October
5th – Zoom Meeting
We met again by Zoom to discuss business. Sadly this was in place of what would have been a meeting face to face under our plans of a month ago, conceived prior to the rule of six.
We discussed publicity for our Covid certificate of appreciation designed to recognise those volunteers who have made a real contribution to the community in this emergency. If you would like to make a nomination please contact us through hello@shaftesburyrotaryclub.org
We also discussed how we could attract new members when we are once again able to all of us meet face to face. A lot of ideas were generated but if you would like to learn more or join us in the meantime please get in touch again on hello@shaftesburyrotaryclub.org
19th – Agritoilets For Malawi
How An Inter Club Project Came About – Steve Uden
In June 2017 I transferred to Shaftesbury Rotary Club from Northampton Becket having just moved to Dorset to retire to a quiet and peaceful life (in my dreams!!!).
That same year I was enjoying a few days with my good friend Rotarian Terry Atkinson at his Spanish Villa, and the story starts over a couple of sundowners one warm Spanish evening.
I had just been given the job of chair of the International committee and was looking for a project, and Terry had just finished a classroom building project in Malawi for Becket Rotary Club. He was concerned that the school had no toilet facilities, and not surprisingly, many of the older children were reluctant to attend classes if they had to use the surrounding bushes as a toilet. He thought the answer lay in an idea that was circulating at the time and attracting Global Grant status called Agritoilets.
An Agritoilet basically consists of a large brick built toilet block consisting of two sections. Each section has a male and female toilet and is used for six months before being sealed and the other section opened for use. Once sealed, the wonders of science take place, and over a period of six months in the African sun the waste is turned into a valuable fertiliser which farmers were previously having to buy. I couldn’t see how a win win solution to a problem such as this wasn’t worth investigating, and I promised Terry I would put it to Shaftesbury club for financial backing.
Many of you will remember Terry and a group from Northampton Becket attending Shaftesbury Club in 2018, where he presented the project to us in detail; the result of which was a commitment by Shaftesbury Rotary Club to donate $1000 to build an Agritoilet for Bwaila School in LLongwe, Malawi.
It has taken two years and a lot of effort and persuasion from the International team at Northampton Becket to reach our present situation. They had to navigate a tortuous path through the Global Grant minefield of Rotary International before they started the equally frustrating task of building work in Malawi, where the word Manana translates as requiring a heightened sense of urgency!!!. All the hard work paid off in the end though, and last Monday 19th October 2020, Terry and members of Northampton Becket attended our zoom meeting to show us the result of our financial investment.
The accompanying pictures show the finished Agritoilet proudly bearing the name of Shaftesbury Rotary Club as sponsors. I don’t suppose the people of Bwaila know anything about Shaftesbury or who we are, but isn’t it good to know our fundraising efforts have in a small way changed the lives of people we will never meet for the better.
Additional
Community Involvement
This month we received a thank you letter for our volunteer work at the drive through Flu clinic that was held recently in Henstridge from the Clinical director of the project. It is not an easy time for Primary Care so we were glad to help. It could be seen as a dress rehearsal for a Covid vaccine some time in 2021!
We sent back our constructive feedback which will contribute to a ‘brain storm’ session to discuss what went well/could be improved if the drive through is repeated. Shaftesbury Rotary would welcome any similar opportunities for joint working in the community.
Rotary’s ‘monumental contribution’ to ending polio celebrated in PMQs
Rotary’s “monumental contribution” to global efforts to eradicate polio was celebrated in the House of Commons this week at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Rotary members, volunteers and supporters around the world have raised over $2 billion in the global fight to eradicate the disease, which has helped to immunise and protect over 2.5 billion children around the world.
The address was raised by Loughborough MP Jane Hunt, who recognised the contribution of her local club, Loughborough Beacon Rotary, and clubs around the world. Prime Minster Boris Johnson described it as “a fine example of the philanthropy and spirit of the British people”.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
