rotary connections: world community service project corriverton, guyana st. paul, minnesota (club #...

ROTARY CONNECTIONS:

World Community Service Project

Corriverton, Guyana St. Paul, Minnesota (Club # 10)

1995 - present

GUYANA (formerly British Guyana)

• Adjacent to Surinam, Venezuela and Brazil

• 83,000 square miles• 770,000 population

(almost all live along coastline)

• Sugar from cane, bauxite and forestry products are exported

Guyana is decidedly tropical and lush

LASTING CONNECTIONS

• 1995 -- Exploratory Trip (Jim Field, Todd Nicholson, & George Hubbs) visited with three Guyanese clubs. Decision made to partner with Corriverton club.

• 1997 – Water pump installed with modest distribution piping.

• 1998 -- New hip for Clifton Phillips

• 1999 – Expand distribution piping and add holding tanks

• 2004 – Books and backpacks for elementary students, computers, copiers, gym equipment, and medical equipment

• 2006 – Fix hip for Clifton Phillips

• 2007 – Copiers for schools

• 2008 – Pending computer labs – three schools including Orealla

1995 -- George & Todd travel upriver to Amerindian villages

Corentyne River 2005

Corentyne River November 2008

Amerindians at Orealla continue to wash their clothes in the river – we’ve learned that it is a cultural

tradition.

1997 – Bob Jones puts on a dental clinic

Jim and Amerindian Captain

1997 -- water distribution piping

• Simple white plastic piping, with vertical standoffs and hand valves.

• With no dirt backfill, residents punctured the piping at a spot convenient for them.

1999 – Orealla water system improvements

• Expanded water distribution piping, including service to savanna uplands.

• Large plastic tanks store water and allow the pump to be shut off during the day.

• Piping trench backfilled.

2008 still shiny pump

Needs Gaskets & Welding

Valdi handing out pens

A simple gift –A wonderful sense of gratification

1995 – Visiting schools

• Orealla School 500 kids.

• Blackboards divide up children into individual grades

• No heating, no cooling and poorly lit

1995 – School library looks sparse

Orealla new government school

New school new library

Gals and Guys

Club # 10 donated blood pressure equipment to local medical clinic

P. A. system for Tagore High School

Hospital supplies

School Head Crabwood Creek High School Using Rotary Copier

The Process of Negotiating in a Foreign Land

Old Lutheran High School now Skeldon High School negotiation in

2008

Guyana School Area Director 2008

Crabwood Creek High School 2008 negotiations

School leaders including P.T.A.

Orealla Tribal Council negotiations 2008

Proposed 9th Project• Supply three Guyana schools with

computer labs:– Orealla AmerIndian School– Crabwood Creek High School– Skeldon High School

• Conditions:– Technical and teaching support– Equipment repair and replacement– Schools start “Community School Program”

The lasting relationship

In 1997 I addressed the high school in this courtyard

The Corriverton Rotary Club

My Friend Harry

1995 Miss Penue 2004

November, 2008 now junior in high school in Corriverton