Chestnut Hill Rotary

Activities of the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club’s International Committee in 2009

Acting through the International Committee, the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club participated in four projects: Hope Children’s Home in Guyana, South America; the American Academy of Opthamology’s Prevention of Blindness Program; ShelterBox and aid to a Turkish engineering student. The Club also supported Rotary International’s program to
eradicate polio.

For the past twelve years a club member, Rebecca Anwar, has visited Guyana to help to run an orphanage. She also prepared a detailed strategic plan for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Georgetown, the capital city. In 2009 she was there for six weeks. The club supported Hope Children’s Home by sending seven large barrels of clothing, books and medical supplies which have been distributed to the children and used in a local clinic. In addition we purchased kitchen and other equipment needed to improve conditions at the orphanage.

Last March another club member, Carol Tyler, visited a town in Gambia, West Africa, to see first hand how well Power Up Gambia, an electrification project, was working. Many rural hospitals and schools in Gambia do not function as needed because they operate without adequate electricity. The Power Up Gambia project utilizes solar panels to generate electricity and, equally important, the project trains local people how to maintain and operate that equipment. The club funded its first solar panel in 2009.

Last October the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club was one of eight other U.S. Rotary clubs participating in Prevention of Blindness, a program partnering the American Academy of Opthamology with Rotary International. We hosted Dr. Aamir Chaudhry who practices in rural areas of Pakistan; he gained valuable experience visiting Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and later by attending the American Academy of Opthamology convention in San Francisco. Dr. Chaudhry has since returned to Pakistan where patients from numerous towns and villages are benefiting from what he learned during his visit.

In 2001 a Rotarian in Cornwall England established ShelterBox, an organization that has provided humanitarian aid to more than a quarter of a million people in 50 countries. ShelterBox was established to be a first responder to natural and manmade disasters throughout the world. It delivers boxes containing a tent and other equipment sufficient to shelter and sustain up to 10 persons for at least six months. In 2009 the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club purchased its first box which was deployed to Pakistan in June.

A Rotary Club in Istanbul Turkey awarded an academic scholarship to Seval Isik, an engineering student, enabling her to attend fall semester classes at the University of Pennsylvania. Our Club was contacted to provide additional help. Seval needed a place to stay and a small amount of additional financial support. In September one of our members, Allison Corboy, opened her home to Seval; our Club assumed her transportation costs.

In 2010 the International Committee will continue its support of Hope Children’s Home. Rebecca Anwar will work there for six weeks and she will be joined by Bonnie Simon for one week. Also our club will continue to send supplies and we will fund improvements that will help the children live more easily. In addition we will continue to support Power Up Gambia, ShelterBox and perhaps other projects introduced to us during the remainder of 2010.