In 2020 we supported the Karantina Hospital in Beirut rebuild the operating theatre in the pediatric neo-natal ward. We also helped 'The Expats Pakistan' which focuses on fundraising from Pakistanis living abroad for projects that would empower the people of Pakistan, provide COVID relief packages, and buy fruits & vegetable carts for villages to enable small-scale entrepreneurs.
For the past couple of years, we have helped with a rabbit farming initiative in Machame, Tanzania. The project is now at the stage where it comprises the management of the rabbit production and the documentation and training of others who might want to consider this alternate food source. A new project we supported this year was with Horizons in which they educate women and girls in Nicaragua’s Indigenous region to defend their rights and address violence against women. For the past few years we have supported a project in Nairobi at the Siloam School in the Mukuru slum. This year we hope to assist the school to get back on its feet again after this devastating pandemic.
We have had a 20 year history with Nepal. We began with the building of a school, providing scholarships for students, supporting the purchase of locally produced water filters, helping with the building of irrigation ponds, supporting financial literacy in High Schools, helping to purchase an ambulance for a kidney dialysis clinic, a back-pack program in Shree Public School, a menstrual hygiene program and supporting Sanskriti Farms.
This year we are involved with a Fruit and Nut tree project which helps create resilient agriculture and economic development through a sustainable farming model. This project integrates solutions to socio-economic and environmental challenges facing rural Nepali communities. Fruits and Nuts are easy to grow and require less water. Some of the goals of this project include engaging youth in fruit and nut tree farming as well as increasing organic vegetable production for improved food security and income generation after this COVID19 Pandemic; diversifying diets (improving nutrition) in the local community and contributing to public health (especially the health of mothers and children); and strengthening the natural environment by planting fruit trees that do not require pesticides and that will prevent soil erosion.
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Rotary Youth Exchange Scholarships
Every year, Kingston Rotary clubs select students from the Kingston area to study for a year abroad. High school students are chosen based on their grades, general knowledge of Canada and world affairs, speaking ability, and aspirations. Rotarians, or friends of Rotarians, in a foreign country host them for 3 to 4 months at a time. The host Rotary club provides room and board and a small monthly allowance. In return, Kingston Rotarians and friends host incoming students for the year.
Our club has participated in this program every year since the early 1980s and our outbound students have gone to countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Turkey, Russia, Spain, Czech Republic, Japan, Germany, India, Mexico, Slovakia and Thailand. They attend high school, continuing their learning, but they also learn the local language, returning fluent. They have made life-long friends, not only through their hosts but also with other exchange students whom they meet during the year.
Students (between the ages of 15 and 18-1/2) apply in the Fall. For more information, visit the District 7040 Youth Exchange website.