Rose Charities Malaysia's help for Thai flood victims

"Regarding the Thai Flood Aid Appeal, we have managed to send 20 cartons of quaker OATS ( each weighing 25 kgs), buscuits , etc to Bangkok via St.John Ambulance Co-ordinating Centre in :Penang . They will send by road to Hatyai where the Thai

military trucks will take delivery of the goods to Bangkok for distribution to the flood victims....

 

Another big shipment of buscuits and other food products will be sent next week to Helpage International in Bangkook .....will advise further in due course...."

 

Generous donation buys suction machine for Haitian Neonatal team

One of most critical actions to ensure the survival of a newborn baby is to make sure her airway is clear.  This is carried out  with specialized suction apparatus.   Statistics show that there is no action more important for a baby who has had a difficult birth to live;  it is the 'A' (for airway) that is first in the 'ABC' of emergency assessment that every health profesional has as the very base of their knowledge

It thus came as a wonderful surprise that  recent generaous donation was recieved by Rose Charities Canada for its Haiti Neonatal Resucitation Teaching team to take with them to Haiti in early November.  There is no question that this will save lives when HBB ('Helping babies breathe') professionals that they will over the next months get to work !

AMDA HQ medical team leaves for Turkish earthquake relief

An AMDA medical team has left Japan to assist with the earthquake in eastern Turkey.  Taking provisions and experienced medical personnel the team will travel directly to the affected area.The Osaka-Turkish Association is also assisting\

AMDA's history of sending of assisting disasters with  international emergency medical  relief teams is considerable.  Earlier this year, and continuing to this day it was one of the main organizations assisting with the Japan, Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster

Eye clinic cooperation; Rose Charities Penang, Malaysia, and St. Nicholas Home Penang

Rose Charities Malaysia and St Nicholas Home are shortly to open joint eye clinic services in Penang. St Nicholas Home is a distinguished charity establishment with a long history of aid to the poor of the area.  Rose Charities has several eye programs, internationally through its organizations in Cambodia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Canada.  In Cambodia, Rose Charities has treated over 100,000 patients with eye problems in its Phnom Penh Sight Centre

Help to the elderly caught in the Thai flood disaster

Thai floods update:   Rose Charities Malaysia, joining with Rose Charities Singapore, HelpAge, Thailand and the Thai Elderly Association to plan further joint flood relief specifically for the elderly victims of the flood areas.  Mr Lawrence Cheah of Rose Charities Malaysia, and also Rose Charities International Council Chair, has initiated this joint initiative through his networking contacts.

Students signed on for Haiti Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) and HBB (Helping Babies Breathe) Program

The first nurses and doctors have signed on for the Rose Charities Haiti Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) and  HBB (Helping Babies Breathe)  training Program. Supplies for the hosptials in Port au Prince and Jeremie are being collected ready for transportation. The teaching team will depart in three weeks time

Rose Charities New Zealand Spring Fundraiser for Nepal EyeClinic

Rose Charities New Zealand Fundraiser great success !

Rose NZ buys 'Keller' portable slip lamp for Rose Charities Cambodia

Rose Charities New Zealand had purchased a new 'Keller' portable slit lamp for Rose Charities Sight Centre, Cambodia.  Mr Mike Webber (Wanganui, NZ)  who has provided huge support of the Sight Centre over the years, both with his optometry expertise as well as material input and networking was instrumental in making the donation. The slit lamp will upgrade the Sight Centres outreach services.

In December of this year (2012), Mike will  be travelling together with fellow optometrist and supporter of the Sight Centre, Mr John Veale (Christchurch NZ) to provice Rose Charities assistance  with an large rural optometry screening program organised by the 'Village Health Development Organization'

Get the teenagers talking !

LETS GET THE TEENAGERS TALKING:  Impact Through Peers   

'More than 85% of adolescents in Mbarara municipality (Uganda) get their health related information from peers'. (MUST pediatrician, D. Nansera (BMJ 2007 )
A community based organization, HEADA Uganda, has been voluntarily giving health talks  to  adolescents in four secondary schools in Mbarara Municipality.  The enthusiastic response from students and teachers to these talks, coupled with recent events in Mbarara resulting from bullying, lead to design of the Impact Through Peers project. 


 This project will work with 6 secondary schools and train 6 Peer Group Trainers to work with the students. The students will be supported as they work with their peers and discuss different topics every month.  Topics will include: Life Skills I & II, Reproductive health I,II & III, Sexuality, Career Planning I & II, Gender, Leadership skills, Environmental Issues and Stigma/Bullying

At the end of  the twelve sessions, an exhibition will be organized with presentations from students to spread information on peer groups and engage the  whole school population. 

The Hillman Medical Education Fund of Rose Charities has provided the funding  funding for  "IMPACT THROUGH PEERS "  Project in Uganda 

Sopheaps new leg !

Sopheap is a 44 year old grandmother living in a very basic house with just one room, and two outside walls. The other two walls are tarps. The wind and rain belted down for about 20 minutes while we were visiting, which was an experience in itself. Such limited shelter in those conditions. She has diabetes, a common condition in Cambodia, and as a result had her leg amputated last year. By the time Sopheap was referred to us, she was very weak and did not have enough strength to move around, or stand on one leg. She was not suitable to be fitted with a prosthesis until she had enough strength.

Sokny worked with Sopheap and she practiced her exercises regularly at home, developing her strength. This month, we took her to Veteran’s International (VI) who assessed her and cast her for a prosthesis. Last week she was fitted with it. We followed her up at home yesterday to assess her progress and work on gait re-training. She has only had one fitting, and will need some adaptions made at her next VI appointment, but she is already doing extremely well!! She is very happy, saying she is now able to move around the village and visit her friends. She is looking forward to learning how to walk without the crutches. Great work Sopheap!!                              Joanna Thomson. Rose Cambodia Rehab Centre.

Haiti team gears up for new teaching initiative

Prof Karen Schafer teaching

The third Rose Charities Haiti  course in neonatal care is now on track to depart November 7th 2011.  Nursing Professor Karen Schafer from Vancouver and Dr's Campbell (Toronto) and Piuze (Quebec) have invited nurses and doctors from s hospitals in Port au Prince to attend .

Scenes from the August 2011 Rose Charities New Zealand / Nellie Tier Auckland Fundraiser

Chairperson Trish Gribben introduces Rose Charities NZ Trustees (left to right) Mike Webber, Pip Neville-Barton, Jane Midgley and John Veale

Sparkling rose wine and a picture of patients waiting at Lumbini Eye Institute, Nepal, set the scene for the fundraiser held in Auckland on August 14.

Rose Charities NZ chairperson Trish Gribben with Patron Lady June Hillary and volunteer Rosemary Hassan at the fund-raising screening  of the documentary, "Out of the Darkness" , about a remote surgical eye camp in Nepal

Strategic planning workshop to upgrade Rose Charities Canada board.

Facilitated by Consultant Gordon Therriault, a two day strategic planning workshop was held the members of the Rose Charities main board in the offices of Vanderluit and Co (Accountants).  The costs and premises for the workshop were generously donated by Vanderluit (Eric Vanderluit - Hon Treasurer of Rose Charities) so no funds were used from Rose Charities projects funds.  The initiative had been formulated by Maggie Francis (Chair) and Eric.

The workshop covered such aspects as task distribution, organization promotion, setting goals, structuring implementation, fund-raising,  etc.   All directors were in agreement that it was a highly productive and should help Rose Charities Canada be more structured, effective and efficient in the future.

Vanderluit and Associates meeting room workshop venue.  Left to Right.  Tim Maguire, Gordon Thierrault, Eric Vanderluit. .     (Top picutre.  L to R, Josephien de Freitas, Tim Magire, Gordon Thierrault, Will Grut, Maggie Francis.

Rose Sri Lanka Microcredit joins hands with Kalmunai Commercial Bank to expand program

Rose Micro Credit members of various villages in Ampara district have the opportunity to apply for loans of more than SLRs. 200,000.00 from the Micro Financing of Commercial Bank in Kalmunai.
In order to;
• Promotes small time businesses
• Assists with daily financing
in the area Commercial Bank in Kalmunai joint hands with Rose Micro Credit to assist members of Rose Micro Credit. The Commercial Bank selects members with limited capital who require an infusion of funds daily or every other day. They define these members as Small time Businessmen and women. The Commercial Bank in Kalmunai assists such persons with micro-financing at very low rates of interest.
By a cautious process, qualified Rose Micro Credit members have been selected and recommended for their loans from the Bank. As of to date 54 members (10 males and 44 females) have been qualified and have received their loans.
A sum of SLRs. 10,025,000.00 has been dispersed to Rose Micro Credit Members by The Commercial Bank in Kalmunai.

Research on Health Promoting Schools: Uganda

Research on Health Promoting Schools

The most recent research article evaluating the Brighter Smiles program has been published by The International Journal of Family Medicine. Canadian medical trainees cited their involvement in delivering the school-based program and ability to effect significant and positive change in both the participating children and the community as reasons why they were more willing at graduation to consider practice in rural areas or a global health context.
Macnab A, Kasangaki A, Gagnon F. Health promoting schools provide Community-Based Learning Opportunities Conducive to Careers in Rural Practice. Int J Fam Med 2011 Article ID 892518

Major flu vaccination awareness program in Malaysia

Chair of Rose Charities Penang (Malaysia) will be meeting  the health ministry officials shortly to discuss a major health screening awareness campaign on FLU vaccinations on a  countrywide roadshow with ROSE  Malaysia and Sanofi Pasteur on the  latest drug in the market ...Intanza..first intradermal vaccine...  introduced by Sanofi .
Thousands of people will be vaccinated and benefited on this special  health screening community service project during the  roadshow to be  held in major cities and cities throughout the country .

Japan relief shifts to rehabilitation phase....

(2011-04-24)

AMDA has now shifted from direct medical to rehabilitation efforts. The medical systems of the are are now back and running and able to cope with the direct medical needs. Relief however will continue into the foreseeable future as needs are still huge. It is hard for many who have not seen the area to comprehend the magnitude of the destruction, social, physical, and infrastructural.

Iwate Prefecture (the town of Ohtsuchicho):



Contrary to the arrival of a warmer season, the northeastern Japan still needs to endure occasional blizzards. And while entire Japan has entered a new school year from April, Ohtsuchi High School in the severely devastated Ohtsuchicho was no exception. In the midst of housing approximately 270 evacuees in the school gym, the school held a general assembly to embark on a new semester. Furthermore, the number of evacuees in the region has relatively decreased as a whole.

As the focus of AMDA's relief activities shifted towards rehabilitative assistance from emergency medical relief, the team ended its regular medical consultation at the shelter and downsized its medical service solely to acupuncture therapy (mainly held by a locally-hired therapist.)

For the next one month, the heavily damaged Ohtsuchi Hospital will offer medical services temporarily at a local community center. Meanwhile, the work is underway to resume their regular operation at their actual hospital building with new facilities that will allow X-ray, dialysis, blood tests, surgical operations and admission of patients.

Among AMDA team members was a coordinator originally from Ohtsuchicho. Undoubtedly, things would not have gone so smooth without her presence.

Miyagi Pref. (the town of Minamisanriku-cho):

Besides a handover of AMDA's activities had taken place, the team organized a range of recreational activities for those persevering the prolonged evacuation life.

On Apr. 19th at Shizugawa Elementary School, the team opened "Cafe de AMDA", a temporary cafe to serve hot chocolate and coffee to the evacuees. The event ended with great success which garnered more 70 visitors in one hour. The air was filled with aromatic fume from authentically brewed paper-drip coffee and some even said it was the first cup of hot chocolate they had after the disaster hit. AMDA staff also baked cookies with children using a temporary oven; the children enjoyed shaping cookie dough and had a fun and tasty time together.

From now on, AMDA will back up Shizugawa Hospital during the rehabilitation phase.

Latest dispatch of AMDA personnel:

27th group: 1 coordinator (Apr. 18th)

28th group: 1 nurse, 2 coordinators (Apr. 20th)

Total number of AMDA's relief personnel (as of Apr. 18th): 146

50 doctors, 32 nurses, 4 midwives, 2 assistant nurses, 3 pharmacists, 2 psychotherapists, 50 coordinators (including interpreters), 2 careworkers, 1 acupuncture therapist

Vietnam Rose Charities: Update April 2011

April is the kindest month 

Rose Charities Vietnam's projects had fallen upon hard times. The dwindling support from the Canadian community in Ho Chi Minh City was keenly felt, and with the desperate needs of Haiti and Japan fund raising became increasingly challenging. However, our fortunes have changed.

Early this month we received a very welcome and wonderful surprise ... the CanCham (Canadian Chamber) in Saigon voted to donate $15,000 to our projects in Hue.  Because Rose Vietnam is run entirely by volunteers 100% of our donations go to our projects.  

These funds will support the construction of a small medical clinic on donated land in a village where medical attention is non existent ($6,000); a vocational training school ($2,500); scholarships for poor students who would not be able to attend school without financial help ($2,500); and on-going support for the Rose Vietnam school for blind adults ($2,000). The remaining $2000 will build a house for one of our blind students. 

Rose VN has committed to building ten homes for our poorest students, to date we have built 4.  These houses typically accommodate 25+ family members!  Rose VN is very grateful for the support we have received from PEB Steel for this project.

And there is more ... Jack Davis, a high school student in Bellingham, WA has pledged to raise $2000 for house #6, and the Canadian Women of Ho Chi Minh City have donated $2000 for our 7th house.  These wonderful women have also  contributed time and materials to our skills development programme at Be Tho orphanage.  Oliver Bonas, a very generous supporter of Be Tho through Rose VN, purchased three professional standard sewing machines for the older girls who had expressed a desire to learn how to sew as a means of supporting themselves when they leave the orphanage.  The Canadian ladies quickly stepped in to offer weekly instruction, guidance and fabric.   The results are impressive and will help to ensure the long term sustainability of this programme at Be Tho.

All this generosity has encouraged us to believe that our projects are on safe, if not solid, ground and that we will indeed complete the housing project this year (only three left to build).     

For more information about Rose Vietnam – or to donate to the building of a house, or to any of our projects, please see http://www.rosecharities.info/roseviet

--

Jan Johnston
Rose Charities

jan@rosecharities.ca

--
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.  (M Mead)

www.rosecharities.info

Around and about in Sri Lanka

We enjoyed our New Year holiday in beautiful Kandy with its mild temperatures and stunning scenery. While back in Kalmunai we caught up on Knowledge One classes. These classes are going smoothly as staff are learning about various mediums of communication including email, phone and face to face conversation. The RCSL staff are now working on writing mock emails to Sonia, using the etiquette and content they have learnt in K1. We have seen that working together with their peers is the most effective way of improving their English skills. After a couple days back in Kalmunai, Anthony and Rajeeshan took us to Trincomalai, north of Kalmunai. At the Trincomalai beach, it’s hard to see the difference between the blue of the sky and the blue of the sea. The full moon in the evening lit up the rolling surf as we listened the crashing waves on a quiet beach. On our drive home, we were lucky to see wild elephants and stopped to observe for a while. Though we’ve only seen a snippet of the country, we are struck by Sri Lanka’s diverse natural beauty.



As we travel and see more of Sri Lanka, we can’t help but notice the large proportion of children. During the school holidays, the majority of people we see and meet are under the age of 30. Boys and girls are playing cricket in the street or accompanying their mothers to the market, while young people spending time together under umbrellas in the park. Taking the bus from Kandy back to Kalmunai, Sonia constantly held babies in her lap as families filed in.

Statistics show that more than 40% of Sri Lanka’s population is under 30. With a civil war behind them, there is so much potential and energy in Sri Lanka’s young people, creating exciting prospects for future generations. However this is conditional on whether they are given the right tools. In other words, the need for education at every level is necessary in order to guarantee strong economic growth for Sri Lanka in future years. Providing young people with income generating skills so they can create their own jobs is just as important. Rose has served this growing need with academic and vocational training programs since 2006 and continues to do so in the Ampara District. Helping more than 3000 women and children, Rose is part of a large movement to kick-start Sri Lanka’s economy.

'The Fraser' Magazine to promote Rose - AMDA fundraising efforts for Japan

The Fraser Magazine, a journal widely read by the Japanese community in Vancouver is generously supporting the fund-raising efforts of Rose  Charities / AMDA Canada by publishing the cause in a special edition focused on the disaster

Rose Sri Lanka: Sports for COmmunity Peace and Empowerment (SCOPE) - continues success

March, for the Rose Preschools it was a month for celebrations!

March 25th, 2011 | Author: richkalmunai

The Annual Sports Meet of all 14 of the Rose Preschools was held this month.

The students of Lower Kindergarten, Upper Kindergarten, teachers and parents have celebrated these events as a joyful function of the school year. For some, it has been for the second time but for some it was the first time in their life involving in this kind of activity .

The Organizing Committee of the Sports Meet had invited Officials, principals and community leaders from the area as distinguished guests with the participation of the public. Staffs of RCSL also participated in the event enthusiastically.

Each preschool was housed by a name (of someone from Rose Charities Canada to appreciate what they are doing for the effective functioning of Rose Charities Srilanka!!!!) .

First of all let’s start with the Sports Meet of the Rose Flagship Preschool, Domino’s Early Childhood Education Centre and English Language Institute .

This was held on Saturday, 12^th of March 2011 in the front yard of the school, Kalmunai.

Children eagerly participated in track and field events and fancy dress parades and won trophies and certificates. Parents involved actively and supported fully to make this event a successful one .

Let the pictures do the talking………….