Another LifeStraw® Journey by Rotarian Stuart Leyland
My name is Stuart Leyland and I am a member of the Barton-upon-Humber Rotary Club located in district 1270. I am spearheading our District’s LifeStraw® Project.
I was introduced to the LifeStraw® Project by Rotarian Paul Ringdahl of the Rotary Club of Brynmawr in early 2006. I was taken there and then with the simplicity, immediacy and value for money of the LifeStraw®, Paul’s own enthusiasm was also very infectious.
My initial plan was to raise as much money as possible to get some LifeStraws over to East Africa, namely Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. Why east Africa? Well, within Rotary there is a group called Group Study Exchange (GSE) and it is essentially a team led by a Rotarian. They are accompanied by 4 team members who must not be Rotarians or directly related to Rotarians.
The team spends a month in the target Rotary district and are hosted by Rotarians. They see how their own vocations are performed in another country and are exposed to the different cultures. The also get to see various other sites including Rotary assisted projects. The objects of GSE is to promote world wide understanding and peace.
My role in district 1270 was to co-ordinate the GSE activity. We had hosted the East Africans in 2005 and our team was going to Africa in May 2006. The African team and our team were keen to promote the LifeStraw® and this was a great platform to work from. In addition to this a Rotary friend and I attended the East African Rotary District Conference in Mombassa where we met both the GSE teams. We also went on stage at the conference to demonstrate the LifeStraw® and had a stand at their conference.
Vestergaard Frandsen (VF) the developers of the LifeStraws met the team in Ethiopia and all of us in Mombassa. We managed to buy all our LifeStraws from Vestergaard Frandsen in East Africa thus avoiding the uncertainties of customs etc and we also managed to get these LifeStraws at a promotional price.
The response we got to the LifeStraws in East Africa was tremendous; we came away having d 720 LifeStraws to Schools and villages and also many leads to follow up on our return to the UK. LifeStraw® even made the national newspaper in Kenya.
Fundraising efforts are continuing, we had the local press coverage and a TV slot is planned. We also had a stand at the Lincoln Show. The message is spreading!
One of the most interesting projects was organised by local cubs. They were given a tube of ‘Smarties’ and were told to enjoy them but spare a thought for the less fortunate in Africa. They had to fill the empty tube with coins from their pocket money etc and the money raised form this would buy LifeStraws for friends they had not yet met in Africa. They also had to provide a photo of themselves, a brief message and the address of the local post office. We handed out the cubs LifeStraws and cards to an orphanage in Mombassa and have had some lovely letters back from the fortunate recipients.
Our fundraising efforts were greatly and gratefully enhanced when a local businessman d £20,000 to speed up getting the LifeStraws out to where they are needed, and more importantly SAVING LIVES.
Within the next few months up to 16,000 LifeStraws will be distributed in Uganda and Sudan by Rotarian Dr Patrick. He has been chosen because he is committed to the LifeStraw® having personally used the LifeStraw® for 30 days. He qualified as a Doctor in Tropical Diseases in London and had a very comfortable life in the USA when he chose to go home to Uganda to open a make shift hospital in his village. Dr Patrick will work with Vestergaard Frandsen to provide a case study that will hopefully bring together the vast reserves of aid monies, and the potential of the LifeStraws - this is my dream.
Rotarian Stuart Leyland
Note
Rotarian Stuart Leyland has been instrumental in the success to date of this project and without his dedication and humanity this project would not be as advanced as it is today. Well done Stuart and also to the members of the Rotary Club of Barton-upon-Humber.
Rotarian Paul Ringdahl
(Founder and chairman of the LifeStraw® Project)
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