International Projects
How we're reaching beyond our local community
Over the past 30 years East Salem Rotary has worked beyond our borders to help those in need in nearby foreign countries. The breadth of our service has helped bring water and latrine projects, hospital services, erosion control, and lifesaving medical and firefighting equipment to many communities in need.
1990
Four East Salem Rotary club members partnered with NW Medical Teams to install a water system in Oaxaca, Mexico. They worked with the Mixtec Indians for a week putting in a water line, directing water down from a reservoir on the mountain ridge to the village below for easier access.
1992-1995
East Salem Rotary partnered on a reforestation project with the Huehuetenango Rotary Club in Guatemala, growing trees on the mountainsides where there was significant erosion. Club members helped create a tree nursery of white pines and cypress, and they planted thousands of trees in the mountains over several years. In 1995, 10 club members traveled to Huehuetenango and planted trees as part of the reforestation project, along with members of the Huehuetenango Rotary Club. The trip included home stays and participation in their Rotary meetings. Longtime club member & international projects chair Phil Sperl spearheaded this project and many other water and latrine projects in Guatemala, sometimes involving other Rotary clubs in Oregon & Washington as partners. He also oversaw many service projects in Mexico as well.
2004
An East Salem Rotary Club member installed an electrical system in an orphanage in Chiapas, Mexico on behalf of the club.
In the fall of 2004, a club member drove an East Salem Rotary-donated fire truck (pumper) to Mexico for trans-shipment to Guatemala. In December, 2004, 4 club members traveled to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and helped deliver the fire truck to the town. The trip included meeting with the mayor & the governor, and participating in city ceremonies recognizing the partnership with the city.
2005
A club member drove an ambulance, donated by East Salem Rotary, to McAllen, Texas for delivery across the border to Mexico.
2010
Seven East Salem Rotary members traveled to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, hosted by the Guatemala City Rotary Club, and helped build a new hospitalito there on the shore of the lake. This building was a replacement for the previous one destroyed a couple of years before when heavy rains and flooding caused a mudslide that resulted in much damage. They painted, shoveled sand, mixed cement and worked with stone carvers. A local Rotarian hosted the East Salem Rotary members in his home for the 3-4 days they worked there.
In the spring of 2010, two East Salem Rotary members traveled to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala with a member of the Rotary Club of Salem, and a doctor from Vancouver. They helped build shelves for the Hospitalito Atitlan.
Click below to view photos from our Guatemala project:
2012
In 2012, per a request from Rotarians in Guatemala, the club purchased an ambulance that had been taken out of service by American Medical Response in the Portland area. The village of La Democracia needed an ambulance & was in great need of medical supplies, since they were building a new hospital. ESR filled the ambulance with donated medical supplies and shipped it to Guatemala.
2013
In the fall of 2013, ESR had found an ambulance to send to Guatemala & had collected donated medical equipment & supplies from Tualatin Valley Fire Department, club members, and other Rotarians. Since the recipient club in Guatemala did not follow through with this project, ESR, with the help of the Rotary Club of Woodburn, identified Nogales, Mexico as the community that could use the ambulance stocked with supplies. Our club received word that the ambulance arrived just in time to save a 4-day old infant who had to be transferred from Nogales, Mexico to Nogales, Arizona. The baby’s life was saved because the donated ambulance had the proper equipment to allow the baby to be transported.
2016
East Salem Rotary bought a used ladder truck from Lake Oswego to donate to the volunteer fire department in Nogales, Mexico. The club arranged for it to be transported there by using a flatbed truck provided by a member of the Woodburn Fire Department.
2017
East Salem Rotary purchased an ambulance through the Lane County Fire District and filled it with donated medical and firefighting supplies. A club member drove it to the border for delivery to the volunteer fire department in Nogales, Mexico.
2018
East Salem Rotary accumulated donated EMT and firefighting supplies at the Woodburn Fire Department, and loaded 18 pallets of these supplies on a 21-foot Ryder truck, which a club member then drove to the Mexican border for delivery to three fire departments in Mexico: Nogales, Culiacán and Guaymas. The Nogales, Arizona Rotary Club assisted in transferring the supplies across the border.
2021
East Salem Rotary sent a heavy rescue fire truck loaded with firefighting equipment and medical supplies to Guaymas, Mexico. This project was made possible with the collaboration of firefighters from the Woodburn and Hubbard Fire Departments. Many thanks go to the volunteers from the East Salem and Salem Creekside Rotary Clubs for helping load the truck, and for monetary donations from the Salem Creekside and Keizer Rotary Clubs.
