Dear Rotarians and Friends,
Two of our three toilets at home stopped draining this week and I worried that there might be a blockage in the central line that would impact the last one too. While I was waiting for the plumber to come, I thought about how much I appreciate having indoor bathrooms that usually work with no problems. I also thought about the toilets that have been installed in the past few years in the community I am connected to in Burkina Faso as part of my work with the Konkourona Alliance Foundation (KAFO), Inc.
I thought people in Burkina Faso would be thrilled at the opportunity to use indoor toilets, but adoption of the practice has been slow. It is almost unimaginable to people in remote villages where water is scarce that clean water that they could drink and use for cooking would be used for toilets. They also struggle with the idea of elimination inside the house, believing that it is far more sanitary to keep human waste outside. The recent houses we built for middle school teachers had both indoor toilets for people who are accustomed to them and latrines for visitors who are not. I was curious about what percentage of people in Africa have access to toilets or latrines and it looks like it is about 33%. The remainder of the population uses open air defecation, which poses health risks in highly populated areas.
That made me think about news Rick Kowey shared last week about our club reaching “Every Rotarian Every Year” (EREY) goals again this year, along with achieving 100% Paul Harris Attainment and the 100% Foundation Giving Club Award. Rick acknowledged support of our members, donors, Board of Directors, officers and assistant District Governors in making it possible. That led me to consider all of the Rotary International Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects that our donations may support. I went online to check the list of grants in our District and found our project for the middle school in Konkourona, another project in Rwanda that I remember hearing about a couple of years ago but forgot, and one more in Mexico. That led me to wonder whether you would be interested in hearing more about the projects in Rwanda and Mexico or any others in progress.
You may realize that I have had a hard time keeping up with things this year as President. Since I started on this journey my work has changed significantly as I moved from Merck to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) and grew KAFO, and I have taken on part time roles as caregiver for my parents, and now my brother, who suffered a traumatic brain injury last month that will most likely leave him permanently disabled. I have done the best I could to keep all of the balls in the air and tried not to beat myself up too much when some dropped. One of the balls I have neglected is leadership of our International Service Committee, and I hope to pick it up again next month following changeover.
When I think ahead to the future of our club’s international service, I wonder if you would be interested in inviting a select few of the other clubs who have applied for Global Grants to our club to speak so we could consider supporting their work. I know we have supported other clubs in the past when they have reached out to us, but I was thinking we might consider being more proactive and reaching out to leaders of projects that we believe are most impactful and partnering with them. I remember Steve Kendra talking about the great experience he had in Medellin, Colombia last year and him introducing me to someone from a club there who was working on a Global Grant. I am also looking forward to hearing about Nicole’s trip to Italy in our meeting on June 19 and the service she was able to join in there. There are so many possibilities!
Before wrapping up, I would like to provide a brief description of what is happening in the photo above. Over the past 6 years, KAFO helped drill 3 wells and build 3 community fountains to provide access to clean water for about 3,500-5,000 people in Konkourona, Burkina Faso (the population is constantly shifting). The last fountain was built earlier this year in the section of the village that some of approximately 2 million displaced people from Burkina Faso settle into. I look at the picture and find it hard to imagine collecting all of the water I need to use in a day in plastic jugs and carrying it back to my house. This photo is blurry and you can’t hear what is happening, but these women are overjoyed to be in a community that is safer than some of the border villages they came from to escape jihadist activity and to have clean, drinkable water so accessible to them. While challenging to spend so much time collecting water, since the fountain is so close to their homes the activity brings them together and gives them a chance to connect as they wait for jugs to fill from the three faucets.
In Rotary
Kate
PResident