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International
Services
Project
Volunteers
Our club is noted for
its “hands on” approach to projects and we have sent teams to
work on many over seas projects. These projects usually involve Club
Members travelling at their own expense to the country in need, working
long hours each day constructing or maintaining buildings, training locals
or cleaning up after disasters. Of recent times we have had 2 members go to
East Timor to help set up and operate a roofing iron factory, and several
teams have been to Fiji constructing low cost shelters in a subdivision
5kms from Lautoka.
Donations In Kind (DIK)
We have set up a
collection depot at the Ballarat Airport to store and sort surplus donated
goods to be sent to people in need in our neighbouring Pacific countries.
DIK Enquiries – Contact Jim Allen on 5345 2906 or Mobile 0419 860 320 or Email to jimallen@netconnect.com.au
Polio Plus
One of Rotary
International’s more famous exploits is the eradication of the Polio
virus from the face of the earth. RI has teamed up with the World Health Organisation
to immunise every child under the age of 5 in the world against polio. The
enormity of this project is self evident. Two of our members travelled to India
in 2003 for a National Immunisation Day and helped immunise 160 million
children in one day. With over 7,000 booths manned by volunteers, the
logistics are phenomenal and the effort very successful. Total eradication
is predicted in the next couple of years.
Shelter Boxes
Donating shelter
boxes for relief in the Tsunami hit South East Asia
prompted our club to be the Shelter Box representatives for District 9780.
We have set about raising funds for “Shelter Boxes” to be
transported to areas that required urgent temporary shelter and water
purification. The shelter boxes are a large plastic container with a ten
man tent, sleeping mats, tools, torch, stove and water purification tablets
and are designed to create instant temporary housing in devastated areas.
For more information
refer to www.shelterboxaustralia.com.au
Shelterbox Enquiries – Contact Jeff Miller on 53359468 or Email to
joanjeffmiller@yahoo.com.au
Knitting Project for
Aids affected babies in Africa
Newborn Aids affected
babies from the African Continent, where many are sent home from hospital
wrapped in newspaper for warmth, received a helping hand from members of
our Rotary family. A large number of hand knitted jumpers have been sent
off to support this worthy project.
Rotary Against
Malaria
The Ballarat East Rotary Club assists with providing mosquito nets in Papua New Guinea.
Mosquito nets help keep mosquitoes away from people, and thus greatly
reduce the infection and transmission of malaria. The nets are not a
perfect barrier, so they are often treated with an insecticide designed to
kill the mosquito before it has time to search for a way past the net. Long
Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) are estimated to be twice as effective as
untreated nets, and a offers greater than 70% protection compared with no
net. Since the mosquitoes feed at night, the preferred method is to hang a
large "bed net" above the center of a bed such that it drapes
down and covers the bed completely.
The distribution of mosquito nets impregnated with insecticide (often deltamethrin)
has been shown to be an extremely effective method of malaria prevention,
and it is also one of the most cost-effective methods of prevention.
LLIN's have the advantage of protecting people sleeping under the net
and simultaneously killing mosquitoes that contact the net. This has the
effect of killing the most dangerous mosquitoes. Some protection is also
provided to others, including people sleeping in the same room but not
under the net.
Unfortunately, the cost of treating malaria is high relative to income,
and the illness results in lost wages. Consequently, the financial burden
means that the cost of a mosquito net is often unaffordable to people in
developing countries, especially for those most at risk.
For more information refer to www.ram.com.pg
The
Ripple Effect and (RAWCS)
Rotary
Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) has supported The Ripple Effect
and it is now eligible for tax deductible status.
From
its inception, Rotary has ensured that The Ripple Effect continues to be
the successful project that it is. The Ripple Effect has enjoyed the
tireless and ongoing support from numerous Rotary Clubs and individual Rotarians.
All
Ripple Effect work looks to helping communities become self-sustaining.
These projects enable schools to generate income and they equip students
with vocational skills. They also allow schools to produce their own
materials, which in turn makes them more self-sufficient. Sustainable
projects have included vegetable gardens, fish farms, cookery equipment and
weaving loom programs. Vegetable garden cooperatives are the most common
and rewarding of the Ripple Effect sustainable projects. Working with
schools attended by students from very poor backgrounds, who rarely bring
food for lunch and who rely on their school to provide meals and water. If
a school has its own vegetable garden it can reduce the cost of providing
meals for students.
This
project can develop the vocational skills of the students and any excess
produce can be sold to the local community to generate income.
For
more information refer to www.rippleeffect.org.au
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