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International Service Projects
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Helping Reindeers to return home
A service by our Rtn. Normen Kegler
February 2022
Message from Rtn. Normen:
Greetings from the Arctic! For the past month I have conducted a community service project that I had initiated to help the local reindeer herders of northern Lapland to recover their Lifestock gone astray due to impacts of climate change. We used drones to track and return the reindeer to their herds. I brought some of our professional drones and pilots from Italy to Finland for that purpose, as our drones are designed to operate in Arctic conditions. In due course, we helped doing airport infrastructure assessment for Finland's most northern airport, and had some fun with rally cars on a frozen lake. The project was widely acclaimed in Finland and was much appreciated by the reindeer herders, who belong to Europe's last indigenous people. I shall return to Germany after having spent 4 weeks out in the Arctic wilderness at -20°C to --40°C, far from civilization. I shall return with lasting impressions, new friendships, a few frostbites, and knowing to have contributed to a good cause in the Rotarian spirit.
New Home for Milk Tea and Yuen Yeung
9th October 2021
Our club partnered with the Kardoorie Farm and Botanic Garden to sponsor the air tickets of 2 masked palm civets (one male, one female) to Singapore Night Safari as our global ambassador. Our two furry friends are named as “Milk Tea” and “Yuen Yeung” (a local drink of milk tea and coffee), representing their roots in Hong Kong.
The two civets were brought up domestically and Kadoorie Farm assessed that they would not be able to endure wildlife. They have exhausted all possibilities to hold them in Hong Kong and is left with no other option but to send them to Singapore Zoo, who are more than willing to take the pair and take care of them from here onwards.
Singapore Zoo granted us the right to name the two civets as a token of gratitude for our support, highlighting our role in their rescue and journey as an educational and inspirational story of wildlife conservation, as well as the international community coming together for a worthy cause.
This project was reported in Radio HK Channel 2 「三五成群」program. On 4th October 2021.
The Tujia Music Education Project
Inspired by successful music education programs like the City of Music by UNESCO, El Sistema in Venezuela and In Harmony in UK, we launched a music education project for the under privileged children of the Tujia minority tribe in Hunan Province on 3rd August 2021 with our service partner Parsons Music Foundation. Other partners include Medicare Resources and RAGFP Hong Kong and Macao Chapter.
The project is a 2-year project to help the school in music education administration, train the teachers in music teaching skills and provide music learning materials to the school children by an on-line piano training system developed by Parsons Music. Performance opportunities shall be arranged for the school children to perform and arouse their interest. Training of the teachers will start in August 2021 once covid-19 restrictions permit.
Arts and music have been listed as a compulsory humanity subject for advancement to high school in China. The project aims to give the Tujia children exposure to a structured music education to help them in their studies and future integration into the mainstream society.
The Rotary Club of Hong Kong International Services Award
(2020-2021)
18th May 2021
The RCOHK International Services Award recognizes individuals performing outstanding philanthropic deeds in locations away from their normal location of residence. The aim is to promote international awareness and service, something that is deeply needed in the present polarizing World.
This year’s Award goes to Dr. Ulrike Lamle who, through their family charity LaKi Kids International e.V., has been performing free surgeries for cleft children in South East Asia, a operation that, if not done early, will have enormous adverse impact in their lives when they grow up.
Our appreciation goes to Rtn. Anthony Marr who donated the matching fund to make up HK$100,000 that will go to the LaKi Kids Fund to help more cleft children.
Music Education Sponsorship
Faith Hope Love School, Sichuan
Dr. Clement Leung, receiver of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong International Service Award in 2019, used the Prize Money received to promote a music education program at the Faith Hope Love School, a school dedicated to uplift orphans of the Yi minority clan in Sichuan, China.
The RCOHK International Service Award
21st January 2020
The RCOHK International Service Award recognizes that we live in an increasingly internationalised World and there is a continuing need to reinforce this message. The object of the Award is to stimulate international and cross-boundary activities, benefitting mankind and nature in general and is awarded to either a person from Hong Kong for charity work outside of Hong Kong, or to a person from outside of Hong Kong for charity work within Hong Kong.
The receiver of the 11th Year Award is Dr Clement Leung, a reproductive endocrinologist who have been extensively involved in charity work in China for underprivileged children. His humanitarian work included lecturing at and advising the People’s Hospital in Chongqing on the effects of pollution on fertility, donation of advanced medical equipment and ambulances to hospitals and clinics and helping remote villages to build roads and clean water tanks.
End Polio Walk
19th October 2019
P Kenneth, PP Mitzi and IPP Donna with family members represented the RCOHK in support of the District End Polio Now program!
Stamp of Friendship Prize Giving Ceremony
(19th August 2019)
Our Club was entrusted by the Rotary Club of Kherson, Ukraine, to present awards to the winners of the “Stamp of Friendship” annual International internet art competition organized by the Kherson educational aesthetic complex “Art School” in Ukraine, to which RC Kherson was a sponsor. For the first time, a Grand Prix Award was won by a five year old kindergarten student, Ms. Hemera Ip, in Hong Kong. Four other children from 6 to 11 years old also won Laureate Prizes.
The event was held in style at the prestigious Opera Gallery in Central, marking our appreciation of the talent in our younger generation.
Project "Test For Life": Shipping of the Mobile Clinic to Mongolia 6th May 2019
After over 7 years of hard work our mobile clinic, tailor retrofitted from a 6 x 6 Land Rover into a self-sufficient mobile medical facility complete with medical inspection equipment and individual air conditioner with heater and potable water systems to enable it to function in the harsh outdoors of Mongolia, has been completed and loaded at the container port on 6th March 2019 for delivery to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to start its mission.
The 'Test For Life' Project has continued for 10 years from 2005 to 2014 in Mongolia providing cervical cancer screening by conventional Pap Smear Testing and in 2012 it was adopted as the primary screening method at the national level.
Now we want to introduce the more sensitive, cost-effective and less false result HPV method test. Hope this becomes a new primary screening for the country as well. The mobile clinic will be used to provide this service and also to perform digital colposcopy and treatment.
I would like to express the deepest appreciation to the Rotary Club of Hong Kong ! And wish success to all of us to bring a new era in cervical cancer screening in the country !"
Dr. Bayarsaikhan
CP Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Central
More information on the Test For Life Mobile Clinic Project can be found in the attached article by South China Morning Post *
Left Behind Children Project (2014 - 2017)
Video Chat / Educations facilities for schools in Guizhou for left behind children
School Visit on 4 – 7th Jan, 2018
Fund raising fellowship activity for the Left Behind Children project by IPP Kelvin and Rt Priscilla
Left Behind Children Service and Inspection Trip to Guizhou on 3 - 6th November, 2018
Project 'Test for Life'
Donated by The Hong Kong Land Rover Club and British Motors the Land Rover Mobile Clinic is capable to provide a Cervical Cancer Screening Services for women living in poor and hard to reach areas in Mongolia. The clinic would also enable the treatment of detected pre-cancer conditions thus helping to raise cancer awareness and its prevention. This event marks the completion of the latest stage of development of project “Test for Life”, an international charity project of Rotary.
The beneficiary of the project is Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Central in Mongolia
The official handover of keys to the mobile clinic took place at the Annual Conference of Rotary International District 3450 in Hong Kong.
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