Plenty of pain, with lots to gain

Richard Thorpe and Maureen Reihana at the RPM cycling class #6 on Thursday, November 19 with great support from the other participants in the class

A charity ride with a difference

Rotarian Richard Thorpe, who is President Elect of the Rotary Club Botany East Tamaki in Auckland, NZ, has been combining his passion for cycling with an annual activity to raise awareness and funds to support his charity of choice. The fight to eradicate the world of the deadly Polio virus.

Richard, a passionate cyclist whose view of the perfect holiday is to cycle the Tour de France route, has for the last few years used the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge race as an opportunity to raise funds to fight through sponsoring his annual effort. Many thousands of dollars have been raised as a result. However, this year work commitments have taken him out of the country, so he refocused and found an equally challenging substitute. With the support of the team at 24/7 Fitness at Auckland Airport he set his sights on completing eight full hour long RPM high intensity indoor cycling classes in six days from November 16 to 21. 

“I usually try and do three RPM classes a week, so this was quite a challenge to put in a top effort in each class during the week”, Richard said adding, “the intensity and pain levels are high, but the fulfilment in the end is awesome.”

Sponsorship raised $2500, and with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matching this 2 to 1, Richard is justifiably proud of the $7500 total that his efforts have contributed to The Rotary Foundation’s global Polio Plus project this year.

“The most satisfying part of the week was the support I received from 24/7 Fitness. Their Manager Maureen Reihana took three of these classes and embraced my challenge, put signs up around the gym to promote it, and this enthusiasm spread to all the others doing the classes during the week. As well as raising valuable sponsorship funds, I have managed to educate a lot of people about Polio and the good work that Rotary has done with this Polio eradication project for so many years.”

Side bar about Polio: 

Imagine a world free of deadly pandemic disease. People like philanthropist Bill Gates and Rotarians throughout the world do.

Rotary International has partnered with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and many governments of the world in a campaign to help eradicate the world of this deadly disease. In 1979 when the first Polio vaccinations began, there were 125 countries infected with endemic levels of Polio virus. Hundreds of thousands of people each year suffered devastating sickness, paralysis, deformity of limbs and for a significant number, ultimately death. A simple vaccine however has changed this picture and eradication is now in our sights.

Since 1979 the combined global vaccination efforts have reduced the spread of Polio virus. Afganistan and Pakistan, with their warzone borders, now remain the last two countries with significant levels of the wild Polio virus. As with all disease, it can be easily spread if precautions are not put in place and Rotary along with its partners remain hard at work supporting the vaccination programs globally.  Bill Gates fronts a popular campaign holding up his hand with a small gap between his thumb and forefinger. “We’re this close”, Rotarian Richard Thorpe says to eradicating Polio. This will only be the second such virus to be eliminated since the WHO declared the world free of Smallpox in 1980.  

Words: Assistant Governor Mike Jaggs, of the Rotary Club of Botany East Tamaki, NZ

Photos: President Elect Richard Thorpe, of the Rotary Club of Botany East Tamaki, NZ

International volunteering

Simon Manning administers precious polio drops in the final push for a polio free India

My Rotary Moment - DG Simon Manning, District 9940

A few years ago, I assisted with a National Immunisation Day (NID) in Delhi, India that was an experience that changed my life! 

On the NID we were sent out to a school where families were being encouraged to bring their children for immunisation against Polio. The lines of people never stopped. I still get emotional just remembering how, when the eyes of a little girl who has probably never seen a white face before, connected with mine. Her eyes were full of fear at being bundled up by her brother into my arms, and for me those two drops not only changed her life that day, but they changed mine as well. 

You see my life changed because I had seen what a difference we can each make as Rotarians and it changed my life because I had engaged with Rotary. I was working to assist this little girl’s future away from a life which could have been very different if she had become a Polio statistic. 

This journey took us to the Polio Hospital in Delhi where we witnessed those who had not been immunised and the doctors who were doing their best to help straighten the bones of children who were otherwise unable to walk. We witnessed a boy who was able to take his first steps following his operation, so we were experiencing Polio face-to-face. 

The memory of that little girl again rose from my heart. I helped make a difference and I cannot describe to you how that has made a difference in my life. For me, the impact of being a part of placing the two drops in the mouths of those children and knowing that I was making a difference while working for Rotary will stay with me for the rest of my life. 

I encourage you all to consider donating your time and traveling with fellow Rotarians to make a difference in the world, as it will change your life. I still wonder about that little girl, where is she now, what is she doing. I will never ever forget her eyes. She will never know me, but she will always be in my Rotary heart. 

 - Words and photos: District 9940 Governor Simon Manning

My Rotary Moment - a perspective on Polio

Jennifer Scott administering polio vaccine drops in India

By Jennifer Scott, Rotary Club of Central Blue Mountains, District 9685

 

I was five years old when I first heard the word "polio". I was seeing a doctor because my legs were not straight. Next to me in the waiting room was a boy with callipers. I asked my mother "will I have to wear those?" She said, "no dear, you don't have polio, you are not crippled".

The second time was only a few months later when my sister, brother and I were watching a children's television program. They talked about raising money for crippled children. We decided that we would put on a concert, invite all the neighbourhood children and raise some money. We ended up on television handing over a cheque. Little did we know, that we had handed the cheque to a Rotarian.

Fast forward to 1972. I was president of my Interact club. Our local Rotary club in Castle Hill asked us to act as companions at a weekend camp for the then Northcott School for Crippled Children. I discovered that this was the school that Rotary was raising funds to build when I was five years old.

50 years later, I am still involved with the eradication of polio, as a volunteer in India, placing those two precious drops into the mouth of a five year old child, and as donor to our Rotary Foundation.

Only six months ago, I found a book that talked about the Crippled Children's Society in Australia. I discovered that in 1928 the president of Rotary International asked Rotary clubs around the world to find the crippled children hidden away in shame, many crippled by polio. Rotary clubs were asked to assist with medical care, to help them walk again, and to give them opportunities though education and vocational training.

The great work of Rotary has been woven into my life. I wonder if those Rotarians in 1928 had the vision that India would be declared polio free, and that one day soon, the world will be free of polio.

But it is not over yet! In Australia today we still have 400,000 people suffering from the effects of polio, called post polio syndrome, and in New Zealand an estimated 10,000 people who had polio are still alive.

Bill Gates Snr summed up the work of Rotary when he said, "back when Rotary became involved with polio, most people thought that voluntary organisations were about tackling projects down the street or across town - not across the world. Rotary changed all that. You reminded us that there is no human problem so daunting that it can't be overcome by people."

The Rotary Club of Mount Eden Helps Eradicate Polio

The Rotary Club of Mount Eden have made a conscious effort this year to help raise funds towards the eradication of Polio. It has also had a busy time with holding three fundraising events in less than four weeks.
 

The first event the club held was a bucket collection day on the 25th October in Mount Eden Village. Over $100 was raised, and the event also helped raise awareness of Rotary’s activities and of the Mt Eden Club.
 

The second event held was a movie night on the 13th November. It was a great night with over 100 tickets sold. The club raised a total of $1074.06. over $1,000. The funds raised from these events will be donated to Rotary International’s EndPolio campaign. As the Club’s President, Penny Jorgensen, told the movie audience, the funds will be tripled thanks to the 2-to-1 match by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and could help vaccinate up to 3,000 children.
 

The third event held was a sausage sizzle on the 23rd November outside Bunnings in Mount Roskill. The Club was offered the fundraising opportunity at very short (less than a week’s) notice. “It was wonderful how members rallied to make this a success” said Penny.

Club web: www.mteden.rotarysouthpacific.org
Polio web: www.endpolio.org

Rotary Crocus in New Zealand

The Rotary Club of Whangaparaoa, NZ has led the successful initiative to bring the Rotary Crocus pin to Auckland in time for World Polio Day on October 24. President Brian Mullan persevered and was able to overcome all the perceived administrative difficulties, including dealing with the GST and import duty issues, and has taken delivery of the first 200 Rotary Crocuses, in four boxes of 50. The per crocus cost, delivered in NZ, inclusive of all costs, is less than NZ$1 and the aim will be to offer these to the general public for a minimum donation of NZ$2.

The original idea was started in the UK in 2011 by Lynn Mitchell, a former governor of District 1120, who is the inspiration behind the fabric crocus buttonhole. Lynn developed the idea after picking a purple crocus from her garden and wearing it as a buttonhole, and the idea for the Rotary Crocus pin was born. Lynn’s vision is for the crocus to become the recognisable symbol of Rotary’s work in the eradication of polio. It is hoped that, in years to come, End Polio Now won’t be needed, but the crocus will remain as the symbol of Rotary’s greatest achievement; conquering polio.

When donors wear their Rotary Crocus, they become walking adverts for Rotary and End Polio Now. Each crocus comes with an information card, which tells the story of the polio eradication programme and Rotary’s pivotal role. The information card also provides the wearer with the answer to the question, “that’s a nice flower; what’s it for?”

The purple crocus was chosen because the colour matches the dye painted on the fingers of children who have been immunised against polio.

Currently, the Rotary Crocus pins are only available from the UK, but discussions are underway, with the aim of improving availability and at lower base costs in NZ.

Proactive and positive discussions are ongoing within District 9910 in NZ on the best way to roll out the Rotary Crocus across the district and further afield across all NZ Districts. Anyone wanting clear, unambiguous information about bringing the Rotary Crocus to NZ should contact Rotary Club of Whangaparaoa President Brian Mullan via brian@mullan.com.

Explaining the Rotary - CDC partnership for Polio Eradication: Compelling viewing

Eradicating Polio is a partnership between Rotary and others . This video explains the relationship between Rotary and the Centre for Disease Control. Compelling viewing. Note you can expand to full screen for easy viewing.

Schools support World Polio Day 24 October 2013

Thursday 24 October 2013 was World Polio Day.   The primary aim of World Polio Day is fund raising and awareness, but it’s also an opportunity for young people to learn:

• History.  The history of medicine and campaigns against disease reflects the history of social change and the emergence of the modern world. 
• Science.  The science of vaccination is a fascinating subject for all ages – perhaps starting with Edward Jenner in the 1790’s and the first discovery of this most vital of medical principles.
• Geography.  A discussion about vaccination in terms of geographical, religious and economic differences would help to place in context different cultural approaches to medicine.

 

The Principals of our Otahuhu Primary Schools were approached to see if they would like to participate in celebrating this day with wearing an article of purple clothing with a coin donation.

The significance of the purple clothing relates to the fact that when children get immunised en masse against Polio their pinky finger is dunked in a purple dye to indicate that they have been vaccinated.

The schools thought it was a great idea and it was decided to celebrate the day on Friday 25 October.

Emphasis was placed on the fact that every dollar donated would be matched by $2 by the Bill Gates Foundation.

The schools Fairburn Road, St Josephs, Otahuhu Primary, Panama Road and Otahuhu Intermediate are all low decile  schools which makes their efforts outstanding.   The total raised by our schools was $1500.00.

"Even though we are a decile 1 school I think it is important that our children know that there are always others worse off and that they can give too." 

Ironically we had cross country on the same day and we could celebrate our running skills and think of those unable to do so."    Colleen Margison, Principal Panama Road School

One case of polio anywhere is a threat everywhere

“One case of polio anywhere is a threat everywhere” emphasised d’Arcy Lunn, Global Poverty Project advisor and ambassador for the End of Polio Campaign, in a dynamic and thought-provoking speech on March 19 at The Rotary Club of Plimmerton in Wellington, New Zealand.

Polio is our common enemy. It usually affects children under the age of five.

223 cases of polio were reported in 2012, only a little more than one-third of the 650 cases reported in 2011. So far this year only 16 cases have been reported compared with 36 cases for the same time last year. In more good news, India marked its second year without polio on January 13, 2013.

The annual incidence of polio has decreased more than 99% since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988 when about 350,000 children were infected each year in 125 endemic countries. The wild polio virus is now endemic in only three countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. Yet, in 2010 we saw the resurgence of polio in six countries, many that had been polio-free for long periods of time. If polio exists anywhere in the world it is a threat to everyone, everywhere. Containment of polio is not an option. Eradication is the only solution.

Without a commitment from the global community to immunize every last child, this debilitating disease could start to spread again with a vengeance. All it takes is two drops of vaccine.

Plus financial support. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently donated US$100 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative through his charitable foundation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed more than US$1.5 billion to fight polio and, in the past three decades, Rotarians around the world have contributed more than US$1.2 billion to end this scourge. Since the initiative began in 1988, 2.5 billion children around the world have been immunised.

Each one of us can help. We can help by encouraging all the parents we know to immunise their child. And we can donate to Rotary’s PolioPlus programme. Go to http://www.endpolio.org/


Submitted by:  Wendy Betteridge, Rotary Club of Plimmerton www.plimmerton.rotarysouthpacific.org

Rotary Global Swimarathon sets new Guinness World Record and saves lives

How do you get 159 people out of their beds at 1am in the morning to swim 100 metres all in the name of charity? Just ask the world-leading Rotary Club of Matamata in the heart of the Waikato region in New Zealand.

Earlier this year, Matamata was one of 119 clubs worldwide that took part in the Rotary Global Swimarathon for polio eradication – an English Rotary Club of Grantham in Lincolnshire initiative to raise funds for Rotary International’s End Polio Now campaign while also raising the profile of the cause.

 

Matamata club, with a membership of 54, led the fundraising effort worldwide, with a staggering NZ$22,000 raised for Rotary’s polio eradication programme. Matamata then president Eric Muckle emphasised this amounted to almost 20 per cent of the total money raised from the Global Polio Swimarathon.

“We are absolutely delighted to lead the world in this event,” he said. “Matamata is a small town of 7,000 people, and for our community to embrace the event in the manner they did was incredibly heart-warming. On the night, almost the entire club turned out to lend a hand. Two participants raised in excess of $5,000 between them, and then District Governor Raewyn Kirkman was among the swimmers.

“The awareness this event created in our community was huge. We were able to get the whole town aware of it and then to have the number of people swimming in the early hours of the morning was fantastic! 

“One lady in her 70s and confined to a wheelchair even came along and swam four lengths of one-arm backstroke to aid the cause.

“We are all very proud of what our club managed to achieve in this event,” Eric said. “It just goes to show that if you get a worthwhile project and involve your community, the results will follow.”

 

It’s now official!  The Rotary Global Swimarathon set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of participants.  4,546 swimmers from all across the world could not resist and made a splash in the hour long swimarathon charity event, which took place in over 64 locations across the world.  All swimmers dived into action simultaneously between 12-1pm GMT on February 25, 2012.  The previous record was set at 2,533.  This year’s fun event raised over US$101,000 to fund and administer the polio vaccine. 

Go to www.rotaryglobalswimarathon.org to join in next year on February 23 when the Rotary Global Swimarathon will swim around the world once more …

 



 

Polio achievement inspire and are recognised at the District 9940 Conference

India has had no new cases of polio since January last year, and that's largely thanks to the efforts of organisations like Rotary.

Dr Mathew Varghese’s was guest speaker at the District 9940 conference in Wanganui and was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow recognition by District 9940.  District Governor Bob Smith said it had been wonderful to have Dr Varghese come to Wanganui to speak about his work. "Rotary has taken a keen interest in the prevention of polio, so it has been great to hear about it from someone on the front line."

Dr Mathew Varghese is currently Head of the Department of Orthopaedics at St Stephen’s Hospital, Delhi, India specialising in trauma care with particular emphasis on reconstructive surgery for trauma, poliomyelitis, cerebral palsy and paediatric problems. He spoke about his work with sufferers of polio and the $6000 presented to him at the conference by the clubs of the district to help with new equipment for the hospital and to continue his work with polio. He reminded the conference very much of the standing of Professor Swee Tan in our District for his work with children with strawberry birth marks. [Swee Tan is also a researcher with Cure Kids].

Polio, once common in New Zealand, is a water-borne virus that affects the spine of the sufferer and can cause paralysis and deformities.  Starting in 1985, Rotary groups around the world began a fundraising drive to eliminate polio completely, and to date they have raised about $1 billion for vaccination programmes. Other charitable organisations have also donated considerable sums of money for polio prevention.

Dr Varghese said when he began working at St Stephen's Hospital in 1990, in Delhi alone there were about 3000 new cases of polio each year. Now polio has virtually been eliminated from India, thanks to a huge vaccination drive. Dr Varghese campaigned in the 1980s to have a nationwide vaccination programme introduced and, although it is a huge logistical task vaccinating every child in India under the age of five, his dream has now come true.

"I never thought to see it happen in my lifetime, but it is a reality. By any standards, it is a remarkable achievement," he said.

The only cases of polio Dr Varghese sees now are historical ones, where the sufferer has on-going problems from being infected years ago.

Journey of Hope. What ever happened to ...

Dear supporters of the Journey of Hope,  

Exactly one year has passed since we (Xaver Hausner and Oliver Macindoe) finished our ride for PolioPlus the length of New Zealand and arrived in Bluff on 16 January 2011. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you once more for the support you gave us either before we left or along the way, and to wish you success and happiness for the year ahead.                      

While on our 54-day-ride for PolioPlus we travelled 3,481 km, climbed 33,907 vertical metres, raised $NZ50,557 for PolioPlus, met with members of more than 35 Rotary clubs, spent 17 nights in our tent, took over 2,000 photos, blogged over 31,000 words, fixed 5 spokes and one puncture, caught 3 ferries, fell off the bikes 3 times and visited 2 doctors.     

      

          

To the many people who donated to PolioPlus, who welcomed us into their homes for the night, who met us on the streets to ride with us or promote the cause, who gave us equipment (or fixed it), who gave us a beer at the end of the day or a plum at the end of a long hill; our trip wouldn’t have been possible without you and certainly wouldn’t have been half as rewarding. Thank you!

In the last year, Xaver has been back in his homeland of Germany preparing for his law exams this March and Ollie has been in Christchurch training to be a teacher. In October Ollie came to Germany and since then has been studying at the University of Freiburg. Ollie spent Christmas with Xaver’s family in Würzburg and it has been fantastic being able to catch up again. We have had a lot of fun reminiscing about the trip and looking over photos.

It would have been nice to be able to send a personalised email to all the people that supported us along the way but there are simply too many of you! This trip was very special to us; we had planned it since we were 17 and 18 years old. Something we couldn’t have planned for and something we couldn’t have expected, however, was just how special the people we met and corresponded with made it.

Yours gratefully, Ollie and Xaver

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