[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 765

[Garry Krischock]

 Messages In This Digest (2 Messages) 
  1. 1453: Pacemakers keep hearts beating From: Sunil K Zachariah 

  2 1454: Humanitarian Grant application deadline 31 March From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Messages 
  1. 1453: Pacemakers keep hearts beating 
 Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:02 am (PST) 
Pacemakers keep hearts beating
By Anne E. Stein 

In 1977, cardiologist Federico Alfaro returned to Guatemala from the 
United States after completing his education at Baylor College of 
Medicine in Houston, Texas. A year later, a 17-year-old boy under his 
care died because his family couldn't afford a pacemaker, a battery-
operated device that helps the heart beat in a regular rhythm.

"It made a big impact on me," said Alfaro, a member of the Rotary 
Club of Guatemala de la Asunción. "It left a scar on my heart and as 
time went on, I realized the situation was the same, or worse, 
throughout the country." 

Vowing not to let such a tragedy happen again, he proposed that his 
club establish a center that would provide pacemakers and free 
implant surgery to low-income Guatemalans. With the help of a 
US$261,200 3-H Grant from The Rotary Foundation, that initiative 
snowballed and in 1984 resulted in the creation of Heartbeat 
International, a nonprofit in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. Over the 
years, senior Rotary leaders have supported the organization, 
including Past RI Presidents Herb Brown, Carlos Canseco, Frank 
Devlyn, and Rajendra Saboo. It has also received Matching Grants from 
the Foundation.

Today, Heartbeat International has 46 pacemaker distribution centers 
in 28 developing countries, says its president, Wil Mick, a member of 
the Rotary Club of Tampa Downtown Daybreak, Florida, USA. The system 
works like this: Local Rotary clubs, which oversee the centers, 
assess a person's economic need. Once financial need is established, 
Heartbeat International ships a free pacemaker to the center, and a 
doctor implants it. All medical services, which are frequently 
provided by Rotarian doctors, and lifetime follow-up are free. 

Nearly 9,000 devices have been implanted (80 percent were pacemakers 
and the rest were defibrillators) in adults and children, Mick says. 
The youngest patient, he says, was a newborn in Mexico and the oldest 
was a 102-year-old in Honduras. 

"When you give someone back their life and their future, when you 
give a family back their child or mother or father, you create bonds 
of international goodwill which lead to peace," Mick says. "These are 
Rotary ideals, so we believe that our pacemakers are peacemakers."

For more information go to www.heartbeatintl.org  or call (813) 243-
8769.

Source: The Rotarian magazine
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary


  2. 1454: Humanitarian Grant application deadline 31 March 
Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:04 am (PST) 
Here is an eFlash: 

The deadline for submitting applications for Humanitarian Grants is 31 
March. Now is a good time to ensure that reports for all prior grants 
have been submitted and that applications for new grants will arrive at 
The Rotary Foundation prior to the deadline. 

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