Six '16-17 Global Grant Proposals under Review by Grants Subcommittee

Note: This article, originally posted on September 5 , has been updated.
 
By Sanjay Deshpande
 
The District Grants Subcommittee (GSC) under the leadership of Chair Jorge Yarzebski is taking up six Global Grant proposals for review in September for the allocation of $46,436 available in District Designated Funds (DDF) for such grants in the 2016-2017 Rotary year.
 
Global Grants support large international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in one or more Rotary’s six areas of focus. A key feature of global grants is partnership between the district or club (Host) where the activity is carried out and a district or club in another country (International). Both Host and International sponsors (club and district) must be qualified before they can submit an application. Grant sponsors form international partnerships that respond to real community needs. Activities include:
  • Humanitarian projects
  • Scholarships for graduate-level academic studies
  • Vocational training teams, which are groups of professionals who travel abroad either to teach local professionals about a particular field or to learn more about their own
The six proposals received in District 7910 in '16-17 for Grant Subcommittee review are listed in the order in which they were received, to record first-come, first-served priority:
  1. Nashoba Valley Rotary Club: The Razia Jan Institute Midwifery Program in Deh’Subiz, Kabul District, Afghanistan together with the Kabul City RC of District 2430 to establish, in this post-secondary educational facility, a midwifery program and the first local clinic to emphasize the importance of maternal and infant healthcare. The project will directly train about 40 young women as midwives each of whom will treat and care for 800 mothers each every year for a total of 32,000 mothers. The total project cost is $52,260. Nashoba Valley RC will raise $10,640 in cash contributions from Clubs in D7910 and outside, seeks $10,000 in DDF from D7910, and seeks cash contribution of $8,000 from clubs from another District and DDF of $2,000 from that District. The Host Club is committing $200 in cash contributions.
  2. Billerica RC: Better water, Early education and Economic development in Arpunq, Armenia together with the Yerevan RC of D2452 to serve about 750 people at a total project cost of $45,200. Billerica RC will raise $10,000 in cash contributions from Clubs in D7910 and seeks $10,000 DDF from D7910. There is no contribution from within Armenia. Billerica RC is working on expanding the project through other funding sources, but they also understand that the DDF is capped at $10,000.
  3. Wachusett Area RC: Integrated Development on 12 Girls’ Schools in Telangana, India together with the Hanamkonda RC of D3150 to equip these schools with student and teacher desks, a reverse osmosis water osmosis water treatment plant, a treated water storage tank, a common wash facility and eLearning equipment and software. The project will benefit 2,250 girls a year and 22,000 over 10 years at a total project cost is $66,000. Wachusett Area RC will raise $7,000 from clubs in D7910, seeks $7,000 in DDF from D7910 and has secured $3500 in cash from clubs in two other districts together with $3,000 in DDF from those Districts. In addition the clubs in D3150 will contribute $12,000 in cash and D3150 will contribute $6,000 in DDF.
  4. Sturbridge RC: DEXA Scanner Project in Pristina, Kosovo together with the Pristina-Dardania RC of D53 to establish, at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, this advanced scanning capability for bone density in the identification and treatment of rheumatism and osteoporosis among the poor people in the country. Estimated annual beneficiaries are 3,600 patients. The total project cost is $35,000. Sturbridge RC will make cash contribution of $10,000 and is seeking $10,000 DDF from D7910. There is no contribution from within Kosovo.
  5. Westborough RC: Telemedicine in Rural Areas around Pune’ India together with the Pune’ Pride RC of D3131 to establish telemedicine facilities for affordable healthcare in rural India. The project will train 16 basic health workers who will provide doorstep health screening to about 50,000 people over 6 years and guide needy patients to the health hubs to be established which will consult with experts in a Central hospital using modern telecommunication technology. The total project cost is $90,000. Westborough will raise $10,000 from Clubs in D7910, seek $10,000 DDF from D7910, has secured $4,000 in cash contributions from clubs in two other Districts and $10,000 in DDF from those Districts.  The Host club and district are contributing $6,000 in cash and $10,000 in DDF, respectively. When the host club cash amount is finalized, the project scope and budget will increase proportionally.
  6. Montachusett Area RC: Liberia School Education, Disease prevention and Community development together with the Gbarnga RC of D9101 to furnish three classrooms, a teachers’’ office and a library, support teacher training at the Cuttington University, supply vaccines to children, provide bed nets for Malaria prevention, provide disease prevention training to the community and provide poultry farming to members of the community to help their economic development. Beneficiaries of this project will be up to 100 children a year in the school, and 20 adults in the community who will receive poultry farming technique.  The total project cost is $47,500. Montachusett Area RC will raise $18,333 in cash contributions and seeks $10,000 DDF from D7910. There is no contribution from within Liberia.
For a comparison of the six projects, updated as of September 19, click here.
 
Global Grants are all about leveraging precious D7910 resources (club cash plus DDF) through cash and DDF contribution from other districts (Host or International) to maximize the World Fund match from The Rotary Foundation (TRF) and maximize the amount devoted to the humanitarian project for doing good in the world. For example, the Wachusett Area project leverages $14,700 in D7910 cash and DDF to fund a $66,000 project, which represents a leverage of 4.5 ($66,000 ÷ $14,700).
 
Note that three of the six projects involve multiple districts outside of the host country and the same three have funding from within the host country and are larger (more than $50,000). It is also seen that the leverage in these three proposals ranges between 2.5 and 4.5 times, which is more than for the other three projects, for which the leverage is less than 2.5.
 
The GSC members will review these applications and counsel clubs on improving them, as needed to increase the chance of success for their applications when submitted to TRF. To be successful applications must:
  • Be sustainable and include plans for long-term success after the Global Grant funds have been spent
  • Include measurable goals
  • Align with one of Rotary’s areas of focus
  • Respond to real community needs
  • Actively involve Rotarians and community members
  • Meet the eligibility requirements in the grants terms and conditions
All six projects together will require DDF of $57,000 and their total project budget is $336,000. However, we can only commit $46,436 this year, so at least one of these projects will be deferred into next year and/or curtailed in scope. The review by GSC members would decide the final disposition, if all the projects do meet all the requirements at that time.
 
With all else being equal, the projects will be cleared for proceeding to online Global Grant application in the order they were received.
 
Other proposals received this year are not likely to be approved in '16-'17.  However, Clubs are encouraged to continue planning for next year and to support the projects from above that do proceed to online Global Grant applications.
 
If you have any questions, please contact either District Grants Subcommittee Chair Jorge Yarzebski at yj.rotary@gmail.com or me, District Foundation Committee Chair Sanjay Deshpande, sanjdesh51@aol.com.