July 14 Update 

We are announcing the opportunity for club members to participate in teams that will be going to Uganda in January.   As you know, our club has been working on an important international project to establish maternal and child health services in rural communities that have no medical resources. We have also undertaken a major project to repair broken well pumps and pipes restoring water to 32 communities serving thousands of people. The teams will give opportunities to see firsthand the impact of these and other Rotary projects. One of the two teams will include medical doctors, nurses, and support staff to provide medical assistance to communities served by the Rural Health Team, our partners in the Maternal & Child Health project.

We will assemble in Entebbe/Kampala on January 29.  We recommend you stay for two weeks, but can accommodate an earlier return if necessary. The cost on-the-ground for food, lodging, and transit runs about $800 a week; you arrange your own air travel. The group is coordinated by Larry Rhodes from the Rotary Club of Eugene Airport (larryrhodes@gmail.com), who has been taking groups to Uganda for the past 14 years. Please let (Dennis? Bob?) or Larry know your interest and you will be invited to planning meetings to discuss further before any commitment is needed. 

Uganda has been hit hard by Covid recently, and of course, we are monitoring that situation and how it influences our trip.

Uganda is the home of some of the best animal reserves in the world. We always include a couple of days of R&R at one of these magnificent national parks following our volunteer service.

July 2021 Update:

This project is shared with the Anthill Foundation and with the Rotary Clubs of Eugene Airport, Eugene Emerald, and with friends of Rotary. We have now added a sponsoring Rotaract Club, the Rotaract Club of Petaluma. The Rotary Club of Vancouver Washington has also just written a District 5100 Grant to pay for an additional three borehole repairs. 

Our funding pool covers half the boreholes requiring repair, and we are continuing to look for additional sponsoring clubs and donors.

The agreement with beneficiary communities has been slowed–indeed, stopped–during the past two weeks due to government “stay-at-home” orders because of Covid 19.  The lockdown order issued by the Ugandan national government is for 42 days. The Rural Health Team is shifting from large community meetings to meeting with village leaders and visiting a sampling of homes to try to move the agreements forward.  The government order has also made it impossible these past two weeks to order the new pumps and repair materials required, so there will likely be very slow progress on the project for at least the coming month.

Thank you!  

Dennis Biggerstaff & International Committee Team

Water Wells in Rural Uganda.

The Rotary Club of Eugene is raising $20,000 to repair (not replace) up to 20 existing wells in 4 rural sub-counties of the Tororo District of Uganda as a separate but complimentary project to the clubs global grant. We are collaborating with the Eugene Airport Rotary Club for this the first of two consecutive global grants in 2021 and 2022 to fund the maternal and child health project.

Clean water is essential for a community�s health, and repair of these wells is important to the success of our Global Grant. Any contribution toward this effort will be much appreciated. Make checks payable to Eugene Rotary Charitable Fund and put�Tororo Water Project� in the memo line. Mail to

Eugene Rotary Charitable Fund P O Box 1184 Eugene, OR 97440

If you would like more information, please contact Richard Barnhart MD at

ricbar2@mac.com

Thank you for your support of this essential Rotary Project.