Rotary Shanghai has great Projects
The Rotary Club of Shanghai actively supports and implements many projects in our local community and other locations in greater China. We work in partnership with other Rotary clubs around the world.
GIFT OF SIGHT - Cataract Surgeries
Cataracts can cause blindness if they are allowed to develop without medical intervention. In China’s Guizhou province, it is estimated that there are approximately 110,000 new cases each year. It is difficult for the local medical facilities to find and treat the patients, who live in very remote areas.
In the first year (2010-11) of this RCS project we worked with the Yangming hospital in Guiyang and supported surgeries of 658 patients in remote areas (RMB 57,281 RMB). This also provided momentum to the hospital program in form of increase in surgery rate from 6,000 per year to 10,000 per year. Next year (2011-12) RCS supported Tancheng XinYi Ming Hospital in Shandong province for 247 free cataract surgeries (63,479 RMB). The hospital completed a total of 700 surgeries including the 247 free of charge ones supported by RCS & HQF
GIFT OF LIFE - Children’s Heart Surgery Program
Congenital heart diseases are the number one birth defects in China. Congenital heart diseases are conditions existing when a child is born or develop during the first months of life.
In China, the Rotary Club of Shanghai in conjunction with our partners has helped arrange life-saving open heart surgery for more than 400 Chinese children with congenital heart disease.
Under the Gift of Life Program, we have also provided training for Chinese medical professionals in the United States through study and exchange programs. Our club works with The Shanghai Charity Foundation to ensure that this life-saving program is continued.
We partner with several hospitals in China to identify children in need of the surgery and to provide safe surgery and post operative care.
CAREERS IN CARE - Training for Migrant Workers
A key project of the Rotary Club of Shanghai is the Careers in Care program that provides migrant workers with new skills to care for the elderly. After attending the course, trainees receive a certificate that can help them find work in homes and elderly care facilities. As a result, the Project not only helps provide employment, but adds skilled people to the workforce so helping to provide a much needed pool of expertise to assist the professional care industry to grow and prosper.
To date, the project has trained more than 2,700 people and has made a positive impact on the lives of more than 500,000 people. To date, the Rotary Club of Shanghai has provided funds and support so that more than 4,000 migrant workers were trained in care giving skills. We estimate that this work has had a positive impact on the lives of nearly 800,000 people.
PERCY CHU SCHOLARSHIPS
The Percy Chu Scholarships are named after one of the Club’s early and most influential presidents, Percy Chu (PP 1934-35), whose dedication to Rotary ideals and activities spanned much of the Club’s history.
The objective of the Percy Chu Scholarships is to commemorate the lifelong love of learning of RC Shanghai’s Past President by awarding students who have excellent performance and have made great contributions to social charity projects or activity.
Applications for the Percy Chu Scholarships are solicited from various local schools and universities such as the College of English Language and Literature of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU); the Finance School of Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, Shanghai University (SHIFT); the School of Social Development and Public Policy of Fudan University, and the Chinese Language and Literature of Eastern China Normal University.
The students must demonstrate good grades, financial need, and a commitment to community service.
Each year about 11 scholarships are given to students. The scholarships are typically 5,000 RMB each. In 2012 the Club awarded 25 scholarships.
EARTHQUAKE & DISASTER RELIEF
Shelterbox was founded in 2000 by Rotarian Tom Henderson. In many crises, the destruction of homes and mass displacement is a fundamental part of victims’ trauma, Shelterbox was created to meet these critical needs, providing specially desidgned tents and ShelterBoxes’; sturdy crates containing sleeping bags, stoves, and other equipment necessary for life in a disaster zone.
In 2008, Bill Chiang, an honorary member of RCS and other Rotarians helped to bring ShelterBox to the 5 million people made homeless by the Sichuan earthquake.
The Rotary Club of Shanghai supported the ShelterBox project in 2009 after the Anhui typhoon wrecked 13,000 homes and destroyed a further 1,200. The logistics hub for this project was in Shanghai. Rotarian Mark Secchia received aid workers, found transport, and built fruitful connections with the Shanghai Charity Foundation, allowing ShelterBox to make the most of their resources. When China was struck by a third major disaster in Qinghai, Shanghai was again the logistics center for essential logistics, and the RCS sped things up by providing transportation to Yushu, where 90% of the buildings had collapses.
TAICANG TRAINING CENTER for disabled workers
With a population of approximately 400,000, Taicang counts around 10,000 people with disabilities. A training center has been initiated by the TRT for people with disabilities in Taicang to provide tailored education and support to find employment opportunities within the local business community.
NINGXIA WATER PROJECT
The Ningxia water project was a collaboration between The Rotary Clubs of Menands and Glenville, in upstate New York, and the Rotary Club of Shanghai and the Huaqiao Foundation.
The water in Yanchi village and surrounding villages in Ningxia Province is polluted with arsenic which caused health problems for the villagers. The villagers were importing water by tanker to obtain safe drinking water. This created a new problem as the cost of the water took up to a third of each of the villager’s disposable income.
After nearly two years of work, including three site visits by Frank Yih and Roger Owens from the Rotary Club of Shanghai, two visits by the New York clubs, and over 30 working days by the Huaqiao Foundation staff, the village has been able to dig trenches and lay water pipelines to bring water to the village from a large water reservoir recently construction by the local government.
The completed project now covers four villages namely: Ma Er Zhuang, with 258 residents across 67 homes; Hei Tu Ken, with 193 residents across 48 homes; Song Xin Zhuang, with 190 residents across 48 homes; and Yi Er Zhuang, with 156 residents across 37 homes.
Each village household paid for their own taps, so for the first time in their lives villagers can turn a tap to receive water. The water costs less than a tenth of their previous supply.
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