Rotary: Investing in opportunity

Rotary is a worldwide network of inspired men and women who volunteer their time and talents to support their local communities and communities around the world.

Dedicated Rotarians (from over 200 Rotary clubs in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as clubs from Europe and Kenya) and Sand Dams Worldwide are very proud to work together to promote peace, prevent disease, provide access to clean water and sanitation, enhance maternal and child health, improve basic education and literacy, and develop communities.

Many Rotary clubs are particularly committed to helping thousands of people in drylands transform their lives through local, reliable and cost-effective water supplies, such as sand dams.

The need for safe water in drylands

Over 40% of the earth’s surface consists of drylands (hyper-arid, arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas with concentrated periods of seasonal rainfall). These drylands which cover large areas of Africa and Asia are home to around 2.3 billion people, mostly living in rural poverty trying to eke out a living in a tough climate.

The answer is sand dams

Working with local partners, Sand Dams Worldwide supports rural communities to build sand dams - the most cost-effective method of catching and storing rainwater in drylands. Sand dams provide safe water for life and the opportunity to grow enough food to eat, store and sell. It is our vision that millions of the world’s poorest people will transform their own lives with sand dams.

What Rotary has enabled

Thanks to over £1million invested by Rotary, over 70 sand dams have been built giving over 130,000 people access to safe water (click here to see the full list of sand dam projects supported by Rotary, and click here if you'd like to read Sand Dams Worldwide's Rotary reports).

"Kew Gardens Rotary led the first of these projects inspired by the simplicity of the technology and its effectiveness in addressing survival in times of drought... Sand dam technology can bring safe water to 74% of the world’s poor people, and it is hard to find a more cost-effective way to enable such communities to have access to safe water and healthy food, improve their health and free time for children to be educated."

James Onions, Kew Gardens Rotary.
"On behalf of the communities Rotary has enabled to construct sand dams – tens of thousands of people now with safe access to water – we’d like to thank Rotarians for your ongoing support, and we look forward to transforming more lives together."

David Jordan OBE, Chairman of Sand Dams Worldwide. 

If you are a Rotarian or Rotary club and would like to support our work, or if you'd like to receive a free, downloadable Rotary and Sand Dams Worldwide brochure, please contact: [email protected]