A PROJECT more than 4,500 miles away is continuing to receive support from Dunbar Rotary.

The Vocational Training Centre in Kalimpong, India, opened in 2016.

This year, it plans to construct extra rooms, and the centre and Rotary are ready to contribute to the cost of furniture and equipment.

In 2016, nine Dunbar Rotarians, led by Robin Hamilton, visited Kalimpong and were impressed by the centre, where courses include electrical, tailoring, agriculture and masonry.

Dunbar Rotary also now supports two projects in Malawi.

Ian Dickson, Dunbar Rotary past president, has been involved in Rotary projects in Malawi since 2004 and has visited five times.

Dunbar Rotary’s “productive privies” project, supported by five other clubs in Scotland, is introducing Eco-San compostable toilets in a rural area in the north of Malawi.

A spokesperson for the East Lothian group said: “A two-pit system provides a pit for six months, which is then sealed to compost, while the other pit is used.

“At the end of six months, the human waste of the first pit provides manure for vegetable fields to produce better crops, an essential in a country which suffers regular food shortages.”

The second Malawi project supports a maternity unit in Chiringa, in the south-east of the country, where funds are unable to provide adequate support for maternal and neo-natal care.

The Rotary spokesperson said: “The local organisers are Care and Share, a small Malawian charity funded from Ayrshire.

“The first purchases were made this month – including ambu-bags, hot water bottles, an electric kettle to heat water, and fabric to make curtains for the delivery, examination and post-natal rooms.

“The unit caters for about 40 births per month.

“Dunbar Rotary hopes to gather enough funds to rebuild the shower room, which collapsed in bad weather last year.”

Anyone interested in helping Dunbar Rotary with projects, whether local or international, can contact Dunbar Rotary by emailing info@dunbarrotary.org