International Service Committee

Our International Service Committee offers all  Sequim Sunrise Rotarians an opportunity for international fellowship through humanitarianism as we take action to bring change to communities around the world to improve lives and meet human needs, and thus advance world understanding, goodwill and peace.

We partner with and support

• ShelterBox
• Days for Girls
• Classrooms in Mexico and the Dominican Republic
• Water wells in Haiti and Nigeria

 NINE BOREHOLES COMPLETED IN NIGERIA

When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families.
 
On August 30^th, 2019 Sequim Sunrise Rotary and five Rotary Clubs located in Area 6 D-5170 in California and one club in Ilorin, Nigeria completed a Rotary global grant borehole project in nine villages in Nigeria.  Waheed of Rotary Ilorin Club of Nigeria announced that all the boreholes had been completed and all but one had been "handed over" to the local village CDA (Community Development Agency').  Waheed stated that his club in Ilorin Nigeria was  extremely proud of accomplishment made by the Rotary Clubs on this global grant, and are already thinking of a another  project that everyone might be interested in pursuing.
 
Nine boreholes completed, and all but one  "commissioned" – meaning turned over to the local village CDA (Community Development Agency - an all-volunteer organization that pretty much every village in Nigeria has.) Each of the 9 CDAs are now the owners of their respective village borehole - charged with operating and maintaining it.
  

Rotary International partners with ShelterBox to help devastated communities.   Amid catastrophes produced by nature and mankind’s cruelest impulses, ShelterBox teams of volunteers rush forward. From the earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Ecuador in April to the continuing refugee trail out of the Middle East, ShelterBox has sent aid to help hundreds of thousands of displaced households. 

Sequim Sunrise Rotary has taken part in several of disaster efforts over the years with both feet on the ground and donations to purchase hundreds of supplies. We have also had a presence within District 5020 with a ShelterBox Ambassador each year.  We have partnered with ShelterBox to help those in need from the very beginning.  Upon a recent visit to the ShelterBox display at the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg Germany we learned that our club still holds the honor of "one the leading fundraisers" for ShelterBox.  

Notable missions since the disaster relief charity was founded 16 years ago include the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2010 quake in Haiti, where some 300,000 tents were supplied. In the United States, ShelterBoxes were delivered to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Sandy in New York and New Jersey, and tornadoes in the Midwest.

Sequim Sunrise Rotary continues to host a ShelterBox Ambassador for our Rotary District. Our Ambassador is available to speak at various community events and service clubs throughout the Puget Sound area. If interested becoming a volunteer or scheduling a ShelterBox presentation for your club, you can contact ShelterBox are invited to contact the ShelterBox website https://www.shelterbox.org/ or send our area Ambassador (Glenn Harris) an email at [email protected]



 
Days for Girls began in 2008 when Founder and CEO Celeste Mergens was working with a family foundation in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya where she began assisting an orphanage. In the wake of historic post-election violence, the population at the orphanage had swelled from 400 children to 1,400.

As she was getting prepared to return to Nairobi, Celeste went to bed with the devastating situation weighing heavy on her mind. In the middle of the night, she woke up with a nagging question: “What are girls doing for feminine hygiene?” Seeking an answer, she ran to the computer and sent an email to the Assistant Director of the orphanage.

He replied right away, “Nothing. They wait in their rooms.”

Celeste learned that girls were sitting on cardboard for several days each month, often going without food unless someone would bring it to them. This set-in motion her first intervention - disposable pads. But Celeste and her team quickly discovered a major problem - without any place to dispose of the pads, this was neither a viable nor a sustainable solution. It was time for Plan B: a washable, long-lasting pad.

The first Days for Girls Kits were quite different from the design in use today. Each of the 28 iterations that followed would be informed by extensive feedback and designed to meet unique cultural and environmental conditions in communities throughout the world. What would eventually become clear in the years following Days for Girls’ beginning was just how much of a difference hygiene solutions would make in assisting women and girls to break the cycle of poverty and live lives of dignity.

Today, Days for Girls has reached more than one million women and girls in 125+ countries with DfG Kits and menstrual health education. This translates into over 115 million days of dignity, health, and opportunity!  Sequim Sunrise Rotary's Int'l Service Committee has made this organization an opportunity to become involved internationally right here at home.  If you are interested in lending a helping hand you can find out how by going to the Facebook page for Days for Girls Port Angeles.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/Days-for-Girls-Port-Angeles-WA-Team-1702783476681781/