By Art Deardorff Based on a presentation by Dr. Marilyn Fitzgerald PETS – 2013

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 Margaret is a member of Rotary Club of Traverse

Michigan  She describes life-changing experience as part of her activities for RI International and Foundation  She was a presenter at President Elect Training Seminar for Zone 25/26 in 2013  Her presentation on “Sustainability” and “Microfinance”

have affected my thinking on Rotary Service Projects

 Originally an education project in Indonesia  Send money – educate children

 But she met a farmer – he wanted a water buffalo so he

could make more money  Then, send his own children to school

 Margaret went home and asked her children to get her

a water buffalo for Christmas

 Returning to Indonesia a second year, the women of the

village wanted piglets  They could raise the piglets for food, and sell some to

other villages to make money to send their children to school  Margaret went home that year and asked her children

for piglets for Christmas

 The cost of educating the children in Indonesia was

significantly reduced  Just sending money was effective, but expensive and it

was required forever  Better to provide the people with the resources to send their own children to school  The education of the children could continue in the future with little or no continued funding from RI  This is the concept of sustainability

 Similar to the old saying:  Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

 Does this apply to any of the service projects that we

conduct in our community?  Certainly, this is a question asked when we apply for District and/or Global Grants

 Somewhere in the world, the women in a village had to

walk a long distance to get water and bring it to a village  An RI project was conducted to provide a water well  (For sustainability, the villagers needed to be able to

operate and maintain the well for the long term)

 But there were long-term consequences that had not

been thought of!

 The social life of the women was disrupted  The women no longer had “value” in the village

 Through continued research, Margaret concluded  In many cases, it is better to loan money to people with

no resources than it is to just send the money  It enhances entrepreneurship in the recipients  After the loan is repaid, the recipients are less dependent on future aid  Maybe a loan on some of what we do is better than just

giving money???

 A web-based organization that loans money worldwide

through very small loans from individuals (e.g. $25)  Learned about this from Ray Ward (facebook Ray – current District Membership Chair)  Rocklin Loomis Club supports several of these loans  About Kiva.org

 I encourage you to consider KIVA  I provides an opportunity to some less fortunate  It is fun

Click the Link for this site About Kiva.org