A reception to honor Moshi, Tanzania Rotarian Dr. Sadikiel Kimaro and his wife, Young, brought 45 Rotarians and friends from the Rotary Clubs of Chico, Paradise, Durham, and Orland to Chico’s Butte Creek Country Club the evening of July 23. The Kimaros were in the area to meet members of these clubs (plus the Cordelia Rotary Club) which have provided financial support for several clean water projects in the Mt. Kilimanjaro region of northern Tanzania.

Several months earlier they had hosted Chico Rotarians Will Bono and Walt Schafer, along with Walt’s wife Teresa Kludt, in Moshi during a planning trip supported by a Volunteer Service Grant from The Rotary Foundation.

A similar trip in March 2008 by Walt and Teresa resulted in a $52,800 Matching Grant that is supporting a pumping/storage/ treatment system at one village and six rainwater harvesting systems at schools in the region. These systems are expected to provide access to clean water to more than 13,000 students and residents. A second matching grant application recently has been submitted for nine similar systems in the region.

Mrs. Kimaro also is co-founder of a micro-finance program which also receive support from the Rotary Club of Chico. During their brief visit, Dr. and Mrs. Kimaro spoke to four Rotary clubs and met with a Chico State Vice President about a possible faculty exchange program with a private university in one of the communities receiving a rainwater harvesting system.

Sadikiel and Young Kimaro embody Service Above Self. Both U.S.-educated economists, they served in Washington, DC for 28 years with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, respectively. In 2000, they returned to Tanzania where he became economic adviser to the country’s president. After retiring in 2005, they returned to his home area near Mt. Kilimanjaro where they have devoted all their energies to helping communities in the region improve their standard of living and quality of life. Rotary has provided a productive avenue through which they are channeling much of their energy and devotion to service. The reception, which included nearly an hour of questions and answers, was a remarkable, inspiring cross-cultural experience.