International
1. SWIMDO – INDONESIA
Drowning is a major public health matter in Indonesia, the world’s 4th most populous country. Swimdo was founded in response to this largely neglected and widespread problem. Since 2015 Swimdo's mission has been to protect and enrich the lives of children and their communities through aquatic education. Swimdo provides water safety classes and training for children aged 8-13 years.
Swimdo partners with learning centres and >25 elementary schools for free water safety and survival swimming classes. Their library was started in Bali by Indira Santi to provide something to read for students, waiting for their turn in swimming class. Swimdo are hoping not only to receive children’s books in English, but also wish to share the books with the learning centres and elementary schools.
RCMB has collected thousands of children’s books which have been sent not only to Swimdo, but also to two remote First Nations Community Schools in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
2. ISIPHO – SOUTH AFRICA
The Isipho Admin Bursary education program, located at Rosebank College in Johannesburg is available to any student who wants to pursue a career in the administration profession. The program provides mentoring, coaching and on the job training experiences. The students are assisted with CV's, interviewing skills and introductions to networks and people who they would not normally have access to. It is non-government funded. Applicants are judged on academic record and their determination to achieve.
Our student is Ms Nokuthula ‘Thully’ Sophangisa. Our committee meets quarterly by zoom with Thully and her mentor Li-Ann Meyer, to receive updates on her progress and for us to show our interest and support over and above the financial donation.
We have been impressed with Thully’s attitude and excellent academic performance over two years. As her daily transport costs to attend college have become very expensive, we have also assisted to subsidise these costs.
3. MAASAI – KENYA
Rotary Australia World Community Service Ltd. (RAWCS) was formed to enable Australian Rotarians, Rotary Districts and Rotary Clubs to assist disadvantaged communities and individuals through humanitarian aid projects.
This is a RAWCS project (# 35-2012-13) in Kimuka, Kajiado County, Kenya. It provides guidance, expertise and assistance to the Kimuka community such that the community and the children can improve their standard of living.
The project has two aims:
a) To provide materials for the construction of a shelter which the school lacks.
b) To meet all the costs of three selected female students to benefit from secondary education by attending boarding school for a year.
The project addresses basic education and literacy, one of the areas of focus of the Rotary Foundation. The outdoor shelter will be dedicated to Rotary in the names of the Rotary Clubs of Matilda Bay and Western Endeavour and the Rotaract Club of Ngong Hills. The project is endorsed by the Rotary Club of Ngong Hills, District 9200, and is in partnership with the Maasai Education Fund, which has an emphasis on educating women resulting in alleviation of poverty.
The current recipients are three girls - Bethany, Joan and Hannah. We receive regular reports from the girls and from our local contact, Emmanuel Sakuda.
4. RESEARCH STUDENT - JAPAN
RCMB is to be the host club from 2023 for Dr Kazuaki OKINO from Kanazawa Ishikawa in Japan. He has been invited by the Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research to spend two years in Perth to collaborate on a project to develop novel therapeutic agents for fibrotic peritonitis in patients with renal failure.
This will provide RCMB with a mutually beneficial relationship with the Rotary Club of Toyama-Mirai.
5. FUTURE FOUNDATIONS - HYDERABAD, INDIA
Future Foundations is an orphanage privately run and managed by Prashanth Kumar Khanthi and his wife Aparanji. They receive no Government funding. It provides a home for orphans whose extended families are unwilling or unable to care for them after their parents’ deaths.
Today, they take care of 33 children who are from 7 - 14 years of age. RCMB support contributes toward the education of children who attend school at three different locations.
6. UMOJA ORPHANAGE - KENYA
Umoja is a non-profit organisation based in Australia to give orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya a second chance at life. Through a holistic care approach, it empowers communities to create a self-sustainable children’s village that will help children and communities to break the cycle of poverty.
It is a Project of the Sunrise Rotary Club Bundaberg (RAWCS # 51-2011-12) and provides employment for locals as well as education and training on farming and food production. It gives disadvantaged people the opportunity to learn sustainable and life-saving skills that will enable them to provide for their families in the future.
The founder Cathy Booth has been a guest speaker at RCMB.
7. POLIO PLUS
By far the largest project ever undertaken by Rotary is the eradication of Polio. We are close to eradicating a human disease for only the second time in history.
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that most commonly affects young children, under the age of 5. The virus is spread person-to-person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine – one which Rotary and our partners used to immunize over 2.5 billion children worldwide.
Through a global public-private partnership we have reduced the poliovirus caseload by 99.9% over the last 30 years, but there’s still plenty of work to do. Fewer than 22 children were paralysed by polio in 2017, the lowest number in history. This is a dramatic decrease from the estimated 350,000 cases per year in 125 countries that the world saw in 1985 - the year that Rotary International initiated a worldwide effort to eradicate this terrible disease.
In 1988, Rotary was joined in the effort by WHO, the U.S. Center for Disease Control, UNICEF (and more recently the Gates Foundation) to create the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Today the virus is limited to a few areas in just a few countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mozambique.
More information is available at the EndPolioNow website https://www.endpolio.org/
8. SHELTERBOX
A Rotary Charity that provides emergency shelter and vital supplies to support communities around the world overwhelmed by disaster and humanitarian crisis. The support is provided in a Shelterbox kit, which typically contains 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.
Shelterbox aims to get the first shipment of boxes dispatched to a disaster area within 2-3 days where a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) meets it. The team ensures the boxes are distributed to those most in need. Often ShelterBox is the first outside aid agency on the ground distributing desperately needed shelter and emergency aid to people whose lives have been destroyed. More information is available at https://www.shelterboxaustralia.com.au/index.php
9. UKRAINE CRISIS APPEAL
The Ukraine Crisis Appeal is a collaboration between the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO), Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) and Caritas Ukraine.
This RAWCS project (60-2021-22: Ukraine Crisis Appeal Resettlement Fund) is designed to help Ukrainian displaced people settle in Australia. It has been established by Rotary, in partnership with Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO). The fund will provide professional support for a variety of resettlement programs such as mental health, work-entry, life skills (such as swimming, first aid, and driving lessons), bridging courses to have qualifications accepted in Australia, and integration programs for children (such as retreats and camps). It is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sydney Cove.