Dear Rotarians and Friends,
Last June, Steve Hunsberger introduced me to Carrie Martin, who is a member of the Northeast Philadelphia Cheltenham and Rockledge Rotary Club and the Project Coordinator for MAMA Project.Since then, we have connected several times on work Carrie is doing with Priscilla Benner, the founder of MAMA, who has a mission to improve access to education, food, water and healthcare in South Sudan that is very similar to the work in progress at the Konkourona Alliance Foundation (KAFO), Inc. in Burkina Faso.
I spoke with Carrie and Priscilla last week and they let me know that MAMA is expanding their healthcare program and they are working with Project CURE to provide much needed medical equipment and supplies. They mentioned wishing they had soccer balls and uniforms and I happened to have several boxes and totes filled with balls and uniforms in my garage that were generously donated by a former colleague but were just too expensive to send to Burkina Faso. I was going away and could not meet with Carrie, but I left the boxes and totes on my porch for Carrie to pick up for inclusion in the shipping container being sent from Project CURE. The boxes the balls and uniforms are packed in came from the K’nex kits that were donated to the Indian Valley Boys and Girls Club last Christmas.
One of the questions several students asked me last week at the Indian Valley Boys and Girls Club last week was “What do you not like about your job?” I told them that it makes me sad when I can’t help all of the people who need it. I remember feeling that way when Carrie and Priscilla first contacted me last June. They were looking for support for a Global Grant and we were already working on two of our own, so it just did not seem feasible to add another one onto what we were already doing. Our work was so similar though that I wanted to do what I could to help in other ways, like recommending Project CURE, sharing how we work with local government leaders to build schools, sharing the name of a non-profit organization that provides free sports equipment, and sharing the soccer balls and uniforms.
In times like these I think about my 6 word memoir that I shared with all of you a few weeks ago, “I did the best I could.” I think that goes for so many members of our club and what we create together is incredible.
In Rotary
Kate Hoath
President