Social Symbiosis !

Bravo Josephine de Freitas for coming up with what defines Rose Charities 'social symbiosis !'... great term... !

Textbooks for Haiti Nurse training

Text books for the State University School of Nursing

The State University School of Nursing was destroyed in the earthquake and 74 students and staff were killed. There are 30 surviving 2nd year students and 64 thrid year. They are determined to get back to their studies as soon as they can. The School is now run out of 3 tents and there is a leaky storage room with big cracks in the walls. . In the storage room are a few battered textbooks that were dug out of the rubble and a heart-breaking pile of dusty stained uniforms. When our nurses visited the school and brought back the photos we (Rose Charities) were determined to help.

Thanks to the Montreal School of Nursing and many others who helped us with advice and contacts we have a shipment of wonderful new french-language textbooks arriving in Haiti this week. The publisher gave us 30% discount and donated 30 free books.

Prosthetics and Football for Haiti Kids - AMDA Project

Click here for full report

Letter from Sarah (#77 in her wonderful ongoing Cambodia series)

Hi everyone,
Well the heat has broken – thank god, it is not until now that I realize quite how much it was effecting Gareth and I, I feel like a new woman – energy, enthusiasm and inspiration has returned – now we feel like we can just enjoy our last 5 months here rather than drag ourselves around each day….
Part of my returned inspiration has come through the Rose Charities International Conference which I took part in over last weekend. I have been a Director for Rose Charities Australia for the past 4 years or so but have not managed to be too involved since being over here – apart from promoting the AYAD Program to a friend who is now here with Rose starting a Physio Rehabilitation Centre in Takhmau, 30 mins south of PP. Jo’s been to Cambodia quite a few times before and on one of her last visits decided she needed to come for a longer period of time – I hooked her up with the AYAD In-country Manager and now she’s here for a 12 month assignment. She can really hit the ground running too because of her previous experience and 1.5 months in construction has started on a Rehabilitation Playground at Chey Chumneas Hospital, Takhmau – this really is going to change the face of physiotherapy in Cambodia…Jo and I are meeting this weekend in Prey Veng so I can help her with some of the admin stuff to get the project up and running seeing that’s more my forte than the medical side of things – and it really is the best use of my skills from what I have learnt here in Cambodia – I am armed to the hilt with templates, policies, procedures, staff manuals, contracts, etc, etc which will definitely save time for all the projects I’m involved with in the future – only have to do develop these things once and then I can adapt them to each project – what a relief that I won’t have to start from scratch again!
On the first day of the Conference we heard from all the Rose Charities chapters around the world and were given an update of their current project activities – you can really see from this how far the Rose projects now reach, there are projects in Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, America, Madagscar, Sri Lanka…and they have been involved in emergency relief in Haiti…not to mention working in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami, Vietnam in recent cyclones, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina…they really have done so much – all through networks and partnerships and working with local organizations on the ground, it’s a great set up and really follows a framework that I am much more keen on working within instead of the large multinational NGOs which are prevalent these days – not to say I might not try to work for one of those one day – but at this stage I really feel working with the small local NGOs is much more worthwhile – a pity that means I will probably have to continue to be a volunteer for most of my career!!!
It was great to meet people from all different backgrounds who all had different interests in Rose – many from a medical background as many of the Rose projects are medically based, but also people who just thought they’d help in their own little way, whether that’s running a small fundraiser or offering their lawyering skills, or running the whole show – each had their bit to offer and all came from all around the world…as you can see, I would have been in my element!
A great opportunity too was that Will, one of the originators of Rose Charities, who has provided me with great knowledge, feedback and encouragement since I’ve been in Cambodia asked whether Mekhala Silk could provide the delegate gifts for the Conference – a nice silk wallet. We then came up with the idea that Mekhala Silk products could be sold at the event to create awareness and perhaps gain some feedback on products and prospective markets. We gained a great response – made some profit selling direct to the public and also gained the support of about 4 new “Sales Reps” who have offered to show our Catalogue around to some shops that they think might be interested in their area. This means we may now have some interest in Canada and America as well as Australia – who knows, it may not go anywhere but it’s always nice to have some more people believing in the products and the idea! The best bit was that some of the sales we made were Rose Directors who were running fundraisers soon in Australia and New Zealand and felt that they could sell or auction these products at their events – therefore not only will we be helping the producers in Cambodia and the children in Mekhala House but all the Rose Charities projects through money raised also – can’t ask for more than that – each gets their little slice and awareness and extent of reach is expanded….ahhhhh inspiration is a wonderful thing……………and so is cooler weather!