Imagine how we help people overseas

Nepal – supplies for remote schools

In recent years the Rotary Club of Eltham participated with Global Action Nepal (GAN), Aussie Action Abroad (AAA) and the Rotary Club of Mahaboudda in the construction of a teacher training facility in Lalitpur, south of Kathmandu. That facility is now operational and today we continue to support the children in remote areas of Nepal with teaching resources and much needed educational supplies

Cambodia - clean water and toilets program

We have sponsored sets of a permanent toilet, washroom and well to 6 families in remote Cambodian villages The simple construction method provides a very cost-effective contribution to sanitation and good health.

Support for Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis

Support from our club to Aquabox U.K. has contributed to the provision of water filters and humanitarian goods for the large numbers of people displaced by the destruction of infrastructure and flooding in war torn Ukraine. In December 2022 a shipment of 450 Aquaboxes, provided filtration capacity to produce a total of 234 megalitres of safe drinking water.

Response to the Turkiye/Syria Earthquake

Devastating earthquake and aftershocks struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria in February 2023.

The club responded to the Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS)appeal for funding for urgently needed humanitarian goods, emergency shelter, water and food for the thousands of people displaced from damaged homes.

Wheelchairs for Kids

The Rotary Club of Eltham were pleased to support “Wheelchairs for Kids” which was nominated by District 9790 Governor David McPherson for his partner project during his term as governor. The Rotary Club of Scarborough in Western Australia founded this project in 1998. The wheelchairs are designed to World Health Organisation guidelines and they are fully adjustable to allow for a child’s growth. They are made to handle roughterrain and pot-holed tracks with solid puncture-proof tyres and a single front wheel. Each chair comes with a seatbelt, postural separators and a tool kit. A knee rug and soft toy are also included in the pack.

The chairs are manufactured in The Wheelchairs for Kids factory in Wangara, Perth. Up to 800 people, ranging in age from 55 to 90, currently volunteer and manufacture 300 chairs a month

The wheelchairs are packed and dispatched to a network of 65 agencies around the world, who then deliver and assemble the chairs. Just watching the delight on the faces of these disadvantaged, disabled kids, getting into their chairs is so uplifting.

Lemur Project – Madagascar

Our donations to the Lemur project, initiated by the Rotary Club of Southern Mitchell, will assist Primary School children and their teachers in Ambovombe, Androy Madagascar with food, clean drinking water, medicine and school equipment This will help parents keep their children fed and stay at schools The area has suffered 4 years of successive drought in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic which is forcing families in rural communities to resort to desperate measures to survive.

Positive Aid Kenya

Eltham resident Jess Young founded Positive Aid in 2008, in response to the significant needs she identified while volunteering in remote Kenya. She last spoke to our club in 2009. This year we were privileged to hear of the progress achieved over the past decade, particularly in the support and effective treatment of AIDS patients, positive community attitudes and management of maternal and child health. The club was motivated to support Jess’s passion and commitment to the Kenyan people and the effective community based health care model underpinning the programs of Positive Aid.

The Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus

The Rotary Foundation, established in 1917, is an endowment fund dedicated to “doing good in the world” Due to the generosity of Rotarians and individuals around the world, it has become one of the world’s leading humanitarian foundations. The Rotary Foundation provides “District” grants for projects within a country, “Global” grants for International Rotary projects undertaken in partnership by an in- Rotary Club and an overseas partner club, and direct funding to international programs such as the End Polio campaign.

As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary has reduced polio cases by 99.9% since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it is crucial to keep working to keep other countries polio-free.

Each year the Rotary Club of Eltham provides targeted funds towards the eradication work conducted by Polio Plus The Club has donated $10,000 this year to Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation has held a 4 star rating by Charity Navigator for the past 15 years, recognising that 92% of its funds go directly into humanitarian projects. With this endorsement we confidently recommend donations to the Rotary Foundation as a sound avenue for corporate, club and individual donors to support effective and sustainable humanitarian projects locally and worldwide. https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation