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A Lesson in Recycling
Most
of us think recycling means tossing a soda can or newspaper into the
proper bin. But the Rotary Club of London, Ont., is taking the
concept to a new level: It’s recycling schools.
After the January 2010 earthquake devastated much of Haiti, the
London club began collecting desks, chairs, bookshelves, and other
supplies from Canadian schools that were closing, then shipping the
items to Haiti. And because recycling a school is a logistical
puzzle, this massive project involves a close partnership with the
Rotary Club of Pétion-Ville, Haiti, along with contributions from
Rotary clubs and districts in four countries; support from the Haiti
Earthquake Relief Fund; a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant; and
dozens of volunteers donating hundreds of hours.
London club members came up with the idea when they discovered that
their local school district would be closing about 20 schools over
the next several years because of low enrollment. The district had
begun giving away the contents of the schools and was more than
happy to have Rotarians make use of them. “It’s surplus furniture.
We have no need for it and no facility to store it,” says Paul
Tufts, superintendent of education for the Thames Valley District
School Board and a member of the London club. “It’s good news for
everybody.”
Past RI Director John Eberhard, also a member of the London club,
reached out to the Pétion-Ville club to partner on the project.
Pétion-Ville Rotarians identified two heavily damaged primary
schools in need of assistance. The effort fit well with the goal of
rebuilding schools, identified by the Haiti Task Force, a group of
Rotarians helping to channel funds to Haiti.
Identifying the need
Only half of primary school-age children in Haiti are enrolled in
school, and less than 2 percent finish secondary school. The adult
literacy rate is 53 percent. Schools have to manage with what little
supplies and furnishings they have, so it doesn’t take much to
improve on the situation, according to Pétion-Ville club member
Raphael Izmery.
“Schools in Haiti have always had urgent needs, as they are
underfunded. Children don’t have access to proper school books and
supplies. Students often spend the day at school without a meal, and
classrooms often don’t have adequate space, chairs, or desks,”
Izmery says. Since the earthquake, conditions have only worsened, he
adds.
Haitians will welcome the shipments from Canada, which are expected
to arrive throughout the year, says Marlène Gay, a member of the
Pétion-Ville club who is heading up the project in Haiti. “This will
get children back to school. A lot of schools have not recovered
yet. Everything was destroyed, so they have to start from scratch,
and this will definitely help,” she explains.
Making money work
Although the furniture is free, shipping the items from Canada to
Haiti is not. The London and Pétion-Ville clubs began by donating
US$100 each. As Eberhard put the Rotary network to work, he helped
turn that $200 contribution into $163,210. He circulated word about
the project, and districts 4380 (Venezuela), 5160 (California, USA),
and 7620 (Washington, D.C., and Maryland, USA) contributed a total
of $60,000 to the cause. Their generosity stemmed from “a level of
trust among Rotarians and Rotary clubs,” Eberhard says.
The London club also received $46,000 from the Haiti Earthquake
Relief Fund, a donor advised fund that The Rotary Foundation
established to streamline contributions from Rotarians to projects
in Haiti. A $57,000 Matching Grant helped round out the coffers.
Using the funds raised, the London club purchased several 40-foot
containers for shipment. The cost of the containers and estimated
shipping from Canada to Haiti is $83,000.
The balance of the funding will help purchase items in Haiti,
including laptops, solar panels, and even musical instruments. After
the earthquake, all of the instruments were stolen from a school
that had a small music program. The project will help put violins,
flutes, drums, and keyboards back into students’ hands.
Packing up
Bruce McGauley, of the London club, is in charge of logistics for
collecting supplies from the closed schools. “We’ve only got so much
time to grab the stuff. Otherwise they will dump it, and we want to
prevent that from happening,” he says.
It takes a crew five to six hours to load a 40-foot container.
McGauley recruits volunteers from his club and District 6330
(Ontario and Michigan, USA), as well as neighbouring District 7080
(Ontario), where some of the schools are located. “There’s a lot of
moving around, but when you get a group of 20 to 30 people, many
hands make light work,” he says. The volunteers have developed a
system for packing the containers as full as possible. “I think we
could get into the logistics business,” McGauley muses.
Between June and December, volunteers emptied 11 schools. At least
two containers have been shipped to Haiti, with more to come. In the
meantime, the Rotarians are storing salvaged items in donated barn
space. And they still have many more schools to clean out.
“There’s really not much wrong with this stuff other than scratches
and dents,” says McGauley. “Most of these desks and file cabinets
and teacher’s chairs are going to last for another 50 years.”
Assessing the impact
While the Rotarians’ initial goal was to help about 600 children and
20 teachers at two schools, there is so much excess furniture and so
many supplies that they’ve expanded the project. The Pétion-Ville
club has identified 15 other schools that need help in the
Port-au-Prince area, and Gay estimates that the containers from
Canada could eventually benefit 3,000 children.
“With this project, children will be returning to school right away
and don’t have to wait for any support from the government,” says
Claude Surena, a member of the Pétion-Ville club and the Haiti Task
Force.
Eberhard and McGauley are planning to visit Haiti to see the needs
firsthand and to witness the impact of the project. “We are anxious
to meet some of the people we’ve been communicating with and to make
personal connections,” McGauley says. “It’s all about education and
making a better life for young people in the future.”
Items collected
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