Issue 3 September 2006 Russ Hobbs, District Governor A Matching Grant Project for the Peltier General Hospital in Djubouti, Africa. What we do makes a difference in the world, and our focus this month is on an opportunity to save up to 400 lives a year. I m referring to our Matching Grant Project with the Djibouti East Africa Rotary Club. This is a major medical project at the Peltier General Hospital in the city of Djibouti in the Country of Djibouti East Africa, and your Club can partner with us by pledging as little as $1,000. 2006-2007 District Governor Russ Hobbs (Russ & Mary Ann) Sunnyvale Rotary RussHobbs@allstate.com The goal of the project will be to provide a full perimeter cardiac care monitoring system with central station for the Cardiology Department of the hospital, and includes a five bed neo natal cardiac care monitoring with central station in the newly remolded pediatric department of the hospital. We chose this matching grant project for a several reasons. Scotts Valley Rotarian Bob Pagett, of Assist International, did a project with this hospital two years ago when they provided an adult monitoring system in the adult ICU Department. And Assist International has done many other projects with our District-- India, Mongolia, Turkey, Tibet, Chile, China, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan (I had the pleasure of traveling with Bob on the Chile project). Djibouti is a small country, on the East Coast of Africa with a population of about 750,000, that occupies a strategically valuable location. The US 6 th Fleet has an antiterrorism base in Djibouti, and the US Army also maintains a base there. It is nestled between chaotic Somalia and troubled Ethiopia; it has a port that dominates the entrance of the Red Sea, a key economic route for the Middle East and Europe. The Peltier Hospital is the only people s hospital in Djibouti, and has 1,000 beds. The need there is great, as Djbouti has the highest rates of death per 100,000 of children and women of all the countries in Africa. The completion of the Matching Grant project will save an estimated 400 lives per year Traveling with us in March will include the ribbon cutting ceremony at Peltier Hospital, fellowship with Rotarians in Djibouti, and an opportunity to spend a few days in the Serengeti (more on that later).
Rotary D5170 Newsletter September 2006 - Page 2 An Armada of International Service Navigating the World through International Service, the 60 clubs of make up an armada which would make Captain Jack Sparrow envious. International Service Chair, 2006-2007 Loren Harper Warm Springs (408) 918-6121 The Cupertino Club is formidable with its three current matching grant projects in India, Mexico and China. The Niles Club, with the assistance of other Area 3 clubs recently raised $50,000 through their Majestic Evening of Hope. Half the money is earmarked for the WHEELCHAIR FOUNDATION and half will be going to the Serbian Children s Foundation that is sponsored by NBA All-stars Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic. Allart Ligtenberg of the Los Altos Rotary Club, our Water, Health and Hunger District Chair, just returned from a month in Spain and Morocco, participating in an International Conference on Solar Cookers and Food Processing. Over 200 participants from 35 countries exchanged ideas. Since none of the Area 6 clubs individually had enough DDF or budget money to qualify for a TRF Matching Grant project last year, they pooled their resources, pulled in four other D-5170 clubs, and partnered up on four Matching Grant projects totaling $47,000. Their projects are in Mexico, Bolivia, Bulgaria, and the Philippines. FACES OF HOPE is a multi-club Rotary project established to deliver cleft lip and palate corrective surgeries for children in Guatemala. The COANIQUEM BURN CENTER of Santiago, Chile has assisted more then 65,000 children, aided by the Rotarians of. Two years ago another Coaniquem clinic was opened in Antofagasta, Chile, and soon a similar clinic will be started in Panama, called Panachem. COANIQUEM The Warm Springs Rotary Club has funded the Brazilian (and now also the Philippines) SISTER FAMILIES Project since 1992. Currently, Rotarians in all 60 clubs of are involved in the sponsorship of some 1,200 children. The CORAZON Project, led by the Mission San Jose Club and aided by Area 3 clubs, plus the Milpitas Club will send 40 Rotarians and friends to Tijuana, Mexico on September 23 rd, to build a home for a needy family. IMPORTANT DATES September 23, 2006 Corazon Project, Tijuana, Mexico October 13, 2006 Coaniquem Fiesta of the Americas Black Hawk Museum October 19 Nov. 9, 2006 Ghana s Immunization Day and West Africa Project Fair January 18 20, 2007 Uniendo America Project Fair San Miguel, El Salvador
Rotary D5170 Newsletter September 2006 - Page 3 Published in the Los Gatos Weekly Times Written by: Jason Sweeney Photograph by: George Sakkestad Los Gatos Rotary Makes It Easier To Get A Drink Of Water Two new drinking fountains that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act have been installed in town, courtesy of the Rotary Club of Los Gatos. The drinking fountains were put in place in mid-july. One was installed in the town plaza on E. Main Street and the other at Vasona Lake Country Park near the pier. The Los Gatos Rotary Club paid $2,500 apiece for the fountains. Each fountain is really three drinking fountains in one, with a tap for a person standing, a tap for a person in a wheelchair and a tap for a four-legged friend. Rotarian Julian Rodriguez is chairman of the Los Gatos Rotary Club s Committee for Community Service, which is currently involved in over a dozen projects in the community. Rodriguez got the idea for ADA compliant drinking fountains for Los Gatos while he and his wife were at a Rotary Club convention last year in Chicago. The Rotary Club s first project in Chicago was a public toilet in 1905, Rodriguez said. He thought it was about time Los Gatos got a public restroom, too. However, public restrooms are pricey. Rodriguez figured he d better start a little smaller. I knew that Los Gatos needed a public drinking fountain, he said. The drinking fountain in the plaza was broken and not ADA compliant. Even if it did work, if you were in a wheelchair you couldn t use it. Rotarian Don Schmidek liked Rodriguez s idea and took the lead on a project to get new drinking fountains for the town. Of particular appeal to Schmidek was that the new fountains could be used by disabled veterans, especially with so many veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan disabled. We approached [public works director] John Curtis and told him we have a project we were batting around, Schmidek said. The idea was to give people in wheelchairs access to the water fountains. Any dog can drink out of the fountain, but it is meant for seeing-eye dogs. After talking to Curtis, the project became a matter of ensuring that the drinking fountains were the appropriate color and that they were technically and architecturally compatible with the town. We found a manufacturer that met those requirements, Schmidek said. The project was then submitted to the town council and it was approved. Now that the drinking fountain project it completed, Rodriguez is still batting around another idea that Los Gatos could use a public restroom.
Rotary D5170 Newsletter September 2006 - Page 4 Photos from the Tailgate Parties of Day at the A s A collection of photos from the Day at the A s a fundraiser for RYLA
Rotary D5170 Newsletter September 2006 - Page 5 General Chair District Committee for the Rotary Foundation Carolyn Schuetz Alameda 2006-07 Group Study Exchange Argentina The GSE (Group Study Exchange) Committee is looking for a GSE Team Leader, going to Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 4th, 2007, for a trip of 30 days. Potential candidates should complete the GSE Team Leader Application form (available on the Rotary International Website), obtain Club endorsement and then send, e-mail or fax before September 11th, 2006 to the contact below: Eugene Zambetti, GSE Chairperson 2006-07 P.O. Box 34, Saratoga, CA 95071 Tel: 408 307 0065 Fax: 408 741 0312 Email: ezambetti@yahoo.com For more information about this program, including the Team Leader Application (260-EN), please go to the RI International website at: http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/foundation/educational.html#gse An Interview of all candidates will be on September 16th, 2006 from 9am to noon at The Community Room of The Saratoga Fire District at 14380 Saratoga Ave, Saratoga, CA 95070. DISTRICT CALENDAR SEPTEMBER VOCATIONAL SERVICE 6 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose 27 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose OCTOBER INTERNATIONAL SERVICE 13 Coaniquem Fundraiser- Blackhawk 14-28 Partners in Rotary Service club visits 19 District Avenue of Service Meeting-Hayward 29-Nov. 8 West Africa Projects Fair/African Immunization Trip NOVEMBER DECEMBER THE ROTARY FOUNDATION 1 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose YOUTH SERVICE 6 Cabinet Meeting, Doubletree, San Jose (Rotary Foundation Drawing) SAVE THE DATES APRIL 20-22 JUNE 17-20 District Conference Monterey, California RI Convention - Salt Lake City