The following summary of tonight's program was "shamelessly borrowed" from the Rotary Club of Corning's bulletin:

Kim Miranda introduced Deacon Ray Defendorf from Corning Rotary.  Ray presented on the Soroti Uganda Youth Development Initiative, or “SOYODI,” an international project that the  Rotary Club of Corning sponsors. 

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa whose diverse landscape encompasses the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains and immense Lake Victoria.  Soroti District is in the Teso Region of Eastern Uganda, which includes 9 districts.  Youth unemployment is a serious challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda.  Youth aged 18-30 account for 64 percent of the country’s unemployed. 

SOYODI’s mission is to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions for the youth who have dropped out of school.  Denis and Agnes Ajaru L’Auta are a married couple who founded SOYODI.  Agnes’ parents were murdered, leaving her orphaned.  The L’Autas are an amazing couple who initially took in 21 orphans from the streets but did not have enough room to house them.  So they helped to build an orphanage.  In 2019 an international grant, including funds from the Corning Rotary Club, helped fund the Soroti Youth Skills Development Project. 

The Soroti Youth Skills Development Project is a two-pronged vocational development initiative serving over 200 youth in the region.  For boys, it offers training in horticulture and organic farming.  For girls, it provides training and materials for sewing, and after graduation provides each student with their own sewing machine.  This allows the girls to start their own business and become self-sufficient.  Corning Rotary is helping to purchase the new foot-powered Singer sewing machines along with a video camera, camera tripod and laptop computer.  The combined cost is almost $40,000.  A Rotary International grant to cover this expense is in works.  In 2019, the Corning Rotary International Committee provided funds of $3,615 to purchase 10 sewing machines, additional supplies for 10 students, a video camera and stand, and a laptop computer. 

The current goal is to provide 50 sewing machines for students & tools for farming.   Clubs will be invited to help co-fund the program in the future.  Individuals can sponsor students and donate in other ways.  We will send out forms that Ray provided so club members can become involved if interested.  Thank you Ray for a wonderful and inspiring program!