Issue No. 3 September 2019
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ROMAC is a project of Rotary districts in Australia and New Zealand
CREATING NETWORKS | IDENTIFYING NEED | TAKING ACTION
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Chair Rob Wilkinson's Message
 Dear Friends of ROMAC and Rotarians
This is my last E-Newsletter to you before I hand over the role of Chair of ROMAC to Past District Governor (PDG) Harold Sharp.
Looking back over the past 3 years, I feel it was a privilege to lead ROMAC, one of the few multi-district projects in our Rotary Zone. There is no better reward than to help save the life or the health of a child. While I have faced a few challenges such as lack of hospital beds for our patients and a decline in Rotary Club donations, I am pleased with what I have achieved such as raising ROMAC's profile with the corporate world, nurturing the ROMAC Ambassador program, convening the Medical Panel, and promoting our 30th Anniversary celebrations last year. It has genuinely been a pleasure working with so many dedicated volunteers at Board, Operations Committee, Regional, District and Club level.
In particular, I want to thank the outgoing members of our Communications team: Chris Joscelyne - Marketing Chair, Ann Burleigh - Communications Advisor and Maggie Alexander - Communications Coordinator. They have all contributed significantly to raising our profile. I am pleased to say PDG Gina Growden will be looking after social media and the E-Newsletter in the future.
Other changes to the team include Richard Woodburn taking on the IT Support role from Barry Wilson, who filled the breach after Asim Khawaja moved offshore; and Bob Cooper who replaces Susan Bruse as our Western Region Chair. My thanks to Asim, Barry and Susan for their contributions.
Best wishes - Rob
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Vichra
In 2013 Margaret Favelle, a former D9675 ROMAC Chair, and her husband Robert, hosted a ROMAC patient called Vichra. Vichra was a five-year-old Cambodian girl with a heart problem that required surgery not available in her own country.
Margaret and Robert visited Cambodia in April this year and met up with Vichra and her father Mot, who travelled 100km to spend 2 days with her. Vichra remembered Margaret and her husband after 6 years. She and her father were very grateful for their hosting them, for the work of ROMAC and the opportunity for Vichra to have lifesaving surgery. Dad Mot expressed his gratitude many times when they were together.
Vichra has grown into a lovely young lady. She is almost 12 now and attends a Private International School where she is a bright student learning both English and Khmer.
When Vichra had surgery in Australia at Westmead Hospital, her doctors stressed to her father Mot that she needed a good education as she would not be able to do manual labour. Mot lost his own parents to Pol Pot and he has made many sacrifices for Vichra, including paying for her private education, while his other children attend local schools. Thanks to her family and with the help of ROMAC Vichra has good prospects for a healthy and happy life. Photo: Vichra in 2013 when she had original heart surgery at Westmead Children's Hospital. Margaret, Vichra and her father Mot and Robert in 2019.
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Roselyn
In October 2015, 17-year-old Roselyn came to Australia from the Solomon Islands for a life-saving heart operation under the care of ROMAC. She was accompanied by her mother Anna and they were hosted by Liz and Hans Rupp of the Rotary Club of Glenhaven.
Prior to surgery, Roselyn was coping with life-limiting breathlessness and fatigue, facing an uncertain future due to her serious congenital heart condition. Roselyn was operated on at the Sydney Adventist Hospital (the San) in Wahroonga by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Ian Nicholson and his team. Roselyn had a positive attitude and progressed well post-operation.
Roselyn was very keen to continue her studies and returned to the Solomon Islands in November 2015 to sit the National Exams where she topped the nation. In November 2017, Roselyn graduated from Betikama Adventist College in Honiara. Her achievements were Dux of Science and four distinctions for Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics. Roselyn always wanted to follow her dream to commence medicine and follow in the path of Cardiology. In January 2019 Roselyn commenced studying medicine at the University of PNG. Well done Roselyn and best wishes for the future, with love from ROMAC.
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Ana
In 2007, 2-month-old Ana was home hosted by Lidia Soares, who is still a keen ROMAC volunteer, helping us with translating and cooking for Timor Leste patients coming to Melbourne. Ana was the first patient hosted by Lidia and she kept in touch with the family for a few years, until a technical problem with her phone led to Lidia losing their phone number. Now, after making inquiries for several years, Lidia is delighted to be back in touch with Ana and her family.
Ana was sponsored by ROMAC to undergo heart surgery at Royal Children Hospital, Melbourne. CT Scans and tests revealed that Ana had a rare tumor, Neuroblastoma, wrapped around her spinal chord. Ana faced the prospect of returning to East Timor without treatment, because in those days, cancer treatment was outside the scope of ROMAC. By divine providence, Dr Steven Keogh convinced Mrs Margareth Langdon that care should be given to Ana.
That was the start of the miracle! Ana underwent chemotherapy and to Dr Keogh's surprise, the tumour shrunk by 20%, much earlier than expected. People as far as America were praying for healing. Apart from occasional nausea, Ana tolerated the treatment well, and didn't even lose her hair! Ana's condition continued to improve and Dr Keogh was happy with the progress. However, he expected that Ana could be a paraplegic, due to possible damage to her spinal chord. But after three months in Melbourne, Ana returned to East Timor as a healthy 5-month-old baby, as you can see in her picture with Lidia. Ana is now an 11-year-old girl in grade 4-5, who looks strong and well thanks to ROMAC.
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Jasminah
Jasminah is a 16-month-old girl from Vanuatu who failed to thrive from birth and had frequent respiratory tract infections. She was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) during a clinic held by Dr John Stirling in Vanuatu in early 2019.
Jasminah and her mother Angelina arrived in Ronald McDonald House in Auckland, New Zealand in July. After completing pre-tests and assessments, she had remedial surgery undertaken by cardiothoracic surgeon Dr John Artrip.
She was initially very apprehensive of strangers but with Josie Adriaansen of Browns Bay Rotary supporting her and her mother Angelina she quickly relaxed for routine post-operative assessments. She is no longer breathless and is scheduled to return home fit and well, just over six weeks after her arrival. Photo of Jasminah by Bill Horne.
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Ben
Nineteen-month-old Ben arrived in New Zealand from Vanuatu in July with his mother Mayling. Ben was born with a hole in his heart which required surgery. He was accepted as a ROMAC patient and his Rotary host was Elizabeth Thomson from Downtown Rotary who tells the story of how Ben fared:
"I joined other Rotarians at the Airport to meet Ben and Mayling and took them to Ronald MacDonald House. I had done a supermarket shop and bought some warm clothing for them before they arrived. He was to have his surgery about two weeks after his arrival.
Ben had three appointments at Starship prior to his surgery which I attended with him. While he was waiting we went on a few outings. We visited a playground, several times, went shopping and went to Kelly Tarlton.
The day of the surgery was very stressful for Mayling and while we waited to hear that all had gone well, we visited the Museum.
Ben made a remarkable recovery and was only in hospital 3 days! During his stay there I spent most of the days with them. Mayling speaks very little English and I think she was grateful of the support. Ben needs to stay in New Zealand for about six weeks after surgery. He has three appointments which I will attend and we are planning outings to the zoo, and a few other places and I need to top up the grocery stocks from time to time.
Ben would not have been able to have this surgery in his own country and thanks to ROMAC he is now able to go home and lead a completely normal life." Photo of Jasmine Kiernan playing with Ben by Bill Horne.
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Guardian
Southern Region’s most recent patient is 4-year-old Guardian from Nauru. He was on the wait list for 2 years to see the visiting Ophthalmologist in his own country for ptosis or drooping of the upper eyelid of his right eye. It appeared he needed a simple ptosis repair, which ROMAC agreed to fund and organise in Australia.
The first patient to be accepted by a Regional Hospital in District 9780, Guardian arrived in Ballarat on 22nd July for surgery under local Ophthalmologist Dr Michael Toohey. His Sponsor Club was Alfredton D9780 and host family, Andrew and Jill Oliver.
After an extensive pre-op examination the day after his arrival, it was evident that the ptosis was not isolated and was associated with double-elevator palsy of his right eye. If surgery were performed his appearance would be worst as the muscles around his eye ball wouldn't move and it might look like he was staring all the time. His risk of amblyopia or lazy eye was very low and he had excellent vision in both eyes. He had learnt to adapt to his condition by using his head to gaze up and side gaze.
So surgery was not recommended and Guardian returned home after a short stay in Brisbane with family members. While he did not end up having surgery as expected, Guardian had a thorough diagnosis of his condition and now understands much more about how to manage it in the future. Photo: Guardian and Orthoptist Hayley
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Rotarians & Friends in Action
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Southern Region Fundraiser
 Southern Region Chair Jill Oliver managed to raise $1000 for ROMAC at her latest fundraising event - Drag Bingo - despite the weather as it was a miserable cold wet night in Ballarat. There were quite a few 'no shows' unfortunately but those who went along had a great night. Photo: Jill Oliver with Lux and Holly Pop.
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Out and About in New Zealand
D9970
 Murray Pearce, D9970 ROMAC District Chair, recently visited Motueka Rotary Club in the region of Marlborough. Motueka Rotary has been a regular and enthusiastic supporter of ROMAC and has previously hosted children post-surgery and prior to their return home.
Local company Marlborough Horticulture employs many regional seasonal employees (RSE) to assist in horticulture production and, as a result, has a strong community from Ni-Vanuatu that connects with our Ni-van patients.
Murray gave an update of recent ROMAC activities and patients and presented a certificate of appreciation to the Club for their support. President Geoff Cotter presented Murray with a voucher for $5000 from their fundraising activities. Thank you Motueka for your ongoing support. Photo: Murray Peace exchanging a Certificate of Appreciation with Peter Smale.
D9910
 At the invitation of D9910 District Chair Barbara Watt, the District Governor, Ian Kiernan, and his wife Jasmine recently visited Ronald McDonald House in Auckland. They got an overview of the wonderful service this facility and its team provide to the region and to ROMAC families, and caught up with two of our patents in residence.
Jasmine, a passionate supporter of ROMAC, embraced the opportunity to interact with the children. Jasmine has her own project this year - creating and selling ceramic tiles - with the proceeds going to ROMAC. Photo: DG 9910 Ian Kiernan and his wife Jasmine with little Jasminah and her mum Angelina.
Fundraising
 Recently Tauranga Rotary Sunrise (D9930) partnered with Indian Ink Theatre Company to sell tickets to the show 'Mrs Krishnan’s party', as a ROMAC fundraiser. Rotary sold 150 tickets to raise just over $2000 for our charity. This evening was successful from a fundraising perspective and Rotarians and their friends enjoyed the entertainment and comedy, with insights into the annual harvest festival Onam as celebrated in the state of Kerala in India.
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RYLA Leaders learn about ROMAC
As part of the 2019 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Programme held in Canberra this January, participants developed a marketing pitch for 6 Rotary-backed programs, including ROMAC. This competition is called the RYLA Challenge.
The participants were divided into groups of 8 and given a couple of hours over 3 days to develop and then present their program's marketing pitch for a donation of $750 to the best presentation.
All 6 presentations were tremendous so RYLA decided to divide the $750 among the 6 Rotary Projects with $250 to the overall winner and $100 each to the others. So ROMAC benefited from the RYLA Challenge and the young Rotaract team members learnt all about ROMAC. A win win for all.
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How you can help ROMAC
Every day Rotarian 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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