ROTARY VANCOUVER NEWS CENTRE
Rotary Club of Vancouver Rotor
Janelle Milne received her new Cochleasr Implant controller on November 1st and for the first time she is able to hear on the telephone when her Dad calls her.As her mother Natalie says "Janelle heard her Dad on the phone this afternoon for the very first time in her life!! her old implant did not work with the telephone. A million thanks. It will give her a lot more independence being able to use a phone. I am sure as the days go by we will have lots of "hearing" stories to tell."
Thanks to the many Riders who donated on her behalf and to the RHF Foundation for providing the funds she needed to purchase this replacement for her failed controller. Janelle is the "poster child" for our annual Bike A Thon which raised money for the deaf and hard of hearing in BC. When Janelle was 5, she received her Cochlear Implant and was featured on a CTV broadcast on the day her implant was first turned on. None of us has ever forgotten the look of astonishment on her face when she heard her first sounds.
Polio Plus Press Release
On January 22nd, 2009, at the Rotary International Assembly, Bill Gates Jr. addressed the District Governors for the term 2009-2010. In a stirring speech he announced the additional gift to the Polio Plus program of $US 255,000,000.
Rotary has been asked to match $100 Million of this amount, and to date has already reached and matched 72 Million of the first $100 Million that was given last year.
This is a historic day for Rotary International, the Rotary Foundation and their Partners: the UK Government has now announced a donation of 100 Million pounds and Germany announced a donation of 100 Million Euros.
Rotary went to the World Health Organization and asked them to partner on their Polio Plus Program in 1985. Today, 24 years and $700 million later, the incidence of Polio diagnosis has been reduced 98%. It is hoped that these additional funds will allow this disease to finally be vanquished, within twenty five years.
What in the World is Rotary?
The Rotary Club of Lane Cove, in District 9680 on Sydney's North Shore, New South Wales Australia, recently completed production of a wonderful new eight-minute community service announcement, narrated by award winning newsreader Roger Climpson, on what it means to be a Rotarian. You can view the video here.
Clean Water Project in the Congo $10 can bring clean water to 40 people for life. Help the Rotary Club of Vancouver provide clean water for 125,000 villagers in the remote Bokoro District of the DR of the Congo.
Over 90% of the Congo's 62 million people survive on $1 a day. With no access to clean water, water-borne diseases bring misery and kill tens of thousands every year. In Bokoro District women and children must walk 4 km on treacherous steep slopes to fetch water.
Early in 2009, the first four of fourteen wells were completed with support from the Vancouver Rotary Club and partners in the Congo, France, Japan and the Rotary Foundation. With your help we plan to raise US$210,000 to drill 10 more wells. These wells will change the lives of Bokoro villagers, especially those of women and children.
Did you know that the Rotary World Help Network is a co-operative effort of 38 Rotary Clubs in District 5040 and District 5050. Since 1997 we have shipped 255 containers of medical supplies and equipment, computers and educational material to 48 countries around the world. In addition we have shipped 815,000 doses of flu vaccine to El Salvador, Hepatitus vaccine to the Caribbean, bicycles to Uganda, 5 Fire Engines to El Salvador and a Dermatological Unit to Tanzania.
Total value of these shipments? Over $89 million!
If you would like to learn more about the World Help Network and perhaps become part of this great humanitarian service, click here or visit our web site at www.rwhn.org