Castello's Cucina, 123 Fisher Street, Fullarton SA
President John Peacham 0431 618 359
Next week is Global Voices and Inductions
Last Meeting
Venue: Castello's Cucina
Guest Speaker: Janine Jaede
Guests: Rtn Sarah Huang (Adelaide), John Smith, Marie Rothe, Graham Ey
Attendance: 21 members and 5 guests
Welcome
In the absence of President John, Jerry Casburn welcomed our guests and proceeded without a stirring invocation. Bunnings BBQ yesterday yielded $857.55. Jerry will be sending out an invitation for members to join RC Somerton Park and other clubs at the Rotary Shed next Monday......by way of bribery, Briony is making the cheese scones. At the end of March there is a BBQ send off for Julia Farr staff and Bunnings BBQ on Easter Sunday (potentially a good earner).
Guest Speaker: Janine Jaede - Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Association of South Australia
Paul Duke introduced Janine who is a trained spinal nurse and been with the PQSA for 7 years. She spent 14 years nursing people with spinal injuries at the RAH and Austin Hospital Victoria, plus 7 years working for the Royal District Nursing Society.
Spinal cords injuries disrupt messages to and from the brain. The major causes are trauma such as serious road accidents but there are others caused by medical events such as strokes.
There is a loss of voluntary function, often impacting on breathing, blood vessels, temperature, bladder and bowels, mobility and sexual ability. The level of the injury dictates the bodily impact. Assessment under the ISNCSCI provides a reliable computational algorithm to score the impairment scale calculations of the ASIA International Standards For Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) ie whether the injury impact is complete or incomplete and its severity.
Quadraplegia/Tetraplegia emanates from injury to the spinal cord (C4 and C6) in the neck and affects all 4 limbs while Paraplegia comes from an injury to the spinal cord (T6 and Li) below the neck. There is some good news in that life expectancy for paraplegics is increasing. There can be extreme pain through the impact on sensory nerves in the back. Another major problem is sores from lack of movement. Overuse of arms and shoulders can create mobility issues down the track. It is not uncommon for a patient to have a range of other injuries, the impact of which is not being transmitted to the brain and can therefore remain untreated.
PQSA was formed in 1963 by families with a member suffering spinal cord injury. It's main functions are to provide lifestyle support and home care enhancement. Janine is one of 4 spinal specialists employed with over 500 volunteers across South Australia dispensing therapy, advocacy (referrals to other doctors/specialists), home help, visitations, physio, help with NDIS submissions, recreation and relief time for carers.It is estimated that in-kind support exceeds $1.3m each year. Home Care is designed to make a profit as a provider of NDIS, and Aged Care services plus those being covered by insurance claims. This helps finance their other support functions. Housing for paraplegics is provided at West Beach and in a number of country centres. In SA there are about 50 new cases of spinal cord injury each year. There is a rehab spinal unit. But still no cure!
Janine was applauded for her contribution.
SPOTS
Rhonda Hoare related that Brendan and Stephen had joined her with members of RC St Peters and Young Friends of Rotary at the St Peters shed on Sunday. Brendan spoke to the young group about ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children) with the result that they agreed to:
help with visitations of patients from Oceania islands being brought into the State and treated at the Women's and Children's Hospital (who have agreed to sponsor 4 operations this year); they would also help give carers a break
donate proceeds of their next fund raising venture, a film, to ROMAC....there has been previous success with using YFR film events to assist Afghan women and children and with Shelter Box. They have chosen "Inside Out" a family cartoon film for this purpose at the Regal..thus enthralling all our club members and ensuring 100% attendance.
Rhonda also announced that collection of donations for the Quiz Night raffle and wine wall would proceed 2-3 weeks before the event.
Virginia Cossid reminded that the next coffee chat would be 10.30am this Friday at Impressa.
Paul Duke reported that there had been a good article in the most recent Sunday Mail about ROMAC and young patient Stanric from the Solomon Islands. Paul, Brendan and visitor Sarah are part of the ROMAC team. Paul reported that he had received a certificate of appreciation from ROMAC for the donation of $1000 by our club before it had been sent......way to go......since rectified. Brendan for 4 weeks and Bronwyn for 2 weeks are heading off to Nepal this week, initially as part of Jason Booths optical team.
Finale
The A-1 Thrift Shop team in the guise of Leonie and Robyn nailed the raffle....editor pleased there was no Greg or Virginia popping up again like bad pennies/cents. John Smith and Marie Rothe will be inducted next week. Wendy will be filling-in for Jerry at the Thrift Shop next Saturday.
The meeting closed opportunely at 7.51 pm without a scintillating story from Jerry.
Rotary International News
Solar cell phone chargers help Ukrainians
Posted on
By Jerry W. Venters, Past governor of District 6040 and member of the Rotary Club of Lander, Wyoming, USA
Members of the Rotary Club of Lander with the first batch of solar chargers.
Four members of our Rotary Club in Lander, Wyoming, attended the 2023 District 5440 Conference in Estes Park, Colorado, USA expecting to promote our recent projects in Mexico and Rwanda. Much to our surprise, another international project found us!
Andy Lenec, a former senior Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, stirred the audience at the district conference with his story of a developing program to convert used solar panels into cell phone chargers for the people of Ukraine. The program, developed in coordination with a professor and students at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado, was still in its infancy and only a very few chargers had been shipped to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian power grid remains a target of Russian airstrikes and blackouts are common. Gas generators are more expensive, harder to ship, less mobile, and require fuel which is in limited supply. Solar chargers are easier to move and relatively inexpensive to replace if damaged or destroyed. With charged cell phones, the Ukrainians can receive evacuation orders, air raid warnings, and school schedules. They can also stay in touch with friends and relatives fighting on the front lines.
We couldn’t wait to get started
Our excitement for the project was instant and electric. We couldn’t wait to get back to energize our 65-member club and start converting used solar panels into cell phone chargers. Our service committee quickly endorsed the project, and Ken Schreuder (a retired engineer and current club secretary) agreed to lead it. We planned to ship the chargers to schools, medical facilities, internally displaced people’s camps, and others in desperate need of a means of communication in the war-torn country.
No special engineering is required to turn the 12-volt solar panels into a 5-volt power source to charge phones. The positive and negative wires coming from the used solar panels are wired to the respective wires in the power converter. We worked with a local solar installer to make sure the panels we purchased produced enough power to operate the four charging ports on the power converter without exceeding the input capacity. This allowed us to use the smallest and cheapest panels possible.
A student pen pal relationship springs up
In just six months, our club has shipped 36 chargers to various groups in Ukraine. Each unit can charge four cell phones in about two hours. Our club contributed $750 to kick-start the project, and numerous individuals and churches have given more than $5,000 in support. We have also helped three other Rotary clubs in Wyoming, and one in Missouri, to replicate the project.
Encouraging messages written by the students on the back of a converted solar panel.
Students at local high schools in Lander and the adjacent Wind River Indian Reservation have also been attaching converters to solar panels. The students write encouraging messages on the panels’ backs and ship the units to high schools in Ukraine. Recently, a pen pal relationship started to develop between the students in Wyoming and Ukraine.
The cost of attaching a voltage converter to a small solar panel and shipping it to Ukraine is about $120. That seems like a small price to pay to build goodwill and friendships with the people of Ukraine and help them survive a war that is ravaging their country. We believe we are “Doing Good in the World,” one charger at a time.
Coffee Chat at Impressa, Unley Shopping Centre
10.30 am on the first Friday of the month is good for a chat with Rotary friends and a caffeine fix - Next one is thisFriday 1 March 2024
Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday 5 March 2024 6 for 6.30pm Castello's Cucina
Guest Speaker: Alyssa Hill Global Voices [plus inductions]
Greetings Team: David Middleton & Bob Mills
Tuesday 12 March 2024 6 for 6.30pm Castello's Cucina
Guest Speaker: Jenny Grant Hepatitis Educator
Greetings Team: Bob Mullins & Kate Porter
Upcoming fun event - Bowling with Mitcham Rotary at Sturt Bowling Club on 20 March 2024
Apologies and Meeting Enquiries to: Secretary Greg McLeod on 0417 811 838 or email to secretary@unleyrotary.org.au
Venue Set-up Enquiries to: Bulletin Editor Stephen Baker on 0403 687 015
Saturday Thrift Shop Roster
Early Shift: 10.00am to 1.00pm Late Shift: 1.00pm to 4.00pm
Early: Greg Mcleod & Jerry Casburn (Wendy Andrews) | Late: Virginia Cossid & Vera-Ann Stacy
Week 3: 16 March 2024
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Vera Holt & Rhonda Hoare
Week 4: 23 March 2024
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Jason Booth & Vera-Ann Stacy
Week 5:
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Virginia Cossid & Paul Duke
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Vivienne Wood 0408 819 630; e-mail: vwood@ozemail.com.au
Mitre 10 and Bunnings Barbeques
The Mitre 10 BBQs are the first and third Saturdays of each month. Morning shift 8.30am - 12 noon; afternoon shift 12.00 - 3.30pm, then clean-up.....next one is on 2 March.
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
PQSA was formed in 1963 by families with a member suffering spinal cord injury. It's main functions are to provide lifestyle support and home care enhancement. Janine is one of 4 spinal specialists employed with over 500 volunteers across South Australia dispensing therapy, advocacy (referrals to other doctors/specialists), home help, visitations, physio, help with NDIS submissions, recreation and relief time for carers.It is estimated that in-kind support exceeds $1.3m each year. Home Care is designed to make a profit as a provider of NDIS, and Aged Care services plus those being covered by insurance claims. This helps finance their other support functions. Housing for paraplegics is provided at West Beach and in a number of country centres. In SA there are about 50 new cases of spinal cord injury each year. There is a rehab spinal unit. But still no cure!
In just six months, our club has shipped 36 chargers to various groups in Ukraine. Each unit can charge four cell phones in about two hours. Our club contributed $750 to kick-start the project, and numerous individuals and churches have given more than $5,000 in support. We have also helped three other Rotary clubs in Wyoming, and one in Missouri, to replicate the project.
