The Sabu Island Story
As a relatively new Member of the Rotary Club of Beaumaris, I have been impressed with the amount of time and effort that has been put in over the years to support the people of Sabu Island, a remote and arid island in Indonesia with a population of 60,000.
For many years the Rotary Club of Beaumaris has been involved with projects on the island and working alongside Pastor Franz Lackner, an amazing man who has lived on the island for about 30 years helping the Sabunese people. The club’s first project was to provide moulds used in making concrete rings for water wells. As a result nearly 30 wells have been built to date providing clean water for Sabunese communities.
Other projects that the club has been involved with include assisting students at hostels in Seba (Sabu Island) and Kupang (West Timor), providing mosquito nets and improving sanitation. Paper Force is delighted to be associated with the impressive efforts of The Rotary Club of Beaumaris and to support the club’s outstanding work in making a difference in Sabunese communities.
As Paper Force’s Managing Director I’m proud of our support of projects like this and signals our ongoing commitment to working with NGOs to help effect change. As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, Paper Force understands that to achieve social, economic and environment progress, commitment and action is required from citizens across all sectors of society, from government, to business, to the leaders of the next generation.
The club’s most current priority is providing funding to the student hostels in Seba and Kupang.
Education is good to junior high level, but going on to senior high in Seba, the port town, requires hostel accommodation, as does progressing to trade school or university in Kupang, 250km away by sea. It is vital that we maintain and grow this wonderful programme ensuring that the Sabunese people are given the opportunity of higher education, returning to their communities as teachers, nurses, tradesmen, agri-advisers and administrators.
For more information on the project and the Rotary Club of Beaumaris visit http://beaumarisrotary.com/
Chartered in November 1985 by the Rotary Club of Cheltenham, the Rotary Club of Beaumaris has been serving local and international communities since. It supports Rotary International’s focus on providing clean drinking water for those without, the elimination of polio through the Polio Plus Campaign, the provision of education and training to support children without education facilities and many other Rotary world programs. It also actively supports its local community with a special focus on health needs.