 Sunrise Rotary Club of Glenwood Springs |
3-H MELGHAT PROJECT
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY
The Sunrise Rotary Club of Glenwood Springs is proud to be part of the Melghat project. The Melghat Tribal area is located in the north-central part of Maharashtra State (a few hundred miles east of Mumbai). The area contains about 150 Kurku tribal villages and came to the attention of local Rotarians due to the high rate of malnutrition and child mortality among village children. Our District (D-5470) first became interested in the project when Past District Governor Burnie Zercher and wife Pam visited the region back in 1997.It was their enthusiasm and passion for the project that ultimately led to District support as well as support from four individual Rotary Clubs in Colorado. After Burnie "lit the fire," we began work immediately to complete paperwork for a Discovery Grant that would fund feasibility work in the Melghat region. This was approved in August of 1998. During the next two years, the Rotarians and volunteers of District 3030 completed surveys, assessed needs and put together a plan that would appropriately utilize Rotary funds and volunteer labor to help the Korkoo Indians of the Melghat region. All this hard work finally paid off when Rotary International released its first payment toward the Melghat project on December 11, 2000. Rotarians in both Districts celebrated this well-earned milestone.
In March of 2001, Rotarian Jack Thomas (of Colorado Springs) had the pleasure of visiting our partners in District 3030. Jack had an excellent visit and felt he was able to make a solid contribution to the project. When he returned home he made several presentations to various Rotary Clubs - spreading the news about the progress of the project as well as describing the dedication and hard work of the Rotarians in District 3030.
In December of 2001, Rotarian Peter Jeschofnig and his wife Linda (of Glenwood Springs) were the second visitors from D-5470 to the Melghat area. Peter & Linda visited 11 of the 14 villages, and were most impressed with the progress made by D-3030 Rotarians in the first year of the project. The most obvious results are improved nutrition of village children, improved water supply, improved education for both children and adults, vocational training, and improved general health due to frequent health check-ups. Rotarians of D-3030 are continuing to do exemplary work in the Melghat area, especially if one considers that some of these villages are 60 miles from the nearest city, necessitating driving times of 3 hours each way.
This page was last updated: 2/6/2002