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Introduction Already the third edition of the year when we ‘Light up Rotary’, Many thanks for all your positive feedback. Please keep your ideas and comments coming in because the bottom line is that the RIBI International Service Committee only exists to support you. Advice on the more immediate response actions to relieve the humanitarian suffering in the current conflict / disaster areas of the world may be found on the RIBI website. We hope you enjoy your reading of this edition - Mike, Allan, Colin, Gordon, Kevin, Ron and Wendy
South Africa – Books
Mike Holdstock, - [email protected] - a member of
the Rotary Club of
Hull Paragon (District
1270) wishes to help a
former member who
has links in South
Africa ( near
Capetown) and
wishes to send some
1000 books she has
collected from libraries and other institutions to a
village as part of a literacy project. Can anyone offer
help and / or suggestions?
ICC Romania – Small World!
RC Biggleswadw recall an amazing story whereby
a former member, the late David Elphick, donated
on his retirement a printing press to a works in
Romania
The story was
retold during a
meeting of the RIBI
& Romanian ICC
Planning teams that
resulted in Rotarian
Dacian researching
the Printing Works
and discovering
that the printing
press is still producing high quality results, often for
the local Rotary clubs.
Hale in Cheshire to Kenya
Ashley Myers’s – [email protected] - ooriginates
from in Hale, Cheshire yet is interest in Rotary is
based in Kenya. Ashley has done one of those
Rotary things and ‘volunteered’ to front his district’s
international projects.
He would really appreciate hearing from RIBI clubs
interested in undertaking projects in Kenya.
Newsletter September 2014
RIBI International Committee.
Rotary Doctor Bank in GB & I
To mark the 20th anniversary of the formation of
Rotary Doctor Bank in Great Britain & Ireland, a
new website has been generated –
www.Rotarydoctorbankgbandi.org –
YAWs
Reading Matins Rotarian Matt Mason - [email protected] - is determined to get a project going to combat YAWS disease and would welcome any support, he write…... “YAWs is a tropical infection of the skin, bones and
joints caused by the spirochete bacterium
Treponema pallidum pertenue.
The disease begins with a round, hard swelling of
the skin, 2 to 5 centimetres in diameter. The centre
may break open and form an ulcer. This initial skin
lesion typically heals after three to six months. After
weeks to years, joints and bones may become
painful, fatigue may develop, and new skin lesions
may appear. The skin of the palms of the hands and
the soles of the feet may become thick and break
open. The bones (especially those of the nose) may
become misshapen. After five years or more large
areas of skin death with subsequent scarring may
occur.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaws
The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a
goal to eradicate Yaws by 2020. Reading Matins
Rotary Club has decided to support the WHO in
eradicating this disease by working alongside Dr
Kingsley Asiedu the medical officer in charge of
eradication. Although this project is in the early days
Reading Matins fully supports the project and has
managed to contact different organizations such as
Doctors without Borders (DWB) and International
Health Partners (IHP) both of which are interested
in supporting Rotary on this project. IHP wants to
donate Azithromycin, an oral antibiotic used to cure
Yaws. Eradication is achieved through curing and
prevention.
Yaws affects children mainly under 15 years old,
and without treatment, physical deformities occur in
10% of cases. Yaws is a bacterium and with the rise
of antibiotic resistance, it is vital we eradicate this
disease before it becomes resistant to antibiotics;
which would make it difficult to impossible to
eradicate, this means we have a limited window in
which to eradicate this disease.
As Yaws can be treated with a single oral dose of
Azithromycin (which is similar to giving oral doses of
the Polio vaccine, i.e. no injections), we are looking
at sending the antibiotic to local Rotary Clubs in the
endemic countries. Then working alongside DWO
and the WHO, we will provide extra man power and
the antibiotic to deliver it to communities that are
affected by Yaws. As a single oral dose of
Azithromycin can cure Yaws; and members of the
community can be carriers of Yaws without showing
symptoms; it is recommended that everyone in the
community is given a dose of Azithromycin.
Help for Hospitals in Uganda
In this report Dr. Jim McWhirter – [email protected] - outlines what he has been doing and how Rotary Doctor Bank is spending your donations in Uganda. The objective to save lives, especially those of mothers, their babies and children remains the same. But over the five years I have been coming here, the method has changed significantly. Being a doctor, my first inclination was to work on the maternity ward which I did at Kamuli for six months spread over my first three years. This undoubtedly saved some lives and was personally rewarding. However, between visits nothing changed and staying in Uganda long term was not an option for me. So I was wondering where to go next…. At this point, by happy coincidence, I met a Ugandan doctor who was addressing many of the problems that troubled me in my work here. Lack of essential supplies was a constant frustration, but trying to discover how much of this was lack of resources and how much was inefficiency, was beyond me. The lack of resources was unquestionably very real but so was the inefficiency. And if you have few resources it is even more important that you avoid waste and manage them efficiently. Fortunately my new found Ugandan doctor friend, Rogers, had the answer. He previously had been in charge of a rural mission hospital and had written his own computer programme to help him in his work. Further development of the programme and trials in a few hospitals had led to a working management tool which increased hospital income and efficiency without increasing the fees charged to the poor rural populations these hospitals serve. Good news spreads fast and I met Rogers just at the time when demand for his system (Medicaudit) was rising but hospitals could ill afford the upfront computer costs to get it started. And this is where you come in! Funds donated through Rotary Doctor Bank paid the modest £1,500 start up costs for each hospital, after which they required no more funding as they saw their incomes increase. Only one problem remained. Until this year Medicaudit was a one man band with Rogers providing installation, training and support to a dozen far flung rural hospitals from his base in Kampala. Medicaudit had to expand or grind to a halt. A five year plan to develop Medicaudit leading to a self sustaining non-profit organisation was drawn up. A generous private donor offered 100% matching for funds raised by Rotary Doctor Bank for this work. So now they have a staff of four and rapid expansion well ahead of the original plan of six new hospitals a year starting in 2015. On this trip we visited six hospitals in the first week to review progress and problems. In the second week I went with Rogers and new team member, Nicholus, to observe (and occasionally help) as they installed the system and trained the staff at Kumi hospital in Northern Uganda. The challenge of establishing working computer stations at reception, cashier, patient billing and accounts departments over a local network with many staff using computers for the very first time, should not be underestimated - and all in three and a half days followed by a seven hour drive back to Kampala. You would naturally conclude that this could not possibly achieve anything useful but you would be wrong. Experience has proved the method in 15 hospitals so far and there is every reason to believe that the 16th will not be an exception. A follow up visit in a month or so will consolidate progress, continue training and encourage gradual extension of the system. Hospital motivation develops rapidly as they see cash income rise as the computer tracks all transactions and identifies problems to be addressed. As always, thanks to one and all for your support as this project moves forward to a very exciting future!
Village Water Richard Pither, writes in his role as Trustee ………..The UK government has awarded a match funding grant for a Rotary partner organisation providing water and sanitation in Zambia. VILLAGE WATER, a UK based organisation and approved RIBI project partner, will receive 100% match on all Rotary fundraising to their Well Good Appeal, providing money is received before 29 October 2014.
The government funding means that by donating to Village Water, you are having a say in the way the UK government’s aid budget is spent, which through Village Water will help to build the capacity of local partners to put safe water, sanitation and hygiene education at the heart of community development. Clubs that would like to participate in this work and benefit from the 100% match should contact [email protected] or Rtn Richard Pither, Village Water trustee at [email protected]. All donations from clubs that are currently fundraising will be eligible, providing that they are able to get the money to Village Water before the end date.
By supporting The Well Good Appeal clubs are making a real difference to people’s lives in Zambia. If clubs are not able to meet this timescale then there should be an opportunity to double the money with The Big Give Christmas appeal in early December.
£4m, £6m, £10m in 2013/14 – no one knows!!!!! A huge thank you to everyone that has contributed so far in providing data that can be pulled together to objectively assess the value Rotarians throughout RIBI contribute to the wider world community. A huge plea to everyone that has not responded via their District International Service Chairman to do so without delay – it is so easy, all Clubs have AGMs outlining what they have done so the data is readily available. Ron Daniels – [email protected] has done a lot of work to simplify the process, he would welcome any comments, especially outlining the reasons why clubs don’t wish their contributions added to the total.
Disasters The RIBI web site is regularly updated – as Rotarians we naturally look to the long term sustainable help we can provide but naturally think of the ‘NOW’ – please support the Rotary sponsored ‘reactive’ charities in their on-going work to provide shelter and other essential survival items.
Next Month –Please keep your comments and
suggested articles coming in via Mike Parry, -
Mike Parry - Chairman
Allan Smith
Colin Ince
Gordon McGone
Kevin Pitt – Chair, External Funding
Committee
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