BULLETIN FOR January 2, 2007. Reported by Neil Madsen

President Tav presided over this first meeting of the new year and reminded us that January is Rotary Awareness Month, so that we should inform ourselves about all the work done by Rotary and commit ourselves anew. Jan Stirling played a rousing accompaniment to O Canada and Tom Croft said grace. Guests, introduced by Cedric Marsh Kyle Danielson & Alanna Jackson, guest speakers, were guests of the Club as was Margaret Patrick, Karen Henry of Jerry McLean and Donna Carrrigan of Barry Mutter.   Sergeant at Arms Ben Andersen fined Dallas for refusing to shake hands (I guess Dallas is aware of Flu and methycyllin resistant S. aurious), Lorna for a great lunch but no special parking spot for the police chief. All those at home and in bed before midnight, Dec. 31, were fined (at least we avoided the check points). Ben himself received cards for birthday and anniversary, Les Canty (good to see him back) for a birthday and also Lynne, who put a generous donation in the pot. Neil Madsen won the draw but drew black. Health of the Club: Mary Canty said that she is looking after Les, who is doing well. Bert Whan Tong is hopeful that his condition is improving, and he wants to come back. Announcements: Jack Petrie said that our goal of reaching 61 members has been achieved and two more will be inducted next meeting (details to follow). But we must not relax! Don’t forget to get and use your Smile Cards as we aim to transfer $2,500 of the proceeds to Victim Services. Book Marks were awarded to Hans Ockermueller for 31 years perfect attendance and Lorna & Heather for a great Christmas party. Congratulations all!

New Member Proposals – December 21, 2006

At Monday’s Executive meeting, applications for membership for two people were accepted. Please review the information below and forward any questions or concerns to Tav, Jack or Neil within ten days.

1. Donna Carrigan – Proposed by Barry Mutter. Donna spoke at our Club earlier this year about her running across the Gobi Desert in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Rotary has been a big part of her life, having participated in RYLA and living in Jelling, Denmark for a year as a Rotary Exchange Student. She works at a management consulting firm (Elevate Consulting) as Client Services Manager. Her interests include playing the clarinet in the Greater Victoria Concert Band, ocean and surf kayaking, riding her bike and rock climbing.

2. Margaret Patrick – Proposed by John Edgell. Many of you have already met Margaret as she has attended several of our meetings already. She is a retired civil servant, having worked as a Project Manager with the (then) Department of External Affairs, organizing the participation of Canadian companies in Trade Fairs and missions in South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. She accompanied these delegations, travelling on a Diplomatic passport. Margaret and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Patrick, moved from Ottawa to Victoria in l986, and resided in Broadmead until he passed away in 2002. Margaret then moved to Oak Bay where she immersed herself in the renovation of an older home. Margaret is a member of the Newcomers’ Alumnae Club, the Victoria Symphony Volunteer Guild, the Probus Club of Oak Bay, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Engineers’ Wives, and the Uplands Golf Club. She enjoys sailing, tennis, languages, and travelling.

Guest Speaker, introduced by Brian Lamb

Kyle Danielson is an R.N. with a B. Sc. in Nursing. He will be returning to Malawi on January 14, this time accompanied by Alanna Jackson. He gave us a vivid account of his first six-week volunteer mission, and accompanied this with his own slides.

St. Andrew’s Clinic is in the village of Mtunthana, some distance north of the Capital. The huts consist of adobe brick with thatched grass roofs, which account for many of the children’s burn injuries when the thatch catches on fire. There was a slide of a school, which was conducted outdooors for lack of a building. While fees have been abolished for 8 years, the requirement of a uniform constitutes a barrier for many childrfen, especially girls. The permanent staff at the Clinic consists of six well-trained nurses and two clinical officers. This Clinic serves a population of 600,000, twice the population of Greater Victoria. The available resources are limited with, for example, no morphine or other analgesics to ease pain. No retroviral drugs are available to treat AIDS, so only advice and education can be given. One of the major problems consists of the orphans caused by AIDS. The young to middle-aged population has largely died off and the children are raised by the older generation. Since there are not enough adults to raise food, malnutrition is common (46% of children) and this makes them vulnerable to many diseases. Therefore one of the major programs is termed re-feeding, to rescue these children dying of starvation. The student nurses at UVic raised $6,000 and this was sufficient to feed 2,500 people a day for six months.

Malaria is the other most common disease. He pointed out that both AIDS and malaria are preventable. In the case of malaria, the best and cheapest prevention are insecticide treated mosquito nets, which cost $1.50 each and can be purchased locally. Kyle noted that NGO’s and their supporters look with most favour on long-term constructive, self-supporting developments, but short-term relief, such as the re-feeding programs, are a necessary precursor.

In answer to a question, Kyle said that Rotary had built a staff house for the Clinic, an essential facility to attract staff as otherwise there is no place to live. Kyle and Alanna are going back on January 14 and have raised $7,500 which, in partnership with Health Partners International has been raised to $60,000. Among the projects this will support are test kits for AIDS and malaria. Each test costs only 50 cents but one must buy $5,000 worth. A lab technician and some equipment must also be supported.

Kyle was thanked by David Maxwell, who praised his excellence as a public speaker as well as his professional looking slides.

SPEAKERS Jan 9 Kim Dufus - South Victoria Home Care Jan 16 Club Assembly Jan 23 Vocational Visit, University of Canada West. Jan 30 Dr. David Johnston, Jungian Psychologist. Feb 6 Sara Dubois - Wild Animal re-habilitation. Feb 13 Marnie Sakura, return exchange student. Feb 20 Linda Matherne, Power of the second choice Feb 27 Gordon Stuart, Faith in Action coalition.   DATE Greet/ Grace Greet&Introduce Guests Bulletin Host&Introduce Speaker Thank Speaker JANUARY ROSTER 2 Jackson Marsh Lidkea Lamb Maxwell 9 McDougall McLean McLeod Munro Murray 16 Ockermueller O'Coffey Peggs Mutter Petrie 23 Philip Picken Pitt Pritchard Rawnsley 30 Sills Sim Snively Sims Stirling January Cashier: AKED; 50-50: PRENTICE   CLICK HERE FOR ROSTER FOR FEBRUARY and MARCH 2007 Oak Bay Rotary Officers: President - Tav Macpherson President Elect - Jack Petrie Past President - David Maxwell Secretary - Leslie Rogers-Warnock Treasurer - Brian Lamb Service Directors: Administration - Barry Mutter Public Relations - Tricia Timmermans Foundation - David Maxwell Membership - Jack Petrie Service Projects - Dallas Chapple International - Jim Force Sergeants @ Arms - Mark Bedford & Ben Andersen Attendance: Lynne Murray

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