Stories


ROMAC now accepting new patients My Fellow Rotarians and Friends of ROMAC I sincerely hope this communication finds you and your families safe and well and coping with the ongoing day-to-day challenges of the COVID virus. Sadly, because of the restrictions placed on ROMAC due to the pandemic, during the past 12 months our ability to bring patients into Australia and New Zealand for medical treatment has been severely affected. In fact, for the first time in the history of ROMAC, we have not been able to bring in one patient into Australia since July last year. However, there is some 'light for the future' with a patient from Tonga, Penny, recently accepted on humanitarian reasons by New Zealand and operated on this week. Penny underwent surgery for a cardiac condition in Auckland's Starship hospital. In talks with the Australian Federal Government, we are hopeful that Australia will soon also be able to accept new patients, possibly within the next three months. Our current waiting list numbers approximately 30. On behalf of the Board of ROMAC, and all the hard-working volunteers of the ROMAC team, please allow me to thank you for your generosity and support in these difficult times. Harold Sharp OAM Chairman	ROMAC now accepting new patients	Michael Fisher	2021-07-27 14:00:00Z	0
Nepal Remote Eye Camp Rose Bay Project 2005 “When a blind person is brought on the back, carried all the way about 2 to 3 days journey and then 1 operate on him and the next day he sees the light - and he puts his hands to me in utter gratitude...I can take that as the most enduring thing 1 can expect in my life.” Dr Nawang Tenzing, Bhutan History Dr Sanduk Ruit, Medical Director, Tilganga Eye Centre was invited by the late Fred Hollows to train with him at Sydney Prince of Wales Hospital in 1986. The partnership that was forged in that year would revolutionise the way people deal with cataract blindness in developing countries. A low-cost high-volume lens implant surgery technique was developed enabling surgeons to perform lens implantation with simplicity and few resources. The Tilganga Eye Centre provides cataract treatment and trains doctors in the treatment techniques. An important component to the Centre’s provision of treatment is its remote area Eye Camps. These camps have changed the lives of many people and provided training to over 100 surgeons and 53 paramedics from Eye Hospitals in Nepal and surrounding regions. The Rotary Club of Rose Bay has supported Four Eye Camps The first was at Duhabi near Biratnagar, a small country town in Terai near the Indian Border in the Eastern part of Nepal. Two specialists and three other doctors in training performed 773 operations (395 male and 378 female) with 2,300 outpatient treatments during the five-day period. · The second Eye Camp was at the village of Tupche, Trisuli where two surgeons performed 261 lens transplants with 1,260 outpatient treatments · The third Eye Camp took place at Dhankuta where three surgeons (including the first surgeon to attend from South America) conducted 236 lens transplants and 1,450 outpatient treatments. · The fourth Eye Camp, was held at Phaplu, Solu, a very remote area with no roads, where one surgeon and two trainee Ophthalmic Assistants conducted 901 screenings 106 lens transplants and 9 other operations, Help us to help others see the future more clearly	Nepal Remote Eye Camp Rose Bay Project 2005	Michael Fisher	2021-06-28 14:00:00Z	0
Nepal School Project 2002 Lo-Manthang Schoolroom Project, Upper Mustang, Nepal Following a commitment confirmed at the Club’s General Meeting to support classrooms at a monastery school at Lo Manthang, Upper Mustang, Nepal, President Carl Segal, arranged for a sum of AUD$4,000.00 to be telegraphically transferred direct to the account of the School in Nepal. Background Lo Manthang is a forbidden feudal kingdom located high in the remote regions of northern Nepal, a sparsely populated region where an ancient Tibetan culture still reigns. The population of about 7000 is scattered amongst a series of 28 small communities and nomadic tribes. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet (1959) which used to be the source of ancient Mustang’s culture, the close cultural and religious ties have been totally severed. This in turn, has resulted in a negative impact on the prevailing traditions due to the people being exposed to the totally alien culture of the present Government. The Project The principal of the school welcomed the opportunity to build two more classrooms onto the school, using the teachers and students as labor to minimize cost, and the school principal said, “To build an element of ownership and pride into the activity”. “The need is to expand teaching space as there are far more potential students in Lo Manthang then there are facilities to teach them”. There was only capacity to teach 55 Students at Lo Manthang’s only school. The principal also stated “The generosity of The Rotary Club of Rose Bay, has enabled young people who might not otherwise receive any education at all to attend school Previously uneducated children of upper Mustang will now have the opportunity to learn more about their own cultural heritage and the Tibetan language as well as English and Nepali”. The new Ambassador to Nepal Mr Keith Gardener officially handed over the money at a small ceremony earlier this year to the Abbot of the Tsechhen Shedrub Ling Mon Gon Lobara (Great Compassimete Sakyapa Monastic School). Building commenced in May of that year, when the snow thawed and access to this remote area by foot was again possible. The School regularly relocates to Kathmandu the capital of Nepal during the cold winter months.	Nepal School Project 2002	Michael Fisher	2021-06-28 14:00:00Z	0
Rotary’s Response to the 1918 Flu Pandemic An estimated 500 million people worldwide became infected. Many cities closed theaters and cinemas, and placed restrictions on public gatherings. Rotary clubs adjusted their activities while also helping the sick. This is how Rotary responded to the influenza pandemic that began in 1918 and came in three waves, lasting more than a year. The Rotary Club of Berkeley, California, USA, meets in John Hinkel Park during the 1918 flu pandemic. Photo by Edwin J. McCullagh, 1931-32 club president. Courtesy of the Rotary Club of Berkeley. Read more...	Rotary’s Response to the 1918 Flu Pandemic		2020-11-05 06:00:00Z	0
Rotary at the Start of the United Nations Rotary and the United Nations have a shared history of working toward peace and addressing humanitarian issues around the world. During World War II, Rotary informed and educated members about the formation of the United Nations and the importance of planning for peace. Materials such as the booklet “From Here On!” and articles in The Rotarian helped members understand the UN before it was formally established and follow its work after its charter. Many countries were fighting the war when the term “United Nations” was first used officially in the 1942 “Declaration by United Nations.” The 26 nations that signed it pledged to uphold the ideals expressed by the United States and the United Kingdom the previous year of the common principles “on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world.” Read more...	Rotary at the Start of the United Nations		2020-11-05 06:00:00Z	0
History of Women in Rotary Women are active participants in Rotary, serving their communities in increasing numbers and serving in leadership positions in Rotary. The 1989 Council on Legislation vote to admit women into Rotary clubs worldwide remains a watershed moment in the history of Rotary. “My fellow delegates, I would like to remind you that the world of 1989 is very different to the world of 1905. I sincerely believe that Rotary has to adapt itself to a changing world,” said Frank J. Devlyn, who would go on to become RI president in 2000-01. The vote followed the decades-long efforts of men and women from all over the Rotary world to allow the admission of women into Rotary clubs, and several close votes at previous Council meetings. Read more...	History of Women in Rotary		2020-11-05 06:00:00Z	0
Young Inventor Eco-Friendly Bricks Come Full Circle Every hero has an origin story. “I was 10 years old when the entire journey started,” explains Binish Desai. It began with a cartoon called Captain Planet, an animated TV series from the 1990s about an environmentalist with superpowers. Desai can still recite the show’s refrain: Captain Planet, he’s our hero / Gonna take pollution down to zero! “That tagline stuck in my mind,” he says. “I wanted to do something to help Captain Planet.” Read more...	Young Inventor Eco-Friendly Bricks Come Full Circle		2020-11-05 06:00:00Z	0
First Club in Philippines Opens Door to Rotary in Asia In early 1919, Rotarian Roger Pinneo of Seattle, Washington, USA, traveled to the Philippines to try to organize a Rotary club in Manila. Leon J. Lambert, a Manila business leader helped Pinneo establish the club. Several months later, on 1 June 1919, the Rotary Club of Manila was chartered and became the first Rotary club in Asia. The club would be the only one in the country for more than 12 years. Eventually, Manila club members organized Rotary clubs in the Philippine cities of Cebu (1932) and Iloilo (1933). Iloilo club members then started a club in Bacolod (1937), and Rotary continued to expand across the country. Read more...	First Club in Philippines Opens Door to Rotary in Asia		2020-11-05 06:00:00Z	0