International Service is an important aspect of Rotary. Ever since Rotary became international by spawning a club in Canada, service to the whole world has been a focus of all well rounded Rotary Clubs. Ours is no exception.

 

This year, out of our club’s budget, about $10,000 has been spent on various international projects and initiatives. Some of these projects have been supported for years, and others are new initiatives. To give you a rundown of what our International Service Committee accomplished this past year, let’s review this $10,000 budget:

 

This year, and many past years, we have contributed $1,000 to Operation Eyesight, a project where blindness in the third world can be prevented or cured for a fraction of what those costs would be in Canada. This allows people who would otherwise be a burden to become contributing members of their societies.

 

This year, as well as for many years passed, we contributed $1,500 to Sleeping Children Around the World, to provide bed kits to children forced to live on the streets. This is a contribution that helps the most vulnerable in third world countries to survive their harsh environments.

 

For several years, we have contributed to Adopt A Village in Laos, and this year was no different. $1,000 was contributed to this project that brings clean water to this isolated community.

 

A project of our mother club, the Scarborough Rotary Club, has been supported by us also for several years. This year, we contributed $1,500 to this ROOTA project to alleviate poverty and bring education to those in the slums of Cairo.

 

International disasters occur suddenly and require urgent response. Every year, we purchase a Shelter Box at a cost of $1,400, so that nit’s ready to be shipped when a sudden disaster occurs. In addition to this regular disaster relief initiative, our club also contributed $2,200 to disaster relief in St. Vincent after the recent volcano devastated that island.

 

We also started a new initiative which was brought to our attention by one of our newest members, Trudy. We contributed a little over $1,000 to buy 160 packages of reusable menstral napkins for girls in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. We will be looking into doing more to support this Menstral Purse Project next Rotary Year.

 

Finally, our most ambitious project was to purchase 10 5 litre oxygen concentrators for loan to patients in the Palliative Care unit in Trinidad that our club helped to found. The budget for this project was almost $17,000. So, how did we get this project done this year when our budget was only about $10,000 total? Well, that’s the power of Rotary. Firstly, we partnered with the Rotary Club of Port of Spain West in Trinidad. They contributed $2,700 to match out $2,700 contribution. Then, we developed this project into a District 7070 project that would qualify for a District grant. The result was that we received total contributions of $5,000 from 4 other 7070 clubs plus from an individual in one of those clubs. This allowed us to secure a District grant of $4,500. Thus, the total project budget of $17,000 was raised with seed money from our club of only $2,700.

 

Well, that was not the end of the project unfortunately. When we went to purchase the 10 5 litre oxygen concentrators, we learned that the 5 litre units were not recommended for end-of-life use. The more expensive 10 litre concentrators were recommended. Though more costly, and with the further financial aid of the Palliative Care Society of Trinidad and Tobago, we were able to order 7 10 litre concentrators for the same project cost, thereby more than doubling the total capacity, so that instead of 50 litre capacity, we were able to secure 70 litres of capacity.

 

They say, where there’s a will, there’s a way, but I say that where there is Rotary, there is a way.

 

Of course, in my business, there’s also the unfortunate truism that, where there’s a Will, there’s a relative! LOL!

 

My thanks to my committee members, Dhanni Ramdeen, Gerd Wengler, David Seemungal, Tony Baker, Mike Mushet, and Emanuel Nwankwo, as well as to regular honoured guests, President Gordon and President Elect Danny.

 

That concludes my report on behalf of a very active and dedicated International Service Committee.

 

Arthur Retnakaran