Reporter: Ron Cooley
Peter Lawrie opened the meeting and Anne Sims said Grace.Visiting Rotarians
District Governor Michael Proctor
District Governor Elect Rose Bowman (Centrailia Washington)
Leon Bowman (Twin Cities Washington)
Guests
Eileen Lavigne Steve Sharlow
Dr. Malcolm Orr Club (Speaker)
Sanjay Uppal Club ( new member)
Announcements:
- Mary Canty told us that her health had improved now that her flooded house has been repaired.
- Batya & David Westler sent a note to say their son Roy is improving.
- Perry Bamji brought us up to date on the Shoulder to Shoulder project in Las Varas Mexico (close to Peurto Vallarta). This is a joint project with 25 clubs over 5 Districts plus local parents, students and contractors. The total cost is $159,000 to renovate two schools; a high school and an elementary school. The goal is to increase opportunities for poor students in health care, hospitality and information technology. The renovation on the 40 year old building will include new chemistry, computer and culinary arts laboratories'. This is all possible with the help of Rotary International matching grants. Remember to Donate to the Rotary Foundation.
- Mike then spoke about the Foundation receiving 4 stars with an efficiency rating of 91% which is a huge selling point for using it as a vehicle for great works. He said that membership in Zone 25 was up 500 members. These are excellent results but pale if you compare it to Zone 5, in Asia, which was up over 4000 members. Mike stated that a good Website was a very important recruitment tool.
- The end of March is the District Leadership training in Centralia Washington and June 19-21 is the District Conference in Nanaimo.
New Member:
District Governor Mike Proctor inducted new member Sanjay Uppal and Lori McLeod gave him his new pin.
50/50:
Neil Rawnsley was our Celebrations master. His 1st fine was to Perry for the longest 2 1/2 minute talk in club history.
Joan Firkins was Happy about Dr Jane Goodal and Ziggy Marley's End Polio Now Commercial.
Rotary International Conference in Sao Paulo, June 6-9, 2015, will feature the World Water Summit with a new Sesame Street character who will talk about sanitation. Jessica had sad $10's for being late and missing so many meeting. Joan Firkins had 20 happy $ for 3 weeks in Hawaii. and for being named the 1st woman on the Rotary Foundation Fund Development Committee effective July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2017. Joan Peggs had happy $ for the Rotary Polio Light up and Dinner at the Empress Hotel.
Bob Schelle had 4 happy $'s for his 4th grandchild
Ron Cooley won the draw to popular acclaim and donated it back to the club.
Feb 26, is Sabrina Corraini's 2nd Rotary Anniversary and Tav MacPherson's 13th.
Brian Lamb would have been in Oak Bay Rotary for 40 years on March 1st.
Guest Speaker:
Dr. Malcolm Orr was introduced by Kathleen Arnason.
He grew up in Ottawa and went to Queens University where he met and married his classmate Mary Lindsay. He did his ophthalmology residency at UBC. Mary started a 30 year career with the Cancer Control Agency of BC. They returned to Victoria in 1985. Dr. Sue Wallace tried to involve Dr. Orr in her volunteer work overseas until he could no longer resist.
He went on his first medical mission to Africa in 2013. The mission was for International Visions Volunteers Canada in Zimba, Zambia, which is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Income is approximately $1 per day. Blindness is one of the most serious problems locals face. 50% of blindness is due to cataracts for which surgery is highly effective. The term Cataracts comes from rushing water where the cataracts are white.
Team members volunteer their time and pay all of their own travel and accommodation expenses. Most medication and supplies are donated by pharmaceutical companies and transported in big blue bins by volunteers, as luggage. Eye care is provide free of charge.
Dr. Orr told us that while they have very little in Zambia, they have a thriving bureaucracy. He said that it is difficult to get people to volunteer. Each team works for 2 weeks. This is a very poor country with few motor vehicles and everyone must walk very long distances for treatment, with their belongings balanced on their heads. Their families come with the patients and wait while they await surgery. They line up early every day for surgery with some wearing tweed jackets.
He went on his first medical mission to Africa in 2013. The mission was for International Visions Volunteers Canada in Zimba, Zambia, which is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Income is approximately $1 per day. Blindness is one of the most serious problems locals face. 50% of blindness is due to cataracts for which surgery is highly effective. The term Cataracts comes from rushing water where the cataracts are white.
Team members volunteer their time and pay all of their own travel and accommodation expenses. Most medication and supplies are donated by pharmaceutical companies and transported in big blue bins by volunteers, as luggage. Eye care is provide free of charge.
Dr. Orr told us that while they have very little in Zambia, they have a thriving bureaucracy. He said that it is difficult to get people to volunteer. Each team works for 2 weeks. This is a very poor country with few motor vehicles and everyone must walk very long distances for treatment, with their belongings balanced on their heads. Their families come with the patients and wait while they await surgery. They line up early every day for surgery with some wearing tweed jackets.
Surgery is done using techniques unique to the 3rd world, due to the limitations of the equipment and a volunteer keeps insects away with a fly swatter. Most surgery is done with a local anesthetic. General anesthetic is used for more complex surgery but the anesthesiologist must be flown in.
The days are very long but there is immense pleasure derived from seeing patients regain their sight. The volunteers often spend weekends camping and often one can hear lions and elephants at night. The pictures of the wildlife were wonderful. The most difficult part of the trip was leaving. One of the goals of International Vision Volunteers is to train local surgeons. In 2014, they had 3,062 cases and conducted 482 surgeries. During a 2 week stint, they would do 10 surgeries a day for 10 days.
Ryan Gisler thanked Dr. Orr for helping us to see the need and how much we can accomplish by donating our time and money. (Editor's note: donations can be made at the IVVC link above.)
MC Peter closed the meeting
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