A near-capacity crowd was on-hand at the Domino Theatre for the Kingston-Frontenac Club's 2025 Night Out fundraiser.  Rotarians and friends of Rotary were treated to an entertaining comedy, Decrepitude Blues, written by local playwright Douglas Bowie.  The evening also featured a raffle of a beautiful quilt from the Limestone Quilters Guild as well as a Silent Auction.  100% of the funds raised will go to support Rotary projects in the local community and abroad.  Special recognition to John Evans, John Mirski and Susan Freitas for their efforts to assure the event's success.

 

 

 

 

The K-F International Service Committee expanded its global reach in 2024-25, with active projects now on 3 continents.  Herein follows a listing of the projects supported either directly or in collaboration with other Rotary Clubs.

 

• Youth Development Project with Rotary Club of Cordeiropolis, Brazil
  - with Kingston Club
• Kingston Club's Healthcare Project in  Colombia

• Improving Neonatal Outcomes at Mae Tao Clinic, as recommended by Meghan Jenkins, Queen's Meds. A Rotary Foundation District Matching Grant for 2025-26 has been approved at the District level.
  - with Chiang Mai Airport Rotary Club in Thailand

Tanzania 2024-25

 

 

MAARIFA PROGRAM, TRINITY ACADEMY

In 2023 one of our Partners, Ndossi Ndumi, asked for our help in developing a Maarifa program at his primary school, Trinity Academy.  Maarifa is the Swahili term for self-reliance and embodies the intent of this new program.

Ndossi had long been concerned about the lack of practicality in the Tanzanian curriculum.  This was a recurring theme that I have heard from educators in Tanzania from the Primary level to Vocational Training to Medical schools.  Like Canada, Tanzania abandoned its programs to technical training.  It is interesting to note that Ontario, Canada has re- introduced trades training courses as a core requirement in High schools.

In Tanzania, one of the challenges of technical training is a lack of tools.  Good quality tools are very difficult to find, and if available, are extremely expensive.  Quality tools will be three times Canadian prices, yet trades workers  make 1/20^th of their Canadian counterparts.  Equipping a training workshop is an expensive exercise, that most schools are not able to fit into their budget.

Trinity Academy is a mixed primary school (Primary 1 to 7) with students aged 5 to 14.  About half of the students are full board and live at the school and the rest come from the local area.  For the boarding students, the school is their home and the teachers serve a dual role as both educator and parent.

Ndossi’s vision for his Maarifa program was that his students would develop practical skills while applying academic principles and developing an appreciation for working with one’s hands.  He wanted to start with a carpentry program and slowly add other life skills including sewing, cooking, agriculture, and animal husbandry.

In 2024 a friend from Kingston, Professor Darko Matovic (Queen’s University Mechanical Engineering) joined me for a week at Trinity School.  I asked him to help with both the Maarifa program and our Raspberry Pi computer program (a subject for a future article).  In the months prior to our departure, Darko and I put together a selection of hand tools that we felt would be suitable for a Primary School in Africa.  Some of the tools were donated by friends, others were purchased in Canada, and some were sourced locally.  We brought the tools with us in our checked luggage.  Thank you to KLM for your generous luggage allowance.

Working with Ndossi, the shop teacher, and some of the students we created a shadow board to store and manage the tools.  I got a chance to work with some of the students building furniture for their new library.  Ndossi has continued to engage the students in small projects around the school allowing them to develop skills and contribute to their school home.

 

   

 

 

 

 

The Club Services (CS) committee has had another busy year! My gratitude to Don Taylor, Randy Beck and Greta Du Bois Cleynhens for your work and constant support!

The CS committee played a hand in:

1. the approval and purchase of: 
   -16 guest dinners; 
   - 2 club bbqs at Robinson garden;
   ⁃ an easel for Rotary poster promotions;
   ⁃ a retractable banner;
   ⁃ signage for the retractable banner;
   ⁃ a gift hamper (Jennifer Jones dinner);
   - several ad hoc items.
2. monthly pub nights;
3. bi-monthly food packing initiatives at the CFRW;
4. initiating a monthly Foodbank (FB) collection totaling just over $1500 since January 2025,going towards the purchase of several food hampers.(see also bB poster below);
5. a monthly wine raffle, accruing just over $600;
6. the sale of the club TV for $300 
7. several guest speakers,
8. inducting three new members;

 

 

 

Nicolas Del Moral

 

Long Term Exchange Program

 

Short Term Youth Camp

(June 22 - July 7)

 

 

Regiopolis - Notre Dame
Long Term Exchange Program

 

May 27, 2025

 

The two Kingston-area Rotary clubs, Cataraqui-Kingston and Kingston Waterfront, both recently celebrated milestone anniversaries (40 & 10 respectively) at a joint celebration held the last week of May).   On hand to offer congratulations on behalf of the Rotary Club of Kingston-Frontenac were Board members Fred Richmond and Randy Beck, a former Cataraqui-Kingston member. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsored by Gananoque Rotary & Lions Clubs