Michele Hillier has connected a group of women here in Nanaimo with women in a small village in Sri Lanka who have been working hard to making a difference in their community - Neighbourhood Heroes all.

Michele left Nanaimo two years ago to work with Volunteer Services Overseas in Sri Lanka. Last year, knowing that a group of her Nanaimo friends were about to gather to celebrate her birthday - Is that not a sign of awesome friendship and support? - she sent an email telling them about the extraordinary Sri Lankan women and suggesting that her friends might want to support them.

The Sri Lankan women caught Michele's attention when she heard how their children's school bus driver had refused to drive the four and half kilometers to their village because of the huge potholes in the road, and how these women got up at daybreak to begin repairing the road with no help from their men or local government.

At 1:30 that afternoon they met the bus, blockaded it, and forced the driver to drive their children home. Needless to say the children are now picked up in their village and delivered home every day.

Since then the women have begun to meet regularly, are involved in savings and credit schemes, and have done the fundraising required to put a roof on their Buddhist stupah, which they believed will help them realize their dreams.

Their next "dream" was to build a good well. They did the required fundraising to cover a quarter of the cost, Volunteer Services Overseas and local government paid for half, and fundraising done by Michele's Nanaimo friends provided the final quarter.

Soon after that, the Tsunami struck.

Immediately Michele's friends here asked what they could do to help, and she told them about three children who had lost both parents and were now living with extended family who were struggling to look after themselves let alone three more. She also mentioned a school that had been severely damaged by the Tsunami.

Michele estimated that seven thousand dollars would clothe the children and pay their school fees until they finished school at the age of fifteen. It would also provide some short-term help for the school, along with some basic school supplies and toys.

I met some of the Nanaimo women a few weeks ago at a fundraising barbeque at Ann Ronald's place, where I learned that they have already raised $4,000, more than half of their goal.

A few days later when I told my Rotary Club, Nanaimo North, about Michele and her Nanaimo friends, there was a strong interest in our club getting involved too.

It's a little early to say exactly what will happen in the way of Rotary support, but I'm confident that at the very least Rotary North will be able to help Michele's friends reach their $7,000 goal, and I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up doing a lot more.

Michele is currently contacting a Sri Lankan Rotary Club who we expect will be happy to partner with us to support other projects that Michele will be able to identify.

It feels good to have a clear understanding of where the support money will be going and to have both Michele and a Sri Lankan Rotary Club reporting back to us.

If you would like to get involved, you can contact Ann Ronald at annhronald@hotmail.com.

Can one person make a difference in this world? Is there power in friends gathering together around a cause? Is it true that, when given a chance, most of us will "do the right thing"?

What do you think?