Our club normally meets at a regular venue every Tuesday evening. However, with stay-at-home and social distancing rules in place, we have now reverted to conducting our meetings online.

While the attendance for the first few meetings has been lower than expected, we are hoping it will grow as the less technologically-minded members become acquainted with the virtual concept.

One of the benefits of these online meetings is that we can invite guest speakers who may be located anywhere in the world. In a recent meeting, our guest speaker was Chris Ochaya  and his wife Sarah from Uganda. Chris was sponsored by our club several years ago to spend 3 months in Australia to learn various farming techniques. Since returning to Uganda, he has established the Tamarind Community Farm which is aimed at supporting many families in the region. Werribee Rotary and several agricultural businesses in Australia have been instrumental in providing funds and expertise for some of the projects which include building a bore water system, constructing a goat shelter and a chicken shed.

During the meeting, Chris gave members an update on the status of the various projects. He also talked about the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on his country.

In the future, we will invite some of our past Rotary exchange students from Japan and Brazil to speak about life in their respective countries.

The Rotary Club of Werribee is proud to announce that the chicken and egg business at the Tamarind community farm in Uganda and is now in full production mode. This is the completion of another phase of a joint project between Werribee Rotary and Tamarind, with support from several Australian investors, which has previously seen the establishment of a bore water system, a vegetable garden and a secure compound for the domestic goats.

Tamarind is the brain-child of Chris Ochaya, a local resident who was awarded a Royce and Jean Abbey Scholarship to travel to Australia in 2017 where he was hosted by our club. During his 3-month stay, Chris visited many agricultural businesses to learn about modern practices. With his new-found knowledge, he returned to Uganda and commenced the long road to set up a self-sustainable economy for his community. He wanted to deliver a "hand-up" rather than a "hand-out" solution.

There were a few challenges along the road before the chickens started laying. Chris had to design and construct a building that would be free from predators and vermin. This was a more expensive exercise because the walls had to be made of brick. When the first batch of baby chickens arrived, many of them died from a common disease which could have been prevented if the correct inoculations had been delivered.

Our club is proud of the work that Chris has achieved and is keen to support him on future projects.

Click here to see more images of the chickens.

Click here to see a short video of the good work we are doing in Uganda.

Our club member Michael Redding was accompanied by Lorry Rowe (Rotary Club of Flemington) on a trip to central Vietnam where they presented self-propelled tricycle wheelchairs to four young people whose mobility has been restricted through illness or injury. The tricycles cost about A$380. The children are from very poor families and their families could not afford to pay for them. The funds were provided by Werribee Rotary and Lorry.

The tricycles are made in Ho Chi Minh City and transported to central Vietnam. They are easily propelled by pushing the steering column backwards and forwards. They are comfortable, very manoeuvrable and can travel at speeds of up to 10 km per hour on the local roads. The four recipients were Nhan, Thanh, Moi and Khanh.

In Vietnam, people with many types of disability are hidden away, living in their family home and destined to remain there for the rest of their lives. In the Hue area alone, it is estimated there are over 29,000 disabled people, nearly all of whom receive no support.  Among this group are many young people who cannot walk but whose lives would be transformed with a tricycle wheelchair. The big challenge is how to locate where they live.