Story By DAVE KING

March is Rotary’s focus month for water, sanitation and hygiene. In Kent, ​Tenterden Rotary Club have been supporting projects in Turkey and ​Ukraine.

More than 12 months ago, on February 6, 2023, a series of powerful earthquakes ​hit Turkey and Syria. More than 55,000 people were killed in Turkey alone, and ​the devastation left over a million people homeless.

One year on, many thousands of people are still living in temporary shelters and ​surrounded by rubble as the task of rebuilding homes and lives remains huge.

A key need for communities is clean water to sustain life and prevent disease.

Tenterden Rotary Club in Kent has been working with the charity Aquabox and ​fellow Rotarians in the Derbyshire Dales District to supply 90 family water filters ​to aid partners in Turkey. Each of these water filters will meet the daily needs of ​up to 10 people and will go on working for many months, if not years.

Funds for obtaining and shipping the water filters were raised during Tenterden ​Rotary Club’s 75th anniversary celebration concert which was held last ​September.

The club was greatly helped by Mustafa Deniz from the Ozgur Turkish Restaurant ​in Tenterden, who supplied delicious food served at our fundraising concert. His ​support was critical to the Rotary club’s efforts to support Turkish families.

The project was also supported by a grant from Rotary District 1120 (south-east ​London, Kent and Sussex), plus a tremendous donation from Tenterden’s twin ​club in Cochem-Zell in north-west Germany.

In all, £3,500 from the musical event was donated to supply clean water filters. ​On the back of this donation, Rotarians from Rotary District 1220 topped up the ​shipment to supply an additional 60 family water filters - raising the total value of ​the donation to £6,000.

Aquabox has been working closely with charity partners Operation Orphan in ​Turkey and Syria to ensure the donations reach the communities most in need.

Their outreach work means they have steady contact with displaced families, ​enabling them to monitor needs ensure the water filters are used properly.

Besides supporting humanitarian efforts in Turkey and Syria, the Kent Rotary ​club’s 75th Anniversary Celebration also raised substantial funds for aid to ​Ukraine.

Tenterden Rotarian Oksana Romanukha has recently visited Ukraine to discuss ​with the International Rotary Club of Lviv the best way of providing support. ​These include supplying Improved First Aid Kits for use by local schools and ​public service workers. Just over £4,000 has been raised for this purpose.