Elgin Rotary Club

International Projects

Many projects not only involve club members in raising funds but also in visiting projects overseas and working with local people to help complete the work.

Here are some of the many projects that Elgin Rotary Club has and is supporting.

NEPAL

This is one of the poorest nations in the world. Club members have worked for many years in remote areas where there is extreme poverty and health problems due to the isolation, hostile climate and terrain.

Nepane Water Project 2009/10

Following the success of the Club's last water project (see below), it has been decided to co-ordinate another project with NEWAH (Nepal Water for Health) in the more remote Gorkha region of Nepal which lies between Kathmandu and Mount Everest.

The Club hopes to involve as many District 1010 Clubs as possible in the project. In this way, we can provide clean drinking water, sanitation and a hygiene education program to the people of the Gorkha district centred on the village of Nepane. The more money we raise, the more people will benefit.

The Nepane project has been costed at Nrs 2,778,953 ($44,110) by NEWAH our technical advisors in Nepal. To date we have attracted a donation of $10,000 from District Funds and a Matching Grant of $16,206 from Rotary Foundation, which exceeds the needs for the |Nepane project. As a result it has been decided to seek the approval of donor clubs to fund a second similar project in Simle with a net donor cost of $34,703. This project would deliver 13 tap stands and 45 latrines to a population of 334 in 47 households with one school.

Nepane Visit

Along with the Nepal Trust, Elgin Rotary Club is organising a trip of a lifetime to Nepal to visit the Nepane project site and to see some of the natural and cultural wonders of Nepal. The trip is still in the planning stage but will be for around two weeks, leaving at the end of October or early in November. Full details of the itinerary will be published shortly.

If your club is interested in more information or becoming involved in this project please contact the webmaster or the secretary of Elgin Rotary Club.

NEWAH Project 2007

In November 2007 a party of Rotarians from Elgin, Forres, Ellon and Fraserburgh visited the site of the second water project which we have completed in partnership with NEWAH (Nepal Water for Health)

For those visiting Nepal for the first time the extent of the problem and challenge in addressing this critical requirement is difficult to put into words but every picture tells a story and the benefits we viewed during this short visit showed massive improvement through the provision of new Tube Wells, Toilets and two community toilet blocks, one in the local school and the second by a community meeting area.

The 19 visitors witnessed first hand by the warmth of the reception received at the community school what this project really meant to them and the appreciation the community expressed will leave a lasting memory in the minds of these travellers. (G.A.)

The visitors pose for a group photograph

Graeme Archibald is stopped for not showing L plates.

Clean fresh water is a vital component in the drive for better health

Elgin Rotarian David Sutherland receives the grateful thanks of villagers on behalf of his fellow Rotarians

Nepal Trust Treks to Build

In 2000, Rotarians from Elgin joined with others to spend 5 weeks trekking with the Nepal Trust to the village of Kermi in north-west Nepal to help build a health post. The Humla region is one of the poorest in Nepal with high infant mortality, low life expectancy and difficulties delivering health-care due to its remoteness. Whilst there, Dr Donald Brown with his wife Anne visited health posts and villages and ran health clinics and trained local health workers. Engineer, Finlay Weir surveyed local hot springs to assess their suitability for use by villagers for their own needs and as a business supplying trekkers with hot water for washing. Finlay also entertained his fellow trekkers and the Nepalis by playing his bagpipes.

Finlay Weir, Anne Brown and Dr Donald Brown on the trail in North West Nepal

Celebrations for the opening of the Kermi health post

Finlay Weir playing at the opening of the health post

Rotarians and local people making floorboards for the health post

Links

For general information on Nepal go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal : http://www.nepalinformation.com/ : https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html

For news on Nepal go to http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/main.htm

To read more about the Nepal Trust go to http://www.nepaltrust.org/

Please note that the provision of a link does not imply endorsement of the contents of the site.