Photo: Supplied.
FROM LES LOUIS
In addition to the many local projects undertaken by the Rotary Club of Wynnum and Manly, some life-changing projects have been started in Vanuatu, India and Timor-Leste this year, continuing the club’s good work over the past 73 years.
The project in Vanuatu will install a comprehensive sanitation block at the Iankwanetaktana Aid Post – a location in a remote area of southwest Tanna Island, an approximately two-hour walk from the nearest clinic (Ioananen) through rugged terrain for the ‘transport-poor’ population of 500 residents. Establishing a localised source of clean water and waste management ensures that wound treatment, infection control, and emergency births can be managed safely within the community when external medical facilities are unreachable. This project complements previous improvements that the Rotary Club of Wynnum and Manly achieved in the main Ioananen Clinic.
The second project (jointly funded by the club and the Rotary Club of Sunnybank Hills) is of a completely different nature, providing local women in a community near Kolkata in Bengal Province, India, with the opportunity to generate income through producing garments and jute bags using sewing machines. The objectives of the project included upgrading the skills of selected women from the area in handling high-speed motorised sewing machines, thereby building the capacity of the selected women to become professional tailors, capable of large-scale production of garments and other products. Target groups are underprivileged women from slums in the area as well as women trained in tailoring from local villages.
The third project will provide vocational training for young people in Dili, Timor-Leste. Currently, the high demand among local youth for barista and English language training, essential for securing employment in the growing economy of Timor-Leste, cannot be met, as many of them are unable to afford the tuition fees. The project will provide funds to support 60 students through training in these topics by local providers in Dili.
The club is proud to support these projects, which contribute to improving the lives of so many people in these vastly different locations.
