Balwyn Centenary Grants, Round 1, donated $119,000 to 5 Rotary clubs to get their very-worthy projects underway. The latest round of Balwyn Centenary Grants has just been announced. This round saw a total of $119,000 awarded to five projects in four countries. Prior to this round a total of $252,744 has been awarded to ten projects – so the total contribution to date has now reached $371,744 after two years of operation. The Balwyn Centenary Grants program was started in 2021 with the objective of delivering one million dollars of Grants to Australian Rotary clubs over a 5-year period.
The five successful projects were:
- Uganda Repair & restoration of dilapidated classrooms
- Bangladesh Community based vision care & blindness prevention program
- Cambodia Build 20 washrooms for disabled children in Siem Reap
- Nepal Water & Sanitation project at school in Dhulikhel, Nepal
- Nepal Equip a birthing centre in Kangel, Nepal
Uganda: Rotary Canberra $50,000
Project to repair and restore dilapidated and incomplete classroom structures in the greater Masaka region of Uganda. It will transform these structures into safe, effective and secure learning / teaching spaces. There are many primary schools in rural Uganda that have no water or sanitation and this requires girl students to spend many hours in the school day walking to a river and back to the school for water. Lack of toilet facilities means that girls do not attend school one week a month. Teachers also lack hygienic toilets.
Bangladesh: Rotary Rowville - Lysterfield $24,000
Project is to run 25 day-long community-based eye camps in northern Bangladesh and screen over 3000 people. The camps will be conducted by a specialist Ophthalmologist aided by professional nurse and other support staffs. There will be free screening for Refractory Errors, Cataract, Glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy for all attending participants. A simultaneous awareness campaign targeting 30,000 people will be done through distribution of leaflets at community gatherings.
Cambodia Rotary Albert Park $20,000
Project is to build 20 washrooms for disabled children who live in rural villages in Siem Reap province of Cambodia. The washrooms will include a toilet as these children need to use a wheelchair for mobility. The children have been diagnosed with various health conditions including cerebral palsy by Safe Haven Medical Outreach in Siem Reap. The cost is $1,000 and each washroom is customized to the child’s needs by Cambodia Clean Water & Toilet Project – a charity managed by a Melbourne Passport Rotarian.
Nepal Rotary Northbridge $15,000
Project to is to build WHO-standard toilet facilities in a K to 12 school in Dhulikhel, Nepal. It will provide hygiene training to the students and training in basic maintenance of the facilities. There are 214 boys and 143 girls currently utilising one toilet and one open urinal for each in the same building, with limited or no privacy for girls during menstruation. Dhulikhel is a major town 30km from Kathmandu with a population of 34,000. It has ample good water supply, but as in Nepal generally, toilets are a rarity, open defecation is common generally and at the school. Absenteeism of girls during menstruation is also common due to lack of facilities
Nepal Rotary Richmond $10,000
Project aims to equip a birthing center as part of a recently built facility in Kangel, a remote area in eastern Nepal. The plan is to convert and equip three rooms that already exist in the Health Post as follows - Room 1 for assessment and preparation; Room 2 as a Birthing area; Room 3 for Postnatal care and rest. Other planned activities in the centre include Education for the mother about proper nutrition for herself and the baby, and Postnatal education and care of baby.
Program Summary
The Balwyn Centenary Grants program was started in 2021 with the objective of delivering one million dollars of Grants to Australian Rotary clubs over a 5-year period.
The first tranche was identified as 21B and closed on 30-Sep-2021. Total $70,000.
The second tranche was identified as 22A and closed on 31-Mar-2022. Total $49,000.
The third tranche was identified as 22B and closed on 30-Sep-2022. Total $133,744.
The total of the Balwyn Centenary Grants program to date amounts to $252,744.