More of the Beginning

Good Morning!

I think I am at a point now where I can use some material we have developed in pursuit of this grant. The following article, "Keep Smilin'" was written by Don Alhart and myself for the Rotary District 7120 Newsletter. It does a good job of introducing people to what the grant is about and its current status:





Keep Smilin’

It’s all in the smile!

And if you met Stella Dongo, you would find her brilliant smile quite contagious.

Stella first came to District 7120 as the Team Leader for a Group Study Exchange from District 9210 (Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe) in Africa, in the spring of 2007.




Stella Dongo and Carolyn Schrader


During her stay with the Cal- Mum club, Stella was reacquainted with Carolyn Schrader, from the Denver Mile High Rotary Club. They had worked on Matching Grants in the past and became close friends. That led to a new friendship between Carolyn and the Cal-Mum club.


The D9210 GSE Team and Tom Coene at the caledonia-Mumford Rotary Club

Carolyn’s smile is contagious too- as is her personality. That’s why it was easy for Cal-Mum Rotarian Tom Coene to be convinced to join Carolyn in applying for a 3H Grant (Health, Hunger, and Humanity) for Africa.

Aspects of the grant include:

Training and monitoring to create 128 women’s self-help economic groups and micro-finance, mentored by Rotarians in Harare


The Creation of 64 Youth Groups to allow Rotarians to mentor in leadership and economic skills

The Creation of 20 Youth Resource Centers, with computer and internet availability. Close to 500 youths would be trained in economic and management skills to run these centers.


Training of volunteers, who are HIV positive, to lead 72 “Living Well” support groups, comprised of other HIV positive members of the community.

When Tom shared this project with District foundation Chair PDG Don Alhart, and Community Service Co-Chair PDG Mahendra Shah, there was unanimous agreement to become a full partner- to “share the smiles”—and meet the needs this grant would address.

And now- the challenge.

District 7120 will match the $15,000 being given by the Denver Mile High Club. With matching funds from Rotary International, about $330,000 will be made available. There is every indication Rotary will approve this grant by May 1, 2009, which would allow a “Project Launch”—in September, in Zimbabwe. Tom Coene will be on the Board of Directors of this project- providing District 7120 with a direct link to its progress.

Says Tom, “ There is a significant amount of work to do –managing, soliciting, giving, monitoring, guiding, measuring, reporting, and publicizing this project. The district has given wonderful support and advice to me with this project, which is a new endeavor in scope and scale for all of us. There are some specific talents we’ll be seeking from individuals in our district. This is also a beautiful reason for Rotarians to give to the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Giving Program. Our ability to make a significant contribution has been enhanced by increased giving the APF in recent years.” And Tom adds, “The connection of this project to Stella sure adds meaning!”

It does add meaning. It is the beauty of Rotary. We accomplish great things through the friendships Rotary allows us to develop- the contagious smiles that help to improve lives through the world. Stella’s smile, Carolyn’s smile, Tom’s smile, too! Now, all we need—is YOURS!


So that's the story - so far so good. I should mention that the 3H Grants are big in detail! The original application was 85 single spaced pages. Since then, there have been about 20 pages of follow-up answers that Carolyn has had to submit. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to help her with this but she deserves our credit and appreciation for a job well done!



We think there is an excellent chance that this grant will be approved on May 1. The Rotary Foundation has gone to the expense of making a site visit to Zimbabwe and we know they think the grant looks great!


Here is a link to a Microsoft Power Point presentation I developed with a lot of input from Carolyn Schrader: Zimbabwe PowerPoint

Closing Thought for Today

I want to thank the following District 7120 Rotarians for their phenomonal support in pursuit of this grant:

• PDG Don Alhart - D7120 Foundation Chair
• DG Mike Leone
• PDG Mahendra Shah
• PDG Harry Blaeser
• AG Rich de Asis
• Mary Fuller
• Hank Ralston
• PDG Glenn Balch
• Caledonia - Mumford Rotary Club

The blog is now almost up to date! The next post I will talk about Zimbabwe.