Friday, 11 October 2013

Rotary Meeting - October 8th, 2013

Thanks to President Pete Lawrie for engaging his super memory, and doing the report this week.  Thanks to Tom Croft and Bob Schelle for photos.

The Meeting was called to order by the President (in the midst of a boisterous, energetic crowd) re-emphasizing:
  • Our annual Rotary theme of Engage Rotary Change Lives is as much about the impact service has on us as it is the impact it has on others. A good example of this was our first CAT venture serving more than 200 lunches at Our Place on October 5th in partnership with the Rotaract club.
  • This is Vocational Service month. Our speaker, Dr. Jim Sparling (seen below with President Pete), is a great example of putting the principles of Rotary into his vocation and his vocation into Rotary. Incorporating this principle is a hallmark of Rotary as an organization.
A wonderful lunch was served in the David Foster Theatre. Lots of hearty laughter and banter ensued.
We had lots of visitors introduced by Tom Croft; we even had a visiting Rotarian bring a visitor!

Visiting Rotarians:
Serve Wilson, Sandpoint, Idaho (School Administrator)

Jim Sparling, Saanich, (Physician) guest speaker. 



Visitors                                                                      Hosts
May Croft                                                                   Tom Croft
Markus Ludwig (soon to be inducted)                        Don O’Coffey
Sandy Currie (soon to be inducted)                            Tom Lidkea
Janna Malo                                                                 Tom Croft
Chuck Vollbrecht                                                        Serve Wilson (Idaho)
Tara Hearm                                                                 Lori McLeod
Dimiter Bainov                                                            John Jordan


Health of the Club: Mary Canty advised that Annamaria Bamji was returning home on Tuesday after treatment at the Hospital. Our best wishes were extended to both Perry and Annamaria.


Announcements:

People were reminded that the meetings on the 15th and the 22nd will be at the Victoria Golf Club -NOT the hotel! Any dietary requests need to be sent to Bob Schelle (ASAP). The only one received to date was for single malt Scotch as opposed to a blended one!



Jim Force pumped the CAT effort (community based sweat equity projects). This is a great way to both make an impact and create a more flexible schedule for members. We will target ~ 1/month while being mindful of other fundraising/community projects.



Sabrina advised us that the Rotaract club was sponsoring a “Speed Networking” evening on October 29th.  What a great way to get to know and potentially mentor some great young people who are Rotarians launching their careers. Great Vocational Service initiative! More info to come.


Joan Peggs reminded us of the PolioPlus event for Southern Vancouver Island on October 24th (Rotary International End Polio Day). Our mayor and honorary member (Nils Jensen) will be one of several good-natured and committed high profile leaders to be arrested for Polio. We have to join forces to bail him out! Donations of more than $50 will get a tax receipt. We want out mayor to generate the highest bail. Get ready!  Neil Rawnsley challenged the club to donate whatever you can (big or small) so that we can say we have a 100% participation in Every Rotarian Every Year. Big challenge, big impact!

Celebrations Master:
Tav McPherson came roaring back from his travels abroad with visions of loonies and toonies dancing in his eyes. He joyfully (some might say exuberantly!) wrung hard earned cash from all of our pockets.
While there were enthusiastic happy and sad dollars (the rare survivors of Tav’s extractions!), Jim Laing gave us yet another Ode to Graham De Laet our new Canadian Golfing Superstar who happens to be from Jim’s home town of Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Mary donated a check equal to her birthday towards Jacqueline's Guatemalan project, and Ron Cooley donated his massive 50/50 cumulative winnings to the Foundation. (Photo of Ron with Tav below.) Rumour has it that it was >$180. Thanks Ron.
Sabrina introduced our amazing speaker, Jim Sparling, who is a specialist in chest/respiratory medicine and ran the VIHA chest clinic for more than 10 years before retiring in 2010.  Jim has been volunteering in Uganda since 1994 on his own and in partnership with a number of Rotary Grants. His focus is Tuberculosis. Jim gave us a jaw dropping presentation, letting us know that the current incidence in Canada for TB is ~5/100,000. In the 1700’s/1800’s in Europe when TB was at its worst, the incidence rate was ~35 – 40/100,000. In 1994 at a Montreal medical conference professionals were speculating the end of TB in the world by the turn of the century. Currently, in Uganda, the incidence rate is ~700/100,000 and in sub-Saharan Africa it climbs to 1000-2000/100,000 depending on the country. The game changer has been HIV. It suppresses the part of the immune system designed to resist TB. There has not been a new pharmaceutical development in the treatment of TB in more than 40 years! “Big pharma companies” don’t devote the effort/funds because of the low incidence rates in developed (aka “paying”) economies. A majority of deaths in people with HIV are actually caused by TB. Some promising recent studies have indicated a combination of HIV drugs, selenium (a trace element which occurs in even lesser amounts in many African soils), plus a mix of vitamins have shown an improvement in TB resistance for people with HIV. These studies, while promising, have frequently had to be abandoned because of a lack of funds.
The story was shocking (TB is not only alive and well but occurring at much higher levels in Africa than at the peak of the epidemic in Europe); heartbreaking (it is and has traditionally been a disease of poverty—without funding, research and development is negligible); and hopeful (there may be interventions that can reverse the risks of death within  HIV patients; and as so often is the case in Africa, empowering women is a key factor for both prevention and treatment of HIV and TB).

Mary Canty thanked Dr. Jim for such a compelling presentation and for his continuing years of selfless and devoted service to Uganda, Botswana and other African countries for the last 20 years.

We finished with a rousing God Save the Queen.

If anyone would like to see the PowerPoint Presentation delivered by Dr. Jim, please email Tricia.

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