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Issue No. 4 October 2018
CREATING NETWORKS    |    IDENTIFYING NEED    |    TAKING ACTION

Chair Rob Wilkinson's Message

Rob WilkinsonDear Friends of ROMAC and Rotarians

The ROMAC Board and Operations Committee met in Hobart, Tasmania on September 13 and 14 to coincide with our AGM on the 15th. ROMAC and the other multi-district projects (Australian Rotary Health, RAWCS, RDU) are required to hold their AGMs in conjunction with the Rotary Australia / New Zealand Conference (formerly known as the Rotary Institute), the annual gathering of the 27 Rotary District Governors from Australia and New Zealand.

A few new faces were welcomed for the coming year: Medical Director Dr. Larry Roddick; Operations Director Carol Bourne; Operations Secretary Jim Prokhovnik and Southern Region Chair Lesley Shedden. We also welcomed PDG Bob Richards, who is going to spearhead a patient evaluation project to enable us to keep in touch and up-to-date with patients following their return home.

With many mixed feelings, we farewelled Dr. Eric Horne, Barry Wilson, Peter Maitland and Richard Woodburn following their outstanding contributions to ROMAC over many years.

We are still in the process of finding an Eastern Region Chair and an IT Manager / Coordinator. Volunteers should contact me for more information about these roles.

New Zealand Story

Rachel and her mother Victoria arrived in Auckland, New Zealand from Vanuatu in late June. Rachel had a renal condition that needed to be resolved and the renal team at Starship Hospital promptly got to work to treat her.

Rachel was accommodated in Ronald McDonald House and was hosted by the Rotary Club of Birkenhead. Under Gaston Bruneau’s lead, the Club saw that the family had visitors and outings during the recovery days of their stay.

Rachel was under treatment and observation for about six weeks. It was wonderful to see Rachel become stronger by the day and taking in the new experiences of the Zoo, Museum and playgrounds of Auckland with her hosts. She was the happiest wee girl with a beautiful smile and won many hearts and made friends with other ROMAC patients.

Rachel flew home fully recovered in early August. She and and her mother were both so grateful to ROMAC and Rotary for restoring Rachel to good health and for the wonderful experiences they were treated to while they were in New Zealand.

Australian Story

"Ringing the Bell" is a tradition at the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick, marking the end of a patient's treatment.  The sound of the bell is to inspire courage, hope and endurance in those that are still undergoing treatment. On Friday 21 September, 15 year old Mourine, a ROMAC patient from the Solomon Islands got her chance to ring that bell!

Mourine arrived in Sydney in January with a large mass growing on her neck and chest.  Although a benign tumour, our skilled doctors at Sydney Children's Hospital decided that it would be best to try and stop its growth with several months of chemotherapy.  Then, in a delicate 9-hour operation in July, surgeons successful removed the mass. This was followed up with six weeks of radiation therapy to kill off any remnants of the tumour. It has been a long road for Mourine.

With just a few more precautionary consultations with her doctors, and after nine months in Sydney, Mourine and her mum Elika are now looking forward to returning to their island home to be with their family and friends.


Money for Jam

Robyn Pearson joined Rotary in 2015 when she heard about ROMAC. Robyn was a member of a Canberra Probus Club when she found out about the ROMAC program which treated children from developing countries with medical problems requiring surgery not available in their own country. Robyn decided she wanted to be involved so she joined the Rotary Club of Gungahlin.
 
She visited the ROMAC children in hospital in Canberra, bringing them and their parents her warmth and well-wishes. In 2017 Robyn and her husband Robert became the care family for Domencia and Nina from Timor Leste.
 
Robyn wanted to do more to help ROMAC. She realised that raising funds for treatment was an important aspect of the program. She had fig, lemon and mandarin trees at home and she started to make jams and pickles from them to sell to the members of her Club. These became very popular with members and some started selling them at their businesses. When the Club held fundraising BBQs, Robyn would also bring a selection to sell to the public.
 
She has donated the full amount from the sales to ROMAC, raising over $1,172 so far. Well done Robyn!

Rotarians and Friends in Action

 

2018 ROMAC Waterline Challenge Fund Raising

Every Rotary club and Rotaract club across Australia is invited to enter teams in the 2018 Waterline Challenge which will be held 12-18 November. This initiative will raise significant funds for ROMAC to help more children from island communities of the Southwest Pacific receive life-saving and dignity restoring surgery.

Waterline Challenge is a national event. Teams of up to 10 people can walk, run, cycle, paddle, row, swim, skate, horse ride, windsurf, anywhere they choose. Participants can be as creative as they like!  You choose how you do it, how far you go, when you do it, and money you raise will help ROMAC. Each person is asked to raise a minimum of $200, so a team of 10 can bring in a minimum of $2,000 between them.

Each Rotary club or Rotaract club nominates a Waterline Challenge Champion to organise their own club team and invite other local community groups in their area to organise teams too. It’s good for fellowship and good for ROMAC. To register your Rotary club or Rotaract club go to www.waterlinechallenge.org or call Julian Day, President Rotary Club of Drummoyne on 0413 309 056.

Pictured: Brett Dalton, ROMAC Chair in South Australia, keeping fit in readiness for his Waterline Challenge team run in November.
 

New Zealand 30th Anniversary Fund Raising Event


In late August, Geoff Pownall, President of the Rotary Club of Takapuna in Auckland, organised a night of theatre at Mrs Krishnan’s Party for our ROMAC 30th Anniversary fundraising.

The show had a strong emphasis on audience involvement and an easy-going, down-to-earth vibe which masked a dazzling range of theatrical skills. Playing the titular, beleaguered dairy owner, Kalyani Nagarajan presented an engaging blend of humour and poignancy as she pulled off mercurial mood swings from domineering matriarch, to heartbroken widow, disappointed mother, coyly flirtatious suitor and hedonistic party-girl.

A harvest celebration of a nine-course vegetarian meal was part of the theatre. The party was rounded off with an impressive display of classical Indian dancing …shades of Bollywood routines. The show's generous spirit is a timely reminder that live theatre is a gift which engenders connection, sharing and celebration of community.

New Zealand photos kindly provided by Bill Horne.
 

Hung turns 21 years old


Nong Van Hung (known as Hung) is a patient that ROMAC brought to Australia for a leg operation in 2006. He came from Binh Phuoc which is near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. He lived in a small house which caught on fire when he was 2 weeks old.

He arrived in Townsville when he was 9 years old. The two doctors who treated him decided to amputate as they could not save his leg. The operation was successful and he won the hearts of the Townsville people and all the members of the Rotary Clubs in Townsville. Brendan and Roberta Porter took him into their house and looked after him and the Rotary Clubs in Townsville decided to educate him. He is currently studying to be a chef and is a great ambassador who goes to Rotary Clubs to promote ROMAC.

Hung has just turned 21 years old. Bryan Mason, ROMAC Operations Consultant and his wife Lyn joined PDG Brendan Porter and his wife Roberta in Townsville to celebrate the milestone birthday with Hung.

Photo: Left to right - Brendan Porter, Roberta Porter, Hung, Bryan Mason, Lyn Mason.
 

Emerald Club donates $10,000 from the 506 Bike Ride


On the 23rd of August, Bryan Mason, ROMAC Operations Consultant, went to the Rotary Club of Emerald meeting to thank them for their support of ROMAC. They presented him with a cheque for $10,000 from their 505 ROMAC Bike Ride. Over the 16 years since the ride started, the Emerald Rotary club has given ROMAC over $200,000.

Bryan was involved with the Salvation Army Major Steve Metcher, a member of the Rotary Club of Emerald, to establish the original Bike ride that was 505km long and went from Emerald to Longreach in Queensland, ending at the Qantas Museum there. From then on, the ride grew.

The cycle ride is a gruelling 24-hour road ride that covers 505 kilometres in total. It consists of loops around the various rural roads and highways around Emerald with completion of these loops ending at the Rotary Club House.

The riders are supported throughout the day and night with a support crew, escort vehicles, scheduled meal stops and a rescue bus. They pay a nomination fee and also raise sponsorship for their rides. Along with raffles and public donations, the Club manages to raise a significant amount of money to donate to ROMAC.

Only a small band of very dedicated riders complete the entire course with most riders electing to complete as many courses as they can. At the end of the ride Rotary puts on a breakfast for all the riders, support crews and volunteers that help make the event possible. 
 
 

How you can help ROMAC

Every day Rotarians and Friends are raising funds to cover travel, accommodation and treatment for children and their carers.

If every Rotarian in Australia and New Zealand donated $20 and every club matched with $20 for everyone of their members, we could cover the costs of all the children referred to us annually.

If every Friend donated $20 we could help even more children.

Australia - Donate now

New Zealand  - Donate now

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