Woodland Rotary - What We Do

January 30, 2024 - Grants and Services Committee Chair Blair Voelz announced the sad news that after two years of preparations, the Rotary Club of Karen Kenya (Africa) has been cancelled Phase Two of the Kenya WASH project due to internal conflicts and issues within that club which apparently could not be resolved. Blair went on to say all of the Rotary grant funds for the project have been returned. Our Club contributed about $15,000 toward the project, which included personal contributions from several members as well as contributions from some other local Rotary Clubs. Blair said contributions from members for grants that are canceled are moved to the Annual Fund-SHARE, and contributions from nonmembers are moved to the World Fund to support the Foundation’s programs. The cancellation of Phase Two of the project does not impact Phase One improvements which were completed in 2021.

The Rotary Club of Woodland has been participating in the Kenya WASH project since October ’20 to improve water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) at two schools in Karen, Kenya (Africa). This is a Rotary Global Grant effort sponsored by the Rotary Club of Karen. The project is a coordinated effort to make needed improvements at the Karen C Primary School, serving 1300 students, 50 teachers (established in 1958), and the adjacent Karen C Girls Secondary (high school) school (established in 2011) with enrollment of 600 students. Phase One of the project, which installed two large capacity water tanks and hand washing stations for students, was completed in August ’21 at a cost of $40,000. Our Club contributed $5,000 toward Phase One.

Photos from Phase One of the project can be viewed in our Photo Gallery.

Kenya is located on the east coast of Africa. Karen, Kenya is a suburb of Kenya’s capitol city Nairobi. Photos below show children from both Karen schools.

Sanitation conditions at the Karen C schools today are terrible, and would be considered unacceptable for any similar facilities in the United States. As photos below show, pit latrines are in use.

Our Club's Kenya WASH Chair Blair Voelz reports Phase Two seeks to build a new, modern 1700sf bathroom for faculty, boys and girls at the Karen C Elementary School. These improvements will be a major step forward in sanitation for the children and staff of both schools.

The Phase Two Rotary grant total budget is $76,190 which includes $27,835 raised from our Club, other local Rotary clubs, and the Karen Kenya Rotary Club; $27,600 in District 5160 matching grant funds; and $20,755 from the Rotary Foundation World Fund. These funds have been deposited in a Nairobi bank account specifically set up for this project. The project is currently out for bid. Construction is scheduled to begin in 4-6 weeks and will take 6-8 weeks to build. Phase Two should be complete by Summer 2024.

Our Club's contribution to Phase Two totals $12,685, which includes $10,850 in personal donations from Club members (Clyde Brooker, Mike Chandler, Tony Delevati, Karl Diekman, Les Engelmann, Marc Faye, Marie Galbo, Kevin Haarberg, Ernie Hodges, Don Huff III, Tom LaBrie, Dena Lawrence, Chuck Maltese, Lisa Martinez Dunham, Chuck Moore, Bob Nakken, Tim Pettit, David Pinto, Tabb Randolph, Yvette Roy, Tom Schwarzgruber, Barbara Sonin, Dan Stroski, Mark Ullrich, Blair Voelz, Gary Wegener, Jayne Williams, and Gary Wirth). We also have $500 each from Luna Vista Rotary, Davis Sunrise Rotary and Winters Rotary.

VIEW APPROVED DRAWINGS OF WASHROOM

TO BE BUILT IN PHASE TWO

Photos shown below show facilities similar to the ones to be built in Phase Two. They were built for another WASH Project in Nairobi.

Learn more about Rotary Foundation projects that fund this and other international efforts to provide clean water.