International Services Committee – Dr. Perry Bamji, Director 2011-12

Club Goals
If we all do a little, a lot can be accomplished

Committee Goals
To meet the club goals – as stated above.
To support health and literacy projects in Guatemala, Rwanda, India and Mexico..
To continue supporting the APU Malawi Girls School project.
To continue to support and promote Rotary International’s goals for the eradication of Polio.
To support Disaster Aid Canada by funding Disaster Aid Boxes and Family Packs when need arises.
To work towards finding, promoting and supporting an Ambassadorial scholar.
To continue our support and participation in the Project Unity Committee.
To have fun.

OUR INTERNATIONAL SERVICES PROJECTS for 2011-2012
Eco-Stoves Project - Rwanda.
The aims of this project are:
To assist in designing, constructing and distributing fuel-efficient and smoke-free wood burning stoves in Rwandan villages.
To establish self-sustaining Eco-Stove production centers in three communities in Rwanda.
To train local persons and provide supervision in production of 10,000 stoves in each community.
To improve family income by establishing a sustainable employment enterprise in each location.
To improve health (due to greatly reduced smoke generation), reduce deforestation (due to a complete combustion and hence a reduction in the use of wood).

The Sooke Rotary Club is championing this project and they now have a District Simplified Grant (DSG) to commence work. This project is also supported by our Club via a fund-raising Rwanda Evening
Rotarian John Jordan from our Rotary Club will be in Rwanda in early 2012 to supervise this project..

Mobile Dental Clinic for Guatemala
The aims of this project are:
To provide a Mobile Dental Clinic to service six Guatemalan communities (population 33,000)
To provide ongoing free dental care, oral surgery, restorative work, and cleaning.by hands-on voluntary work by Rotarian Dr. John Snively assisted by Rotarians Jacqueline Mealing and local dental health technicians.
To provide dental and nutritional education to children in schools and to women’s' groups.
To make this unit available for other visiting dentists.
The project is financially supported by our club, by the District through a District Simplified Grant (DSG) and a grant from the Project Unity Committee (PUC).
Rotarians Dr. John Snively, Jacqueline Mealing and Tricia Timmermans will be in Guatemala in early 2012 to assist with this project.

Toilets for remote village community in India
Presently, families in some remote villages in India do not have proper toilets. Water-born and other related diseases are not uncommon in some areas. To alleviate these problems proper toilets with septic tanks are urgently needed.
The aims of this project are:
To build ten toilets with accompanying septic tanks for needy families in the villages near Cochin, South India. In some cases, one toilet may serve the needs of two related families who live on adjacent lots.
To alleviate the ongoing health problems associated with this degree of poverty.

We have applied for a District Matching Grant and we will be working with the Rotary Club of Cochin who is our International Host partner. Rotarian PP Rev. Mark Bedford is the lead Rotarian on this project. He will be visiting India in February 2012.

Water and Sanitation Project for Las Rosas Gardin de Niños – A Kindergarten School in  Mexico
The aims of this project are:
To construct two bathrooms with separate cubicles for girls and boys.
To construct a common hand washing station outside the two cubicles.
To construct a small storage unit is also included.
To involve parents and the local community during the planning and construction stages.
These improvements will benefit the current 16 students and an increasing number of students each year.
The Rotary Club of Royal Oak Centennial has adopted this project and they have applied for a District for a District Matching Grant (DMG). Our Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Jaltemba Bay will also financially support this project. Rotarian PP John Edgell will be in Mexico in early 2012 and will participate in this project.

APU Malawi Girls School - Malawi
We hope to continue supporting the education for one or two incoming (2012) students at the APU Secondary School in Malawi.

Disaster Aid Canada
In October 2011 we donated one Disaster Aid Box from our Club’s designated funds. Our donation was matched by the Government of Canada. According to the Disaster Aid International`s website the Rotary Club of Oak Bay has donated 3 Family survival packs for relief in Pakistan.
Our previous year’s donations were for Disaster Aid Boxes to the following countries: Brazil (2), Gaza (1), Haiti (3), Kenya (1), Niger (1), Philippines (1), Tsunami Disaster (1).

Project Unity Committee (PUC)
Seven Rotary Clubs in the Greater Victoria Area have joined forces to financially support one-another’s projects by pooling money into a common fund each year. The aim is to support needy projects by supplementing funds provided by various Rotary Clubs and the District. The only proviso is that the project must be supported by District 5020 via a District Grant (DMG or DSG).

Rotarian PP Perry Bamji is our club’s representative on PUC.