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This Year's Major Projects
For the 2008/09
administration, ambition is definitely the watchword as far as
undertaking service projects is concerned. For the first time in the 18
year history of the New Kingston Rotary Club, we will be embarking upon
three major projects. We say embarking upon, as clearly, the expectation
is not to complete three projects -- furniture for a basic school,
reduction in child mortality and developing a children learning centre,
all in a single administration. That’s virtually impossible. And while
we know it will be all hands on deck, as members will see for the
synopsis of these projects below, each is a necessary and vital
undertaking in the continuing quest of Rotary service above self.
Basic School
Furniture Project
We have often
heard it said – start them right, grow them bright. The island’s basic
schools provide the educational foundation for our 2-6 year olds. Many
of the these schools survive on ‘hand me down’ furniture, and this
project in collaboration with Food For The Poor, seeks to provide
several Basic Schools with chairs and trapezoidal tables for these
beginners. The estimated cost of the project is over J$3M.
New Ventilators For Special
Care Nursery, UWI
Child mortality, arising
from such diseases as measles, polio, and diphtheria is for the most
part under control in Jamaica, largely due to our improved living
standards and advances in vaccination delivery. On the other hand,
challenges like premature delivery of children with multiple
complications such as respiratory distress syndrome, are on the rise.
The need for equipment at our care institutions like the Special Care
Nursery, UWI to help deal with this growing challenge is most urgent.
The Rotary Club of New Kingston will partner with the Department of
Child Health at the UWI in a US$41,000 project to acquire life saving
equipment for the Special Care Nursery at the Hospital.
Children Learning Centre
In 2005, the New Kingston
Rotary Club established a relationship with the Swallowfield community
when it initiated a Grade Six Achievement Test (G-SAT) preparation class
project to help the children of this community better prepare for these
examinations. Afrerall higher and more passes would lead to more
children having the opportunity of a secondary education. The current
facility hosts about 50 children and provides not only help with GSAT
preparation but basic literacy training, as well as building their sense
of community responsibility. The current need is greater than our
initial and feeble efforts and hence a need for a structured
Swallowfield Children Learning Centre that can address issues of
violence and conflict resolution, behaviour patterns, remedial
literacy/numeracy interventions, community and religious responsibility,
sports, and of course G-SAT preparation. This combined educational and
social skills project for the Swallowfield community will be undertaken
by the Rotary Club of New Kingston, the Rotaract Club of New Kingston,
the Swallowfield Chapel and the St St John Ambulance.
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