Rotary Club of Lansing: International Outreach

Our work to improve communities is not limited to our city limits.

With two-thirds of the 32,000 Rotary clubs located outside the United States, the Rotary Club of Lansing works hard to expand our mission internationally while not short changing local and regional projects.

Some of our more notable projects nationally include:

Nyaka
Nyaka is a project serving aids orphans, “grandmothers” who care for them and their neighboring communities in rural western Uganda. It was founded by an East Lansing Rotarian, Jackson Kaguri, after he lost siblings to the aids epidemic and saw the need to provide services to his nieces and nephews and other community children.

Our club has provided a number of projects to Nyaka including: a school water supply; health care equipment and supplies, educational equipment and supplies: building facilities and grandmother housing.

Attached is a picture of the high school computer lab. These computers are power primarily by solar power as utility power is very intermittent. Also, they are currently used primarily to learn basic software because there is currently no good internet connection. That connection will hopefully be obtained in the near future.
Global Dental Relief
Through the Global Dental Relief grant, The Rotary Club of Lansing has provided dental care to more than 1,858 children in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala valued at $456,580. The treatment provided to these children include:
 
  • 1,322 fluoride applications
  • 1,202 fillings
  • 563 cleanings
  • 439 extractions
  • 227 sealants
From our volunteers and the kids they serve, thank-you for your continued support. A healthy mouth helps a child sleep well, eat well, concentrate in school and thrive. Your club is truly changing the lives of these children!
Rescue South Sudan Village

Rescue South Sudan Village People (RSSVP) was founded over a decade ago by Abraham Majak and his older brother, Isaac.

After their village was attacked by marauders from the north of Sudan and their father killed, the young boys became part of the exodus of children called the Lost Boys of Sudan. After many years in refugee camps, the brothers were brought to the US, Isaac to Boston and Abe, a minor, to Holt, Michigan. The brothers founded RSSVP to give back to those left behind and to help rebuild the country of their birth.

Initial Help from Rotary
The first step was to obtain land on which to build the school. The village elders donated land sufficient to build a school containing eight rooms and latrines. Next was to restore a source of water so that the girls would not spend their days seeking fresh water sources. RSSVP raised funds, of which the Lansing Rotary Club was a significant donor, to repair a well that had been damaged and unusable for 20 years and to dig a new well. Subsequently, the new South Sudanese government built a third well in anticipation of the new school. Over the past several years, donations from private donors, Rotary, the R.E.O. Foundation, and others have enabled RSSVP to build the first half of the proposed school.

Continued Help from Rotary
Most recently, donations by various Michigan Rotary Clubs enabled RSSVP to complete the last parts of the four classrooms—the floor, doors, and windows. Grants by the International Committee of the Rotary Club of Lansing and our District 6360 are enabling RSSVP to purchase the desks and chairs for the teachers, blackboards, the tables and benches for the students, and school supplies such as textbooks, pencils, and notepads. Abe travelled to Africa to oversee this last part and to open the school.

Each of the four completed classrooms can hold at least 30 students, with grades 1-4 being taught. This will enable all of the children of Majok-Chedhiop to attend plus accommodate other children from neighboring villages within walking distance. Once fundraising and construction for the remaining four classrooms is complete, grades 5-8 will be added.