[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 586

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

1189: Panama Rotaract club takes aim at rural poverty 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Fri Jul 21, 2006 1:46 am (PST) 
Panama Rotaract club takes aim at rural poverty

By Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga
Rotary International News

The Rotaract Club of Panama, Panama, has embarked on its most 
ambitious humanitarian effort, aimed at establishing income-
generating activities in five economically depressed rural 
communities. 

On the first weekend of April, members of the club drove from Panama 
City across mountainous terrain to deliver construction materials 
for self-sustainable farms to the villages of Las Huacas, Luisa, Los 
Valles de Cañazas, and Los Guarumos. Two months later, residents of 
Llanas Arriba received their share of building materials. 

In addition, the club delivered a supply of fertilizer, seeds, and 
tools to facilitate planting at the start of the rainy season in 
June. 

When completed, each of the communally owned small farms will enable 
participating residents to grow their own food and sell the surplus 
for cash income. Products will include chickens, rabbits, rice, 
cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, yucca, corn, squash, green 
beans, yams, and sweet potatoes. 

The farming support initiative is an offshoot of the Rotaract club's 
annual medical mission. After several years of sponsoring health 
care visits in rural Panama, the Rotaractors realized that their 
service projects would have more impact if they addressed the roots 
of poverty. 

With the help of Nutre Hogar, a local nonprofit organization that 
addresses hunger concerns, the club identified communities most in 
need of assistance. A committee of eight Rotaractors, two Rotarians, 
and experts from Nutre Hogar involves residents at each stage of the 
project, from selection of crops and animals to the development and 
management of the farms. 

"We are still beginning, but I can tell you a story that hit our 
hearts in one of the previous visits to the communities," says 
project coordinator Alvaro Ortega Noel, of the Rotaract Club of 
Panama. "As this is a community project, the lands for the orchards 
have to be provided or donated by them. In one community, an old man 
told us that he is donating a big part of his land to this community 
project because he had to see his son die of malnutrition and he 
didn't want to see that happen anymore." 

The club teamed up with the Rotaract Club of South Perth, Australia, 
and with the help of the Rotary Club of Mill Point and RI District 
9450 (Western Australia, Australia) obtained a US$33,347 Matching 
Grant from The Rotary Foundation. 

"[This] is one of the most beautiful projects that I have worked 
with in my five years as a Rotaractor, not only because it can reach 
to a lot of people but also because we are bringing hope and, better 
than all, nutrition to [the poor]," says Alvaro. "I am sure that 
this kind of help will push them to be better." 

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
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