Submitted by Blake Crosby
GLOBAL GRANTS REPORT—YOUR DISTRICT DESIGNATED FUNDS (DDF) AT WORK.
The District Grants sub-Committee met in October and approved DDF funding for four Global Grants (GG).
We are partnering with the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, the sponsoring club, on a potable water project in Guatemala. The RC of Milwaukee is very active in Guatemala completing a number of water and other projects in that country.
The Host Club is RC Vista Hermosa from Guatemala City who the FM AM club has worked with on school construction and water projects for over 20 years.
The RC of Milwaukee involves the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Engineers without Borders (EWB) student chapter and the NGO Ingenieros Sin Frontera (SF-Guatemala) which are a group of professional in-country engineers that volunteer their time on various projects.
This project will supply potable drinking water to two closely located communities with a combined population of about 3700.
The total estimated cost of the project is about $141,000 USD and D5580 pledged $2500 in DDF.
The second project also involves potable water with the RC of Milwaukee as the sponsoring club along with the Rotary Club of Elmbrook, Wisconsin. Vista Hermosa is the host club and has also pledged funds.
The estimated cost of this project is over $99,000 USD with D5580 pledging $5000.
This project is fairly involved from an engineering standpoint with a spring box, pump, conduction line, distribution tank and distribution system for a community of about 350. Again, EWB groups from Milwaukee and Guatemala will be involved with the engineering specs.
A Spina Bifida prevention project in Columbia, Venezuela, South America was pledged $5000 with a total project cost of $50000 USD. Direct beneficiaries, those with Spina Bifida, are estimated at 400 while indirect beneficiaries such their caregivers, their families, etc. are estimated at 5000.
Spina Bifida is a congenital birth defect caused by lack of folic acid in their diet. This defect is especially high among Latinos as their typical diet does not provide adequate amounts of folic acid which is especially needed during pregnancy.
(In 1998 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration required fortification of all enriched grain products (think cereals, pasta, breads) which resulted in a 34% decrease in spina bifida prevalence in the U.S.)
The fourth project was a borehole well project with a solar powered pump, and a storage and distribution system in west central Kenya. The international sponsor is the Maasa Mara-Norak RC with the host sponsor being RC of Forest Lake, MN.
This project will benefit about 2500 people in the village and more from the surrounding rural area. This well will stop local women and children from having to obtain water from surface pools which are used by both domestic animals and wild. Walking to these pools to collect water puts these women at risk from predators and sexual assault.
Total cost is estimated at about $75,000 USD with D5580 providing DDF of $2500. 26 clubs and 3 districts pledged funds to meet the request.
As District International Service Chair (DISC) I am working to establish GG relationships with other Rotary Districts and clubs to increase not only our impact and reach but theirs as well. There is an understanding that we help them, and they help us…“beneficial to all concerned”.
Thank you for your support of the Annual Fund which makes D5580 participation in grants possible. You do make a difference!
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Note: the next deadline for Global Grants, District Grants (international and local community) and World Community Service grants (WCS) applications is December 31, 2024, with the District Grants sub-Committee meeting on or about January 16, 2025.
Have a wonderful Holiday Season with family and friends.
Blake Crosby
D5580 DISC