Rhinelander Rotarians are actively involved in two international service projects.

ITOJU VILLAGE, TANZANIA

The first project is located in Itoju Village, Tanzania. Our international partner in this project is the Rotary Club of Bukoba, Tanzania (District 9200). The Club President, Mr. Iqbal Visram, has been a tremendous help in organizing the project. The project is being led for the Rhinelander Club by Rotarian Kevin Jenkins, who was brought into the project through his colleague, Ambassador Mark Green (US Ambassador to Tanzania 2007-09). The project consists of assisting with the ongoing development of Sacred Heart Secondary School (SHSS), a project which was founded by Father Avitus Kiguta, a native of Itoju Village & now a member of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Kevin made the journey to Itoju in December/January 2009 through a RI Volunteer Service Grant. After the visit, a much greater understanding of the project was gained, along with a clear sense of the ongoining needs of SHSS & the village. For more information on the project, check the following blogs regularily, where updates on the progress along with information on Kevin's travels and life in general in Itoju Village is posted.  There are also more pictures in our Photo Gallery.

Kevin's Blog on his experiences in Tanzania for Rotary

Article series from NewsoftheNorth.Net on Rhinelander Rotary in Tanzania

CHIMBOTE, PERU

The Rotary Club of Rhinelander in District 6220 in northern Wisconsin, in partnership with the Chanhassen Rotary Club in District 5950 in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and the Chimbote Rotary Club in District 4460 in the Ancash Region in Peru, is supporting a Pre-University Academy in Chimbote, Peru. The program involves providing academic tutoring and instruction in order that recent graduates from impoverished high schools in Chimbote can pass admission tests so they can enroll in technical colleges or universities. The belief is that only through education can the youth of Chimbote escape their situations of severe poverty. The Pre-University Academy operates in a community center in a poor section of Chimbote called La Victoria.

Chimbote is the largest city in the Ancash Region of Peru, in South America. It is also the capital of the Santa Province and the Chimbote District. The city is located on the Pacific Ocean coast at 420 kilometers north of Lima on the North Pan-American Highway. Its exact geographic location is 9° 8' south latitude and 78° 35' west longitude. It is the start of a chain of important cities like Trujillo, Chiclayo and Piura. The advantages of this geographic location turns Chimbote into a transshipment junction for all the area of the Santa River valley.

During the 1970s El Niño, an earthquake, and over fishing drastically affected the fishing industry, and restrictions were added. The results are that many fishing boats sit at idle in the harbor and with extremely high unemployment, poverty abounds. The poverty in turn is manifested in other problems like high crime rates, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic abuse and incest.

The program formed by the Rotary Club partnership identified above will focus on allowing impoverished youth of Chimbote to continue their formal education and to use this education as a bridge out of poverty.

Our Rotary Board recently approved a $5,000 donation to our international project in Peru. 

Program Contact:

Dan Kuzlik

715-365-2750

danglobesolution@aol.com