DATE – September 17, 2005

TIME – 10:00 AM

Formulation of recommendations to District Governor

1. In the short term, recommend that clubs devote water project funds to projects listed below under 3.1, 3.3, and 3.4. Contact should be made with leadership of the first 2 prior to FINAL recommendations.

2. That the District create a “clearing house” function at the District 6250 level (e.g. listing on the web-site), for International Projects including water resources projects that would facilitate clubs in identifying suitable projects to support.

3. An initial attempt at compiling such a list was circulated and 4 projects with water resource related description were identified.

3.1. The Engineers without border project in Rwanda was supported by Madison-Downtown in their last funding cycle. The Engineers without borders was just written up in Wisconsin Week (a UW Madison news sheet) so I believe that that program is ongoing and possibly in search of support. Contact information on the UW-Madison campus is: Perry Cabot, (608) 262-9525 or (608) 262-6049.

3.2. The Wisconsin Coordinating Council On Nicaragua (WCCN) was similarly funded during the last cycle. Also I think that the project in Nicaragua is ongoing. WCCN has a long history of support, contact and infrastructure in Nicaragua. Contact information is: Carlos Arenaz, Exec. Dir. (608) 257-7230.

3.3. Summary of the 4^th project in Cochabamba, Bolivia was provided by Andrew Dane. Project construction is underway and funding is in excess of 90%. There is a need to begin identification of additional projects in outlying areas.

3.4. A 5^th water resources project that was discussed related to drilling of wells in the central highlands of Haiti. This project is primarily sponsored by District 5950 in Central and Southwestern Minnesota. An updated status report on this project was distributed.

4. Establish a district Water Resource Committee with a small budget whose goals would be:

4.1. to develop a long term shared vision for district collaboration on water projects.

4.2. to develop criteria that specify standards for infrastructure and oversight that projects would be required to meet to qualify for district matching funds. Develop a geographical focus for district clubs interested in supporting water projects: at the community or sub-national region level. We would seek an area that was not experiencing political turmoil so that our people could go to the site without risking their lives.

4.3. to divide the recommendations that it develops into short term and long term. The reality is that development of a mature project often takes several years which may then lead to the need to maintain continuity over the administration of several DG’s.

4.4. In the next 12 months this Water Resources Committee should identify 3 pilot projects for a district wide focus and long term investment. These projects, their status, their needs and those clubs involved should be widely known in the district through websites and other avenues of communication for the DG.

4.5. Water Resources Committee would explore developing external partnerships to execute water projects in targeted communities/regions (may include non-profits such as Water For The People, universities, overseas Rotary clubs, int’l development agencies, etc…). They could provide assistance in selecting a site, offering suggested projects, etc. but we would contribute and take ownership of our own project. They would provide the management oversight of the project to keep us on track.

4.6. Connect this with Rotary International and in particular the foundation to maximize the District efforts.

4 Discussion of this group coordinating relief efforts for the District – Request by DG Deb Severson. It was the consensus of the group that to forward the Water Resource Projects in the District would be an ambitious task and therefore asked that DG Deb give consideration to assigning this to another Committee.