It's That Dam Project!

Our own Chuni Vyas was the speaker this week. Last Rotary Year Chuni was our club's Interntational Service Projects committee chair and arranged for us to cooperate with the Rotary Club of Mumbai Borivali East, India, to build "check dams" in some poor and remote areas of India.

Our District 5890 contributed to the project as did Rotary District 3140 in India...and then the Rotary Foundation put in funds too to support the project. The end result...the Sharpstown club contributed $2,000 and we were a part of a project that had $24,000 to build 4 check dams.

"Check-dams" are small barriers built across the direction of water flow on shallow rivers and streams for the purpose of water harvesting. The small dams retain excess water flow during monsoon rains in a small catchment area behind the structure. Pressure created in the catchment area helps force the impounded water into the ground. The major environmental benefit is the replenishment of nearby groundwater reserves and wells. The water entrapped by the dam, surface and subsurface, is primarily intended for use in irrigation during the monsoon and later during the dry season, but can also be used for livestock and domestic needs.

Chuni visited two of the dams with members of the Rotary Club of Mumbai Borivali East. She reported that prior to the construction of the dams most of the able bodied men in the area would leave during the dry season to get jobs elsewhere to support their families. With the dams in place many of these men will remain ar home and raise crops with the water from the dams and feed their families in that way - rather than have to leave home to earn money to buy food.

What a terrific story! This is what Rotary all about! Taking a little bit of energy and funding and turning into a much bigger and better humanitarian project.

Guests, Visitors and Other Good News

Visiting with us this week was Caren Cuneo from the Rotary Club of Hermann Park. Her task while visiting with us was to "remind" us all of the upcoming District Conference, April 22-24, at the Ryatt Regency in downtown Houston. With the Conference here this will be one of the most affordable meetings in recent memory for members of our club to attend. Visit the District website for more information and to make reservations.

Annual Wine Tasting Dinner & Silent Auction

April 17th - Dinner and Silent Auction, 6:30 PM at the Hilton Houston Southwest
This is our big fund raising event for the year and it needs to be successful to enable the club to fulfill many of the service projects planned for the coming months. All members should try to find items for the auction...small, medium or large...just something that people would like to bid on and own. All information on the items for the auction needs to be given to Ken Burgess or Jeff Novy. Click here to download the item info form. Click here to make reservations.

Thus far we have a DVD Player with remote control ($90 value), Pass for four to play golf at Sharpstown Golf Course ($100 to $200 value), a beautiful boxed set of polished wooden puzzles ($50 value) and a rolling TV table stand ($20 value), some incredibly beautiful jewelry from India (values from $100 up), an assortment of pashminas and scarfs from India (values from $10 to $50), a vibrating/massage seat cushion ($100 value) and a number of restaurant gift cards. A full list will be posted soon on the club's website at www.strotary.org watch your email for nofification of the posting.

Get your donations to Jeff Novy or Ken Burgess. And...by the end of March we need a REALLY good count on how many people will be attending!

Coming Up At Rotary