TRF Trustee Chair
Our largest programme at The Rotary Foundation is PolioPlus, followed by a significant new initiative called the Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge, which emerged from the first Programs of Scale initiative in Zambia. Through this work, we are combating malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoeal diseases — the three leading killers of children under 5 in Africa.
A healthy child still needs an education, and education is where futures are built.
Rotary is finding ways to invest in the next generation through partnerships and creative approaches. Johan Denolf, of the Rotary Club Damme, Belgium, and Nirmal Rijal, of the Rotary Club of Kathmandu Mid-Town, Nepal, share one remarkable example:
In the mountains of Nepal, the children of Melamchi Ghyang village had no school. In 1985, a teacher named Purna Gautam set out to change that, founding a school on the promise that no child would ever be turned away. For many girls and boys, it became a lifeline against threats such as child labour, early marriage and human trafficking.
In 1999, Hilde Kuypers, a Belgian humanitarian, was so moved by Gautam’s mission that she founded KetaKeti, a nonprofit, to support it. KetaKeti and the Rotary Club of Damme built a partnership while the club helped the community recover from a 2015 earthquake.
In 2024, the Rotary Club of Damme — working with the Rotary Club of Kathmandu Mid-Town and 15 clubs from Belgium and Germany, with support from District 2130 — united for around $175,000 global grant.
The project brought solar energy to the school, eliminated dependence on firewood for cooking, powered a medical post, and launched reforestation and environmental education.
By 2025, enrolment had climbed to 440 students. Rotary clubs committed to three years of teacher salary contributions. By 2027, the school aims to be self-sustaining through an alumni fund, matched dollar-for-dollar by KetaKeti Belgium. What began as one teacher’s promise has become a story of global friendship and the power of education.
Through a Rotary Foundation global grant, hundreds of Nepalese children now have a genuine shot at the future they deserve. Most remarkable of all: The school’s own alumni are now helping secure that future for the next generation. That is the sustainable, generational impact Rotary endeavors to create.
There are countless such stories waiting to happen. With your commitment and The Rotary Foundation behind you, you can be part of one.
Holger Knaack
TRF Trustee Chair