MONMOUTH Rotary provide some very special local events in the town, including fireworks night, Walk the Wye, the model railway exhibition, and the Raft Race, and this year they are introducing a new prize draw to help some of the smaller local charities.

Although a large proportion of raised funds are spent on supporting many local charities, Monmouth Rotary also donate a portion of funds to international projects.

One of the international projects Monmouth has recently supported in connection with Los Angeles Rotary Club, was to work with the Suna Migori Rotary club in that part of Kenya.

The funds provided water tanks, hand wash stations and latrines to 4 schools with over 1,500 students and one rural clinic.

The total grant has provided water tanks, hand wash stations and latrines to 9 more schools with over 4,500 students and another rural clinic.

Working with the community who have contributed labour and raw materials such as bricks and gravel, Rotary have provided improved sanitation to over 6,000 students.

The goal is to do two more projects over the next two years for a total of about 28 primary schools with 15,000 students.

This year, Los Angeles Rotary Club, with donations from Monmouth Rotary, also assisted a group of women in Migori to set up a small business manufacturing and selling washable sanitary pads.

Their brand is ‘Tumia Tena Pads’, which means ‘Use it again’ in Swahili.

This part of the grant combines improved sanitation for the girls and women in Kenya with economic development for women in Migori.

They can produce about 150 sets of 3 pads each day and are now marketing them in Kenya.

This is just one example of the cooperation between Rotary Clubs around the world.

This can only be achieved with the generosity and wholehearted support for the events that Monmouth Rotary organises.