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Rotary Speaker 18 July 2024  David Black – Project Starfish David is a member of the Rotary Club of Dunedin Central. For the last 20 years he has been a passionate champion of an international community service project – Project Starfish – which supports vulnerable children of the Akha Hill tribe in northern Thailand, giving medical and health care, food, shelter, education and a safe haven from the real threat of human trafficking. David last spoke to our Club in 2016 and since then he has led two volunteer groups to the Rescue Mission Centre, one predominantly Rotaractors and the other Rotarians. He shared the achievements of the 2019 group. First, they participated in the Angkor Wat half marathon and raised $15,000 for Hagar, a Cambodian charity for victims of human trafficking. Next, they travelled to the Centre where they discovered a dengue fever outbreak had hit the kids, and the nurses in the group unexpectedly became carers. The fever did not originate at the Centre, it was traced to the primary school 10kms away located adjacent to rice paddy fields and an abundance of mosquitos. The group’s work plan was to re-roof a canopied laundry area.  They found concrete paving in desperate need of replacement, so the plan grew. As well as re-roofing and replacing rusted wire laundry lines, they re-paved the area. This required local assistance, including kids keen to help on the wheelbarrows and shovels, and involved some kiwi ingenuity to overcome limited equipment – no concrete mixer so mixed by hand, laundry wire recycled into the concrete, boxing from salvaged wood and harvested bamboo etc. 4 days of work in hot temperatures and job done with no safety incidents (despite contractors applying roof epoxy whilst smoking!).  Then, they noticed the primitive bathrooms in the dormitories. No privacy and only cold water. No problem to Rotarians! With local contractors they re-tiled, added doors on showers and introduced gas hot water to the girl’s bathroom. Finally, they hosted a Christmas party for the 64 resident children where the ice-cream and sticky rice treats were a hit! Rotarians have supported this Project for 23 years and are a trusted connection for kids who have often experienced significant trauma in their lives and are orphaned or living apart from their families to get ahead in life. David’s own description of the project: “It’s great, I love it!”
Covid hit fundraising hard and also stopped volunteer working groups. But there are many opportunities to help as a Club or individuals: · Just $3,500 could refurbish the boy’s bathroom · Education provides kids with the ability to earn citizenship, and to enter the workforce to support their families. The Centre is looking for a volunteer with a background in education to visit for a mont and teach kids basic English. · Playground equipment is rusty, soccer nets are holey and could be replaced · The Centre feeds kids with 18 sacks of rice per month, that costs about NZ$950 per month or $12,000 per year. If food costs were met funds could be re-directed to educational resources and uniforms (each child has 4 uniforms – school, sports, scouts/brownies, cultural) · Rice cookers are in constant use and quickly rust · Child sponsorship is just $50 per month · Children make traditional embroidery crafts and sell them online to make their own money – support micro enterprise by shopping online: ‘Sponsor & Donate’ ‘Akha Handcrafts’ |
