Meeting Notes for 28 April
President Tom opened the meeting with 1 minute's silence for the earthquake victims of Nepal.
Ann welcomed Tui Price
Pat Price advised that his charity that founded the school that our club supports employs about 50 teachers and deals with over 500 children. The epicentre of the earthquake in Nepal is about 60 miles southwest of Kathmandu. His Foundation is more about disaster relief at the moment than education. As a result of the earthquake that was locally reported as 8.1 on the Richter scale, looting is high. Pat is currently working on the best plan for those connected to the school to survive in the short term and also planning for survival in the long term. Amazingly, after 15 hours of trying, he finally got his headmaster on Skype. This amazing man is his absolute right hand and he personally intervenes in turning around the life of an otherwise destitute child on an almost daily basis. Pat feared the worst for him and was overcome with relief when he was able to contact him. There were many shocking disasters within the overall calamity including the sight of people leaping out of the fourth floor of a building as it started to collapse. He is hopeful that many of the children will have returned to the villages and escaped most of the urban disaster, as the mid term break commenced just two days prior to the earthquake.
Pat decided that he shouldn't fly up as his personal intervention would be more of a burden on current resources than any advantage he might provide by being there. It would have meant that one more person would need to consume the preciously sparse amount of available food and water. It was a hard decision but also at the end of the day the money that it would cost to send him up there would be better spent on re-building. The building itself seemed to survive the initial shock but he would be amazed if it survived the totality of the event including after-shocks without cracks appearing. Despite being built to "earthquake proof" building standards, these are not the same as those in Australia.
[Scribe: in normal times, government is unstable; in Kathmandu, buildings are built with apparently crumbling mortar construction in some cases, great tangles of overhead wires are connected by rickety poles, roads are unpaved, dust is continually kicked up by motor bikes; sanitation is poor; there is little food; hepatitis is a rite of passage for children. Food poisoning is basically routine for casual visitors; you would never eat uncooked food like salads. So the current conditions would be infinitely worse].
Pat mentioned that re-building the school superstructure is not so much of a problem as connecting with the teaching staff and student body, due to the terrible dissociation and fragmentation of families and individuals. He fears that many may people have been lost in building collapses or may subsequently die of thirst or starvation. The school's greatest resources are the people, students and teachers, and they simply cannot be replaced.
Electricity that is uncertain at the best of times is down, water that is normally scarce, and food are in short supply; buildings are collapsing from continual aftershocks of high magnitude. He expects the final Death rate to finish up around the fifteen thousand mark, as in the '30s it was 10,000 for a similar magnitude of 'quake.
Turramurra Rotary Clubs Gorki project is probably badly impacted because the school there is on top of hill. The Main problem is unaccountability of survivors - who distressingly, might yet die of starvation. The last trip was productive and a lot of things were achieved over the past fifteen years - and all this was gone in eight seconds.
While Pat delivered his report in an objective manner, we all felt for him as his work of the past fifteen years or so has just been seemingly obliterated. Yet he spoke only of those actually suffering in this time - those caught up in it must be beyond devastation. Each person whom he personally knows is in a desperate struggle for their lives. To all of us, the impact is unfathomable. The club will band together behind Pat in this desperate time and do whatever it takes to see it through.
Tom presented a wreath in Lane Cove Plaza on Anzac Day. Thank you Lindsay for organising the wreath. Who else would have thought of it? We all owe Lindsay a vote of thanks. Billy from Council contacted Tom and found a Rotary banner in a drawer.
Tom to attend a citizenship ceremony tomorrow night.
Jenny May: Annual changeover will be at Chatswood Golf Club on 7th July
Board meeting Thurs 21 May 7.30.
Tania: District paid up, so Chris' project is now financial.
John Donald: Sunday 31 May is Red Shield day.
Robyn Barrett: Bowel care programme delivered in Lane Cove to chemists, including Wade's, Starr's and Warehouse. New kits from USA. Simpler system this year. Last year, 79 people were detected with bowel cancer and 90 positives are currently being followed up. Magnificent result, Robyn.
Sergeant collected money for the Nepal disaster.
Guest Speaker: PP Chris Curtis introduced our guest speaker, Rotarian Chris Lee. Chris is a dedicated NGO professional, formerly stationed in East Timor.
Rotarian Chris addressed us on the Ebola virus and the British response in Sierra Leone in Western Africa.
Chris revealed that his national parentage was questionable, having been born in England but he now is an Australian citizen. He felt that he should represent Australia as we were not that well represented in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone has a pop. of 6.5 million and ISO poor. Colonised by British and 5 or 6 million got killed in a civil war. Been at peace but corrupt and a lot of inequality. Many kids, smiles, friendly. British helped end the civil war.
"Don't touch anybody", they were warned; chlorinated hand washing was in vogue - up to a dozen times a day. Got a culture shock when he returned home and people wanted to shake hands.
Ebola virus photo showed that it was 1 micron long. Very unusual. [one micron is one millionth of a metre]. Infects through cuts, eyes, nose mouth, ears. Attacks immune system - haemorrhagic virus. No treatment - just rehydration. Not airborne, no symptoms, just elevated temp. Susceptible to disinfectants and UV light.
Freetown is a busy congested city. Biggest harbour on the Atlantic Coast. Chris Led a small group from GB, UN and National SL reps.
Lived in a military base where the amenities were life-supporting but nowhere near reaching one-star quality.
Many meetings with many agencies with many chiefs were needed to sort out their relative seniorities, skill sets, logistics, strategy and tactics.
Positive cases were sent to a treatment centre after suspects isolated. Usually die quickly or recover slowly. 50% survived and got a certificate saying that they were non-contagious survivors.
Big focus on prevention. Surveillance, quarantine and mobilisation - persuading infected people to isolate themselves.
Chris told us that Women in Action is an inspiring NGO, mainly composed of health professionals. It Is small but makes a major contribution to health and recovery. It is great on action, but poor on admin. Keen on action, not paperwork! Good administration support amplifies its effectiveness.
Sierra Leone is 2/3 Muslim and all sectors get on well.
Questions:
Language? Local Creole.
Who organises? Army and Brit military.
Numbers of victims? One case a day up to last week so pretty good result in minimising outbreak.
Thanks: John Palmer: Typical Rotarian speech. Warming, rewarding, emotive and outcome based. Tree 1199. Thanks Patrick for your presentation. Both showing what Rotary is about.
Next Week: Rodney Marks - "My life as a comedian."
Attendance: 22. Sergeant collected $85 for Nepal.
Meeting closed at about 8.15 with all bidding "Advance Australia Fair".