Rotary Clubs Raise Enough for a Handpump in Darfur

Report by Richard Baker, International Chair of South Holland Rotary Club

When Jon Martin moved to South Holland Rotary club following his house move to Spalding, Lincolnshire, he brought with him his long association and passion for the Kids for Kids charity. 

Members attended the fantastic Kids for Kids Christmas Concerts in London and helped raise funds to support the plight of the people of Darfur in Sudan.

It was Jon Martin himself who surprised Patricia Parker OBE, Founder and CEO of Kids for Kids, by presenting her with the Paul Harris Fellow Rotary Award during the Kids for Kids Candlelit Christmas Concert in 2020, held online for the first time to allow for the Covid Lockdown that year.

With great sadness, Jon suddenly died in 2022 but the club were determined to continue helping the charity in his memory.

Back in February 2023, we contacted Paul Dickinson at Rotary District to find out the current situation regarding International grants for our specific water project in Darfur. He said he thought it would make a great multi-club project for RY2023-24. Hence a project was born!

In the short term, the club committed to help with a donation which helped purchase mosquito nets, a sack of seed and a goat.

The water project was estimated to need £6,500 to pay for the drilling and installation of a pump for one village.

Our members contacted other Rotary clubs and asked for financial pledges for the project:

• Our club pledged £2000 (the maximum we could do)
• Rotary of Spalding & Welland, pledged £570
• Rotary Lutterworth, paid £430
• Rotary Sleaford, pledged £250

We had confirmation in May, from Paul Dickinson, of our full Rotary District grant for £3,250 from the Grants team. This added to all pledges meant we had grand total of £6,500 – enough to provide a tap for a village in Darfur!

In May 2024, we invited and were honoured to receive Patricia Parker at our club in Spalding to formally hand over the donation and to get an update regarding the current plight in the Sudan.

The resulting publicity for this project has been excellent in both Rotary publications and the local press and mutually beneficial for both Kids for Kids and Rotary.

Kids for Kids has since heard that sadly South Holland Rotary Club had to be wound down in the Summer of 2024 so this report, their support and this water pump will be a beautiful lasting legacy for both John Martin and South Holland Rotary Club.