Ukraine

RCBI has responded robustly to the crisis that has faced Ukraine since March of 2022, beginning with a donation of  $13,000 in discretionary funds to Rotary International for Ukraine Relief.  Our World Community Service Committee then formed a Ukraine Subcommittee and has been working in close cooperation with three Rotarys Clubs to facilitate aid: the Rotary Club of Zamosc Ordynacki, Poland, the Rotary Club of Krakow Zamek Niepolomice-Centrum, and the Rotary Club of Kyiv-Sophia, Ukraine. We have delivered tens of thousands of dollars worth of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including well-stocked paramedic backpacks, non-perishable food, baby food and formula, toiletries, sleeping bags, heating/cooking stoves, children’s clothing, headlamps, power banks, and generators. Assistance is ongoing, and we look forward to continuing to work as part of the responsible and honest international team we have established.

In addition, this subcommittee cooperates with The Ukrainian Association of Washington, conducting an annual holiday toy drive for Ukrainian refugee children in need. We also deliver to Ukrainian refugees a U-Haul truckload of harvested household goods from our annual rummage sale in July. We have participated in these local efforts for the past three years and look forward to continuing.

Nicaragua

Domestic Violence/Sexual abuse survivors workshops on Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

This project began in July, 2024 for one year partnership with Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Island Association (BOSIA). Twenty facilitators from ten communities across Ometepe meet monthly with psychologists to learn how to assist women in their communities in dealing with domestic violence. Women are learning the value of support groups, creating bonds and emotional outlets, and strengthening coping skills.

Sign Language Classes in partnership with Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Island Association (BOSIA)

4-week workshops are held during school breaks in July and January. Students come with a family member to learn NSL and expand their opportunities at school and in the community. This project also trains students to train other students on the island. 

Uganda

• The Girls With Dignity Project in Kumi, Uganda was funded through a District Community Grant. When complete, 1,400 girls will receive menstrual kits to ensure they stay in school and 2,000 boys will receive underwear and be educated on female development.
• RCBI funded two Kumi, Uganda Family Health Days through Rotary District Community Grants. The first two-day medical, dental, and eye care clinic was held in December 2019 and treated 1,860 people. 21 Ugandan Rotarians participated. The second two-day clinic will be held once the country re-opens due to COVID-19.
• RCBI funded and planned a Village Savings and Loan (VSL) project in Amalotar, Uganda in cooperation with AWIGOE Foundation and the Rotary Club of Kyoga Basin. It will commence when the country re-opens due to COVID-19 and train 18 VSL groups made up of 400 members the first year to drive economic development among villages where our wells were drilled.

Tanzania

• RCBI’s Save to Grow project with Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in northern Tanzania was completed. It trained 3,775 needy subsistence farmers in 180 savings and loan groups with 81% women, and built nearly $400,000 in assets to drive economic development; 200 farmers were trained in improved techniques, 14 producer groups contracted with 5 local exporters, and 10 groups were trained in managing digital savings groups through mobile phones. Poulsbo, Kingston, and Bellevue Rotary clubs help fund the project.

• RCBI, the Poulsbo Rotary Club, and the Aga Khan Foundation successfully qualified in the top 10 for a $2M Rotary Foundation Program of Scale grant to create 1,500 digital savings and loan groups for 30,000 needy farmers in the Arusha Region, called Save to Grow 2.0. The final grant award winner will be announced in September 2020.

• RCBI member Michael Camp along with Gayle Heller and Ann Pyles from the Rotary Club of Poulsbo visited Tanzania in September 2019 to evaluate Save to Grow 1.0 and plan Save to Grow 2.0 to reach up to eight times the number of subsistence farmers.

Nepal

• Through the Wilderness Medical Society, RCBI contributed essential medical supplies and equipment to the remote Wangchu Hospital in Chyangba, Nepal. One goal of the project is for the government to sign off on financial and medical support and that medical supplies will get the hospital operational before the rains come and wash the road out.

India and Bangladesh

• RCBI’s past investments through Upaya Ventures in two businesses, SMV Green (financing electric rickshaws for poor entrepreneurs), and Drinkwell (safe water kiosks) continued to drive job creation and healthier living for the poor.