In 1991, the Rotary Club of Roseburg and the Rotary Club of Salinas,
Ecuador, embarked on an international project to provide sanitation to
six rural villages on the Santa Elena peninsula in Ecuador. The people of these rural
villages suffered constantly from water-borne diseases due to a lack of
proper sanitation and a clean water supply. The Rotary clubs were joined
by Rotary District 5110, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International,
Public Health International, and the Kiwanis Club of Roseburg in providing
funding for this project. The focus of this project is to provide residents
with the necessary knowledge and skills to construct proper latrines and
protect their water supplies from contamination. In 1995, the Rotary Foundation
of Rotary international awarded the project a 3-H grant of $300,000 to
expand the project on the peninsula. So far the project has reached over
60 villages and the rate of intestinal disease has been substantially reduced.
Recently, the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International awarded a grant
of $20,000 to extend the program to Peru. The project continues to expand
through the ongoing efforts of Rotary Volunteers who travel to South America
to train the local people and help eradicate water-borne diseases.
