The contrast between the girl’s pristine school uniform and the pitiful conditions of her home is stark.
She’s a lucky one. Her secondary school education is totally free, thanks to Empowering Kids in Kenya, one of the five charities which shared the £30,000 raised by Rotary in Harpenden’s classic car show, Classics on the Common, in July.
How do you raise more than £130,000 to equip a Ugandan women’s medical centre with an operating theatre, transforming the centre into a fully-fledged hospital?
That was the task begun by Rotary in Harpenden under the leadership of Dr Jim McWhirter of the Reading Matins Rotary Club.
Just a few of the many photos we have received from Rotarians in Lviv, a major city in west Ukraine, where our first Friendship Boxes, filled with educational and recreational items, were delivered in time for Christmas to children most affected by the war.
Local Rotarians pictured with one of the 124 temporary modular homes that have helped to house residents of Moshchun, a village near the Ukrainian capital, where Russian bombardment destroyed or severely damaged 70% of the buildings.
Their appeal to other Rotary clubs brought support from 12 countries including Britain. Our Ukrainian Quiz Night, held in November, raised funds for furniture and other household essentials.
Some 19 months ago Rotary in Harpenden took on a project to raise funds to equip a new operating theatre being built at the Kyengera Women’s hospital in Wakiso, near Kampala, Uganda.
We had the task of raising the equivalent of US$5,000 to get the $30,000+ project off the ground.
Pump Aid, the charity dedicated to bringing the benefits of clean water to African countries, was one of the main beneficiaries of the funds raised by Rotary in Harpenden’s Classics on the Common show last July. It has now found a way to double the value of that donation.
Each year, toys, games, writing materials and toiletries are delivered to disadvantaged youngsters and elderly people in central and eastern Europe through the Rotary Shoebox scheme. This year school children in Malawi also benefited.
The quiz organised by Rotary in Harpenden to raise money for the ongoing rebuilding of Moshchun, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv, raised £1133.
Enter a team of 6 persons and help Rotary in Harpenden raise money for the reconstruction of Moshchun Village, Kyiv.
When disasters such as the horrific earthquakes in Turkey and Syria occur Rotary in Harpenden is at the ready to respond.