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 Dear President Elects 2022-2023
 
Rotary Overseas Recycled Playgrounds began as a project of the Rotary Club of Flemington Kensington in 2018 after an initial shipment of a single playground to a girl’s school in Sri Lanka.
 
The project started with collecting unwanted playgrounds from councils and schools and sending them to disadvantaged overseas communities, beginning with Sri Lanka.  They have now collected over 150 playgrounds from across Victoria and sent them to Timor Leste, the Philippines, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. 
Thus far, 87 playgrounds have been shipped by District 9800 and there are 21 ready to go to Fiji and Egypt. The RORP story continues to grow and has now expanded across Victoria to encompass all Rotary Districts.  There is minimal cost to clubs as donors are asked for a contribution towards shipping.
 
RORP was awarded the District Recognition under the category ‘Environment’ and is a fantastic example of environment sustainability in action. The playgrounds are sent to children rather than landfill.
 
The project became so successful, that it grew beyond the capacity of the Rotary Club of Flemington Kensington and in 2021, the Board transferred management to the Rotary Club of Nunawading in District 9810.   However, this too is proving to be unsustainable as despite COVID the demand and workload has increased. 
Several Rotary Clubs across District 9820 {Frankston/Mt Martha}, District 9790 {Ivanhoe} and District 9780 {Geelong Central}in Victoria have been supportive of this initiative and have actively assisted the project in their districts since inception.  The people that form the RORP team across all districts now feel the need to have this project formally recognised as a cross- district initiative with representation from more clubs.
The playground collected from Quantin Binnah in Werribee and relocated to Ampara, Sri Lanka.
What do we need from you:
1.  Identification and provision of storage spaces closer to each district to help facilitate decentralised storage of dismantled playgrounds prior to shipment.  Undercover or open space.  Previously we loaded into a container at Donations in Kind but there was double handling and it relied on the goodwill of DiK.
 
2.  We invite all clubs in the district to be involved as required to assist with:
  1. Help identify playgrounds through your local council and schools.
  2. Help develop and code playground plans
  3. Photograph playgrounds and colour code.
  4. Help maintain the database.
  5. Drive the DiK truck (where required)
  6. Assist on playground dismantling days and load into the truck/unload at destination.
  7. Co-ordinate & manage shipping (where applicable)
 
3.  Nominate a member/s in your club who would be interested in being the representative when a playground becomes available in your area and process the tasks.
Children at St Jude's School in Buturu, Tanzania.
If your club is interested in making this your international project for 2022 and beyond, please get in touch.  Check out our website for more information and photos.
 
Shraddha Sharma, President Elect, Rotary Club of Flemington Kensington
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