rotary International leverage its current partnerships and attract a rigorous and innovative public/private sector collaboration in the promotion of child literacy throughout the Americas?

With 32,000 rotary clubs worldwide in over 200 countries and with over 1.2 million strong, Rotary International would like to strengthen its impact on child literacy by creating sustainable literacy training programs with the enthusiasm of strategic partners who will offer the following:

• in particular, the elevation/promotion of female children as individuals who have an inalienable right to education
• technical expertise
• cost sharing
• support through advocacy groups
• performance and professionalism rewards
• effective evaluation of programs
• motivational approaches (tie in with the “child experience” through artistic expression, creating the professional development of teachers who are well trained, well equipped and self confident)
• integration and coordination of educational systems
• installation of libraries and classroom reading nooks
• targeted messages through marketing, public relations that are culturally sensitive and have national appeal (e.g., The Future of our Economy depends on the Quality of our Education, Increasing Access to Education is a Key Step to Future Development, Before you can be Altruistic you Need to Know Yourself, Children who Read are more Creative and Curious, Spreading Understanding and Familiarity, Make our Families Strong)
• the enhancement of human rights

Once the pilot project in Quito has been evaluated (February 2011), we propose to take this program nationwide and then target other countries in the Americas until all of the OAS member states have received the full literacy teacher-training program. We anticipate a nationwide approach lasting 4 years and requiring a multi-million dollar investment. After 4 years, it is hoped that the program will have reached a sustainable existence with the in-country public/private sector.

Teacher-Training (CETT) highlights
• In CETT schools, the majority of children are able to read in first grade. In second grade they are able to produce texts (stories, letters that they share with peers from neighborhood schools, recipes for local meals, etc.) This is in dramatic contrast to non-CETT schools, where students often cannot read even at the end of third grade.
• The Andean CETT is providing small libraries to classrooms and materials to support learning processes.
As stated by JBS International, the company hired by CETT to analyze performance measurement and management, “The private sector’s involvement is critical in ensuring that every child learns to read. Companies exert tremendous efforts in the area of primary education and literacy training. Companies adopt schools, provide special programs for children of their employees, encourage employee mentoring and volunteerism in disadvantaged schools, promote “stay-in-school” programs, and much more. Partnership between CETT and the private sector will bring new force and advocacy to the fight against child illiteracy. Corporations and governmental organizations working together for child literacy can deliver a strong message that a well-educated population is the cornerstone of personal, social and economic development.”

Any effective literacy program requires the utilization of local resources, regional input and indigenous knowledge. These markers will create the innovation required to maintain a sustainable literacy ethos.
Prepared by Rachael Blair – 8 January 2011 – Annapolis Rotary Club – 443 716-6917

Host Club - Quito Occidente Rotary Club
International Club - Annapolis Rotary Club
Project Amount - $14,400

Project Objectives: To provide clean water and adequate sanitation facilities to 6 schools in very poor and neglected areas outside of Quito, Ecuador.