Xicotepec Project Guidelines

• Involve high school and college-age youth
• Establish a long-term project with a partner club
• Provide on-site volunteer opportunities to work with Rotarians and others in the project country
• Broad involvement throughout D6000
• Focus on education to break the poverty cycle

Background:

• Discovery Grant Team trip to Xicotepec - February, 2002
• Four project teams from D6000 in March of 2003, 2004 and 2005 (two teams in 2005)
• Approximately 180 visits by 150 participants – 50% of participants have been youth
• Dates for 2006: March 11-19 and March 18-26

Some early results:

• D. Cabrera, M. Meléndez and B. Rodríguez - RYE students from Xicotepec in D6000 in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05
• Xicotepec RC President A. Ramos and wife attend D6000 Conference in May 2003
• A.Carman of Jefferson, 2003-2004 RYE student in Xicotepec
• GSE Exchange for 2003-04: D6000 of Iowa and D4180 of Mexico
• DG D. Skinner and wife visit Xicotepec and D4180 in January 2004
• Xicotepec receives its first fire truck from FAMSCO
• The Technological University of Xicotepec receives a badly-needed school bus from the Dallas Center RC

First Project Team Trip: March, 2003

• Project team builds four new classrooms at the Rotary Club Primary School
• Engineering students and faculty from ISU and the U of I begin work on drinking water, sanitation and environmental quality projects.
• ISU Engineering Professor Steve Jones incorporates Xicotepec needs into senior design course
• DG 2002-03 Gary Pacha creates scholarship fund for Xicotepec primary and secondary school students
• Five primary school students receive scholarships for the 2003-04 school year

March 2004 –Project Team # 2

• Originally intended to be half the size of the 2003 project team, in the end it was larger – 51 persons:
  • Rotarians and partners – 18
  • Interactors and Rotaractors – 14
  • U of I and ISU Engineers – 15
  • U of I College of Education - 4
• Led by P.Schnack, team members made a bare, empty room into a beautiful school library, including:
  • mural with a children’s literature theme
  • bookshelves, made by school parents and Iowa Rotarians
  • a well-researched collection: new, in Spanish, covered and catalogued
  • posters, throw rugs, furniture, stuffed animals
• Vicente Guerrero Tele-secondary School is identified as a priority project
  • NW Des Moines RC assumes leadership of this effort within D6000
  • Xicotepec Rotarians oversee project
  • Parents and school staff deeply involved
  • Major focus for 2006 Project Teams

2004, 2005 and Beyond: Work Continues

• Prof. S.Jones and his ISU student engineers assist in design and construction of waste treatment system at the secondary school
• U of I student engineers led by Prof. C.Just 
  • host well-attended, hands-on “Drinking Water Fairs” for Xicotepec residents
  • make presentations to various school groups
  • gather data on water quality in and around Xicotepec
  • develop strategies to protect environment and improve public health
• The Medical Team, led by Dr. P.Wallace
  • helped screen over 200 women for cervical cancer
  • gave physical examinations, including checks of eyesight and teeth, to nearly 300 primary school students in each year
  • attended a number of “walk-in” cases, some in critical need of health care
• P.Rao, has made three trips to Xicotepec. She…
  • wrote a song in Spanish to teach tooth-brushing and provided toothbrushes and toothpaste to 300 primary school students - twice
  • helped raise $1,000 in pennies from Iowa City schools to buy books for the school library
  • gave a five-minute talk at the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club, generating over $6,000 in donations for school library projects in Xicotepec

2005 Developments

• Two project teams in two consecutive weeks, a total of 80 participants
• Various project “pieces” adopted by D6000 Rotary Clubs:
  • Red Cross – Muscatine RC
  • Casa Hogar Victoria Orphanage – Coralville–North Corridor, Jefferson and Muscatine RCs

Why it works >>