President's Report October
Our 2023-24 flagship “Horn of Africa Project” is progressing well under the dynamic leadership of Jama Farah.Last week several club members were able to visit DIK store in Tottenham to inspect the wide range of medical and hospital equipment that Jama has obtained for shipment to Harare and Somali Regional States in Ethiopia.
Hospital beds, cardiac monitors, defibrillators and ultrasound diagnostic machines constitute the bulk of the equipment, much of which has come from Sunshine Hospital and is only a few years old and in good working condition.
This week I have submitted to District 9800 Foundation Grants Programme a Grant Intention Application seeking support in the form of a District International Grant to help us fund shipment of a container to Ethiopia. Foundation will provide $1 for each $2 we contribute to help in this project . DIK will be a programme partner but not a financial contributor in this project.
We are fortunate in that shipping costs have reduced in the past year but cost is still about $14000 to send a container to East Africa.
Our fundraising committee are organising a Christmas Raffle to be drawn at our final meeting of the year on December 21.The proceeds from the raffle will go to support the Sailing Project which is being coordinated by Suzanne Zammit chair of our Youth Programme committee.
Important dates for November are visit by DG Ron Payne on Thurs Nov 2 and our AGM which will be held on Thurs Nov 16. Maria will soon give the official 14 days notice of the AGM.
Bob Newman
President