Congratulations, Capital District!

KIF Awards Africa Initiative $19K

by Raga Elim, Ph.D., Chair
Capital District Committee on International Understanding

At its meeting in June, the Kiwanis International Foundation Board of Trustees awarded the Capital District $19 thousand for the Initiative for Africa. This amount more than matches the $18,400 raised for this project so far by the District Committee on International Understanding.  

The Initiative for Africa is partnering with KickStart International, a non-profit U.S.-based organization that works in Africa to help small-scale farmers by investing in human- powered irrigation pumps. With these efficient, durable pumps, farmers can feed their children, establish small businesses, and thus move their families out of poverty permanently.

KickStart has offered to match contributions from the Capital District and Kiwanis International Foundation with funds from other donors. Altogether, these funds will help give almost 250 families-including 500 to 750 children-access to food, medicine, and education. Left unaided, some of these children would have died.

Encouraged by this success, the District Committee on International Understanding has been making plans for this year. It has already added a new member to its ranks during the past few days, and is actively seeking  more members from the various regions. Our aim is to have a 15-person committee. With increased manpower, we aim to reach to a wider audience. We invite interested readers to contact us at: relim@cox.net

The committee is also working to expand its use of technology. For instance, we are duplicating  a CD of the Initiative for Africa PowerPoint presentation shown at past regional and district conferences. We will soon distribute this CD to all District Trustees and invite them to share it with their Lt. Governors and other leaders. Additionally, we are seeking to create a Web page linked to  the District Web site that would include information on our international understanding (IU) projects. We already have submitted a proposal in this regard. Once it is approved, our Web page will also include information about IU activities of clubs across the district. This resource will enable all of us to share and use this much-needed information.

Of special importance is our plan to reach out to Key Club and CKI members. For details, please tune in to the next issue of eBuilder.

Remember: All children of the world are our children.