In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand In Gear - Issue 3 | Page 69

Help adopt a village
Rotary Club of Gore
president-elect and
District 9980 Grants
Committee member
Candace Bangura has
seen first-hand the
powerful difference
Candace Bangura
adopt-a-village
projects can make, having visited three in Uganda.
Her experiences have spurred her to co-ordinate a
similar project, with district backing, which will see Kiwi
Rotarians partner with Kampala’s Rotary Club of Kololo
to support a small Ugandan village, Lugo.
“Rotarians in East Africa are leaders in adopt-a-
village initiatives, with a strong history of successful
programmes supported by global grants,” she says.
“For its part, the Kololo club has been involved in
more than 18 projects, three of which are still running,
including one that’s being funded by a global grant
from our Foundation.”
In Lugo, the driving objective is to tackle the root
cause of the village’s challenges: poverty, and the
substandard sanitation, water supply, health and
education it brings with it.
Just over 1000 people live in Lugo, Candace says, with
an average of seven people per household.
“The community survives largely off subsistence
farming, which leaves little-to-no money to improve
their farming yields and take care of their families.
“We want to invest in the skills of Lugo’s people, so they
can implement a variety of practical activities – like
improving water and education – in their village. The
idea is the villagers will lead these activities, so the
whole community moves forward together for the
benefit of all.”  
To co-ordinate efforts at the New Zealand end, a sub-
committee of the Grants Committee has already been
established, on which Candace is joined by district
governor-nominee Andrew Hamilton, of the Rotary
Club of Dunedin Central, and current Rotary Club of
Gore president Nigel Moore.
The project’s to-do list includes increasing villagers’
awareness of sustainable agriculture, disease
prevention, and boosting the community’s water and
sanitation systems.
For their part, the villagers’ contributions will include
labour and materials for protecting wells.
The project is likely to last two years in total, with
Rotary’s involvement expected to end six months after
the implementation phase.
“I’ve had the privilege of visiting a number of Rotary-
funded adopt-a-village initiatives in Uganda – I’ve seen
first-hand how this type of project results in truly
positive and uplifting impacts for everyone involved,”
Candace says.
Clubs from throughout the district have been invited
to donate to the project, a contribution that offers a
two-pronged benefit: the satisfaction of seeing the
village grow and benefit, but also the chance to gain
comprehensive insight into the global grant process.
“As well as helping out the people of Lugo, we’re really
keen that this project serves as an educational tool for
clubs in our district that are interested in learning more
about how global grants work and getting a great head
start in pursuing their own.”
Candace Bangura visits a similar adopt-a- village project in Uganda.
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