Date: February 2, 2010
Editor: Shirley Zinman |
Vol. 59 –31 |
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Club Program
Past, Present & Future |
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| Last Week: |
Rick Mewhinney Pres Newmarket Rotary
– Uganda Water Project |
| This Week: |
Herman Pfaller –
Classification Talk |
| Feb 16: |
Gary Murphy – Crime
Stoppers |
| Feb 23: |
Dr. John Wright President
and CEO – Charting the Course for the Future
of The Scarborough Hospital |
Richard Mewhinney President of Newmarket
Rotary - Uganda Medical Project
Gene introduced our guest by first stating
that he had met Rick 34 years ago and that Rick was
18, and Gene confessed he was a little older than that.
He spoke of Rick as being possessed with a zeal for
serving his fellow man and woman. He was focused on
phantom hockey when he found out about the Rotary program
‘In from the Cold’ in Newmarket. He and
his wife Elizabeth take in International Scholars for
the year. He is still a young man and one year ago he
went to Uganda Kampala to connect with High Adventure
Canada because Rotary monitors the project and the project
has sustainability. It has been in effect for five years.
Rick told us that initially that any project in Africa
is a water project but the project’s focus is
in the eastern central of Uganda and it sits near Lake
Victoria in Ongutoi - a Health Centre.
It is 90 k or a 3 hour drive to get to Ongutoi from
Kampala on ‘roads’ which makes our complaining
of pot holes foolish.
North Uganda was controlled for in excess of 20 years
with child soldiers until three years ago when the LRA
(Lord’s Resistance Army) was removed. Twenty years
of war displaced 20 million people. Uganda then experienced
a massive flood and after some recovery and some resettlement
was hit with terrific drought.
The population of Uganda is 31 million in a country
which is about the size of Manitoba. Fifty-six percent
of the population is under 18 years of age since the
severe onsets of war, hardships besetting the country
and aids have taken so many lives.
Ongutoi is a village of about 300,000. Whereas a middle
class person in Uganda would make about $5,000, the
average family in Ongutoi makes about $800.
The project here meets each of District 7070’s
areas of focus for Peace, Water, Sanitation and Education…..
wanting a high impact and sustainable project. To do
that, just start, stay focused, keep a long term commitment,
develop and rely on local talent, focus on knowledge
transfer and build the capacity for that.
The Muyenga Rotary club in Uganda is teaching women
how to sew mosquito nets- The Nakyessa Nets Project.
This project will create an income with a new skill
and protect against malaria. There are so many war widows
here and this area of Uganda is the heart of malaria.
100 % of the people here have had malaria.
One of their buildings is a cistern. The water is collected
on a specifically designed steel room.
In terms of Medical support, there has been supplementary
education program and an ambulance was presented from
the Hamilton club.
The challenge is to service 33,000 people with this
Ongutoi medical centre. They are appealing to Canada
to look at how the people have been suffering, have
been displaced and are trying to rebuild. There are
problems with pregnancies and deliveries, persons dying
of malaria and having to be carried miles. They have
asked for support and will contribute labour.
The current clinic had bat droppings and invasive insects.
Land has been donated, the elders support the notion
of the clinic as well as its overall design as it fits
into a familiar useful configuration. They need two
buildings (pods), one for a 20 bed care and the other
for staff housing. The partners are Kim Phuc and High
Adventure (Canada). Kim is an Honorary Rotarian from
Pickering. Presently they have funds for the 1st and
2nd pods for maternity and pediatrics.
In February Rick is going to take 200 textbooks. They
will have to add beds and continue helping and training
with the malaria nets.
In April there is an Aids Walk to try to make money
to build the next two pods. There are nurses here to
teach and help and they are developing public health
education.
Questions - Chris, are there are opportunities for
sweat equity - one in Feb and Aug for physicians, teachers.
Once they have the hospital they would look at sweat
equity.
Sydney asked whether the material for the netting is
local and yes, the material as well as the chemicals
are local products.
There was no more time for questions and Sydney thanked
our speaker for the visual presentation and talk that
is promoting teaching self-sufficiency that was well
received by us.
Received after the meeting, Tuesday evening from Rick.
I spoke to Isaac today, for our 2 hour update today…he
said MANY things (used up all my prepaid airtime), but
among them was a report that shocked me…
He said the Ongutoi team was working building as
we all saw in the photos, but the photos did not show
what the boys shared…apparently, people are coming
constantly, looking for any kind of medical help…some
come on makeshift wooden stretchers (like pallets) some
are coming actually unconscious…pregnant mothers
are coming on backs of bicycles…people just keep
coming, looking for any kind of medical help, even before
we could get the roofing on. People are absolutely desperate.
This was a very emotional report for us. We are
so grateful for our being able to open 2 units this
trip…each one holds 4 beds, but it looks like
we will try to squeeze in 6 in each…how can we
NOT?
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