Global Grant Approved for Ndandini Water Distribution Project - Terry Umbach

We are glad that all our partner clubs from the first Ndandini matching grant project have again partnered on this follow-on Global Grant.  We are also glad to welcome as new partners for this project the RC of Gibsons BC Canada (Manjit Kang), the RC of Florence Oregon USA (George Lewis) and  the RC of Belleville Ontario Canada (David Mullins).

For review, the clubs contributing to the project and the project financing are:

$25,550   TRF Global Grant

$10,000    District 5040 DDF (matching grant)

$ 5,500*   Nanaimo North British Columbia Canada RC

$ 5,000*   St. John New Brunswick Canada RC                     

$ 5,000*   Sunshine Coast British Columbia Canada RC  (the international partner)

$ 4,500*   Moorestown New Jersey USA  RC

$ 3,000*   Aalborg Stigsborg Denmark RC

$ 3,000*   Vitoria/Palencia/Terrassa Spain  RCs

$ 2,500     Gibsons British Columbia Canada RC   (a new project partner)

$ 2,000     Belleville Ontario Canada RC   (a new partner)

$    500    Florence Oregon USA  RC   (a new partner)

$    100*   Nairobi Industrial Area RC Kenya  (once again our willing host partner)

     * also were partners in the project that provided the Ndandini well

Jan & I are off to Kenya next week and will be making a trip out to Ndandini at the end of September.  While there we will be reviewing all the work that has gone on this past year and also doing planning work with the villagers and our project manager Duncan for the installation of the water tanks at the schools.   We will also be meeting in nairobi with potential suppliers of the tractor and bowser (water trailer).  We will also be taking lots of photos to share with you all once we return.

Thank you again for your commitments and your support.  Without you all, we could not be making this happen for the 3000+ people in the Ndandini and Kyaithani area.

Meanwhile we have not just been working on getting all the funding in place for this Global Grant project.  Check out the blog at  www.ndandini.blogspot.com for all the latest news and progress that we are making on the community garden project.  The fenced acre of land now has a basic "volunteer building" completed so people who go out to the village to offer help will have a place to sleep, wash up and recharge their computer and cell phone.  We even have a western-style toilet now!  As you read this update, Duncan is overseeing and assisting with the erection of a 8x24m drip irrigation greenhouse on the community garden land (along with a 16x24m drip-irrigation outdoor garden area).  Thanks to our very generous non-Rotarian donor for providing the funding to buy this land for the village, fence it and see the volunteer building and greenhouse/garden implemented!   

You can also check out  www.ndandini-scholarshipfund.blogspot.com where we specifically address our scholarship project to help needy students attend high school and strive for a career which can lift them out of the poverty of this village and potentially allow them to help their fellow villagers in return.  With an average family income in the Ndandini area of less than $1/day you can imagine how few families can afford the $300/year to send one child to high school.   This past year with the help of non-Rotarians in our area we were able to provide nine $300 scholarships.  There are 110 students in the Kyaithani high school - many barely able to attend and most unlikely to graduate unless they get some assistance .

The scholarship blog has letters from each of this past year's scholarship recipients.  They are very grateful, but more than that - the scholarship students extend to you their plea to help other students like themselves stay in school.  As we move into fall and Christmas fast approaches, can your club publicize our scholarship program?  Could your club consider sponsoring one or more students for a year?  So far we have support for 7 scholarships so I am sure we will be able to at least provide the nine scholarships again.  But it would be great if we could increase the number of scholarships this year.

This week Duncan is installing a solar system at the Kyaithani high school which will provide lighting for two classrooms and the teachers room.  It will also provide power to run a couple of PC's and large screen TV's.  Jan & I will be delivering an internet-enabled computer and one TV when we go out later this month.  The solar system and the computer/TV and the scholarships have been provided by a combination of non-Rotarian contributions (individuals and St. Hilda's church) , funds from the RC Sunshine Coast and matching grant funds from District 5040.  Again, our thanks to all those donors for their support and helping bring power and lighting and computer technology to the high school.

I have begun an initiative to get members of two Interact clubs here on the Sunshine Coast to form email "pen pal" clubs to communicate with the students of Kyaithani high school.  I think it would be fantastic for the students of Kyaithani High to develop one on one e-communication with some of our Interactors.  Kids these days are so into technology this seems just a natural fit.  By increasing their knowledge about what life is like in Kenya through first hand communication with kids in Ndandini and Kyaithani, who knows what ways they might think of to help or in what way it will change their lives forever?  If your club sponsors an Interact club and you think this would work with your Interact club, please let me know and I will provide the email addresses that you can use to start contacting the students at Kyaithani High.

I am looking forward to another very successful project with you as partners. Thanks again for your support.  I promise to keep you updated throughout the project as we did for the last project.

Yours in Rotary

Terry Umbach

RC Sunshine Coast - Sechelt