The energy and enthusiasm that flows through the weekly meetings of the Ladysmith Rotary Interact Youth Club can leave Rotary liaison members reeling. The club meets weekly, for half an hour between morning classes and lunch hour, and it’s astonishing what they are able to accomplish.
On Sunday, May 16, 2021, through the generous support of Ladysmith and area residents and the 49th Parallel grocery store, the Interact Club raised $1400 for a cause that is close to their hearts. They have made it their mission this year to sponsor a 10-year-old Ethiopian girl, Tigist Mulat, to attend school.
Although Tigist is 10 years old, she is just starting in kindergarten. Tigist and her mother 
have had a very difficult life just surviving on the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Now they have found safety and support at the Muday Charity Association, a registered Ethiopian charity, and Tigist is settled enough to attend school.
The Ladysmith Interact Club is a group of young people who are supported by Ladysmith Rotary and the Ladysmith Secondary School with the 
object of doing community service in Ladysmith and internationally. Their local activities include:
- A Story Walk in Brown Drive Park, which promotes physical literacy as children explore pages of a picture book mounted to storyboard signs along a trail or walkway. Each storyboard sign includes interactive questions about the story or environment and give readers a (socially distanced) opportunity to partake in fun, physical literacy activities;
- Soap for Hope, which provides vulnerable people with soap and hygiene products
- Projects at the Oyster Bay Senior Centre such as distributing decorated flower pots, seasonal videos and cards and video-taped readings.
- Raising money for Emergency Preparedness kits for the Town of Ladysmith.
International projects include:
- Supporting the renovation of a hospital room and sick children’s schoolroom in Malawi; and the latest project, sponsoring Tigist.
