 Team Reports |
Making Dreams RealTheo Nandy — Mississauga, ON
In our 2009 bedkit distribution to Kenya, the SCAW team worked with the Rotary club of Nairobi. Rotary club members are involved in pre-planning, organizing and recruiting volunteers to help supervise the children on the day of the distribution. Rotary members enlist the support of local teachers, social agencies and police within the community to be on hand on distribution day. Overseas responsibility for this project is shared by the following three Rotary groups: full Rotary Club members, Rotoract members, and the the Rotary Community Corps. The Rotary groups fulfilled the Four Way Test in their work on this project. The Four-Way TestOf the things we think, say or do,
John McWilliam of Family Health International, currently the chair of the SCAW sub-committee, was responsible for much of the pre-planning on this trip. Romy Madan was responsible for the procurement and assembly of the bedkits. He successfully negotiated with local Kenyan suppliers to obtain the best price and quality possible for the items included in the bedkit to ensure that the SCAW donations were utilized to the fullest potential. Rotarian Eleanor Harrison coordinated the bedkit distribution for 600 children at Thika, an industrial town about one hour from Nairobi. Eleanor had worked enthusiastically with representatives of ten different schools and organizations who are all working with extremely needy children, many of them orphans due to HIV/AIDS.
Anne van Lauwe organized the largest distribution of 700 bedkits, a distribution that took place at the Winner’s Chapel in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi with about a million residents. Dr. Dan Poenaru, a pediatric surgeon and a former professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Queen’s University organized at Ndabibi Primary School, in an isolated and drought-stricken region in the Naivasha area. Rotoract Clubs consist of members aged 18-29, usually college or university students, who focus on leadership, community service and fellowship. They committed themselves to help our SCAW team on each of the distribution days. Kevin Muhinga, a Rotaract member assisted Malinda Wheeler’s group at the Mukuru Medical Mission located in the second largest slum area in Nairobi. His assistance was particularly valuable in preparing the younger children, who did not speak English, for the photograph and the receipt of the bedkit which would follow.
The Rotary Community Corps also pitched in at several sites. The SCAW team from Canada would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of all of the overseas volunteers. The Rotary International theme for 2008-09 is Make Dreams Real. Every child dreams of having a good night’s sleep. With the help of SCAW donors, members of the Rotary Club of Nairobi are realizing the Rotary motto. |
