How Rotary Clubs help communities in Tanzania, Uganda

He said that as he laid on his hospital bed what raced in his head was that his life was now doomed.

“I shall never walk again as a normal person,” he said to himself.

The operation to amputate his leg was done in 2014 following an accident the same year while on his way to attend carpentry lessons at a vocational training college in the region.

“All my dreams are now shuttered,” he thought.

However, Rotary Club in tanga region changed all that and reinstated hope in him after he received a Jaipur foot from the Club to enable him walk again as a normal person.

The Club had also sponsored his training to a vocational training college in the region and given him working tools after completing the training.

He was narrating his ordeal recently at the 58th annual installation of the Club’s new president, Pawan Asher, which was also attended by Tanga District Commissioner Abdula Lutavi.

Pawan Asher told the gests after the ceremony that Tanga Rotary Club would continue supporting various community development projects in the region.
He would be the president of the Club for the year 2016/2017.

“We need more people to be part of the Rotary family” he stressed.

The newly installed District Governor of Rotary International covering Tanzania and Uganda in the same period, Jayesh Asher, named some of the projects being implemented by the Club as a Rainwater Harvesting Project in eleven primary schools at a cost of $64,000 (Sh140.8m).

The three-year project which commenced in 2014 would benefit a number of residents in the areas surrounding the schools and had already been handed over to the intended communities.

“The projects will also eradicate poverty to a large extent and contain the spread of water-borne diseases resulting from unsafe drinking water,” he said.

Other projects include renovation of a labour ward at Bombo referral hospital at a cost of $12,000, and annual provision of wheelchairs and Jaipur foots to needy people in the region.

Speaking on behalf of heads of the beneficiary primary schools at the ceremony, Ester Mushi from Kirare primary school commended the role played by Rotary Club of Tanga in helping their schools access clean water for domestic and sanitation use.

"The installation of water tanks in our school so graciously donated to us is vital to curbing the problem of water-borne diseases among our pupils as well as other members of the surrounding community in our areas as before we were using water from wells which were not safe for domestic use…” she cheerfully recounted.

For his part, Tanga District Commissioner Lutavi, who attended the event on behalf of Tanga Regional Commissioner Martine Shigella, recommended the role played by the Club in supporting various development projects in the region.

“The government in Tanga region commends the role played by the Rotary Club of Tanga in supporting different community projects. Our office will continue giving you any administrative support you might need,” the DC said.

Commenting on his appointment as the new District Governor of Rotary International District 9211 which covers Rotary clubs in Tanzania and Uganda for the year 2016/17, Jayesh Asher, who took over from Ugandan Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa, explained that at a recently concluded 91st District Conference and Assembly held in Entebe, Uganda, Nsibirwa handed over the chain of office as District Governor (2016/17) to him.

“This was done in a colourful ceremony witnessed by many political leaders and guests as well as Senior Rotary International leaders..” he explained.

He further explained that, his term of office will last until June 30, 2017; and he is the first person from the Rotary Club of Tanga to occupy the position in 49 years and just the second person in the life of Rotary in Africa.

“The 2016/17 year is a special one for Rotary as they will be celebrating the centennial of the Rotary Foundation, which is the arm of Rotary International that funds community service projects all over the world,” Rotary Governor Asher explained.

He further explained that Rotary International was a service organization with the motto, ‘Service Above Self,’ which consists of more than 35,000 independent clubs worldwide whose members are known as Rotarians who volunteer their money to serve their local communities.

“In our part of the world, Rotary consists of District 9211 which covers clubs in Tanzania and Uganda. Currently there are 123 clubs in the two countries and more than 3200 Rotarians,” he said, adding:

“Partnering with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PolioPlus is close to helping eradicate the disease from the planet. Rotarians will have donated more than $1 billion toward this humanitarian and public health initiative.”

Rotarians support humanitarian projects through the Rotary Foundation, the charitable branch of Rotary International. Individual clubs can leverage their own funds with matching grants to support projects at home or abroad.

Projects focus on six areas: clean water and sanitation, maternal and child health, disease prevention and treatment, community and economic development, basic education and literacy, peace and conflict prevention/resolution.

Rotary Clubs provide an extraordinary network of talent, financial resources, and collaboration to accomplish humanitarian goals.