Bra-vo! project donates bras to disadvantaged women

Marquerite Vierstraete-Williams organiser of the Rotary Masterton Bra-vo! campaign to collect bras for disadvantaged women in the Pacific.

It's a garment that many women take for granted, but for those in poorer countries it is an item of clothing that they can seldom afford.

Rotary Club of Masterton, NZ in collaboration with Uplift Bras has taken on project Bra-vo!, collecting bras for disadvantaged women in the Pacific.

The woman behind the Masterton Rotary initiative, Marquerite Vierstraete-Williams, PHF says the project is an extension of the annual Pink Ribbon Breakfasts that she has been organising in Wairarapa for three years. 

"This is a way of giving women dignity and some self-respect by helping them," she says.

The campaign during April and May has been hugely successful with other Rotary clubs in the Wellington region pitching in and the collection goal of 1000 bras was almost doubled.

Uplift Bras has sent more than 480,000 bras to women in NZ, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tonga, Solomon Islands, the Philippines, Bali, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Northern Territory since 2005.

For one of these women, a person's unwanted bra may be the only one she'll own.

In warmer climates it's an issue of health too.

Some women get an infection called interigo, a rash or abscess which forms between the breast and the chest wall. Wearing a bra lifts the breast, increasing air circulation and hopefully reducing the incidence of infection.

Fairfax Media's regional paper Wairarapa News featured the collection drive on its front page on April 15 and promoted the story that afternoon for two hours in hero position on its online Stuff website causing an astonishing amount of emails of women wanting to donate bras.

"Women all over New Zealand have really embraced the Bra-vo! project and I think they have embraced it because any woman would understand what life would be like if they didn't have a bra," Marquerite says.

Masterton Rotary branded collection boxes travelled all over NZ, became talking points and the club's post box never received so many mail packages! 

Contact Marquerite for more information: vmarquerite@gmail.com

- Words and photos by Piers Fuller, Wairarapa News

My Rotary Moment - Raewyn Kirkman at the remote Kioa Island School

Seven members of the Waikato Sunrise Rotary headed to remote Kioa Island in Fiji – home to 300 people and a four room school for around 100 kids to refurbish a school building. Apart from a beautiful beach and stunning sunsets this was not the resort version of Fiji – we had a flush toilet that worked for the first three days and the shower was a bucket and bowl. Our beds were mats on the floor. 

Each day the village women would bring lunch, welcome us to the communal area and we shared a meal. 

On the first day, a woman thanked us for helping changing the lives of the young people of the island, for giving them hope for their children’s futures and for opening up the world beyond Kioa for the next generation.  Every day the welcome would be the same – thank you for giving up a week of your lives to make a difference to the rest of the lives of our children.

And I thought I had just gone there to fix up a rundown building.

For 18 years I had heard Rotarians talk about their Rotary moments – those special moments when they went from Rotary member to Rotarian, and while I have had many special moments in Rotary, as I sat there on the ground in Kioa that first day listening to the village matriarch talk about changing the lives of their children, tears streaming down my dusty, paint splattered face, I truly understood the magic of Rotary.

Habitat Youth BUILD

Habitat for Humanity Fiji joined the Habitat Youth BUILD campaign for the first time in December 2014.

The campaign is run across the Asia Pacific region to encourage the next generation to become involved in helping to alleviate poverty through adequate housing.

The Rotary Club of North Suva jumped on board adding their financial support to the events that Habitat for Humanity held over the 3 month campaign period.

The first event was a three-day build of two transitional houses in Suva’s Sukuna Park. This involved over 100 youth. One of these houses was rebuilt later outside of Nausori, north of Fiji’s capital, as a home for a family who were very much in need of shelter.

A group of Japanese volunteers arrived to build another two houses near Nadi on the west coast of Viti Levu. These houses were a continuation of work from the effects of tropical cyclone Evan in December of 2012.

The Habitat Youth BUILD campaign period ends mid March with Habitat Fiji announcing they now have an online donation tool available at Give2Habitat.org/Fiji.

 

 

ShelterBox NZ team members respond to Cyclone Evan in Samoa

A New Zealand ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) consisting of Bulls-based Lyndon Tamblyn and Walter van der Kley from Ashburton, who are both experienced SRTs, went to Apia on December 16 to assess the need of people affected by recent Cyclone Evan which ripped through Samoa.

Winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour lashed down, and waves of water exploded over river banks washing homes away, flinging cars into trees, cutting out power across the country and leaving the capital city Apia in ruins. The scene of destruction also included flattened homes, uprooted trees and flooded streets.


Once on the ground in Apia, the pair assessed the needs of cyclone victims and established how many people had lost their homes. Local Rotarians helped the team with information and transport.

ShelterBoxes are prepositioned in Auckland and ready for a rapid response to Pacific Island nations. Additional ShelterBoxes are located in Melbourne, with some already in Fiji, left over from flood relief earlier in 2012.

ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide. Since 2000 over 124,323 ShelterBoxes have been deployed worldwide.

NZ SRT, Owen Smith recently towed a ShelterBox in the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge to raise money for at least six ShelterBoxes.

Each ShelterBox costs NZ$1,500 and will support an extended family for up to six months.
Donations can be made through the Telecom Foundation “Givealittle” website where 100% of every donation is given to the charity.

DONATION HOTLINE:  

www.givealittle.co.nz/org/shelterbox

SMILE - multi-district volunteer dental project makes a brilliant difference

Rotary Districts 9910, 9920 and 9940 Volunteer Dental Project in Taveuni Island Fiji (18 March to 1 April 2012)

-          By Dr Johnston Luen, Team Leader

The New Zealand team of four dentists consisted of Drs Johnston Luen (General Practitioner, member of Pukekohe Rotary Club), Niel Ewart (Retired Periodontist, Remuera Rotary Club of Remuera Past President), Gary Lawrence (General Practitioner, AG, Kapiti Rotary Club) and Brian Peak (Retired General Practitioner, Milford Rotary Club Past President).

The Taveuni team members consisted of Geoffrey Amos (Taveuni Island Rotary Club Past President and Special Project Officer), Eke (Hygienist), Joey ,Vani, Arni, Petero and Mateo.

We were based at Matei on the northern aspect of the Island.  We worked in nine villages located throughout the island, with Lavena and Vuna being the most remote on the north east and south east coast. It took over 90 minutes of travelling by road to reach these two villages. Three vehicles transported the people, furniture, dental equipment, petrol- fueled electricity generators and air compressors.

Clinical areas were set up in school or community halls.  The schools and the people were notified in advance of the day and time that the Rotary dental teams would provide free treatment. Sometimes people were already waiting at the location when we arrived.

From experience we adopted “production line” delivery of treatment. Patients were examined then directed to the appropriate dentist for the various treatments required. Johnston did the initial examinations, extractions, as well as cleaned teeth. Brian cut the cavities with Mateo assisting with the suction. Gary placed the fillings with the help of the local hygienist, Eke. Niel cleaned teeth with an ultrasonic scaler as well as doing extractions.  Although, each dentist had a specific task, we each overlapped each others’ tasks in order to provide a more productive outcome. Geoffrey organized and distributed the dental packs to each patient following their treatment.  Each pack consisted of free toothbrush, toothpaste, sugar free gum, and educational material.  He also explained to the head teachers and elders of the community the importance of dental health education, diet, and home care.  Joey, Vani and Arni were the support staff, who cleaned and sterilized the instruments, charting treatment, providing lunch and tea breaks, as well as coming to our assistance when we had nervous patients.  

 

From a clinical aspect, we noted that the further the village was away from shops, the people had less decay, but still had gum disease and heavy deposits of tartar around the teeth.  Qeleni and Naselsele had the highest number of decayed and abscessing teeth in the children.  The likely causative factor would be the easier access to high sugar foods including sweets, soft drinks and biscuits.

Dental education is the key to the reduction in dental decay and healthier gums.  We witnessed the continuing lunch time tooth brushing program at each school.  

We are sincerely grateful to Colgate Fiji who supplied free toothbrushes and toothpaste and Mr Rabbit pamphlets to every patient.  Wrigley sugar free dental gum was also handed out.  Extra toothbrushes from Luxident, plus Sensodyne and Maclean toothpaste from GlaxoSmithKleine were also available.

The Global recession has affected this project on several fronts.  Air Pacific cut back significantly the amount of free excess luggage.  The domestic airline Pacific Sun was unable to assist with excess luggage, hence we had to purchase another ticket to ensure all our luggage flew with us on the same flight to Taveuni Island. 

Each night, we stayed at the same house, “Ucinvatu” which was provided free of charge by Phil and Diane Gray of Kawau Island.

Finally we have to acknowledge a lot of people, organizations and companies who have given us goods, grants and services which enabled us to provide free dental treatment.

We wish to thank the following:

The Harold Thomas Trust, the Margaret M Blackwell Trust, Rotary Clubs of Taveuni Island, Pukekohe, Remuera, Kapiti and Milford,  the NZ Dental Association, ADA Wickham Trust, Phil and Diane Gray and Air Pacific.

Dental Companies: CG, Ivoclar Vivadent, Healthcare Essentials, Crown Dental, Oraltec, Colgate Fiji, Wrigley Chewing Gum, Luxident and Shalfoon Henry Schein.

The professional camaraderie, along with the wide range of conversational topics and clinical tales were enjoyed by the team.

This is a very worthwhile Rotary Project and we look forward to working together again in two years’ time.

Projecting in the Pacific - tell us about it!

Rotary clubs from the six New Zealand-based districts often have projects in the Pacific that make a massive difference to the lives of many ... but are you telling your stories and doing your project, sponsors and beneficiaries justice?  Remember that a well publicised project is in fact establishing your credibility for the next project, whenever that may be.

So send us a few lines or a full article or even just a "heads-up" that the project is happening and we can provide some guidance about promoting your project.  Don't forget the close up, action pictures to bring everything to life making it so very meaningful.  Do this by emailing berylrobinson@rotarydownunder.co.nz especially if:

• you are a SW Pacific Islands club with a project
• you are a club supporting a Rotary project in the SW Pacific (with or without partnering a SW Pacific Island club)
• are a district World Community Service Committee who have become aware of a project in the SW Pacific - let us know and we will take it from there
• are a Rotary Foundation Committee who have become aware of a project in the SW Pacific - maybe you have been approached by a club for a Grant (DDF or Matching) - let us know and ask them as part of their receiving a grant to undertake good publicity of the project including an article for Rotary Down Under
• there are many SW Pacific projects supported by clubs from around the world so these clubs, whether from Canada, USA, Europe and afar, can also send us publicity.

NB: the SW Pacific are the Pacific islands/nations of Rotary Zones 7B & 8 - go to page 4 of any Rotary Down Under magazine for a map (or page 4 of the on-line magazine at http://www.rotarydownunder.org/ )