The Lander Rotary Club’s largest international service project ever – and its first Global Grant project – is going full strength in Rwanda, in eastern Africa, despite challenges from food poisoning, spider bites, broken toilet seats, and lukewarm (or no) showers, among other things.
Lander Rotarians Maria Kidner and Cassy Venters are leading the Vocational Training Team, which has spent its first four weeks in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, training a “core team” of
nurses to diagnose and treat strep throat in children and help prevent often-fatal rheumatic heart disease in older children and young adults. This “core team” will then teach these same skills to village nurses in several hospital districts in Rwanda in the final two weeks.
The total grant for the project is $123,096 and is being funded through donations from numerous Rotarians and non-Rotarians, Rotary Foundation funds from various Rotary Districts, Lander and other Rotary Clubs, and $30,000 from The Rotary Foundation. Its first week in Africa, the team visited Lusaka, Zambia, at the invitation of Zambian government officials, to discuss replicating the training project throughout Zambia. The Zambian officials were enthusiastic about developing the training program there.
You can follow the team’s work on Maria’s blog, https://www.leapleadership.org/blog, and on Cassy’s Facebook page (Cassy Dierking Venters). Pictured: A school teacher instructing on the use of flip charts (L) and participants engaged in skills practice (R).
