Concept Statement

Global Grant #2578317

A partnership between the Rotary Clubs of Highlands (Harare, Zimbabwe) 
and San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (California)

Summary

This Rotary Global Grant initiative falls under the Area of Focus: Disease Prevention and Treatment, by strengthening community understanding of severe disability and supporting the safe, dignified return of clients to their home communities.

Project Description

TOSE Respite Care Centre, meaning "everyone" in Shona, is a national welfare organization in Harare, Zimbabwe, providing respite care and rehabilitation for children and young adults with severe and multiple disabilities who depend on caregivers for nearly all activities of daily living. Seeds of Dignity centers on equipping the wider community to understand and support these individuals, while ensuring TOSE has the means to return clients home safely at the end of each respite period.

This grant will fund two core pillars, supported by a play and therapy area for clients during their stay:

• Community Training and Capacitation (central focus): Workshops for Community Care Workers, TOSE caregivers, families, and outreach to village leaders and chieftains across all provinces of Zimbabwe, building lasting community capacity to understand the challenges severely disabled children and young adults face, and how to support them.
• Vehicle Acquisition: A pickup truck dedicated to transporting severely disabled clients safely back to their remote villages at the end of each respite stay: the critical link that makes the respite model itself possible for families in outlying provinces.
• Play and Therapy Area: Equipment and installations at the TOSE center that support clients' engagement and wellbeing throughout their respite stay.

A complementary set of rehabilitation and gym/therapy equipment, reinforcing what community training teaches with hands-on tools for caregivers, is being pursued through separate funding sources to strengthen the program without expanding this grant's scope.

Impact: By training the community first and ensuring safe passage home second, Seeds of Dignity builds understanding and capacity that outlasts any single grant cycle, while ensuring no client is stranded at the end of their respite period for lack of transport.

Timeline: One year

Revised Budget:

Note: Rehabilitation and gym/therapy equipment is not included in this grant's budget and is being pursued through separate, complementary funding sources.

For More Information or Club Engagement:

If your club is interested in a follow-up presentation or Zoom discussion about this initiative, please contact George Poulakos at gjp@tribecacom.com or (954) 494-4387.
 

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The Seeds of Dignity
 

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