Guest Speaker: John Arvier OAM - Rotary Oceanic Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC)

Paul Duke introduced John, an oral and maxillo-facial surgeon, who has been a Rotarian (PHF) for 30 years and has volunteered extensively overseas. He hails from Brisbane but spent 3 years in Adelaide during the 1980s. He and Paul have collaborated on a number of overseas humanitarian ventures including PNG in 2009. 

John explained that oral and maxillo-facial surgery involves the repair of mouths and jaws. In the Australian context, most cases in his early career were fixing up smashed faces from motor vehicle accidents but seat belts and air bags have reduced this. Interpersonal violence is now the number one menace. But sports like rugby also take their toll and he has designed head gear to protect those with facial injuries. Even soccer players run into goal posts and need facial restructuring. He showed photos of a broad range of facial injuries/defects treated in Australia and abroad.

While ROMAC now concentrates on bringing children with complex surgical needs to Australia from Oceania for treatment, in 'the early days' they came from a wider range of countries including Bangladesh and Cambodia where he volunteered. He worked at the Bangladesh Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the early 1990s and his first patient for treatment under ROMAC from there was 14 yo Ashma. He volunteered with Paul Duke across PNG. In 2003 he treated a young boy from there with an underdeveloped jaw in Brisbane. A girl from Cambodia with a cheek tumour, involving a number of bone grafts, was treated from 2004-2005. John showed photos of patients with massive tumours which he had removed. ROMAC got a tick when it agreed to fund accompanying doctors in 2006 - it has made a big difference to the well-being of patients and improved surgical success.

He questions whether the ROMAC model works as well as it should. He cited disruption to family life, cultural differences, trauma for kids being in a foreign country without close acquaintances, difficulty in arrangement of follow-up surgery and dislocation on return to country for those with longer term surgery. Treatment in-country may have better outcomes, where it is feasible to do so......[but most cases dealt with by ROMAC are highly complex and do not lend themselves to treatment by visiting teams] There should be an evaluation of ROMAC operations ...are there better ways?

John reflected on cases from the Philippines and Indonesia and showed exerpts from his trips to Somaliland, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

He was thanked by acclamation.

Glad we had the graphic photos after the meal!

SPOTS

Finale

RYLA Graduation Ceremony 2022

Last Thursday the Rotary Youth Leadership Award graduation ceremony was held at the Marche Club. It was attended by Rhonda, Haydn, John Kikkert and Stephen.  The editor had the benefit of being the RYLA register and was able to experience first-hand the significant improvement in communication, teamwork and leadership achieved among the 30 participants. Most impressive was the fact that the whole program was run by graduands of RYPEN and RYLA, who performed superbly when the chips were down. Our club sponsored Surabhi Bhardwaj and Brittany Martin....see opposite. Special mention for outstanding performances were Helen Marshall (RYLA Chair) and Jesse Budel (Team Leader). The team was in great shape on the night (see below) but somewhat worse for wear the following morning....as expected.

Rotary International News 

Rotary President Jennifer Jones announces on 24 September Rotary's $150 million pledge toward polio eradication efforts at the 2022 Global Citizen Festival in New York City.

By Ryan Hyland

 

Rotary International President Jennifer Jones appeared on the main stage at the star-studded Global Citizen Festival on 24 September to highlight Rotary’s commitment to eradicating polio and announce an additional US$150 million pledge toward that end.

Jones, who spoke in front of 60,000 people in New York City and tens of thousands more online and on TV, noted the state of emergency that the governor of New York state recently declared to combat a resurgence of polio in the region. 

Jones stressed that polio is preventable through vaccines and that wild poliovirus is endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although female vaccinators are critical to building relationships with mothers and reaching children in these areas, they sometimes can face harassment or even attacks.

In Pakistan, "frontline female health workers put themselves at risk every day," Jones said. "They are committed, even with obstacles, to reaching every last child with polio vaccines." The vaccination program works with the local police and government to ensure the safety of these health workers.

Jones talked about the effect of polio vaccinations in some countries being disrupted by COVID-19. She pointed out that in 2021, about 25 million children went without critical immunizations. "The world has beaten back this disease significantly, but we must redouble efforts," Jones said.

 

The additional funding Jones announced will go to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which said in August that it was seeking new funding commitments for its 2022-26 polio eradication strategy. "We want this to be the start of a massive effort to reach the initiative's US$4.8 billion funding goal," Jones said.

Rotary members have been at the center of the worldwide effort to eradicate polio for more than three decades. Rotary launched PolioPlus in 1985 and helped found the GPEI in 1988, when there were an estimated 350,000 polio cases across more than 125 countries in one year. Since then, cases have plummeted more than 99.9%, sparing more than 20 million people from paralysis. Rotary has helped immunize nearly 3 billion children against polio, contributed more than US$2.6 billion to global polio eradication efforts, and helped secure more than US$10 billion from donor governments.

The Global Citizen Festival, an annual music celebration, urges world leaders to end extreme poverty, take action on climate change, empower girls and women, and dismantle systematic barriers. This year's Global Citizen Festival, which took place in New York City and in Accra, Ghana, called on global leaders to invest US$600 million into the future of women and girls, narrow the US$10 billion climate change shortfall, and provide US$500 million to help farmers in Africa to respond to the global hunger crisis.

The New York component, hosted by actor and Global Citizen ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas, included performances from Metallica, Charlie Puth, Jonas Brothers, Måneskin Mariah Carey, Mickey Guyton, Rosalía, Angelique Kidjo, and Billy Porter. Presenters included celebrities Amber Ruffin, Bill Nye, Connie Britton, Katie Couric, Tamron Hall, Katie Holmes, and more.

Global Citizen says that since its first concert in 2012, more than US$41 billion in funding has been dispersed that's affected the lives of more than 1.1 billion people.

Jones urged people to get involved: "Global citizens, use your voice — help us call on governments, businesses, and other leaders to join us in pledging ambitiously at the World Health Summit in October to end polio forever."

Rotary has worked with Global Citizen for a more than decade, primarily regarding the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. At last year's event in Paris, France, Jones announced $97 million pledge for sustainable project. At the 2012 concert in New York City, Rotary General Secretary and CEO John Hewko announced Rotary's $75 million commitment to polio eradication. Rotary and Global Citizen have also connected at Rotary International Conventions, the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meetings, polio advocacy events, and polio funding announcements.

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 this Friday 7 October 2022              

Upcoming Meetings

Tuesday 11 October 2022 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher

Event: Committees Night

Attendance and welcome: Vera-Ann Stacy & Christina Way

 

Tuesday 18 October 2022 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher

Guest Speaker: Allan Baird Community Radio 

Attendance and welcome: Wendy Andrews & Judy Barton

 

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 

 

Week 1: 5 November 2022  

Early:  John Peacham (Jerry Casburn) & Haydn Baillie |  Late: Robyn Carnachan & Leonie Kewen

 

Week 2:  8 October 2022

Early: Greg Mcleod & Wendy Andrews |  Late: Virginia Cossid & Ging Tadiar

 

Week 3: 15 October 2022  

Early: David Middleton & Nathan White  |  Late: Vera Holt & Rhonda Hoare

 

Week 4: 22 October 2022      

Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran |  Late: Jason Booth & Vera-Ann Stacy

 

Week 5: 29 October 2022

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 9.00am - 12 noon; afternoon shift 12.00 - 3.30pm, then clean-up.....next one is Saturday 15 October 2022

 

ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm

Morning shift: 8.00am – 12.30pm | Afternoon shift: 12.30 – 5pm

We have been allocated the last Monday of each month.....next one is Monday 31 October 2022 

The Tale End.....  

This week it is the women's section