Rotary International Global Grant Submitted July 1

A grant to match and increase local fundraising by $27,522.00 was submitted to Rotary at the district level (Minneapolis/St. Paul and central Minnesota) by the Rotary Club of Willmar’s grant committee on July 1, 2014.

The Willmar club used information and background knowledge supplied by E-quip Africa to plan the project which will create computer labs in seven schools and supply four more with reading textbooks so each student will a copy.

A total of 2,800 students will benefit from these gifts which many of you good donors have made possible. The schools were vetted in 2012 and 2013 by travelers (Candy, Joan, Greg and Doug) reporting to E-quip Africa. The information gained by these trips was central to the project plan.

The project calls for a four member “Vocational Training Team” that will travel to Ghana to conduct workshops in the use of reading textbooks to increase the basic skills of learning from the knowledge level to higher levels such as comprehension, application, analysis, syntheses and evaluation. The team, consisting of Joan Kuhn, Candy Anderson, Greg Martin and Doug Wilkowske will also work with teachers needing to learn basic computer skills. These skills are mandated by the Ghanaian national ICT curriculum, but teachers in these seven schools have had no computers to work with so they have been drawing diagrams of keyboards and monitors on the chalkboard trying to teach what it is that computers do. The team will travel to and work in Ghana in late October and early November.

Before these computers can be installed, many of the classrooms receiving them need upgrading in ventilation, security and electrical supply. Funding for those improvements will also be covered by the grant.

E-quip Africa donors contributed generously to the Rotary Club of Willmar to carry out the project. Those donations, both in-kind and monetary, were added to other major contributions from local organizations and individuals, including the Willmar Rotary Club, the Church of St. Mary and a generous individual who prefers to remain anonymous to raise nearly $15,000.00 needed to generate the Rotary International match. Combined, they create a budget of over $42,599.00. The Willmar Rotary Club wants to thank you and its own members for your generosity!

The container will leave Willmar on August 15 packed by Rytel Moving and Storage of Willmar. A lot of work needs to be done between now and then if this grant is approved. Even more work would be required if it isn’t!

What are the chances of success? The Willmar Rotary Club’s grant committee believes they are quite good. Your thoughts and prayers will help the process in this win-win project.

Stay tuned… the first hurdle comes tomorrow, July 9. The second and major one will hopefully be cleared by the middle of the month.

When you have time, take a look at the attached documents. Hopefully they will provide clarity to the project.

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