[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 684

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

 Messages In This Digest (2 Messages) 
  1. 1331: Trustee Chair Bhichai Rattakul Resigns wef 1 Aug; S. Scott is From: Sunil K Zachariah 

  2. 1332: Project aids Iraqi land-mine victims From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Messages 
  1. 1331: Trustee Chair Bhichai Rattakul Resigns wef 1 Aug; S. Scott is 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:06 pm (PST) 
Foundation leadership changes

Rotary International News 

Trustee Chair Bhichai Rattakul has announced that he will resign as 
chair of The Rotary Foundation Trustees on 1 August but will continue 
to serve as a trustee this year. "I made this difficult decision to 
resign as chairman because of issues related to my health and that of 
my wife," he said. "I deeply regret any inconvenience this 
unanticipated change will cause." All of the chairman's speaking 
engagements after 1 August have been canceled. 

In keeping with the Foundation Bylaws, Trustee Vice Chair Robert S. 
Scott, of the Rotary Club of Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, will be 
trustee chair from 1 August through 30 June 2008. A past RI vice 
president and director, Scott has served RI and the Foundation in 
many capacities over the years, most recently on the International 
PolioPlus Committee, which he will continue to chair. He also 
succeeded Herbert A. Pigman as volunteer director of the highly 
successful 2002-05 polio eradication fundraising campaign.

In assuming the new leadership role, Scott plans to continue the 
focus on the 2007-08 Foundation goals to eradicate polio, support the 
Every Rotarian, Every Year initiative, show that peace is possible 
through support of the Rotary Centers for International Studies, and 
reconnect with Foundation alumni. "I worked closely with Chairman 
Bhichai when he developed these goals, and I strongly support all of 
them," Scott said.

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
 

2. 1332: Project aids Iraqi land-mine victims 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:08 pm (PST) 
Project aids Iraqi land-mine victims

By Lisa Baker 
Rotary International News 

More than 50,000 Iraqi women and children have lost limbs to land 
mines, leaving them unable to work or attend school. Prosthetic limbs 
are very expensive in Iraq, and with hospitals frequently shutting 
down because of wartime conditions, prostheses - or even basic 
medical care - are difficult to find.

In response, the Rotary Club of Montgomery Village, Maryland, USA, 
along with District 7620, created a Rotary centennial project in 
2003 - the Basra Prosthetics Project - to help train Iraqi Ministry 
of Health physicians in Basra and raise money to provide necessary 
prosthetic limbs and equipment.

Montgomery Village Rotarians enlisted the help of numerous Rotary 
clubs as well as outside organizations for the project. In 2006 after 
three years of fundraising, they were finally ready for their first 
training mission, but traveling to Basra was no longer safe. With the 
help of the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the King Hussein 
Medical Center in Amman, Jordan, opened its doors to the project. 
Members of the Rotary Club of Amman Cosmopolitan also opened their 
homes to the project by hosting all the volunteers.

In May 2006, eight Iraqi doctors and six people with amputations 
joined trainers and Rotarians in Jordan to learn how to correctly fit 
prostheses and get trained in prosthetic physiotherapy. The goal of 
this mission was to teach doctors to make more prostheses accurately 
and quickly to help more civilians. 

"There are up to 5,000 amputees, not only from Basra but from three 
other nearby areas," says Dr. Muslim A. Yousif, manager of the Basra 
Prosthetic Center in Iraq. "Currently, we can only produce 
approximately 50 prostheses monthly."

Linda A. Smythe, chair and founder of the Basra Prosthetics Project 
says, "It would take years just to make prosthetics for those 5,000 
people, but that number is constantly rising. We are trying to train 
Iraqis to look after their own people by teaching them how to make 
more prosthetics and fit them faster." 

To date, the Basra Prosthetics Project has received more than 
US$400,000 in donations from Rotarians and other project partners, 
including Al Hussein Society for the Habilitation/Rehabilitation of 
the Physically Challenged; the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, D.C.; 
Hanger Orthopedic Group; the International Monetary Fund; the Iraqi 
Ministry of Health in Baghdad; the Mosaic Foundation; Physicians for 
Peace; Security International; and the U.S. Department of State. The 
project still needs to raise money for training and supplies and to 
collect prosthetic devices.

"It brings tears to your eyes to see it happen," says 
Smythe. "Nothing has moved me more than seeing amputees get up and 
walk - you know you have affected their lives in so many ways."

Contact the Basra Prosthetics Project <linda.a.smythe at kp.org> for 
information on how to help.

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://rotary9640.org/pipermail/d9640general_rotary9640.org/attachments/20070726/23aa899c/attachment.html