Posted by Henry G. Kammerer on Apr 28, 2018
International service came home to WNY at the GI Rotary, Apr. 25, meeting at the Launch Club. Current UB student, Matthew Falcone, (and member of the Rotary-guided Rotaract Service Club at UB) journeyed to Tanzania in 2015, saw the critical need for purifying water there – GI Rotarians had seen the same need 10 yrs ago in Ethiopia, as girls were forced to scoop water from a cattle field for their families. We financed a well then; a big help, but expensive and needing constant maintenance. Now a grad student in Civil & Environmental Engineering at UB, Matt Falcone is working on a reliable, long term solution – a parabolic solar trough device using plentiful, strong, sun light of tropics to sterilize water without expensive chemicals that need constant replacement. His work needs trials on-site in Tanzania to refine the device, but is real progress. We in Grand Island Rotary saw the benefit of Rotarians working with service minded, students from Rotaract groups who have those new, bright ideas that will truly help the world. You can learn more about Matt Falcone’s effort to return to Tanzania at the University at Buffalo Crowdfunding Tanzania project.