Our Weekly Meeting

“Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

We meet every Friday from 1:00 to 2:00pm at Wanderers Club, Illovo, Johannesburg. You can also join us on Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86496040522.

Monday 27 March 2017

Snow Leopards, Dr Mpho Ratshikana-Moloko and our Bophelo Palliative Care Project. In Vino Veritas!

Last Week
Dr Rodney Jackson spoke to us about the conservation of the snow leopard in the Himalayas.  He is the founder and the director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy.  He must also be a master of diplomacy as he has a achieved a conference with all countries with snow leopard populations that
has resulted in an international conservancy agreement.
His talk emphasised the importance of community development and involvement in conservation of any species.  It's only when the local communities can see that they are benefiting financial from conservation that they will support it whole-heartedly.
He was accompanied by his wife Dala who is totally involved in the community aspect of the Snow Leopard Conservancy.
This is the first time for ages that I haven't been dwarfed when handing over our 'thank you' memory stick!

This Week
Dr Mpho Ratshikana-Moloko with members of the Global Grant Committee.  James Croswell, Marianne Soal and Mark Franklin.  Neville Howes was not present. 
I know it's a Fellowship Meeting but Dr Mpho Ratshikana-Moloko,Director, Gauteng Centre of Excellence for Palliative Care; Wits Medical School, wants to talk to us about the success of our Bophelo Palliative Care Project in the Renal Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

The final report will shortly be submitted to Rotary International on this Global Grant Project in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Hatfield, UK and a number of other Rotary Clubs in District 1260, Amwell ,Stevenage Grange, Newport Pagnell, Hertford Shires, Harpenden Village, Baldock, Brookmans Park, Luton North, Hitchin Tilehouse, Barton-le-Clay,  Brentwood a Beckett  and Radlett of District 1130 as well as Zierikee of District 1610 in the Netherlands who are twinned with Hatfield.
The number of clubs involved gives an indication of the complexity of the project overseas with Frank Taylor managing that end and James Croswell and his committee of Mark Franklin, Neville Howes and Merle Langenegger prior to her move to the Cape and subsequently Marianne Soal.  The Club owes them a great debt of gratitude for the hours that they have put in because there have been many complicating factors in dealing with the Department of Health on a Provincial level to ensure that the project will continue after our withdrawal at the end of March as well as the many financial issues that have arisen.  We are privileged as a club to have people on the committee with the necessary expertise to walk their way through the maze of red tape to bring negotiations to a successful conclusion.

Here's a little background to Palliative Care at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Division of Palliative Care


Wits Palliative Care has its origins in the N'doro project which was started at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) in 2003. The project was to establish a palliative care service in Soweto.
In 2005, Wits Palliative Care became an independent research syndicate within Wits Health Consortium.
In 2007, the Gauteng Department of Health agreed to fund the Gauteng Centre of Excellence for Palliative Care, based at CHBAH.
In November 2011, the Wits Centre for Palliative Care was established, to provide training and research in palliative care.
In January 2013, the centre started to provide paediatric palliative care at the hospital; a service previously provided by Big Shoes. This service is still largely donor funded.
The centre provides a nurse led, doctor supported palliative care service in the hospital and in the community of Soweto. The multidisciplinary team which includes social workers, spiritual counsellors and palliative drivers, are also involved in teaching of undergraduates and postgraduates at Wits University as well as conducting research in palliative care.
Our role includes advocacy for palliative care for all and we are partners with the HPCA (Hospice Palliative Care Association) of South Africa and with CaSIPO (Care and Support for Improved Patient Outcomes) working alongside Gauteng Department of Health to ensure equal access to palliative care for all in Gauteng. 

N'doro

N'doro is a Shona word meaning to heal.
The N'doro model is based on the concept of healing
The N'doro Model uses a comprehensive approach to palliative care. It runs from within the existing public health system and so is firmly rooted in a rights-based approach to health care provision. Healing with palliative care involves the following core activities:
  • Pain and symptom control
  • Psychosocial support for the patient and families
  • Spiritual care for the patient and families
  • Bereavement support
And now for something more palatable:

Welcome, Rotarian wine enthusiasts, to the Wine Appreciation Fellowship. We invite you to join one of the most enjoyable, wine related social groups in existence. Our objective is to learn more about wine, wine and food pairings and any other topics related to the appreciation of wine so that our own appreciation of good wine will be enhanced. We will accomplish that by sharing our own knowledge and experiences and by learning from the many wine experts and knowledgeable Rotarians throughout the world.

We want you to become actively involved in our fellowship and to share your tasting notes and wine experiences. The Wine Appreciation Fellowship is a wonderful learning tool for those who are interested in expanding their knowledge and sharing ideas regarding all aspects of wine appreciation.

The fellowship has an email newsletter and members are encouraged to visit our interactive wine website  frequently for updates, features, articles and information on wine events and trips. Annual meetings are held at the RI International Conventions. Correspondence will be accomplished primarily by email. We look forward to having many new members and fellow wine enthusiasts. We also encourage our members to form RWAF local chapters in their areas of the world and to do service projects. http://www.rotarywine.net/

In Vino Veritas, 
Conrad C. Heede, PDG
President 

Tuesday 21 March 2017

Elephants, Visitors, Snow Leopards and Shirts

Last Week
Rob Morley of SFM came to talk to us about elephants.  It wasn't so much a talk about conservation but more the elephants natural characteristics and behaviour.  I was tempted to say 'lifestyle'!  That made his talk particularly interesting because there is a tendency for conservationists to regale us with the horrors of poaching and the nasty photographs that accompany them without telling us very much about the animals themselves.  Despite the huge decline in the elephant population in Africa as a whole we have the problem of over population and the ecological issues of habitat destruction it creates.  It was interesting to hear how difficult and expensive relocation is because that is so often proposed as a solution and is seldom practical.

We had two visiting Rotarians,  David Craik from the Rotary Club of Sevenoaks, UK and Whitney Ray-Dawson of the Rotary Club of Knoxville, USA.
By one of those weird coincidences David Craik's son and our speaker, Rob Morley were friends at school.  At our table we had 2 Kentish Men and 1 Man of Kent so it was well representative of the Little Kingdom.
 A piece of useless information;  feudalism never existed in Kent.  When William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 the men of Kent...and the Kentish men.... said that they would not fight against him if he maintained their ancient privileges and he agreed to.

Last week also saw the hand-over of 10 wheelchairs to the Renal Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.  I have added a separate page to accommodate all the photographs and the article that James Croswell and his committee supplied.

The Palliative Care Project has been an entree into a realisation of the many gaps that Rotary can assist with at Baragwanath and maybe other clubs will be encouraged to help our health care system above and beyond Rotary Family Health Days.

This Week
We seem to be continuing with a wildlife/conservation theme with a talk by Dr Rodney Jackson of the Snow Leopard Conservancy,

Dr. Rodney Jackson is the leading expert on wild snow leopards and their high-mountain habitat. SLC has grown out of Rodney’s thirty years’ experience gained in working closely with rural herders and farmers whose lives are directly impacted when snow leopards prey upon their livestock.Upon receiving a 1981 Rolex Award for Enterprise, Rodney launched a pioneering radio-tracking study of snow leopards in the remote mountains of the Nepalese Himalaya.

Farming and livestock herding are the main land uses and sources of human livelihoods in the high mountains of Central Asia. Communities depend on their sheep and goats for meat, dairy products and wool. Seven range countries have over 25% of their land area under permanent pasture, more than 50% of their human population involved in agro-pastoralism, more than 40% living below national poverty levels, and average per capita annual incomes of US$250-400. Although relatively few people live in snow leopard habitat, their use of the land is pervasive, resulting in ever-increasing human-wildlife conflict even within protected areas.
Livestock depredation is thus a significant problem. When a snow leopard enters a corral full of panicked sheep and goats, its kill instinct is triggered, and it will keep attacking until all movement stops. Herders will retaliate if possible by killing the snow leopard. Ironically, such loss of livestock can be avoided by making the corral predator-proof, improving animal husbandry techniques and educating herders on the importance of wildlife as a resource for generating sustained income.
Habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching of the natural prey base also threaten the snow leopard’s survival. Prey densities are usually lower outside national parks and reserves. These areas also support higher numbers of people and their livestock – which snow leopards quickly learn are not as wary as their wild cousins. They may then become habitual depredators. Breeding females trying to feed hungry cubs are especially vulnerable, and herders will also take cubs from the maternal den.
Livestock losses can exceed 10% of the herd in depredation “hotspots,” a significant economic impact where the annual household income is so low. Like their counterparts in the U.S., herders in the Himalaya tend to blame predators without adequately accounting for other mortality such as disease and accidents. Many herders have abandoned proven traditional shepherding practices, and where more children are in school, sheep and goats roam freely during the daytime. Indeed, it has been argued that pastoralists are supporting snow leopards by providing them with a ready supply of food! Yet Central Asia’s alpine pastures have long been used by resident and nomadic herders, so eliminating livestock is not an option in most areas.
Our task is to help local communities keep depredation at a manageable level while increasing incomes and strengthening stewardship of alpine ecosystems. We will know we have done our job when Central Asia’s herders recognize and act upon the greater worth of having a live snow leopard rather than a pelt of one that took their livestock.
Shirts & Blouses
A
B
As you know the material for our Rosebank shirts and blouses is no longer available.  We will keep the same style, ladies blouses and long-sleeved shirts but we need to decide on the material.
Which one do you like?  So far we have had 1 vote for c & 1 vote for f.
C
D

F

E





Monday 13 March 2017

The National Children's Theatre, Elephants and meet the incoming RI President

Last Week
Moira Katz is thanked for her talk by Philip Frankel
 Last week Moira Katz, the CEO of the National Children's Theatre, came to speak to us about the work of the theatre.  The amount of touring that they do to the rural areas was quite amazing and to think that Coriolanus was seen by 9 000 learners show the scope of their productions.

There were a couple of disquieting revelations.  It was suggested that we should have more learners attend our Careers Day and I said that 3 schools who said that they would attend just didn't turn up despite being phoned on numerous occasions.  Moira said that she had exactly the same problems with government schools, a complete lack of interest on the part of the teachers though obviously there are exceptions.

Secondly they had written and produced a play warning girls about 'Blessers' - usually middle aged married men who pick up young teenage girls, set them up and lavish money on them and  then eventually tire of them and kick them out.  Very often these girls are left with no money, no education and cut off from their families.  This was performed at a primary school in Soweto but when it was performed at a high school, not only were no teachers in evidence but it was practically impossible to produce it as the learners were so unruly and the boys thought that the middle aged men were incredibly clever and the girls wanted to be like the kept girls.

This Week
It's a complete change...elephants.  Our speaker is Rob Morley of SFM.
Rob is an ecologist and natural resource manager. His areas of experience include terrestrial carbon, biodiversity and conservation development, natural resource management, land-use management for conservation, environmental planning and resource based rural development. Rob joined SFM Africa as Projects Manager in 2007. Prior to joining SFM Rob worked in environmental and natural resource management in Southern Africa and was a National Park ecologist in Mozambique and PhD Researcher on elephants (Mozambique and South Africa).

Established in 2006, SFM Africa is dedicated to being Africa’s leading company in ethical and sustainable landscape conservation and development. SFM Africa, on a commercial basis, is incorporating emerging environmental markets through the development of environmental goods and services attributable to forest landscapes through a diverse portfolio and pipeline of projects in Africa, specifically in the Congo basin Forest and sub-tropical Miombo woodlands.  Here is the link to their website.

Meet RI President Elect, Ian Riseley.
Ian H.S. Riseley gets up from his desk, and he is tall. He has white hair, a firm handshake, and no tie. Early on, you sense that he likes the sort of energetic exchange that can swerve from serious to lighthearted, which makes him very good company. He exudes competence – which makes him seem like the right person to advise you on vexing tax issues. That’s good, because it’s what he has done for the last 40 years.
Riseley is a practicing accountant near Melbourne, Australia, and principal of Ian Riseley & Co., where he advises local and international businesses. He received Australia’s AusAID Peacebuilder Award in 2002 in recognition of his work in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. He also received the Order of Australia medal in 2006 for his service to the community.
A member of the Rotary Club of Sandringham since 1978, he has served RI as treasurer, director, trustee, RI Board Executive Committee member, task force member, committee member and chair, and district governor. He received The Rotary Foundation’s Regional Service Award for a Polio-free World and its Distinguished Service Award.
His wife, Juliet, is also a Rotarian (but not in the same club) and is a past district governor. The Riseleys are multiple Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors, and Bequest Society members.
Editor in Chief John Rezek met with Riseley at his office in Rotary’s Evanston, Ill., headquarters. 
Q: How did you hear about Rotary and when did you become a member?
A: A couple of years after I launched my accounting practice, my most significant client was a private hospital close to my office. The CEO was a Rotarian, and they must have been desperate because one day they invited me to a lunchtime meeting to speak about the fascinating topic of current developments in income tax. Yes, they more or less stayed awake. A few weeks later, the same client got in touch with me and said they were chartering a new club nearby and I said, “What does chartering mean?” (That tells us how often we lapse into Rotary-speak.) He said they were starting a new club in Sandringham and asked if I would be interested in going to the initial meeting. I said, “Absolutely.” But I didn’t go, which was foolish. I did go to the second meeting and met the 20 or so people who had been at the first meeting. They were the business elite of Sandringham, and I thought, wow, this is quite a group. So I kept going and we chartered – which means, by the way, we started the club – in November 1978.
Q: Was Rotary a good fit for you right away or did it take you time to become comfortable? 
A: I feel almost embarrassed saying this, but I felt comfortable immediately. It says something about the nature of the charter members of our club. We are talking about people who run extremely successful companies, but they were all really nice, absolutely first-rate individuals, and I wasn’t made to feel like the proprietor of a two-bit accounting practice down the road. That’s one of the delights of our organization globally – we’re all equals. I think that’s really important.
Q: Are most of your friends Rotarians?
A: My friends within Rotary aren’t just from my club. They are also from other clubs in the district. That’s one of the principal reasons I think people should be Rotarians – you make really good friends. My closest circle of friends are not all from the ranks of Rotary. But reflecting on it, a lot of them have become Rotarians and I don’t think they would have if I hadn’t been involved. The danger is that Rotary can take over your life. You can become excessively focused on Rotary. Our daughter, who has a degree in public relations and understands these things better than most, once described it as “Rotarama.” Rotary has basically taken over our lives. We put other things on the back burner; my golf handicap is disappearing into the distance, which is really sad. On the other hand, being in Rotary is a thrill and a privilege.
 Q: What moment made you see the importance of your involvement in Rotary?
A: I was the third president of our club at age 34. I went to PETS [presidents-elect training], which was held in a huge auditorium. I walked in, sat down, looked over my shoulder, and there was the senior partner of the accounting firm that I had previously worked for. John Hepworth was renowned among Australian accountants and was there as the incoming president of the Rotary Club of Melbourne, Australia’s first club, which started in 1921. Many of the movers and shakers in the city of Melbourne are in the Rotary Club of Melbourne. And there I was, the incoming president of the Rotary Club of Sandringham with 35 members, and we’re on a par. 
Q: If a young person asked you why he or she should join Rotary what, in order, would you say?
A: There are four elements. The first one is friendship. Rotary offers the opportunity to meet people in a semi-social environment and also achieve good things.
The second one is personal development. I became the third president of my club at a very young age as I was starting up my accounting practice. I didn’t enjoy speaking in public, but being involved in a Rotary club means that you’re encouraged – some would say forced – in a friendly environment to get experience speaking, running meetings, motivating people, all that sort of thing. Your Rotarian colleagues are not going to fault you for a simple mistake. So you get practice, you improve, and you do it better. I’m not quite as shy anymore, so that’s a significant benefit.
The third is business development. We’ve shied away from this over a period of time, and I don’t believe we should. When I was invited to join the Rotary Club of Sandringham, I told Juliet, “Well, they’ve invited me to join this group, what do you know about it?” She knew about the same as me, which was not a lot, but she made the point that we’d make new friends, and hopefully some of them wouldn’t be accountants because too many of our friends were accountants, as if that could possibly be true. Rotary is good for business. Why should we shy away from promoting this?
The fourth one, and by far the most important, is the chance to make a difference in the world. If someone asked me to eradicate polio, my ability to do this would be rather limited. But when you gather together with 1.2 million people of like mind and have people like Bill and Melinda Gates donate funds to help achieve this objective, the opportunity for success is far greater. 
Q: What has been your favorite job in Rotary? 
A: Bar none, it was acting as the president’s representative at a district conference. I loved that job. That’s why, when I allocate this responsibility on my behalf in 2017-18, I’ll make my selections for representatives very carefully. It’s a job that gives you the chance to go somewhere else in the world, or somewhere else in your own country, and understand how Rotary does all its great work. 
Q: As you prepare to assume the highest office in Rotary, is it hard to have a regular conversation with your fellow club members? 
A: Who in their right mind is going to say yes? [laughs] The answer is not at all. Maybe it’s because I’m Australian, and in Australia we have a really good technique for keeping people grounded. It’s called the “tall poppy syndrome.” If you get too big for your boots, my gosh, people bring you down to your rightful place in life very quickly. One of the absolute pleasures about the role that I now have is going around and meeting people and talking to them to ascertain what makes them tick. 
Q: What’s on your to-do list?
A: I have three words: planning, planning, and planning. This is a planning time, and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to think about ways in which I want to do things differently. In particular, I’m looking for ideas on how Rotary can relate better to young people. 
I want to get to know as many of the district governors-elect for 2017-18 as possible and establish lines of communication and understanding. I mean to tell them, “No pressure, but I’m relying on each and every one of you,” and they can rely on me too.
Q: What things are working well in Rotary and what things aren’t?
A: Well, the service we do for humanity, I think we do particularly well. Can we do better? Of course we can. Can we be better organized? Probably. Can we have a better relationship with the community at large? Yes, we probably can, but the actual service work that Rotary does is second to none, it’s wonderful. 
What else is good? Membership is growing in India, in Korea. In places where there’s a developing middle class, there’s a stampede to join Rotary. The corollary of that is that membership in places like the U.S., the UK, Australia, and New Zealand has fallen. We’re not attracting enough new members and we’re not retaining them. 
Our demographic is aging and that’s not good. We’re not reinventing our clubs, and that really needs to be at the forefront of our attention. Satellite clubs [a new type of affiliate club sponsored by a traditional club] provide an avenue to involve younger people who need more flexibility. Female Rotarians are making a real difference, and we need more of them. The best clubs are those that are close to their communities. 
Q: Do you have any specific suggestions for clubs? 
A: A review of the vocations of our membership is a good method to identify weaknesses and determine who to invite to join. Also I think we are missing a significant opportunity by not having more women in our clubs. There are some clubs, I’m ashamed to say, that don’t have any female members. We also need more women at the senior ranks of both the Trustees and the Board of Directors. 
Q: How could a club or district coax you to visit during your tenure?
A: Issue an invitation! I have made it a priority to visit parts of the Rotary world that seldom see the president or president-elect, and so far I have been to parts of Canada and the Caribbean that fit this description. My calendar fills quickly, but send me an invitation, and if it can happen, I’m pleased to come. 

Tuesday 7 March 2017

Bikanyo, Martin Mabula, Careers Day, National Childrens' Theatre and Sanitation Project in Ghana

Last Week
It was a busy week!  Marilyn Bassin came to talk to us about Boikanyo -the Dion Herson Foundation.  She showed us a lot of interesting pictures and is is really quite amazing what the Foundation achieves.
It was so refreshing to have someone come and talk to us about what was being achieved and not to ask us for money!
I enjoy watching Rotarians' eyes glaze over when that happens.



A Guitar for Martin Mabula
Martin Mabula & Richard Tonkin
It was a great evening at TJ Acoustic Club at Marks Park last Thursday evening when we presented a guitar to Martin Mabula to replace the one that was stolen.  Martin is blind and busking is the only way he has of earning a living.
Richard Tonkin has driven this project and he presented Martin with the guitar.
The rest of the evening was most enjoyable with music by Darren & Lauren, Bars, Nippy, John, Allan and Andreas & Marcus.  The musician who really blew everyone away was Yohan Song with his extraordinarily inventive guitar playing.
The 'TJ' have invited us to attend their meetings when ever we want to and have resurrected the idea of a joint fundraising concert to benefit musicians by producing CD's....if they still exist!



Careers Day



Saturday saw Rotarians descend on Holy Family College in Parktown for our annual Careers Day. We had more bases than ever this year with newcomers including Physiotherapy, Aviation and Beautician.  Another innovation was to bring all he bases relating to Business together plus some additional ones.  They ranged from Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Retail etc.  This this was much more successful as it made questions and discussions much easier.
Our special thanks to all the non Rotarians for their help and assistance and especially to Mark Potterton, the school principal, who not only provides the venue but works tirelessly to make things happen and organises the tertiary institutions.
We have had some great feedback from the learners and that is what it is all about.


Thank you everyone for your support and helping make Careers Day such a success.




This Week
Our speaker is Moira Katz, the CEO of the National Childrens' Theatre.

The year 2014 marked the 25th Anniversary of NCT since it was established by Joyce Levinsohn in 1989, and which earned her a Lifetime Achievement Award. 
Since the new management under the leadership of Moira Katz in 2012, the company has been building a reputation as Gauteng�s premier children�s theatre, extending our range from regular theatre and musicals to include educational programmes, an HIV/AIDS information programme, a bullying awareness programme, classics for high schools.

NCT has made its mark by providing professionalism and artistic excellence in all aspects. The loyal and dedicated staff of 12 work hard to present 6 full theatre productions a year, catering to family theatre, schools outreach programmes, visits to rural areas, Saturday morning workshops for over 140 children, our NACTIES programme for budding Thespians, educational workshops in a variety of aspects of theatre. We believe in building community partnerships, creating jobs for newly qualified actors as well as developing a new generation of theatre supporters through entertaining and engaging programs.


For the past 24 years NCT has produced outstanding theatrical plays and educational programs which have won several national and international awards including 5 Naledi Awards, and an IPRA Golden World Award for Excellence in Public Relations in the Arts category.


A recent success was NCT's MANDELA DAY partnership with Hillbrow Theatre Project where we hosted an American Youth Group from Salt Lake City, who presented SYNERGY: A VOICE TO THE WORLD. Synergy is supported by Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, an NGO, formally associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information, with Consultative Status at UNESCO.

Good news for Ghana sanitation efforts

Rotary and USAID are creating Tippy Tap devices to encourage good hygiene in remote areas. The devices use a simple foot paddle to tip a water container so people can safely wash their hands.
Rotary and USAID are creating Tippy Tap devices to encourage good hygiene in remote areas. The devices use a simple foot paddle to tip a water container so people can safely wash their hands.
By Mohamed Keita, RI staff, Administrative Coordinator, Areas of Focus, Programs and Grants
In January, a new government came into office in Ghana and set a different tone in addressing access to water and public sanitation in the country. President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the creation of a Ministry for Sanitation and Water Resources. It is the first time an administration has dedicated the centrepiece of an executive cabinet agency to public sanitation.
Ghanaian Rotarians who are involved in the rollout of the Rotary-USAID International H2O Collaboration, a $4 million initiative to support lasting, positive change to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives in Ghana, have welcomed the move.
“A major challenge facing our country is access to water to our people. Indeed, ‘water for all’ is one of our slogans for our 2016 manifesto,” the president declared in the press. “We also made a slogan ‘a toilet for all’ and these are matters we take very seriously.”
Previously, WASH related issues in Ghana fell under the purview of the Ministry of Water resources, Works and Housing. President Akufo-Addo said the change was necessary because of the major challenge facing the country with respect to access to water and sanitation.
Both local and international stakeholders involved in WASH activities in Ghana have applauded the creation of the new ministry. “This is like being alone in a boat which is struggling to go upstream and suddenly getting another person to help with the rowing,” Ako Adotei, chair of the Host Committee of the Rotary-USAID partnership in Ghana, told me. The partnership, which involves 36 Rotary clubs, Global Communities, USAID’s implementing partner in Ghana, and the government via the Community Water & Sanitation Agency (CWSA), is preparing to roll out activities to improve water and sanitation conditions in 165 rural communities.
Beyond simply building infrastructure, the Rotary-USAID partnership involves peculiar aspects that are unusual in most Rotarian projects: empowering communities in: a) financial self-sustainability to support infrastructure maintenance b) advocating with local authorities for equitable resource allocation c) developing innovation from lessons learned. To this effect, about two dozen Rotarians participated in a training workshop on advocacy in mid-January in the capital Accra.
In Ghana, the poorest communities rely on local government and outside support for funding maintenance and operations costs for sanitation infrastructure. However, funding gaps and delays at the local district assemblies prevent the resources allocated by the Ghanaian government to trickle down to the neediest communities.
“Holding the district assemblies to account – that is really the greatest challenge,” says Peter Aniglo of the Rotary Club of Sunyani Central. Aniglo feels the workshop made clearer the pertinence of understanding the laws and regulations in order to train communities to understand their rights, the importance of helping communities organize self-funding methods, and the need to engage decision makers at the district assemblies.
The Rotarians came to the workshop with no prior experience with advocacy, but went away with a better understanding of its value in elevating the work of Rotary. Beatrice Baiden of the Rotary Club of Accra Dzorwolu, says “the training made me gain better understanding of the WASH sector with regards to policy and guidelines available, challenges of the WASH program, and how we could use advocacy to address the challenges as Rotarians.”
Aniglo notes the advocacy training is going a long way in helping sustain projects.