• Rotary Year: 2018-2019
  • Application Date: 5/31/2018
  • Club Name: Johnson City
  • Project Name: NE Brazil “Water for Life” Project
  • Project Total Expenditures: $26,277.21
  • Grant Amount Requested: $4,000.00
  • Describe the Project, its location and its objectives: This project aims to improve the quality of life of families in North Eastern Brazil who live in poverty on small farms and only have access to water for half of each year. In the dry months, which are also extremely hot, they either have to walk for up to two hours to fetch water for their homes/farms or they have no access to water at all, except what they have saved in rain barrels. Families living in this region work mainly with agriculture, making far less than minimum wage every month. Their situation gets worse with the arrival of the Summer months when, due to the lack of rain, farm work diminishes and, consequently, job offers are reduced as well. The population needs infrastructure in every way, but especially those related to access to safe usable water. By building cisterns for high volume water catchment and clean storage, families are provided with year round access to safe, usable water.
    In this project/trip International Rotarians will financially support and physically assist the Brazilian Habitat for Humanity affiliate team members to build 3 village/family cisterns near Caruaru, in the Pernambuco province of Brazil. As well as helping actually build the 3 cisterns, and visiting with a family that has had a cistern for over ten years (to understand the broader impact) the travel team will meet with local Rotarians and and potential partner organization, Habitat for Humanity Brazil team members to determine the viability of a large Rotary cistern building project.

    Given the cistern life span of at least 50 years multiple generations of the same families will be served by the cistern. Training the families, particularly the women, on health and the importance of clean water will help increase childhood survival rates, as well as improve the general health of the families for multiple generations.

    The travel team will be determining if, by partnering with the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Pernambuco province, as well as the three local Rotary clubs, building family farm water catchment cisterns would be appropriate as a Rotary Global Grant project.
  • This is the Club’s: Primary Project Application
  • Expected Start Date: 10/13/2018
  • Expected End Date: 10/21/2018
  • Expected Number of Beneficiaries: 40
  • Describe how the project will benefit the community and/or improve the lives of the less fortunate: The team members of this “reconnaissance mission” (for the larger project) will each do 40 hours of physical labor, building three cisterns, as will attend the local potential partner meetings with both local/host Rotary clubs and Habitat Brazil. Through their support and labor, three extended families will be able to stay on their farms during the dry season, caring for their family, crops and farm animals, rather than moving to the crowded city looking for limited work to survive. Given a cistern life span of at least 50 years, multiple generations of the same families will be served. As part of the current program (which we hope to grow) the partner families receive training from Habitat for Humanity on health and the importance of clean water, which will help increase childhood survival rates, as well as improve the general health of the families for multiple generations. Access to year round water also helps the families grow more of their own food. The families also help build their cisterns putting in "sweat equity" to their ownership of their water cisterns.
  • Estimated Total Project Volunteer Hours: 320
  • Describe the Rotarian hands-on activities in the project (i.e. non-financial participation): The team members of this “reconnaissance mission” (for the larger project) will still do 40 hours of physical labor, building three cisterns, as well as attend the local potential partner meetings. Construction activities involved: Adjust the trench before the construction begins (the hole is dug by a backhoe but needs to be cleared up) - Prepare cement - Make cement plates that will be used for walls and lid of cistern - Help assemble the cistern – floor/walls/lid - Help plaster externally – walls and lid – cistern exterior painting
  • Describe the publicity plan to inform the general public that this is a Rotary sponsored project: There will be a sign at each build site recognizing Rotary as the sponsor of the construction project. We will be covering the cost of construction for 3 water cisterns. Our working team will be physically assisting in the construction of them during the week they are there. We will work with the local Rotary clubs to get coverage of the international Rotarians in the local newspapers and television during the construction.
  • Cooperating Organizations – Please list each cooperating organization, if any: Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit organization that mainly helps families build and improve places to call home. They believe affordable housing plays a critical role in strong and stable communities. Individual Habitat affiliates are allowed to adjust their local mission as is appropriate to the needs of the community/county they serve.

    Habitat Brazil is actively working in rural areas of the Northeast semiarid region to help families living in extreme poverty have access to the most basic human right: safe, drinkable water. Since 2013, they have worked with partner organizations and volunteers to repair/enlarge roofs for rainwater catchment and to build cisterns to store potable water. Their goal is to provide water access to families living in rural areas and who are suffering with the drought. These families need to walk long distances every day in order to fetch water for their homes. This, in reality affects mostly women and children. Beyond the construction work, they also offer skills building workshops like proper use of water resources; human rights, public policies and gender; and financial literacy. Their program is entirely funded through donations and the construction is done primarily through volunteer labor. They have a goal of completing 300 cisterns, but the local need is much higher. This trip will allow Rotarians to better understand the need and decide whether a partnership on a much broader program would be appropriate.

  • Letter(s) of Participation: Carta Wendy_Rotary.pdf
  • Project Expenditure Budget – list detail uses of funds for the project, or use the Budget Upload: See budget upload
  • Project Funding Budget – list detail sources of funds for the project, or use the Budget Upload: see budget upload
  • Budget Upload:Detailed Budget for brazil district grant app.xlsx
  • Primary Contact Name: Wendy McIlquham
  • Primary Contact Rotary Position: Rotarian
  • Primary Contact Email: wmcilquham@comcast.net
  • Primary Contact Phone: 4237377983
  • Financial Contact Name: Cynthia Winn
  • Financial Contact Rotary Position: President Elect
  • Financial Contact Address: 
    607 Baxter St
    Johnson City, TN 37601
    United States View on Map
  • Financial Contact Email: cindyw@widenerins.com
  • Financial Contact Phone: 423 534 2466
  • District Grant Project Authorization LetterJohnson City Brazil Project Authorization Letter.pdf, signed club pres mou 5-31-2018.JPG