The Beauty Of Donating To TRF; A Case Study By Rotary Club Of NAKURU
This is a story. A story about making a difference. A story about the impact of donating towards the Rotary Foundation. A story about the relentless commitment of a Rotary club in doing good, no matter how big or small, for someone else. A story about restoring hope and solving developmental issues through individual donations.
The remarkable story of the Rotary Club of Nakuru started in 1952 when the club was chartered. Since its inception, the Rotary Club of Nakuru intended to achieve its full potential by building goodwill and better friendships, advocating for the truth, fairness, and doing things that would be beneficial to all.
Of interest, is the unwavering yet impressive commitment of the club in donating towards the Rotary Foundation. Since November 2018 we are focusing on the essence and impact of donating towards the Rotary Foundation, it is the perfect moment to reflect on the Rotary Club of Nakuru as our case study.
Fun Fact;
Currently, RC Nakuru has a membership of 32 members, has planted over 12,000 trees and built 870 Water tanks, all through member donations and grants from The Rotary Foundation.
Let’s break this down, shall we?
Currently, RC Nakuru takes pride in having 32members and of these, 31 members actively donate towards the Rotary Foundation (TRF), with donations ranging from $10 to $1000. Further, 7 members have made personal commitment to donate $500 or more.
The Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. And the RC Nakuru boasts of an impressive record of 36 PHFs in its club, with the first one attained in 1980! Impressive, right? It even gets better; 6 of them are actually multiple PHFs; which means, they have hit the $1,000 mark, more than once!
RC Nakuru has contributed a total of USD 31,000 to the Global Grant (GG) as outlined below, and this is only a tip of the iceberg.
| GRANT NUMBER | AMOUNT (IN US DOLLARS) |
| GG 1125380 | 5,000 |
| GG 1325812 | 5,000 |
| GG 132189 | 6,000 |
| GG 1416989 | 6,000 |
| GG 1411599 | 6,000 |
| GG 1751083 | 3,000 |
| TOTALS | US$ 31,000 |
The Beauty of Donating to TRF
The beauty of donating towards TRF is that after you donate, your club can access Global Grants that help your club achieve huge projects, directly benefiting your community!
- The 6T Rainwater Harvesting Program of Rotary Club of Nakuru
The 6T (Trees, Training, Toilet, Tank, Table banking and Transformation) Program is an initiative of the Rotary Club of Nakuru, started in 2002. The club realized solving the perennial problem of inadequate clean drinking water was the entry point to get the community deal with the issues that concerned them.
The program is designed on a sharing basis. Community members organize themselves and get registered into a self-help group with common interest of between 15 to 25 members.
One 10,000 liter tank today costs about US$ 950. RC of Nakuru with the help of Matching grants, Global Grants, Districts, Club to club and individual sponsors; contributes about US$ 480 in hardware materials plus the cost of project administration. The group contributes about US$ 470 in locally available materials and labor.
The table below shows the achievements of the 6T Rain Water Harvesting Program by RC Nakuru against global grants from The Rotary Foundation
| DESCRIPTION | AMOUNT IN USD DOLLARS |
| Total amount of Rotary and others sponsors support to the project | 2,554,372 |
| Total amount of the beneficiaries contribution in cash, locally available materials and labor | 2,723,101 |
| Total cost of the project | 5,277,473 |
| Total 10,000 Liters tanks built | 6,073 |
| Total 30,000 Liters tanks built | 19 |
| Total shallow wells constructed | 20 |
| Total Toilets dug in the community | 6082 |
| Total Trees Planted | 496,150 |
Rotary Club of Nakuru: “Wine for Water” Global Grant
The “Wine for Water” Global Grant project from Rotary Club of Nakuru in partnership with the Rotary Club of Tagliamento, North-East Italy, is another example of the beauty of donating towards TRF.
The project stems from an Italian priest that made wine from his vineyard to give to friends and family. His compassion and desire to expand the impact of the Mutitu Water & Sanitation Co (MWASCO) in the lives of residence in Laikipia County gave him the idea of asking everyone who received his wine for free to donate to the project and provide water to those in need.
MWASCO originally started as a self-help group by the Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri under the supervision of Fr. Romano Filippi, a priest who has been in Kenya for over 50 years and truly made a significant impact in his Mugunda community and surrounding areas. MWASCO serves a population of around 30,000 humans and 20,000 livestock with over 4000 water accounts. The company has laid water distribution lines of 600KM with 54 storage and pressure breaking tanks.
The project “Wine for Water” aims to extend a water pipeline to Ngaring’iro area (Villages of Migaita, Wamani and Kiambiriria). The project included the pipeline of 7.1KM from the current farthest tank to a 100Meter cubic masonry tank being constructed, and two pipelines extending in opposite directions of the new tank.
This project directly benefitted an additional population of 2,000 with water piped to their homesteads, 5 schools, public offices, police stations and a hospital to name a few. The provision of water also aided in peace and conflict resolution for residence of neighboring villages. In the past the Ngaring’iro constituents were known to encroach on the neighboring villages that had a reliable access to water. They would bring their cattle and break pipes or demand water from residence at their homesteads.
All said and done, the need for members within our district to contribute to the TRF cannot be underscored. As justified by the above story from the Rotary Club of Nakuru, these donations not only fund life-changing projects worldwide but come back to fund the projects in our communities through grants!
Together, we can solve our own problems and hence, we need to be on the forefront in donating towards TRF. Don’t be afraid to take on large projects that make a sustainable difference in the lives of the communities you serve.
As Rotarians we are truly making a difference and strive to be the inspiration!
By Rtn. Ashley Gasperi – Public Relations Committee, Rotary Club of Nakuru
