SOME of the TOOLS WE USE, THAT YOU CAN USE TOO
to support those on the Poor Side of DOLLAR STREET (Rev 2025-10-07)
(If you want to see how the other half lives, visit DOLLAR STREET at https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street.)
"EDUCATION is the KEY OUT OF POVERTY" The first 6 in this list all uplift EDUCATION.
1 . MoonCatcher.org: Donate $7 to provide a schoolgirl with a free, long-lasting (5+ yrs.), washable menstrual kit. Or attend (or host) a "MoonBee" to help make them. Or deliver the MoonCatcher Kits to schoolgirls in your project country and provide the health curriculum to the teachers. Or start a sustainable sewing guild to make & distribute them. The end result is girls stay in school longer, and by being mobile all month, they become better educated, they are better able to support their families. "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Give a man a fishing pole and he eats for a lifetime. Give a WOMAN a fishing pole and her entire community is uplifted." - Lon Penna
2. ComputerRehab.org (an AFTRR.org member): For as little as $10, you can have a refurbished laptop for any school or library or poor individual. Donate your used computers here too. At your next District Assembly, ask Rotarians to bring in their old laptops.
3. Provide Education where there is no affordable Internet. EarthTeamwork.com & LearningEquality.org/Kolibri/ K-12 EDUCATION can be downloaded onto computers or memory cards. For $3 each, purchase 32GB microSD memory cards. Install the software. Give them to every teacher & student who has a Windows or Android device. Invite Frank Quinn to demonstrate & teach, 907-315-7162.
4. Mini-tablets: Purchase smartphones for under $50 each on Amazon.com. Locked phones are even cheaper. Locked is OK because the intent is not to use as phones, but as mini-tablets for the K-12 software.
5. BIG-Books.org, Books for International Goodwill (BIG): For $1000, the Rotary Club of Parole, Maryland will ship a 20-foot container of school & library books to any port in the world. They pay the overseas shipping! The recipient arranges for delivery.
6. Exchange Students: Host or send a Rotary exchange student, for a school year or for 3-weeks in the summer. Applicants start the process by finding a Rotary Club near them, by a Google search, or at https://www.rotary.org/en/search/club-finder. [Hint: When using the Club Finder, don't set any of the filters except entering a LOCATION (city name).] After speaking with Rotarians, applicants are directed to a website like ExchangeStudent.org or CNY7180YouthExchange.org for information and for applying.
7. Stop Malaria 98%! Yes, hand out Artemisia Annua seeds, teach how to make a weekly tea. Maison-Artemisia.org/en; Or NiskyRotary.org/Malaria Or bridgestomalawi.org/medical/malaria/ Or Niskayuna Rotarian Lon Penna, 518-312-6588 .
8. KIVA.org: Microfinance Made Easy: Select your country. Choose a borrower. Loan $25. Get repaid. Repeat. Or start your own bank, using handbooks and examples that can be provided by calling Lon Penna and Alice Marcus.
9. DirectRelief.org; MedicalBridges.org, JezreelInternational.org, NOMMS.org, ImecAmerica.org, amrf.com, gftw.org, Medshare.org, MediSend.org, etc. These organizations ship containers of donated medical and other supplies worldwide.
10. Water Pasteurization Indicators (WaPIs): Improve health, conserve firewood with a 50-cent device that tells when liquids are germ free. WaPI@pacbell.net
11 Solar Ovens: Roger Haines, San Diego Rotarian, Inventor of the Haines Solar Cooker, has provided Solar Cookers at a discount for humanitarian purposes. https://www.hainessolarcookers.com/
12 Food Grinders: Our choice is Victoria Manual Cast Iron Grain Mill with High Hopper available on Amazon for $55 (as of 2025). Combines with a Solar Oven saves time and expense of bringing grain to millers, and dough to bakers. Villagers have used these to start a business selling peanut butter.
13. Connect with Rotarians near you, and in your project country. Attend a few Rotary meetings. And/or ask to be the guest speaker. They may be inclined to support you with money or manpower. (Call us if you need a contact name & number.)
14. Connect with a global "Rotary Action Group" addressing a problem you are interested in, like Peacebuilding, the Environment, Water & Sanitation, Education & Literacy, Disaster Assistance, Disease Prevention & Treatment, Maternal & Child Health, etc.
15. Best of all, become a Rotarian, and get connected with a world of good people in 200 nations. Connect with people of all races, religions and cultures, all working with integrity to uplift everyone, everywhere.
At your Service, Niskayuna Rotarians:
Dave Hitchcock, 518-243-9987
Lon Penna, 518-312-6588
Keni Banda, 518-364-2842;
Alice Marcus +234 806 644 6953
OUR STORY: Around 2019, the African Support Alliance invited Niskayuna Rotary to set up a display table at an event they were hosting in Albany, NY. Instead of just displaying our activities, we created a 1-page handout, Tools You Can Use, to enhance the activities of others. We sincerely hope that one of the ideas listed above increases your service effectiveness.