During their March 2026 international service trip to Guatemala, the Rotary District 7910 team brought 500 Foldscopes to several schools. Foldscopes use low-cost materials (like paper) to provide a research quality microscope for a fraction of the price, making it possible for more students to explore the microscopic world. The Southborough club helped provide the Foldscopes and club member Christine Griggs Narcisse, part of the District team, helped students & teachers put them together & learn to use them.
With a Foldscope, students can see tiny things like bacteria, blood cells, and single-celled organisms and more. As well as larger things like a insects, fabrics, tissues! Foldscope can also allow the observation of particulates detrimental to air quality, or the microscopic crystalline differences between real and fake medications. There is also a Foldscope phone app & worldwide online community of users for students to connect with. Providing students with Foldscopes aligns strongly with supporting education, which is one of Rotary’s dedicated areas of focus. This year, with the help of a District matching grant, the Southborough club also shipped 200 Foldscopes to schools in India. And in 2024, the club fundraised and shipped 115 Foldscopes ot Cali, Columbia.
