Ted Zacher Memorial Project

Ted Zacher had a dream; “To give the people of the Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador a chance for a longer and better life through education, basic public health and job skills”. He had hoped to see his dream to fruition before he died.

Ted would have been our District Governor during the Rotary year 2007-08. As a memorial to Ted we can make his dream a reality during 07-08 through the “Ted Zacher Memorial Project”.

In 1991, the Rotary Club of Roseburg and the Rotary Club of Salinas, Ecuador, embarked on an international project to provide sanitation to six rural villages on the Santa Elena peninsula in Ecuador. The people of these rural villages suffered constantly from water-borne diseases due to a lack of proper sanitation and a clean water supply. The Rotary clubs were joined by Rotary District 5110, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, Public Health International, and the Kiwanis Club of Roseburg in providing funding for this project. The focus of this project is to provide residents with the necessary knowledge and skills to construct proper latrines and protect their water supplies from contamination. In 1995, the Rotary Foundation of Rotary international awarded the project a 3-H grant of $300,000 to expand the project on the peninsula. So far the project has reached over 60 villages and the rate of intestinal disease has been substantially reduced. Recently, the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International awarded a grant of $20,000 to extend the program to Peru. The project continues to expand through the ongoing efforts of Rotary Volunteers who travel to South America to train the local people and help eradicate water-borne diseases.