Our club was moved by Robert Loeun’s talk on Building Pathways to Employment & Empowering Youth. Robert shared his personal story of growing up in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era and escaping to America to build a new life. We are grateful for his courage and honesty in sharing it with us.
Robert now channels that journey into helping young people. His program connects youth with the skills, support, and opportunities they need to find meaningful employment and step into their futures with confidence.
Thank you, Robert, for your story and for the work you do to open doors for the next generation.
On Saturday, September 19, the new Interact Club at Riverside STEM Academy took on its first project! The Interactors teamed up with students from the Poly and Arlington Interact clubs to join Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful for the Arlanza Cleanup at Bryant Park. Volunteers picked up litter and helped beautify the stretch of Van Buren near the park, making it a cleaner, more welcoming space for families in Arlanza.
Thank you to everyone who came out to serve, and to Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful for organizing the effort and supplying the tools. Small acts add up to a big difference in our community.
Congratulations to Jonathan Steele, Rotary Leadership Institute Graduate!
Jonathan has completed the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) program, a hands-on learning experience for Rotarians who want to grow as leaders, strengthen their clubs, and get more out of their Rotary service. RLI courses cover the fundamentals of Rotary, effective club leadership, communication, membership, and the work of The Rotary Foundation.
On September 16, we welcomed actor, producer, and entrepreneur Terayle Hill, who shared the mission of PILOT (Preparing Industry Leaders Of Tomorrow). A Moreno Valley native, Terayle is known for his work on STARZ’s Step Up and the film Judas and the Black Messiah. He now works to help young people build the skills and confidence to lead in their chosen industries.
Today we were joined by Mechelle Maier of InvestEd. She shared valuable insight on how early financial education can set the next generation up for smarter money decisions and long-term stability.
We also presented member badges to our newest members, Bill Millward, Michael VanHulle and Jerry VanHulle.
Rotarians Gary Christmas, Tim Kelley, Christopher Cox, Matt Barth, and Tom Evans gathered at Carbon Nation Brewing for the first “Riverside Jams” featuring Riverside’s best live Ukulele music!
This week, we were joined by Dr. Tim Gutierrez, Associate Professor of Sociology, who shared his experience teaching incarcerated youth in Riverside County. Most of his students have already earned their High School Diploma or GED and are now working toward their Associate’s Degree.
Despite the challenges of their circumstances, Tim described his students as engaged, curious, and genuinely excited to learn. Many are seizing this opportunity to reshape their futures, and it shows in how actively they participate and how eager they are to dig into the material.
Programs like this remind us of the power of education to open doors, even in the most difficult circumstances. Tim’s dedication to this work is a big part of what makes it succeed.
We also heard from Nathan Hinckley who is embarking on a project to restore the Tortoise Enclosures at the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert.
Guest Speaker: We welcomed Linda Hicks from the non-profit Aquamotion Ability Foundation, who shared inspiring insight into their mission and impact.
New Members: We’re thrilled to welcome three new members into our Rotary family!
* Bill Millward
* Michael VanHulle
* Jerry VanHulle
Paul Harris Fellow: Huge congratulations to Francis Reyes on being recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow +4 for her support of the Rotary Foundation. Francis exemplifies Service Above Self!
Thank you to everyone who joined us. Here’s to another great week of service!
Riverside East Rotary is proud to share that Toilets 4 Life Phase II has launched in Bugiri Municipality, Uganda. Five modern sanitation facilities are now serving schools, markets, and public spaces across the municipality, backed by two purpose-bought trucks and a wastewater treatment technology new to the district.
Phase II is funded through Global Grant #2569338, a $206,248 partnership between the Rotary Club of Bugiri Municipality (District 9213) and Riverside East Rotary District 5330, and Rotary International.
A completed Toilets 4 Life Phase II sanitation block in Bugiri Municipality.
Why Bugiri
Bugiri Municipality is home to roughly 45,650 people. Before this work began, 76% of them had no access to safe water, and the entire municipality was served by three public pit latrines, two of which no longer worked. There is no municipal sewage system. The consequences show up as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery, and they fall hardest on women, girls, and children under five.
Phase I of Toilets 4 Life began addressing this in 2023 and Phase II builds on it.
What Phase II built
Five sanitation facilities, at:
Bugubo Primary School
Nabukalu Market
ITT Vocational Training Centre
Bugiri Bus Park
Kireka-Ndifakulya community
Each facility includes six stances (two for women, two for men, one for persons with disabilities, and one urinal), along with two shower units, tap-water connections, and handwashing stations.
Painted signage credits Rotary, RC Bugiri Municipality and Riverside East Rotary.
Two trucks, both already in weekly service:
A 10,000-litre cesspool emptier (Reg. UA 375BP), which empties school and public toilets and carries the waste for proper disposal.
An ISUZU FORWARD garbage collection truck (Reg. UA 018DP), now running weekly refuse collection across Bugiri Municipal Council, with communities loading the garbage themselves as their contribution to the project.
Two Aquonic wastewater treatment tanks, purchased in Bangkok, Thailand and shipped to Uganda. Rather than simply storing waste until a truck can collect it, these tanks treat wastewater on site, a technology not previously available in the municipality.
More than construction
Training. Twenty-five WASH school committee members, facility cleaners, and garbage and cesspool staff completed a two-day hygiene, sanitation and wastewater management course in December 2025. A further 20 participants were trained specifically on Aquonic tank operation and maintenance by Attawut Kumkronng of SCGC Thailand, working alongside ITT Vocational Training Centre.
The curriculum also included WASH committee roles and responsibilities, the relationship between water, sanitation and waterborne infection, menstrual hygiene management, solid waste collection and disposal, and Uganda’s sanitation regulatory framework.
Community ownership. Community adoption meetings were held on 10 January 2026, and School WASH Committees have been established and trained at every site. Hygiene education programs are running across all beneficiary schools.
Getting the word out. A radio talk show on Eastern Voice Radio in Bugiri brought the project to the wider community, with the Mayor’s representative Mr. Mapesa Ayub taking part alongside visiting Rotarians.
Supporting Organizations
Rotary Club of Bugiri Municipality hosts the grant, under President Nabba Charles and Charter President Proscovia Biryeri. Jaffer Bajja Shaban serves as project administrator and has driven implementation and reporting throughout, as he did in Phase I.
ITT-Africa School of Health Science, Technology and Innovation is the cooperating organization, leading community mobilization, training delivery, and reporting.
Riverside East Rotary is the international sponsor. Club member Rtn. Zubair Bakubye travelled to Uganda, addressed the community adoption meetings, took part in the radio talk show, and helped facilitate the Aquonic tank training.
Rotary Club of Murrieta sent Rtn. Nancy Young, Rtn. Doreen Tate, and Rtn. Mickie Evans, who travelled to Bugiri and facilitated the January community meetings and the radio broadcast.
Rotary Club of Jinja has mentored the Rotary Club of Bugiri Municipality since its founding, with Rtn. Petronilla serving as mentor. That sustained support made a club capable of hosting a grant of this size.
From Phase I to Phase II
Phase I (Global Grant #1985875) brought $61,500 to Bugiri and delivered five basic septic toilet blocks and one 7,500-litre cesspool truck. It was hosted by the Rotary Club of Iganga and completed in 2023.
Phase II is more than three times the size, at $206,248, with larger and more inclusive facilities, a second truck for solid waste, and on-site wastewater treatment. The host club changed to Bugiri Municipality’s own Rotary club, a sign of how much local capacity has grown in three years.
Reduced congestion and unsafe toilet use in schools
Increased school attendance, particularly among girls
Greater community awareness of hygiene practices
Local ownership strengthened through active WASH Committees
The project’s goal is to reduce waterborne disease in the municipality by at least 50%.
What’s next
A cadre visit is planned, and District 5330 is exploring a Vocational Training Team (VTT) to Bugiri, an opportunity to deepen the technical partnership well beyond the life of the grant.
Two things learned during Phase II are shaping what comes after. Menstrual hygiene bins were not in the original budget but proved essential, and were provided anyway. And Bugiri’s sludge treatment capacity has become the limiting factor: the municipality currently relies on a lagoon originally built to serve Bugiri Hospital, which is not sized for municipal demand and is approaching capacity. The Municipal Council has requested a dedicated lagoon, and without one, the long-term sustainability of the sanitation system is at risk.
Thank you
The Rotary Club of Bugiri Municipality has expressed its gratitude to The Rotary Foundation, and to the clubs and districts whose funding and technical support made Phase II possible. Riverside East Rotary is grateful in turn to everyone who has supported Toilets 4 Life across both phases.
Launch day
Arriving at the launch site.Officials inspect a new facility on launch day.Community members turned out in numbers for the launch.Preparing for the ribbon cutting.The new garbage collection truck, dressed for its handover.Rotarians and municipal officials at the handover.Both trucks, garbage collection and cesspool emptier, on display.Officials with the two new vehicles.Remarks to the gathering.Guests seated for the formal programme.Attendees gather for a group photograph.A wider view of the same group.The crowd closes in around the trucks.
The completed facilities
A finished six stance block.The facility in use.Going in.Inspecting a finished block.
Video from the launch
Cutting the ribbon at a new facility.Cutting the ribbon on the cesspool emptier.Handover speech at the trucks.Remarks at the wastewater tank.Remarks at the garbage truck.The project signboard on the truck.Officials arriving at the venue.Walking to the ceremony.
Thank you to Leslie Pirritano and Devanie Donadio from NORA, the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center, for speaking at our Rotary meeting this week. They explained NORA’s mission: providing culturally responsive, inclusive advocacy, support, and services to survivors and families affected by sexual violence, domestic violence, and child abuse, along with community education focused on awareness and prevention.
Sexual and domestic violence affect people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds, and many survivors face real barriers to safety, services, and healing. We’re grateful to the work that NORA does in our community.
Learn more at https://callnora.org/ and for information about their annual dinner and auction gala go here: https://givebutter.com/noras-45th-annual-dinner-auction-gala-a-night-at-the-louvre-ji22zz
