Volume 02 Issue 42
Dear Fellow Rotarians,
We had a good turnout for our Club Assembly and were joined by AG Amy Ho from RC of Admiralty who was there to provide guidance if required.
SAA Frank reported that donations to the box totalled an impressive HK$2,098.70.
We belatedly congratulated 2 members on their birthdays: Rtn Harish, who celebrated his birthday on 16th April, and PP Steve who told us that he had celebrated his birthday on 3rd May with our sister club the Rotary Club of Ama, Japan.
Birthday boys PP Steve & Rtn Harish with Pres. Ramesh
PP Steve tells us of his birthday bash with Ama Rotary Club of Japan
The Assembly business featured lively debate and some good-natured banter between our President Elect and PP Gilbert. The minutes of this meeting will be available during the week and will be e-mailed to all members.
Hon Treasurer Albert presents the Club’s finances
Finally, we held a draw for seating assignments at Camp Hollywood – our Annual Ball – with AG Amy drawing table numbers out of a box. As I write this, I can report that IPP Bill and the brothers Harilela managed to get some of the best seats in the house and since their tables are to be right by the dance floor, I expect to see some fancy footwork on the night!
That’s all for now – till next week.
Yours in Rotary,
Rotarian Nicole Burt
SPEAKERS THIS MONTH
Last Week’s Speaker (Friday 17th May) as a Club Assembly was held, there was no guest speaker.
Friday 24th May: Christian Havrehed; The Yantu Project – A Life on the Ocean Wave! (Atlantic Rowers)
Friday 31st May: Joseph Lo; SCMP – Open Skies Policy; Airways & the Right to Fly
WELCOMING COMMITTEES
Please arrive early if you are on the Welcoming Committee as most guests and visitors arrive at 12.30 prompt. If you are unable to attend on that day, please ensure you make arrangements for a replacement (or else face the wrath of our Sergeant at Arms and his fine box!)
24th May: Gary Harilela & Robert Ho
31st May: May Chan & Joseph Lee
NEWS – NEWS – NEWS
ROTARY NEWS
Angola embarks on ambitious polio effort after end of war
A month after the formal declaration of the end of more than a quarter-century of civil war in Angola, the government and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have rolled out an ambitious vaccination campaign to rid the country of the crippling disease.
The massive effort started on 10 May with a three-day Sub National Immunization Days (SNIDs) that targeted some 2.3 million children, many of whom live in areas that were previously cut off by the armed conflict that ended on 4 April with a peace accord between government and the UNITA (Union For the Total Liberation of Angola) rebels.
Focusing on 40 high-risk municipalities across the country, the SNIDs also targeted areas where UNITA soldiers and their families are assembling ahead of demobilization. Past efforts were hampered by inaccessibility as well as security and logistical problems.
Seizing the unique opportunity offered by the end of the war, the Angolan government and the World Health Organization (WHO) in mid-April laid out a strategy for eradicating polio in Angola. As part of the effort, synchronized National Immunization Days (NIDs) are planned for July in Angola, Gabon, Congo, DR Congo, and Sao Tome and Principe. Routine immunizations also are being stepped up with Rotarians, community leaders, churches, scouts, and non-governmental organizations playing a critical role in social mobilization and the delivery of oral polio vaccine.
In 2001, Angola recorded only a single case of polio in the province of Lunda-Sul, in addition to three others detected in a refugee camp for Angolans in neighboring Zambia. The children in the camps were reached in a special immunization effort early this year.
The Rotary Foundation has contributed more than US$2.7 million towards polio eradication in Angola through the PolioPlus program. In addition, the Foundation has contributed more than $3.7 million through PolioPlus Partners for surveillance and NID projects since 1998. PolioPlus Partners has contributed more than half a million dollars for Angolan Rotarians to pay for publicity and social mobilization items such as T-shirts, posters, banners, and media ads during all rounds of NIDs this year.
DISTRICT NEWS
Special Speaker Announcement
The RC of Hong Kong Island East will be hosting a high profile speaker at their meeting on Wednesday 22nd May at the Excelsior Hotel (2nd or 3rd floor) from 12.30 – 2.00 pm and have invited any Rotarians from other clubs who are free on that day, to join them. The media will also be attending.
Dr. Eden Woon, Director of the General Chamber of Commerce, will speak on “Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Agreement”. This will be a good opportunity to listen to a speech by Dr. Eden Woon before his next appearance in the Pearl River Delta Economic Discussion Forum in early July.
If you wish to attend, please contact President Stephen Liu at hkie@rotary3450.org
CLUB NEWS
Camp Hollywood
The Annual Ball was an unqualified success and thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. At first count over HK$193,000 has been raised for Camp Quality Hong Kong’s Summer Camp, but Ball Committee Chairman PP Bruce will give a full report at this Friday’s meeting.
THE WEEKLY ABC’s OF ROTARY
Those of you who visit the District Website regularly, will have noticed a new feature on the site – a pop-up box featuring The ABC’s of Rotary, which changes daily. For those of you who do not visit the site on a regular basis, I will be picking one of these each week to include in the newsletter. This week’s selection is:
TOLERANCE OF DIFFERENCES
Occasionally there is a temptation to criticize the laws, customs and traditions of another country which may seem strange or contrary to our own. In some instances illegal practices or customs of one nation are completely lawful and acceptable in another.
As members of an international organization dedicated to world understanding and peace, it behooves Rotarians to exercise restraint in judging our Rotary friends and citizens from other countries when their behavior seems unusual to us. A Rotary policy has existed for more than half a century relating to this dilemma of international relationships.
The statement, adopted in 1933, says that because it is recognized that some activities and local customs may be legal and customary in some countries and not in others, Rotarians should be guided by this admonition of tolerance:
“Rotarians in all countries should recognize these facts and there should be a thoughtful avoidance of criticism of the laws and customs of one country by the Rotarians of another country.” The policy also cautions against “any effort on the part of Rotarians of one country to interfere with the laws or customs of another country.”
As we strive to strengthen the bonds of understanding, goodwill and friendship, these policies still provide good advice and guidance.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Sunday 19th May
1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery.
1588 – A massive Spanish fleet, known as the “Invincible Armada,” set sail from Lisbon on a mission to secure control of the English Channel and transport a Spanish invasion army to Britain from the Netherlands.
1935 – T.E. Lawrence, known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia, died as a retired Royal Air Force mechanic living under an assumed name. The legendary war hero, author and archaeological scholar succumbed to injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident six days before.
Monday 20th May
1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea when he arrives at Calicut on the Malabar Coast.
1506 – The great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain. Columbus was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century.
1927 – At 7:52 a.m., American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, on the world’s first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean and the first ever nonstop flight between New York to Paris.
Tuesday 21st May
1542 – On the banks of the Mississippi River in present-day Louisiana, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto died, ending a three-year journey for gold that took him halfway across what is now the United States. In order that Indians would not learn of his death, and thus disprove de Soto’s claims of divinity, his men buried his body in the Mississippi River.
1927 – After 33½ hours, pilot Charles A. Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris.
1932 – Five years to the day after Lindbergh became the first pilot to accomplish a solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, female aviator Amelia Earhart became the first pilot to repeat the feat, landing her plane in Ireland after flying across the North Atlantic. Earhart traveled over 2,000 miles from Newfoundland in just under 15 hours.
Wednesday 22nd May
1455 – In the opening battle of England’s War of the Roses, the Yorkists defeated King Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces at St. Albans, 20 miles northwest of London. Many Lancastrian nobles perished and the king was forced to submit to the rule of his cousin, Richard of York. The dynastic struggle between the House of York, whose badge was a red rose, and the House of Lancaster, later associated with a white rose, would stretch on for 30 years.
1843 – A massive wagon train, made up of 1,000 settlers and 1,000 head of cattle, set off down the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri. Known as the “Great Emigration,” the expedition came two years after the first modest party of settlers made the long, overland journey to Oregon.
1990 – After 150 years apart, Marxist South Yemen and conservative North Yemen were unified as the Republic of Yemen. Situated at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen was divided between the British and the Ottomans in the mid-19th century.
Thursday 23rd May
1430 – Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundians, who sold her to the English.
1533 – Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.
1701 – At London’s Execution Dock, British privateer William Kidd, popularly known as Captain Kidd, was hanged for piracy and murder.
Friday 24th May
1543 – Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus died in what is now Frombork, Poland. The father of modern astronomy, he was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.
1883 – After 14 years and 27 deaths while being constructed, the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River was opened, connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history.
2001 – Temba Tsheri, 15, became the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Saturday 25th May
585 BC – The first known prediction of a solar eclipse was made in Greece.
1660 – Under invitation by leaders of the English Commonwealth, Charles II, the exiled king of England, landed at Dover, England, to assume the throne and end 11 years of military rule under Oliver Cromwell.
1961 – America was asked by US President JF Kennedy to work toward putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sunday 9th June: “Walking Along with Rotary” – a locally produced documentary about Rotary in District 3450, has been rescheduled and will be shown on TVB Jade from 9.00 – 9.45 pm.
23rd – 26th June: The 93rd RI Annual Convention will be held in Barcelona, Spain.
Thursday 4th July: District Installation, Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wanchai
9th – 11th August: President Bhichai Rattakul’s Presidential Conference of Peace and Development, will be held at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Malaysia. The main themes will be: Peace and conflict resolution and the Rotary Centers for International Studies. Other topics will include a Project Partnering Fair and polio updates.
Saturday 7th September: Rotary Foundation Seminar, New World Renaissance Hotel
19th – 20th December: Intercity Meeting to be attended by 2002-2003 RI President Bhichai Rattakul.
1st – 4th June 2003: The 94th RI Annual Convention will be held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
FROM THE BREADBASKET
The Power of ROTI
(Doug Vincent, Chairman, Rotarians on the Internet)
This last month, travelling in the Philippines, has been very exciting and enjoyable for me. Not only did I get to visit several of my Filipino family, participate in Discons and tour WCS projects, but I also shared the great experience and power of Rotary with a very special Rotarian and family friend.
For those not already aware, Donna Garland has suffered from a variety of cancer ailments. Two years ago her prognosis was grim and during that time, I offered to help with any unfulfilled dreams she might have. She knew of my love for the Philippines and WCS work there, so her dream was to live long enough to experience a trip to the Philippines. She wanted to visit my many friends and see the WCS projects, first hand. I committed to make her dream come true with the assistance of my Filipino and ROTI friends.
This was a two year goal of Donna’s and finally we did it! The tour included speaking at two Discons and we had a grand time. Everyone treated her like a Princess and we met several ROTI members. But her health took a turn for the worse, requiring emergency treatment in both Manila and Davao hospitals. She received expert advice and care from Rotarian Doctors. En route home she also required emergency treatment in Japan and Detroit, MI. Unfortunately I was still in the Philippines and could not assist her in the non-English speaking hospital where she was stranded alone, in a different culture and language, with her 17 year old daughter.
This is where ROTI really kicked in! After receiving a call of desperation in the middle of the night, I solicited your help . . ROTI’s help in providing some care and compassion to someone in distress. And you came through in spades! Within a short time, Donna had received phone calls expressing concern from some Japanese members and within a few hours was overjoyed to receive a personal visit from one of them, Dr Esaki ‘Ryu’ Ryusetsu.
The power of Rotary and ROTI is impressive and I am delighted that through our membership a volunteer Doctor was on site to assist her, within just a few hours of my request for assistance. I want to commend our ROTI members who responded and particularly Esaki ‘Ryu’, who deserves special mention for his immediate and unselfish act of driving over 3 hours to provide comfort and medical assistance in a time of anxiety. He stayed with Donna and her daughter Trish throughout the whole ordeal until they were safely on board a flight to Detroit the next day.
Once again, we’ve seen how ROTI came through with remarkable success and service to mankind. My personal thanks and appreciation to Esaki ‘Ryu’ for his unselfish “we care” attitude in helping another Rotarian in need.
Below, I want to share Donna’s remarks, received in a recent email from her. It is at times like this, one feels proud to be a Rotarian and especially associated with the great folks in ROTI.
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Doug, you are the most wonderful man in the world. When Dr. Esaki showed up at the hotel, it was like you had sent me an angel. He took such good care of me, and it was all because of you and Rotary.
They thought I was having a heart attack on the plane, but the meds the Japanese Dr’s prescribed just brought the pressure down too much and my body is definitely not used to that. There was a whole team of wonderful attendants on the plane, a doctor from Japan, an American Navy Hospital Doctor, a Paramedic and a Filipino nurse. They administered an IV and oxygen immediately and took very good care of me. They arranged for the ambulance to meet the plane, and take me to Anapolis Hospital in Detroit.
I will hang on to the good times we had in the Philippines. You are right Doug, about Rotary…they were all there for me. Dr. Esaki is an amazing guy, I don’t know if I told you or not, but this unpretentious person is the President of the Rotary of Komaki, President of the Hospital . . and an Oncologist Specialist. When you sent an angel to help me, I bet you didn’t know you ordered up such a great one.
I can’t say thank you enough and we will get together, God willing, when you return. I see the Endocrinologist and Oncologist tomorrow, so they are moving fast. I go this afternoon to see Dr. Hicks and I will present all the letters from the other doctors in Phils and Japan, etc.
Doug, you are the most amazing man I have ever met and you have shared so much, including the power of Rotary. I am very tired now and I’m going to go and lay down. All my love I send to you, and to my new Rotarian brothers and sisters as well…
Donna
AND FINALLY ….
“I installed a skylight in my apartment …. The people who live above me are furious!”
