Paul Stringham
SL Club’s International Committee / Sustainable Cambodia
Our club’s International Committee is led by Dr. Tim LaPine. Tim is neonatologist physician, specializing in treating newborns, especially those born prematurely. I’ve known Tim since grade school. He is an amazing person, friend, humanitarian, and club Rotarian. The committee is involved in many international projects in developing countries: Uganda, Morocco, South America, Nepal, and Cambodia; the list goes on.
Our club's International Committee fosters international relations and promotes self-help opportunities in developing countries in partnership with in-country Rotary clubs and other NGO's throughout the world.
Paul Stringham’s Rotary and International Experience
In May 2008, I joined the Rotary Club of Salt Lake. Floyd Hatch sponsored me, and it has been an amazing 16-year run! SL club members and other Rotarians I’ve met throughout the world have inspired me and blessed my life immensely. Upon joining the club, I immediately got involved in the International Committee. Tom Thatcher was the committee chairman. He impressed me because he had with other club members and a number of other Rotary clubs just completed a $300,000, 3H (Health, Hunger & Humanity) Grant with Rotary International in Bolivia, impacting thousands of lives!
In 2006, I became involved intensely with humanitarian projects in Cambodia. This stemmed from my son, Jack, going on a Cambodian speaking mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Long Beach, CA. Upon his return, he went to Cambodia (solo) and conducted diabetic research on the streets of Phnom Penh for four months.
Jack in 2006, Phnom Penh
Upon his return to Salt Lake, my wife and kids flew to Cambodia and toured the country. While there, we said we must do something to help these unfortunate, amazing people in need. We started to raise money and created a 501c3, “Care for Cambodia,” focusing on clean water projects in Pursat, Cambodia. In a period of 1.5 years, we raised approximately $100,000.
In 2007, we came across Sustainable Cambodia (SC), a Rotarian-led nonprofit organization that works with families of rural Cambodian villages to help them achieve sustainability and self-sufficiency through wells, irrigation systems, schools, training, and empowerment. Sustainable Cambodia was extremely organized, and the directors of SC had the same vision as the Stringham family, so we connected at the hip and quickly moved forward together.
Most Recent Empowerment Grant
Rotary and Sustainable Cambodia today are impacting thousands of lives. Our most recent global grant (still ongoing) is supported by sixteen Rotary clubs around the world and, of course, Rotary International. The financial commitment of this project, including all clubs and Rotary International, is $222,178. This project located in Pursat, Provenance, includes a WASH component (water, sanitation, and hygiene) comprising of water wells and filters, with rooftop rainwater harvesting tanks, and large community ponds to retain water during the dry season. One Hundred Twenty-four latrines are being installed, with indigenous families responsible for building the "above-ground" portion of each latrine. Although WASH is at the core of the project, it is much more comprehensive than just that. It includes agricultural training, composting training, vegetable seeds and materials, cows, and water buffalo, all provided through the training of self-help groups, so the families will pass on what they learn to other families and support each other for sustainability. Children in the villages will have access to community schools with training provided by Sustainable Cambodia, and the grant will support providing "Days for Girls" kits to girls in secondary school so they can continue in school during menstrual cycles.
The project is ~24 months and will directly benefit over 420 families and more than 2,500 Cambodians in three villages. But at the end of that period, the Rotary Club of Pursat and Sustainable Cambodia will be continuing to support the sustainability elements of the project for another 36–48 months, slowly decreasing the amount of follow-up as the village families become increasingly confident in their abilities to maintain all the wells, filters, latrines, and other elements. At a total of $222,178, this works out to less than $90 per person over a two-year period, for a project that will be life-changing not only for the current residents but for their children and for the other village families whom these villagers will help through the pass-on elements.
All of this is what our Salt Lake club and 15 other Rotary clubs around the world are supporting! Many of you in our club have and will be there in person to see this happen. Twenty-five Rotarians from other parts of the world will be arriving in Cambodia during the 2nd week of November this year for our upcoming trip, and more will be coming on the January trip.
There is still room on the November 2024 trip, so please consider it among family and friends and come! Last November I took 3 of my grandchildren; it changed their lives!