The above award is an example of the work that Rotary can do through its contacts worldwide.  As a result of a student from the Aylesbury area having been awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship funding him to study wildlife at Pretoria University in South Africa, a contact existed with  the Rotary Club of Pretoria East.    Willem Punt, the Vice President sought our help  to provide financial support for the Meerhof School, about 40 km west of  Pretoria.  This school is for the disabled, is seen as an excellent well run institution, and the Club have a long association with it acting as ‘sponsor, donor and godfather’.  This involvement goes back 43 years and is based upon a relationship which began 11 years earlier with one of their club's founders

 The  school was originally a national one specialising in Cerebral Palsy.  However, such schools for the disabled have been recently transferred to regional control and have become general schools for all disabilities in their region.  Funding has also been redirected to other establishments that have not got the basics of buildings, water and sanitation.  This has left Meerhof with funding for only 6 core staff and some support for teaching materials, electricity and water.  The school has had to extend its fundraising therefore to cover all other staff, the wider equipment necessary to cater for the increased range of disabilities and the maintenance of their old run down 1930’s buildings.  The impact of Aids further complicates matters as some children with disabilities present symptoms not unlike those in Aids victims so handling precautions have to be adopted routinely. This is all putting tremendous pressure on the staff.

• Physiotherapy Equipment – the mats, exercisers, balls, walkers, cycles etc to help improve student’s condition.

• Equipment, such as a replacement Audiometer to help the speech therapist assess hearing loss.  The existing one has broken and parts are no longer obtainable.

• Teaching equipment such as whiteboards, and also a laptop computer that can help the cerebral palsied complete daily written work.

• A replacement 19 seater, wheel-chair capable, bus and trailer to take students to clinic visits, outpatients and extra mural activities. 

• Improvement to the facilities - the sports ground and hostel accommodation need refurbishment and development. 

• An industrial dish washer to release staff from a mundane task and free them for the more important tasks of child care.

• Routine supplies of items such as nappies and surgical gloves.

The Rotary Club of Aylesbury does try to concentrate on local charities & has to be careful not to spread its giving so thinly that it fails to delivery any useful help to any of them... so why this charity?

• We can make a direct difference.

• The money will go directly to the Head Teacher and not to an amorphous organisation with loss in overheads.

• We know the organisation is of value because it has endorsement from the local Rotary club who have provided help over a substantial period of time.

• Rotary in South Africa would match fund any grant we made.

• The school aimed to match fund the total provided by Rotary with their own efforts and access to other sponsors - the UK giving via Rotary therefore acts as a significant catalyst to achieving more.

Rotary can help local schools & other organisations make positive contributions to the life & work overseas & in the UK by providing a secure & endorsed framework for giving.