Apologies: Heather Kilsby, Graham & Patsy Beckett, Robyn Carnachan, Lindsay England,Sheila Evans, Geoff Hill, Mavis Martin, Ali & Soheila Mostaghim, Marlene Small, Pam Trimmer
Attendance: 19 Members 5 Guests
Vice President Ken's Announcements
The filling of the upcoming Thrift Shop, Mitre 10 BBQ and Bunnings BBQ rosters is under control.
Induction of Vera Holt
Vera was introduced to the club by Jerry Casburn..........often better the second time around. Vera emigrated to Australia in 1968 from the Czech Republic and graduated at RMIT in Melbourne to Bachelor of Business in Accountancy. She worked 12 years with Deloitte in Adelaide, Melbourne, Prague, Bangkok...... then with Melbourne & Monash Universities.......and finally UniSA. She was a finalist in Telstra Business Woman of the Year in two states. Since retirement she provides JP services to the Czech community which numbers 5000 in South Australia and at City of Unley. She is soon to become Honorary Consul for the Czech Republic.
Vera is to help Trevor McGuirk with Club Committees and adopts the classification of Financial Management.
Vera was warmly welcomed back into the club.
Guest Speaker - Dr Mark Moore
Overseas Specialist Surgical Association OSSAA
Chairman Leonie Kewen introduced Mark who was born in New Zealand and crossed the ditch to become one of Australia's finest plastic surgeons. Mark visited our club in Y2000 seeking assistance to set up an organisation which could continue the humanitarian work in Timor of Dr John Hargrave, a leprosy specialist from Darwin. The club responded, and with the help of John Russell, Bob Laws, Alex Jonson and Stephen Baker the Overseas Specialist Surgical Association of Australia (OSSAA) was born and incorporated in 2002. Since then there have been a century of volunteer surgical team visits, over 11,000 consultations and 5000 life changing/saving surgical procedures performed.
Mark explained that Dr John Hargrave applied a bottom-up approach........go where the need is greatest..........namely East and West Timor and Flores. Papua was added. Much of the earlier effort was concentrated on cleft lips and palates, burns contractures and leprosy. Since Y2000 he has led 44 trips to Timor Leste, provided 3524 consultations and 1500 surgical procedures, of which 947 were clefts/palates. A series of before and after photos was displayed showing the dramatic improvements achieved for the many children, teens and adults treated.
The great strength of OSSAA has been its commitment to the same locales over this period [ie do not fly in for a week or two, perform the operations and then disappear, like some other organisations]. This means that a strong bond has been established with the hospital administrators and health professionals which enables full surgery booking lists, effective follow up surgery, consistent first class training of medical and hospital staff, and competent post-surgery care. There is likely to be 25 years of further work in East Timor before it becomes self reliant.
OSSAA teams now include plastics, orthopaedic, ENT and general surgery. Considerable progress has been made with mentoring of plastics trainee Dr Joao Ximenes in East Timor, and the teaching and mentoring of nurses. Collaboration with Australian dentists, orthodontists and speech therapists has added depth to the surgical interventions.
There have been tough times experienced as happened during the 2006 civil war when one of the teams was trapped. Mark showed a photo of his first cleft patient who just happened to be a guerilla fighter. Another photo graphically showed the irreparable damage caused by betel nut. Photos of the burns contractures operated on by the teams were confronting but also displayed the progress made through successive skin grafting.
Flores is the home of the kimono dragon. A hospital in Cancar was established by Sister Virgula from Germany 50 years ago to look after the leper colony; Mark recently attended their celebrations. He reflected that surgical techniques now taught in Australian hospitals are inadequate to competently deal with the challenges of trauma remediation in countries such as ET which makes it difficult to source surgeons for the teams.
Mark was thanked by acclamation and rewarded with a bottle of vino.
Dennis Liddle won the appalling squares. And there was overwhelming happiness about the SANFL and AFL footy results......Editor's Version
The meeting closed at 7.54 pm
Rotary News
Rotary makes high-quality health care available to vulnerable mothers and children so they can live longer and grow stronger.
We expand access to quality care, so mothers and children everywhere can have the same opportunities for a healthy future. An estimated 5.9 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation — all of which can be prevented.
How Rotary makes help happen
Rotary provides education, immunizations, birth kits, and mobile health clinics. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from disease.
Sustainable programs
Rotary programs improve women’s access to skilled health personnel: doctors, nurses, midwives, or community health care workers
Clean births
Rotary members distribute clean birth kits and train health workers in safe delivery of babies.
Keeping children alive during their first year
Rotary members teach mothers how to breast-feed, promote immunizations and regular checkups, and distribute insecticide-treated bed nets.
Our impact on the lives of mothers and children
The Rotary Foundation reaches mothers and children in need by giving communities the help and training they need to take control of their own maternal and infant health care.
Rotary makes amazing things happen, like:
Mobile prenatal clinics
Haiti has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate of any country in the western hemisphere. Rotary provided a fully equipped medical Jeep to volunteers and midwives to reach mothers and children in remote areas.
Cancer screening
Rotarians provided a mobile cancer screening unit and awareness trainings around Chennai, India, where there is a high mortality rate of women with breast and cervical cancer due to late diagnosis.
Preventing injuries and deaths
Rotary members launched a $3 million, five-year pilot to save lives of mothers and children during home deliveries in Nigeria. Since 2005, they’ve also repaired 1,500 obstetric fistulas — 500 more than their initial goal — restoring dignity and hope to vulnerable mothers.
Upcoming Events
RYLA September 23-29 Nunyara Conference Centre.
RYLA Graduation dinner Thursday 28 September
COUNTRY CAR CRUISE (The Unley Redex Car Trial) 29 October
Patsy reminds us all of the Challenge with RC Eastwood, and dearly wants stronger participation and outcome......even greater fun this year. She insisted a photo be used to highlight the occasion but the choice is very limited.....this is about the best.
Our Upcoming Meetings
19 September 2017 atDamien on Fisher at 6 for 6.30pm Pub Quiz - Unley v Brownhill Creek
Chair: H Kilsby | Set-up, Welcome & Attendance: R Hoare & A Jonson
26 September 2017 atDamien on Fisher at 6 for 6.30pm Dr Grant Whiteman - Calperum Update
Chair: Dennis Liddle | Set-up, Welcome & Attendance: L Kewen & D Liddle
3 October 2017 atDamien on Fisher at 6 for 6.30pm Peter Sullivan and Brenda Hughes - Schools Night
Chair: Janet Singh | Set-up, Welcome & Attendance: T McGuirk & D Middleton
Usual Meeting Venue: Damien on Fisher, 123 Fisher Street, Fullarton SA 5063
Apologies to: Stephen Baker as early as possible by e-mail sandbbaker@internode.on.net or 0403 687 015
RYLA September 23-29 Nunyara Conference Centre.
