Committee Members: Brian Bridges, John Dixon, Jerry Duckett, Zig Layton-Henry, Roy Shearing, David Sims.
The International Committee has had a few disasters to contend with this year. At the beginning of the year Cyclone Nargis devastated parts of Burma and we donated two Shelter Boxes for their relief at a cost of £1000. The Israelis invaded Gaza and we donated £500 to the disaster appeal. Bush fires swept through townships near Melbourne and we gave £1000 via the local Rotary Club. Finally we gave £500 to the Italian earthquake appeal.
Water Aid has continued to be a high priority of the Committee and we have been grateful to David Sims for his advice. We spent £1000 on rain water harvesting, a school sanitation block and training a pump attendant. We also spent £1000 on Aqua boxes and Shelter Boxes. On 21st March we manned the Water Aid display organised in Talisman Square by Colin Sallis and helped to raise £170.
We have taken the lead in the District in contributing to the End Polio Now Campaign and have paid our three year contribution in advance. This is to provide matching funding for Bill Gates contribution of $100 million. He has agreed to contribute another massive amount so more matching funding will be needed.
We have supported Rotary sponsored charities such as Leonard Cheshire International and Impact Lifeline Express contributing £500 to each of these charities. BBC4 recently featured the work of Impact showing how surgeons on the train carried out 302 operations mainly on cataracts and cleft palates. Thus hugely improving the quality of the lives of the patients able to access the train.
Under our remit of Health and Hunger we donated to Bees Abroad, Maya Childcare and Basic Needs. Under Literacy we donated to Joe Homans, Uyogo village, Sangam School, Bwengo Village and the Nepal Village Initiative. A cheque for £1,500 was returned to us by the Anorag Foundation as the government of India refused them permission to accept it this was for thalassemia affected children.
Last year there were no applications for VSO and the committee considered advertising but natural caution prevailed. This year we have had eight applications ranging from a volunteer taking supplies to a Moscow orphanage and staying to teach the orphans English ( Kate Purcell ), volunteers building bridges and schools in Ecuador and Bolivia and a sponsored climb to Everest Base Camp in aid of Childreach International. Another volunteer is participating in a bio-diversity expedition to Madagascar and another climbing mount Kilimanjaro.
A long term aim of the committee has to develop links with the Rotary Club of Bo in Sierra Leone and to sponsor joint projects, with other local Rotary Clubs, to gain matching grants. This is a slow business and we hope to report on progress next year
I should like to thank all the members of the Committee for their help and support and especially Jerry Duckett for his work on Rotary Foundation and his hospitality at Silverley.
Zig Layton-Henry (Chairman) 20 April 2007