Stories

In the fall of 2024, the Rotary Club of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala (Rotary District 4250) requested that the Rotary Club of Truckee enter into a partnership by becoming the international sponsor of an application for a global grant from The Rotary Foundation. The project was to be titled “Saving Mothers and Babies in the Rural Guatemalan Highlands” and would involve the purchase of medical equipment and training for Hospitalito Atitlán, located on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.

The Green Sahel Project was a partnership between 9 clubs in Rotary District 5190 and a Senegalese non-profit called Volunteer Network for a Green and Prosperous Sahel (VNGPS). VNGPS is an amazing organization that is completely run and led by volunteers so that all money donated goes to buying materials for the projects. Nothing is spent on overhead or labor. The first part of the project included building a tree nursery and planting thousands of fruit trees for families in need in Northern Senegal, a place where many people go 9 months per year without eating a fruit or vegetable. The second part included building a large community farm where people in a small town called Fonde Elimane and its surrounding villages can grow crops for free, thus supplementing their income and food supply. VNGPS is all about sustainable solutions and always stays in an area after doing a project so that it doesn't fall apart over time, which is what usually happens with most charity projects. VNGPS already has great trust from the rural communities all along Northern Senegal. Everyone who benefited from the project is so grateful to Rotary District 5190 for their support!