Denver Mile High Rotary - International Service

Rotary Clubs in District 5450, District 7120 and District 9210 in Zimbabwe jointly are sponsoring a Rotary 3-H Grant in Zimbabwe. Robin Springer and Carolyn Schrader from Denver Mile High just returned from the Launch of that Grant in Harare, the country's capital and wanted to share with you the incredible power of Rotary, even in a difficult country like Zimbabwe.

We were privileged to participate in the Launch of the Grant-Community Empowerment in Zimbabwe-on October 3. There were 2,000 people attending, including the Governor and Mayor, local government officials, 20 Harare Rotarians, three US Rotarians, and a former Rotary District Governor. The Social Services Coordinator said it may have been the greatest happening since Independence.

The Prime Minister Mr. Morgan R. Tsvangirai and the Minister of Health and Social Services had planned to attend as well, but they were called away for a Cabinet meeting at the last moment. PM Tsvangirai's speech, read by the Governor, emphasized the Rotary connection and the importance of this project in both the local community and throughout all of Zimbabwe.

The impact of the 3-H Grant, which addresses Health, Hunger and Humanity, will be huge. Over 4,000 people will be trained in 3 ½ years, with programs for women's and youth's economic groups, Youth Resource Centers, and self-management for people living with HIV/AIDS. But the Grant provides so much more: a structure and ongoing training that will gradually transfer operational responsibility from the Grant to the community. By providing both the skills and the structure to the participants, the Grant will create a self-sustainable program.

An important element of this Grant is the enthusiastic participation of the Harare Rotary Clubs. There are seven Harare Clubs actively involved with the Grant, and the Zimbabwe Grant Committee oversees the training provided by ICA Zimbabwe, as well as the Project Officers and the Program Coordinator. This Committee also manages the $330,000 in Grant funds from The Rotary Foundation.

One of the most exciting parts of the Grant is the Zimbabwe Rotarian Mentors. During our trip, we worked with two local Rotarians who will coordinate at least 30 Rotarians who will act as mentors to the Self Help Groups. These Rotarians will be advisors and coaches for the groups, helping the groups identify products or services that will be profitable for them. Considering the shifting economy in Zimbabwe, there can be no more savvy people to help the groups than Rotarian businessmen and women. And they are truly excited about the chance to participate in this incredible opportunity. One of the local Rotarians has taken on the role of Market Advisor to both track the economic enterprises of each Group and work with businesses to connect the Groups to potential new opportunities.

There are many elements that need to come together to make a project like this work. We have worked with the Harare Rotarians to create a Trust that will administer the Grant, develop detailed budgets and payment processes, create a base-line questionnaire to collect data for eventual tracking of the impact of the Grant, and tailor training material to meet the specific purposes of the project. We participated in Committee meetings for PR, Monitoring, Evaluation, Finance and Operations. We met with the Marketing Committee to develop a consistent message for all Grant communications to maximize awareness and understanding of the Grant.

While we were in Harare, we interviewed more than 30 people about the Grant and its elements-past and potential participants, trainers, Rotarians, administrators. We visited the Grant sites, met some trainers and the Project Officers who will monitor the activity on the ground. We visited five Rotary Clubs and made a presentation about the Grant to each one. At every Club members spoke to us afterwards and said how much they appreciated our efforts and that they wanted to be a part of the process.

The partnership between the Rotarians in Colorado, New York and Harare is amazing. We are working as a team and somehow it is all coming together. The training started the first week in November; every participant had a training manual and was eager to get started. 24 Self Help groups have been created; in December four Youth Corners, outfitted with trained young men and women, computers and other equipment, will begin operating.

There were so many wonderful moments during the two weeks we were there. One of the best happened after the meeting about the mentors. One of the Rotarians, DJ, said to us: "You come so far, all the way from the US, and immediately go to the high density neighborhoods where the project will happen. These are places where many of us who live in Harare are nervous to go. Your willingness, your determination--this completely inspires us. It makes so many of us want to be fully engaged as well."

The strongest message that the Rotarians in Harare sent back with us was to bring more Rotarians. They are great hosts and love this visible evidence of our support for them and belief in the project. Please contact Carolyn Schrader at schrader407@me.com for more information about how you can take a trip to Zimbabwe to work on the Grant.

Carolyn Schrader

Dec. 7, 2009

The World Community Service Committee is responsible for the oversight of projects in other countries, generally in coordination with Rotary Clubs in other parts of the world.

Documents:

The World Community Service Strategic Plan

An historical summary of our projects from the beginning of the club

Updates:

An update on our water project in Rukubi, Kenya:

Completion Letter

Thank you letter from Tumaini and Rukubi Community

Update from November 7, 2009

We fund a lot of our work with Matching Grants from RI. Take a look at our Matching Grant submittal for the Rukubi water project to see what one looks like.

Learn more about 3-H Grants, which we may use to fund larger projects in the future.