Rotary Makes a Difference in Akola

It seems like an age ago, but it was only at the beginning of this week when we were in Akola and visiting a series of service projects of the Rotary Club of Akola Central. We were all very impressed by what we saw. They really are making a difference.

 

First they took us to see permanent toilets built by Rotary in the farming village of Gaunapur. Toilets are a common Rotary project in India. They are an essential upgrade for homes, that improve health of the community members and protect water sources. There is much work to be done still in this area.

 

We then went to the adjacent village of Dapora where a matching grant with a club in Washington State built a series of check-dams. These have had dramatic results in improving the condition of the river, helping control flooding, recharge groundwaters, providing beautiful groves of trees with extensive wildlife and, as you can see, offering places to do laundry.





 

 

 

We were immediately struck by the similarity between the "bosque" of Dapora and the bosque of Albuquerque where we had our team photos taken before we left for India. We tried to replicate the front cover photo of our brochure and we succeeded....kind-of.



 



At another check-dam site we saw a farmer "filling up" his cows. Their water is much cheaper than gas in either the US or India, but water is never totally "free" anywhere in the world, which is why it is an increasily significant area of focus for Rotary.

After our morning tour into the countryside surrounding Akola we drove into one of its poorest neighborhoods to visit the Dnyaneshwari Primary School (that teaches in the local language called "Marathi"). To call the facilities basic would be an understatement, and almost everything has been provided by Rotary, including the access road. It is located next to the main railway line and it is most definitely "across the tracks" (that's a sly Nils Lofgren reference, John).

But the children seem very healthy and happy, and the teachers dedicated. We all squeezed into the shade of the building to avoid the hot afternoon sun and chatted with the children, watched them dance, sing, and even entertained them with one of our own Hindi songs!

We asked them what they knew about America and they didn't know anything. We think that's quite OK, but I'd like to see if we can't create a partnership with a school in District 5520 so that the US children can learn about India. Of course, we distributed toothbrushes, pencils and rulers, and we thank Peg and everyone else that donated these items that have found many new, happy owners in Maharashra.

 

We had a blast--and I think the kids did too.

And then they piled into their rickety school bus to take them to their homes.