International

Plans for the year:

Mike Clewes (Chair), Geoff Brown and Roger Bowers

Saltergate Children’s Home Ethiopia / Microloans

This charity based in Chesterfield helps orphaned children in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Rather than taking children off the streets and putting them into orphanages Kevin Morley provides funds for the children to live in a normal home with a family member, perhaps a grandmother or an aunt and also gets them into school. Since its inception 2015 we have supported Kevin’s work and seen the number of children cared for grow from 2 to more than 200. 

Our recent aim has been on supply funds for Micro Loans so that the family members looking after the children can become self-sufficient in providing for the children. To date we have donated £4,410 to this scheme which with repayments has allowed £6,560 to finance 18 projects. Thus, a total of 18 families in Addis Ababa are becoming self-sufficient. We will receive an update on the progress of this initiative early in the new Rotary year and consider a possible additional donation.

We have also started a spectacle recycling scheme where a donation box has been located in Boots Ilkley. John Watson is kindly collecting them and we are forwarding them to Kevin who is giving them to a contact in Addis Ababa for donation to those who need glasses. He is also looking for used hearing aids if anybody has a source for them.

The Funzi and Bodo Trust

The Funzi and Bodo Trust was started over a decade ago to help alleviate the poverty and suffering in these 2 villages in Kenya. Working with villagers they provide extensive medical and educational services, sanitation and clean water as well as projects to end poverty. The charity works both on the island of Funzi and on the mainland in the village of Bodo. 

We first supported the charity in December 2024, and it is proposed that we get an update from the charity later in 2026 to consider a donation to their micro loans scheme to help the residents become self-supporting in a similar way to the scheme operating in Ethiopia.

Other Initiatives

We will also review other Rotary schemes that are operating in D1040 such as old bicycles and wheelchairs. As well as review other Rotary charities such as Shelterbox, Polio and Aquabox.