Spirited Rotarians John Cole

Spirited Rotarians John Cole

What did we need to do to change the life of a fifteen-year-old girl whose cataracts were so bad she could only see the difference between light and dark, or the sixty-year-old farmer who could no longer see his animals? John Cole. Recipient of the Stan Rowe Award - 2005

Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital Project In the 1990s it was normal for the District Governor s spouse to select a project to raise funds for during their partner s DG year. Once Lynne and I had decided that we would endeavour to continue this tradition the challenge was then to come up with a worthwhile project that would appeal to Rotarians. In a very short period of time we arrived at the following: 1. it should be a project outside New Zealand; 2. it should involve a Rotary Club in the region of the project; 3. the country should have a good infrastructure; 4. the people we would deal with would be fluent in We had many questions: What sort of project should we help; where; should it involve another Rotary Club or District; what was our criteria? English; 5. the project should qualify for a matching grant from The Rotary Foundation. With the above in mind I spoke with The Rotary Foundation regional coordinator for New Zealand, Past District Governor Ewen McKenzie from the Rotary Club of Waimate District 9980. Ewen had previously told me of his involvement with Dam City of Bhopal, India Building in the Philippines and I was moved by the difference that he, the Rotarians from his Club, the Club in the Philippines, and The Rotary Foundation, had been able to make.

Lynne and I had seen presentations from different Mumbai, Bophal, and Delhi and look at eye hospitals immense value when we visited the different hospitals At the customs hall we met Dr Bhat and District organisations on cataract surgery and after discussions that could meet our criteria. because without this background knowledge we would Governor Kumar together with about 10 other with Ewen we decided that we would like to support have been at a loss to ask the appropriate probing Rotarians. We then received a traditional Indian an Eye Hospital in India as our project for my year of We felt we couldn t sell this idea to 2,500 Rotarians questions. welcome ceremony to keep the evil spirits away whilst District 9940 leadership. in District 9940 unless we were 100% sure that the on our trip. We were treated like royalty and all in the money raised would be well spent. The other concern Armed with this little bit of knowledge we were on our wee small hours of the morning. Ewen suggested that a good person to contact was his however was whether it would be better to not travel way to Mumbai (Bombay) arriving at 11.45pm after a colleague and friend, The Rotary Foundation Regional and donate the airfares to the cause. This dilemma very long day. We were taken to Mr Kumar s house and his wife, coordinator in Mumbai, Dr RM Bhat, who was a was solved by the use of airpoints. So our major sister, sons and daughter in law were all up to greet medical doctor. I contacted Dr Bhat by email and costs were the internal flights in India and some hotel To our surprise, as we exited the aircraft, there was a us! It was such a lovely gesture to host us privately. asked if he was able to advise on a possible area and accommodation. customs official standing on the air bridge with our The experience of spending a few days living with Rotary Club that we should make contact with. He names on a welcome board. It turned out he was the extended family of a local Rotarian was a very knew that the District Governor of Rotary District Prior to departing on 1 June 2001 we met with a New a Rotarian and senior customs officer at Mumbai unexpected privilege. 3140 Kumar Kewairamani was involved with an eye Zealand Rotarian who was an ophthalmic surgeon who International Airport. He had us through immigration hospital in central India. After numerous emails and gave us an overview of the cataract procedures and the in less than five minutes, past the queues of 20-plus phone calls it was decided that Lynne and I would go to type of pre and postoperative care needed. This was of people, and through a special booth.

Finding a suitable hospital Many people claim that the Bhopal chemical leak that In Bophal we visited two eye hospitals. One was partly businessmen who were the trustees. Dr Bhat advised occurred in December 1984 was the worst industrial funded by the Rotary Club of Bophal South and an that the superintendent and senior medical staff had We visited a number of hospitals in Mumbai, together disaster in history. It was caused by the release of 40 English charity. We spent part of the morning looking qualifications that would be recognised in most English with other Rotary medical projects including a hospital tons of methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide at their facilities/procedures and meeting with their speaking countries including New Zealand and the totally funded by local Rotary Clubs that offered plant in the poorer part of the city. The escaping staff. This hospital, however, did not look like it was United Kingdom. The other area that really impressed laboratory analysis, x-rays, ultrasounds and eye surgery gas was heavier than air and rolled along the ground being used to anything like its full potential and, as it us was the number of local and out of town people that free of charge to the poor of Mumbai. Within 24 hours killing thousands outright. The gases also injured up was also being well supported, we decided that their worked as volunteers in different parts of the hospital. of arriving in India we were completely overawed at the to 600,000 people, at least 15,000 of whom later died. needs were not quite as pressing as other hospitals we This included the trustees, doctors, nurses and others in huge difference that the local Rotarians were making to Many thousands of people who did survive suffered had seen. many less skilled areas. the lives of the underprivileged. severe health problems. Many of these people had eyesight problems and private hospitals were established We then moved on to visit the Sewa Sadan Eye That evening we made our decision that we would ask After three days in Mumbai we flew with Dr Bhat to to assist in reversing the damage. Although this was Hospital in the village of Sant Hirdaram Nagar that the Rotarians in District 9940 to support the Sewa Bophal where we again received a traditional Indian a major part of hospitals work in the years after the District Governor Kumar s family supported from Sadan Eye Hospital in Bhopal. welcome and were greeted by photographers from four accident, the hospitals are still extremely busy assisting Mumbai. At this hospital we were completely different newspapers. You will see from the map that both local residents and villagers from the surrounding overawed by the love and care shown to the patients. Bophal is in the state of Madhya Pradesh and the city area who develop problems with their eyes. The hospital was managed by several local successful has a population of over 1,500,000.

How Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital works The hospital provides eye surgery and treatment, free of charge, to Bhopal residents and residents of the rural area that spreads approximately 100 miles from the base hospital. The hospital patients from the city of Bhopal are either referred to the hospital by their General Practitioner or come directly to the hospital for treatment. In the case of the more rural patients the hospital runs eye camps in local villages for these people. Firstly the hospital advertises that they will be holding an eye camp on a certain date. The hospital sends ophthalmic nurses and a surgeon to examine all patients. Some patients are treated at the clinic, but those with more serious conditions that can be treated The hospital has its own buses that are used to bring the patients from their rural village to the hospital for more specialised treatment including cataract surgery. The majority of the hospital s surgical patients are peasant farmers who in many cases have spent 30 or 40 years in the fields without eye protection and as a result have developed severe eye damage. Many would have never been on a modern bus or visited a major city such as Bhopal. The buses arrive at the hospital at about 5pm. Patients awaiting cataract surgery are allocated a bed in one of the open wards with about 80 others. Patients are fed an evening meal and examined to ensure they are fit for surgery. The next morning surgery commences with four operating tables in the theatre, each surgeon assisted by an ophthalmic nurse. at the base hospital are asked to return to the clinic on another date for transport to the hospital. The average cataract operation takes about ten minutes.

Post operation patients are returned to the ward with an eye shield over their eye that the hospital removes 24 hours later. After removal patients are re-examined by a specialist. Patients remain at the hospital for a further 24 hours. Patients are given the medication they need and sunglasses to protect their eyes in the future before being bussed back to their villages in the hospital buses. Two weeks after the operation they are asked to return to the rural clinic where staff from the hospital check their eyes again to see that the operation has been successful and there is no infection. The Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital does a wide range of eye surgery procedures but we decided to concentrate on cataract surgery. We chose cataract surgery over other eye surgery because, for a relatively small cost, the patients gained a huge increase in their quality of life. The cost to the Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital of providing a preoperative clinic, patient transport, food, accommodation, surgery including new lens and post operative care, was approximately NZ$75 per patient after subsidies received from the Indian government and the World Health Organisation.

How could New Zealand Rotarians help? Tins of spaghetti After discussions with the Eye Hospital s trustees it was decided the most appropriate assistance would be to purchase operating theatre equipment for a new hospital building that was to be constructed. In return for the purchase of equipment the hospital agreed to provide additional cataract operations free of charge to an equivalent value of the equipment. On our return to New Zealand, and commencing our official visits to Rotary Clubs as Governor, we showed a 7-minute video to each of the 64 Clubs in the District. At the end of the presentation I produced a tin of spaghetti and asked each Rotarian to consider staying home and having a tin of spaghetti for dinner instead of going out to a restaurant for a meal. I estimated the difference between the cost of the restaurant meal and the tin of spaghetti as $50. That $50, together with a Rotary Foundation matching grant, would enable one patient to have their sight restored through the Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital. Rotarians responded generously. Over 70% of Rotary Clubs in District 9940 contributed financially to the project. At the end of the Rotary year over $68,000 had been received. It was decided that this money, together with a contribution from the Rotary Club of Bhopal South and a Foundation matching grant, would be used to purchase a Phaco Emulsification System a flash name for the machine that sucks a cataract out of an eye and a Zeiss Opmi Visu 150 surgical microscope. The cost of these two pieces of equipment was over 2.4 million Indian rupees, roughly US$49,500.

The difference Rotarians will make. As this project had been so close to my heart for Presentations were made to Mark and myself, together The equipment that Rotarians purchased will be used Returning to the Eye Hospital. over two years, I decided to accept the invitation. In with all other visiting dignitaries including several for approximately 4,000 operations per year. That is January 2004 I travelled with my son Mark to Bhopal Rotarians. Seven other Rotary Club presidents from 4,000 people every year whose sight will be improved as In late 2003 we received an invitation to attend the to attend the dedication ceremony. The ceremony was the greater Bhopal area also attended the dedication a result of Rotarians generosity and their decision, on dedication of the equipment that Rotarians had a very moving occasion attended by over 250 people together with supporters of the hospital from overseas one evening, to eat a can of spaghetti instead of eating donated. The dedication coincided with the opening associated with the hospital including the District that had travelled for the dedication of the new hospital at a restaurant. We really felt that District 9940, The of the new wing of the hospital that was to house the 3040 Governor, the District Governor Elect, the local wing the previous day. We were also privileged to have Rotary Foundation and the Rotary Club of Bhopal donated equipment. Member of Parliament and several other city dignitaries. been invited to this major event. South has had, and will continue to have, a major There were numerous speeches and the ceremony was impact on the lives of those less fortunate. very formal.

An added Bonus: Polio Immunisation Day local Rotarians in Bhophal, they arranged for Mark areas didn t receive gifts. Some children were brought Thank you 150 million children immunised on one and myself to visit four different immunisation centres by parents, others by elder siblings and others came by day in India. in the morning before we attended the equipment themselves. There were banners in many parts of the I ve always been very proud to be a Rotarian. It has been dedication in the afternoon. Then to finish the day the city advertising the national immunisation day and the a privilege to have had the opportunity to see first hand After we received the invitation to attend the dedication Rotarians arranged a joint meeting of all the Rotary Rotary wheel was prominently displayed on them all. It the differences that can be made by committed people. of the equipment that Rotarians funded, we checked Clubs in Bhopal. What a 24 hours that was!!! was anticipated that over 150 million children would be to see if by any chance there was a national polio immunised on that day alone, in India. I would like to finish by quoting past Rotary immunisation day in India around the time that we would be there. Ever since the start of the Rotary polio Arriving at the first immunisation centre we were greeted by two news reporters and a photographer What next? International President Clem Renouf who said Rotary takes ordinary men and gives them eradication programme I had always thought it would together with the local MP and city officials. The extraordinary opportunities to do more with their lives be a very moving experience to participate in a national vaccine was transported in polystyrene chilly bins and District 9940 still has over $15,000 of donated funds than they ever dreamed possible. day. the children lined up to have the drops administered. awaiting another smaller project to assist the Sewa Each child who had received the immunisation had Sedan Eye Hospital. We are waiting a request for a Thank you Rotary for giving Lynne and myself such an By sheer coincidence luck was on our side and the their finger marked with a felt pen and they received a relatively small piece of equipment that could be funded opportunity. National Immunisation Day was on the same day as the lollypop or balloon. I think the gifts were given because with this money. hospital equipment dedication. After discussions with local dignitaries were visiting as children in other John Cole, District Govenor 9940, 2001-2002