RTW club member Patti Lee gave a presentation today on the impact of landmines, globally and in the country of Cambodia. Her opening statement was attention grabbing:
"You are going to find this ... disturbing".
She was right.
Cambodia has been the target of cluster munitions and landmines as the legacy of decades of war; estimates for the unexploded ordinance range from 4 million to 10 million. An estimate of the number of people living with landmine-related amputations is approximately 40,000 - one of the highest rates in the world.
Patti explained the history of landmine activism in Canada, dating from the development of the Ottawa Treaty as an outcome of the October 1996 conference on the global landmine crisis during which then Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy challenged a delegation of 50 governments and 24 observers to bring about an international ban on landmines. While international support for the treaty has waxed and waned over time, Rotary's support has remained steadfast.
Please watch these short videos to gain a better understanding of the impact of landmines on the people of Cambodia:
We were joined by Harold Rudy, brother of club member Willis Rudy. Harold provided a presentation on his 3 month contract with Cambodia as an agricultural consultant.
Cambodia is a country with a diet that depends heavily on the availability of rice, as well as potatoes and cassava. As its principle crop, over 70% of the cropped area is devoted to rice production, constituting 50% of total agricultural output. As a consequence of upgrading its farming practices, Cambodia has become a major rice exporter to South East Asia. Harold Rudy is an expert on soil conditions - the issue that has had so much influence on Cambodia's ability to increase its yields.
Although he's not a vet, Harold's trip was supported and coordinated by Vets Without Borders as part of their mission to support human and animal health through agricultural practices that produce stronger crops sustainably. Vets Without Borders spends more than 85% of funds raised on projects, such as those carried out in Cambodia.
Harold's consultation project is of interest to Rotarians because it addresses the following areas of focus:
- Save mothers and children - Harold's consultation included women working in key areas rice production, including leadership roles in the rice collectives.
- Support education - Harold's input teaches about new techniques to improve soil quality and crop intensity
- Grow local economies - input such as Harold's as contributed to a more than four-fold increase in the dollar value of each hectare of rice
We were joined at our weekly meeting by Bob Wallace from District 7070. Bob was sharing the ins and outs of the Rotary Foundation donation funds. We learned that 91% of each donation is applied to a sponsored project. If you would like to know more about how donations to Rotary's Annual Fund work, click here: https://my.rotary.org/en/annual-fund
Rotary Toronto West provides support to a busy and dynamic Rotaract Club operating at York University.
Club President Parthav Bhatia provided this recent update:
"This time (semester) we have done around 5 events - 2 focused on community engagement and the rest were waffle stations where the members came together to make fresh waffles to sell. I'm very happy to tell you we have made over 400 dollars in the last 3 weeks and we have sold out numerous times. I'm attaching some pictures from one of the events . I hope you like them."
Update for Spring 2025
Health Centres in Cambodia provide medical support for families. Women give birth there and will stay overnight there. For some other medical things, various family members may also stay overnight.
Today, some Health Centres in Cambodia have wells but when the hydro quits, they no longer have access to clean water. Some Health Centres do not even have a well. In these cases, they revert to pond water, which is contaminated by fertilizer, cattle, and humans.
With financial support from Rotary District 7070 and 5 Rotary Clubs in District 7070 (Rotary Club of Toronto West, Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise, Rotary Club of Toronto, Whitby Rotary Club, and Rotary Toronto Eglinton), seven (7) Health Centres now have clean water.
Visit this page for the background on these projects: https://rotarytorontowest.ca/page/projects-in-cambodia/
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