Rotary Club of Montego Bay, Jamaica

BEACH CLEAN-UP 2011 - Rotary Club of Mobay, New Generations

2011-09-20T02:25:00.000-05:00

The Rotary Club of Montego Bay hosted a Beach Clean-up on the edges of the Freeport Lagoon on International Coastal Clean-up day – Saturday 17 September 2011.

107 volunteers were in attendance at the early morning 3 hour event that started at Montego Bay’s Freeport Round-a-bout and ended at the gate of the cruise ship pier - sponsored by Cornwall Beach, CPJ, Margaritaville and Rainforest Seafood.

Organiser of the event, Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke was delighted by the turn out and disgusted by the findings:

“There were children and their families from 15 different schools in and around Montego Bay – all New Generations (which is the young arm of Rotary in prep schools –EarlyAct; high schools – Interact; colleges and community based – Rotaract) were represented and they served their community amazingly.”

“We worked in partnership with the Jamaica Environment Trust and had to log details of all the garbage collected so they can send data to the Ocean Conservancy who analyses findings from international coastal clean-ups annually.

The surprising find this year was car parts – 143 of them and 89 bottles of oil. A group of children actually built a car out of the tyres, radiator, batteries, shocks, brake pads, axel, cv joints and oil filters found!

Some things were expected, but not in such high quantities:- 1,176 food containers, 1,123 pieces of plastic cutlery ; 1,794 plastic drink bottles, 682 plastic bags, 381 glass bottles; 221 metal drink cans; 184 paper bags ; 107 straws”

“It was as though we only scratched the surface – there were layers and layers of rotting garbage. We were able to pull out the non-biodegradable items, but there was years’ worth of dumped garbage in the bushes that fringe the Freeport Lagoon, of particular concern were the oil bottles – some full of dirty oil which are leaking into the lagoon”

“Our volunteers had a real learning experience and the youngest ones went away with a heightened consciousness about appropriate garbage disposal. As a gesture to be a part of the solution not the problem, signatures were collected for a pledge to “Stop using plastic bags and bottles – choosing re-usable bags and bottles instead” 111 petitioners signed up for the cause.

The event was complete by 11am and volunteers headed for another beach - not to clean it up this time, but to relax and enjoy an afternoon courtesy of Cornwall Beach who offered half price entry to any volunteer who had participated in the Rotary Club of Montego Bay's Clean-up.

Wheel chair project

2011-03-29T16:49:00.000-05:00

ROTARY DISTRIBUTES WHEELCHAIRS FOR A SECOND TIME IN MONTEGO BAY
The Rotary Club of Montego Bay has once again partnered with Reach Out and Care Wheels (ROC Wheels USA), in association with Hope Haven Ministries (USA), and Food For the Poor, to provide much needed wheelchairs to the community in St. James

Those spearheading this project in Montego Bay included Rotary Club of Montego Bay’s Project Director and Past President Bhagwan Chuganey along with International Director and Past President Michelle Daswani.

A team of 24 specially trained personnel from ROC Wheels and Hope Haven Ministries arrived on the island to assist in fitting these custom built chairs for the needy, many of whom are disabled children.

Distribution commenced on 16th March at the Cornwall Regional Hospital , where pre-measured patients arrived to receive and be fitted with their specially designed chairs. Some of these patients have not been mobile until now and their gratitude for this life changing piece of equipment was heartwarming.

Distribution continued to West Haven and Blessed Assurance Children’s home, which houses some of the neediest orphans with severe disabilities, as well as other physically challenged persons who submitted applications to receive these gifted chairs.
This year The Rotary Club of Montego Bay celebrates its 50th Anniversary of Service above Self, and are proud to have initiated this multi-million dollar project in a series of other planned activities to commemorate this milestone.

Past President and co-ordinator of the second wheel chair project with ROC wheels -

Bhagwan Chuganey, gives a heartfelt thanks to the team of visitors.

Immediate Past President Michelle Daswani hosts a thanksgiving dinner for the ROC Wheels team. Also pictured are President Mexine Bisasor and Past President Bhagwan Chuganey.

Co-ordinator from ROC Wheels Holly Floyd (far left) and Founder Lee Ann Hanson second left) express their thanks for the work of Bhagwan and The Rotary Club of Montego Bay in making this 2^nd trip to Jamaica with over 100 custom made wheel chairs such a success.

Members of The Rotary Club of Montego Bay, and 24 volunteers from ROC wheels and students from a Montana, USA high school celebrate the successful distribution of OVER 100 custom made wheel chairs in and around Montego Bay throughout the week of 14 March 2011

INTERACT CLUB OF MONTEGO BAY HIGH SCHOOL - re-kindling

2011-03-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

With much excitement and enthusiasm, a team of Rotarians, Rotaractors and Interactors visited the prestigious Montego Bay High School to revive a dormant Interact Club.

Lead by the energetic Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke who co-chairs New Generations for The Rotary Club of Montego Bay, the group sat in on the clubs meeting with the 30+ ladies in attendance giving advice, encouragement and support to the keen youngsters.

After making a presentation, leaving handouts and sharing knowledge, the Mobay High students clambered to volunteer for Executive Committee positions which the Grade 11 students will be deciding on over the next few days. The Grade 11's will hold the positions until exam-time whilst grooming the lower grades into taking the positions upon graduation.

Visitors included Prospective Rotarian, Montego Bay Club - Sunrise: Marcia Nembhard ; President Ivan Godfrey and Chairperson Raymond from the Interact Club of Cornwall College and Zaheer Clarke, Vice-President Elect of The Rotaract Club of Montego Bay along with his lovely wife Kim.

Under the theme "Igniting a fire" - the Interact Club of Mobay High proudly posed for a photo of the group whose smoke is rising and flames are growing . . .

EARLYACTORS SHINE AT 2011 INTERCLUB ASSEMBLY

2011-01-17T20:42:00.000-05:00

2011 Interclub Assembly Highlights

On Saturday 15 January, 2011, President Elect-Vernella, Incoming Secretary -Natasha and her EarlyAct children Lucas & Savannah took a road trip to May Pen for the 2-day 2011 Interclub Assembly.

They stopped to ask directions no less than 5-times !

The May Pen Rotary Club arranged an evening boat cruise and all attendees at the assembly were true to the words: ‘eat-drink-and-be-merry” until late into the night.

President Mexine presents a 6-mth summary for the Rotary Club of Montego Bay.

Left to right – ADG Govind Chulani ; PRID Barry Rasin ; EarlyAct Member Lucas Clarke ;

EarlyAct Secretary Savannah Clarke; DG Diana White ; PDG Errol Alberga.

Throughout the 2-day gathering, the New Generations clubs were acknowledged and mentioned plenty and positively - Lucas and Savannah were fine ambassadors of their EarlyAct Club; school Montego Bay Christian Academy; sponsoring Rotary Club - Montego Bay and of course their Rotarian Mum - Natasha!

SCHOLARS SPEAK at ROTARY LUNCHEON

2010-09-08T23:39:00.000-05:00

Every Rotarian in the room was proud to be one, after thanksgiving speeches were made by 2 Rotary scholarship awardees at the Rotary Club of Montego Bay's weekly luncheon meeting on Tuesday 7 September.

Co-ordinated by Past President and Rotary International specially assigned host counsellor to scholarship awardees Bhagwan Chuganey, the scholarship duo visited the luncheon meeting under his fatherly wing.

Young Jenoy Barnett, a tenth grader at Cornwall College who has received the Maxwell Southby Memorial Scholarship for the 3rd year in a row gave a heart-rending speech about family and school life and what the scholarship meant to him.

Then bubbly Shaniek Parks, recipient of the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship worth over J$ 2 million took the stand and eloquently spoke about her journey ahead to Leeds University in England where she will be reading for a Masters in International Communications. She leaves this Saturday with every Rotarian behind her promising to read the blog on her adventures at http://adventuresofajamaicanrotaryscholar.blogspot.com/

L-R Scholarship Chair Rtn. Maria Hosue, Jenoy Barnett, PP Bhagwan Chuganey,
Shaniek Parks, President Mexine Bisasor

5th Tuesday - GAMES NIGHT SOCIAL

2010-09-02T07:59:00.002-05:00

On the 5th Tuesday of any month the Rotary Club of Montego Bay replaces their weekly luncheon meeting with a 'social' and on Tuesday 31 August, Past President Ann Chen Ueker's legendary games nights was the hit of the summer.

With nearly 40 Rotarians and friends in attendance, an enlarged version of Pictionary (a drawing game, where teams have to guess what word their designated 'artisit' is drawing in under a minute) was organised and Rotarians and friends teamed up to battle their way around the game board using flip charts to draw such words as: Indianapolis 500 ; steam roller, plant, Dad. . .

After a competitive battle between the green, yellow, blue and red teams, the red team edged their way ahead and with some lightning fast guesses from husband and wife duo Natasha (Rotary Club of Montego Bay) and Bertram (Rotary Club of Rosehall), their friends Moralda Green and Melaine Myrie they shouted the loudest, guessed first and WON !

A super evening of cocktails, light fare and competition enjoyed by all .

Past President Ann Chen Ueker explains the rules
whilst husband Steven shows the game board

Team YELLOW start the ball rolling

Team BLUE in competitive form

An "all play" where artists from each team compete,
all drawing the same word for their team to guess

Hear no evil - Speak no evil - See no evil

Team GREEN in guessing mode captained by President Mexine

The winning RED team.
L - R Moralda Green. Rotarian Bertram Clarke,
Melaine Myrie, Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke

NEW GENERATIONS CHAIR MOTIVATES ROTARACT CLUB OF MOBAY COM COLLEGE

2010-08-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

New Gen Chair Andrea Hamilton gives words of encouragement

New Generations Chair Andrea Hamilton gave a motivational speech to the newly installed executive committee of The Rotaract Club of Montego Bay Community College at a short and sweet installation ceremony held by The Rotaract Club of Montego Bay at Pier One on Wed 25 Aug 2010.

Newly elected President Brett Lee promised a change in the way people look at the club ; an increase in active members and more island wide inter-clubbing as well as a mentorship programme with their sponsoring club the Rotary Club of Montego Bay East.

A truly encouraging gathering of 40+ young professionals , together on a damp evening in ‘service above self’ !

Left - right: Rotaract Club of MBCC Pres. Brett , Rotaract Club of Mobay Pres. Leon , Rotary Club of Mobay New Gen Chair Andrea , Rotary Club of Mobay East member Kurt . Rotaract Club of MBCC Staff Advisor Oneil

All members of the executive committee of the Rotaract Club of Mobay Com Coll

plus Rtn Andrea and Rotaract Club of Mobay Pres. Leon (far left)

CORNWALL COLLEGE INTERACTORS CELEBRATE C.A.P.E GRADES

2010-08-19T01:09:00.000-05:00

CORNWALL COLLEGE INTERACTORS

CELEBRATE C.A.P.E GRADES

AT ROTARY CLUB OF MONTEGO BAY LUNCHEON

- 17 Aug 2010 -

Rotary Club of Montego Bay’s President Mexine Bisasor [3rd right]and a beaming co-chair of New Generations, Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke [3rd left] congratulate Cornwall College students who received their grades on Tuesday 17 August and were feted at a luncheon at The Pelican moments after their slips were collected.

The service oriented students amassed a total of 10 credits & passes for level one and 10 distinctions for final results in their C.A.P.E subjects. Past President of the Interact Club Norman Malcom with 4 distinctions [2nd left]and Director of Fundraising Malke Kellier with 6 distinctions [far right] are both heading to the UWI Mona campus and will be moving into the Rotaract Club there for young professionals aged 18 – 35 yrs; they leave the Interact Club of Cornwall College in the capable hands of President Ivan Godfrey [2nd right], Vice President Deon Mitchel [far left] and Fundraising Director Romaine Miller [centre].

Left to right: Deon Mitchell, Norman Malcolm, Rtn. Natasha Parchment-Clarke,

Romaine Miller, Pres. Mexine Bisasor, Ivan Godfrey, Malike Kellier.

GUEST SPEAKER - MBJ Airport CEO Fernando Bosque

2010-08-16T14:21:00.000-05:00

GUEST SPEAKER AT ROTARY CLUB OF MONTEGO BAY’S

WEEKLY LUNCHEON

MBJ Airport CEO Fernando Bosque

- 3 August 2010 -

Under the motto “Bigger, Better, Bolder”, Mexine Bisasor, the new President of The Rotary Club of Montego Bay has indeed lived up to those 3 words.

At the second meeting of the 2010 – 2011 administration, the guest speaker arranged for the club’s weekly luncheon housed temporarily at the Pelican, was Fernando Bosque, CEO of MBJ. His presentation highlighted details from the Master Plan for the airport and Mr. Bosque spoke candidly about the challenges being faced and solutions being put in place for the multi-million dollar operation in the heart of Montego Bay.The audience of Rotarians, Rotaractors and guests were positively impacted by the facts, figures and assured confidence Mr. Bosque has in the airport’s present and future prospects. There was a hearty and informative debate during the question and answer segment.

ROTARIANS GET PINNED

2010-08-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

ROTARIANS GET PINNED BY PRESIDENT MEXINE

AS DIRECTORS OF THE 2010 – 2011 ADMINISTRATION

Rotarians unable to make the lavish installation brunch at Secrets at the end of June were ceremoniously pinned at The Rotary Club of Montego Bay’s weekly luncheon 2 weeks ago.
In the serene Waterfall room of the popular Pelican restaurant, President Mexine Bisasor presented committee directorship positions to:
Andrea Hamilton – New Generations (not pictured)

Kay Rueben – Director of Membership

Maria Ho-Sue – Director of Fellowship

Vernella Fuller – Secretary

PHOTOS OF INSTALLATION

2010-07-21T21:05:00.001-05:00

Rotary Club of Montego Bay 2010 - 2011 Installation

2010-07-18T21:07:00.002-05:00

‘Twas a delightful brunch held at the beautiful Secrets hotel in Montego Bay where the Rotary Club of Montego Bay held its installation ceremony for their new president and committee members. With over one hundred Rotarians, friends and dignitaries in attendance, outgoing president Michelle Daswani dutifully handed the gavel and presidential medallion to Mexine Bisasor who in turn adorned her new administration with Rotary pins.

The ceremonious affair was punctuated with exciting numbers from Montego Bay’s newest dance troupe “Hah-r-mony” who enthralled the audience with ballroom, contemporary and African style numbers. Then the guest speaker Jesus Silva (ambassador of Spain) intrigued attendees with economics, tales of life in Jamaica and of course world cup football.

By early afternoon, awards had been bestowed a-plenty including a Paul Harris award to Veena Chandiram, wife of Past President Denny for her support and on-going work with Rotary ; The Service above Self award to Bhagwan Chugani for his dedication to international projects and Rotarian of the Year to T. Roxanne Smith for her tireless duties as secretary for the club.

A super event that heralded the beginning of a ‘bigger, better bolder year of service above self’ – the mantra of the incoming president Mexine Bisasor.

Shaniek Parks : Jamaican Ambassadorial Scholar in Leeds, UK

2010-07-01T11:26:00.002-05:00

To further international understanding and goodwill is one reason Shaniek Parks will travel to Leeds in September. She will be doing an MA in International Communications at the University of Leeds, this will allow her to become more informed about the impact of communication on global affairs, people and their reactions towards societal issues. She is intrigued by the area of Communications as a developmental tool and its impact on the ways people analyze and relate to situations.

Shaniek graduated from the University of the West Indies, Mona in 2008. While at UWI, she majored in Media and Communication and minored in International Relations. She was a member of the UWI Honour Roll and the received the JN/CARIMAC Media Award for excellence in Radio Production. She had the opportunity of interning with two influential development organizations namely; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Office for the Caribbean and the Roving Caregivers Programme in St. Vincent in 2007 and 2008 respectively. These organizations introduced her to a plethora of opportunities for societal development and strengthened her passion of making the world a better place through service.

Volunteerism has always been an important part of Shaniek’s life. This appreciation for volunteerism dates back to her time at the Mount Alvernia High School where students had to complete a quota for community service. She was later given the opportunity to be instrumental in the planning and execution of the Protect. Stop. Seek. Talk (P.S.S.T) Campaign Against Physical Abuse in the inner- city community of Torrington Park, Kingston while attending the UWI. The campaign ran from February-April 2008 and featured various workshops and follow- up sessions culminating in a Blue Ribbon Drive at Crossroads, Kingston.

At present, Shaniek is member of the Rotaract Club of Montego Bay and a member of the United Nations Online Volunteers (UNV). In her capacity as an online volunteer she has assisted with the formulation of proposals for organizations in various parts of the world. However, her focus has been on assisting organizations in Cameroon, Africa namely the Rural Development Corporation (RUDEC) and the Goodness and Mercy Mission.

Shaniek is excited to be representing District 7020 and the Rotary Club of Montego Bay in Leeds. She is honoured to be joining Rotary’s International Family as an Ambassadorial Scholar and will do well in representing Rotary and its values while in the United Kingdom.

The Rotary Club of Montego Bay wishes her all the best while in the United Kingdom.

Shaniek plans to blog about this new and exciting chapter of her life in Leeds. Go visit her blog at http://adventuresofajamaicanrotaryscholar.blogspot.com/ and leave her a note of encouragement or two!

GSE Team : From Virginia to Jamaica

2010-06-30T12:03:00.001-05:00

VIRGINIA IS FOR Lovers of Jamaica! How else can you possibly sum up a five week experience that equates to a crash course in a country’s cultural essence, and enables total strangers to bond like family within a three day period of living under the same roof?

The Rotary International Group Study Exchange (GSE) Program provides a comprehensive view of a country, its culture and its people, and is by far the best kept secret of Rotary. Jamaica is possibly the friendliest country on earth, and in the words of its tourist board, “Once you go, you [truly] know Jamaica, so it is impossible not to fall in love with the country and its people! Just ask Rotarian Mary Turpin (President-elect, Rotary Club of Rosslyn-Ft. Myers), Brian Ours (sponsored by the Rotary Club of Stafford), Brian Shea (sponsored by the Rotary Club of McLean), Demond Pollard (sponsored by the Rotary Club of Herndon), and Loán (Lo-An) Sewer (sponsored by the Rotary Club of Falls Church).

FORGING FRIENDSHIPS

From December 2009 to April 2010, GSE Team Virginia—which also originally included Anuj Phull (sponsored by the Rotary Club of McLean)— forged friendships that have evolved into lifetime relationships and prepared us for the adventure of a lifetime.

Click HERE to read the rest of the article written by Loán Sewer, GSE team member, sponsored by Rotary Club of Falls Church

EarlyAct Club featured in The Rotarian magazine!

2010-06-21T12:56:00.003-05:00

The EarlyAct Clubs of Montego Bay, working with the Rotaractors of Montego Bay in October of last year raised over JA$200,000 with their Coin Collection Drive. The funds were raised for the Norwood Basic School in Norwood, Montego Bay. The Rotarian Magazine featured this success in its April 2010 issue of World Round Up.

Congratulations again to the EarlyActors and Rotaractors on this fantastic fundraiser!

HAITI UPDATE: June 7, 2010

2010-06-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Extraordinary Day
Extraordinary Trip
Extra ordinary Meeting
Extraordinary Achievements

I wanted to provide a very brief synopsis of our Extraordinary Day today spent in Port au Prince Haiti with our Haiti Task Force. I needed to do so because you have not heard from me in some time and in addition this was one of the most successful Rotary Days I believe I have ever experienced and want to share it.

The primary purpose of the trip was to have the Donor Advised Fund Account Holders go to Haiti to meet the Task Force, The Account Holders are made up of the following Rotarians, Rotary Vice President and current Board member Eric Adamson, PRID Bob Stuart, PRID Barry Rassin and RIDE John Smarge. They wanted to listen to and understand the needs as defined and expressed by the Rotary Clubs of Haiti and the Haiti leadership Team, They also wanted to understand from the senior people in the Haitian Government responsible for Education in Haiti what their plans were and what recommendations they had. The Account Holders also wanted to reach a consensus on our direction forward based on these discussions. In addition it was an opportunity for them to establish the criteria and procedural requirements that will need to be met to receive funding. There was a VERY productive meeting on that and PRID Barry Rassin will elaborate in much more detail on that. A Special Thank you again to Barry for his commitment to our great District.

In addition to that we were dealing with 3 other major issues, Firstly the current status of the Rotary NGO in Haiti, ROTAH, Secondly The Jaipur Limb Project, and Thirdly the status and release information on the containers we shipped.

On the First item I must say I am absolutely ecstatic about the news on ROTAH. I was presented with a copy of the signed document signed by the Prime Minister etc. as proof that the process has been completed and within days the official published certificate will be in hand, and published in Haiti.

This was an enormous undertaking that has taken us three years and through some of the most difficult challenges and obstacles you can imagine, but we believed in it and it is a reality today. I want to recognize and thank, DGN Guy Theodore, Dr. Claude Surena, and PDG Amos Durosier for everything they have done. This approval was in the true sense of the word “raised from the rubble” after the earthquake and it would not have been possible without the persistence of these fine Rotarians. THANK YOU!!!!

The second item was the Jaipur Limb project. We have agreed that we would undertake this as one of our primary earthquake relief responses and are now moving forward with the consensus of all the Haitian clubs and leaders to proceed. We believe a modified version which includes a mobile clinic will be the best one and we will immediately begin to define the scope of the project with the new conditions applied. It is likely that the DAF would provide some seed funding for this as well if it is required although we do not believe that to be the case.

The third item was the status of the relief containers and the release of them. Again we have very good news here. PDG Amos Durosier for those that do not know heads up the Anti-Corruption unit of the Haitian government. His involvement with the top levels of the Haitian government is daily so he knows them all personally and well. The release documents have been signed off by the Ministry of Interior and Planning Department (I think I have that right), and will be delivered to the Minister of Finance today as we fly back to Nassau or tomorrow. Amos has already presented this to the Minister of Finance and he assured Amos that he will sign off on it as soon as it touches his desk. He also said he would be sure to ask for it so it reached his desk immediately.

For those of you who know Haiti we have done the equivalent of moving a mountain here. We went the legitimate process all above board and got it done. A very special congratulations to all the fellow Haitian Rotarians that made this possible, and there were many. Going forward our NGO status with ROTAH takes all of the challenges we have had with this shipment off the table as it goes Directly to Customs with our Status Certificate.

When we left we felt the Task Force was untied and organized and fully up to the challenges ahead. We are in flight on the way back to Nassau, (31/2 hours each way) and I think I can say that I speak for everyone on the plane. It was a GREAT DAY !!!!

Many , more details to follow but as always our Supreme Rotarian PRID Barry Rassin will be putting out a comprehensive summary covering everything.

Thanks to Vance Johnson our pilot and Odyssey for their great support.

PDG Dick

More than 700 Rotarians to meet in Kingston for annual conference

2010-05-04T23:09:00.005-05:00

MORE than 700 Rotarians of the Rotary District 7020 are to gather at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston today for the start of one of the Rotary Club International's most prestigious annual conferences.

The four-day conference will see over 400 local Rotarians playing host to 300 of their colleagues from The Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, The Turks and Caicos Islands, St Martin and St Maarten, St Barthelemy, Anguilla, The British and US Virgin Islands as well as from the United States of America -- Georgia, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Florida.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding will address the official opening ceremony of the conference on Thursday, following two days of Rotary's Presidents-Elect Training Seminars.

At a press conference on April 19, District Governor of Rotary District 7020 Errol Alberga said that while the theme of the conference is "The Future of Rotary is in your Hands", the group had also been promoting the conference with the 'One Love' tag line, channelling the popular song of Reggae icon Robert Nesta Marley.

"With so many countries in Rotary District 7020, it is a special vote of confidence for Jamaica to be hosting this year's conference which will discuss and define the road map for Rotary going forward," said Alberga, a noted Jamaican architect.

He said that the conference planning committee, which is chaired by Rotarian Dr Paul Brown, "has been engaged for over a year defining a programme of activities that ensures the work of Rotary gets done efficiently and effectively, while Kingston gets an opportunity to shine as both a business and leisure destination".

Alberga noted that in addition to Prime Minister Golding and Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, who will attend the awards banquet on May 8, 2010, a number of other distinguished Jamaicans will address the conference. They include Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, Dr Maureen Samms Vaughn, Earl Jarrett and Ibo Cooper.

He also acknowledged the support of main sponsors LIME, the Jamaica Pegasus, the Bank of Nova Scotia, Caribbean Cement Company, Jamaica Broilers, Grace Kennedy & Company Limited and Geddes Refrigeration Limited.

Noting that the Rotary Clubs of Jamaica last year celebrated "50 years of international service which has benefitted communities across the island", Alberga said that Rotarians are motivated by these achievements and the satisfaction of seeing the benefits of their labour accrue to their fellowmen.

He said that while 2010, like 2009, is proving to be challenging across the globe "Rotarians are not afraid of challenges as we continue to keep sight of our Rotary motto 'Service Above Self'."

"With all of our partners we will ensure that Rotary District 7020 Conference is a success for all Rotarians, for capital city Kingston and for Jamaica land we love," he said.

Source: The Jamaica Observer

Rotary Mobay partners with Carrollton-Farmers Branch Rotary Club

2010-04-30T19:04:00.002-05:00

Regina Edwards presenting a cheque to The Rotary Club of Montego Bay as part of the Joint Project

As a Joint Project with Rotary Club of Montego Bay, coordinated by International Projects Director PP Bhagwan Chuganey, Past President Regina Edwards of The Carrollton-Farmers Branch Rotary Club arrived in Jamaica with her family on the 28th of April 2010. She brought with her a large shipment of:

 Medical Equipment & Supplies for Cornwall Regional Hospital;
 Cash & kind ,which included disposable supplies, children's video cassettes, and many other goodies for donation to the West Haven and Blessed Assurance Places of Safety for children;
 Books for contribution to the Literacy Drive

The Rotary Club of Carrollton-Farmers Branch has partnred with our Club almost every year providing over US$200,000 worth of equipment and medical supplies.

President Michelle pinning Regina Edwards

Past President Regina Edwards of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Rotary Club took time out from her vacation in Jamaica with her family on the 28th of April to deliver the equipment and supplies and to present a cheque to our Club to complete the project.

Unloading Cargo at the Port

A very special Thanks to The Carnival Conquest who transported the goods from Texas to Montego Bay.

All photos courtesy of Michelle Daswani (c)

Rotary Club of Rose Hall Montego Bay Charter Night

2010-04-25T18:25:00.001-05:00

President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay, Michelle Daswani and Rotary Club of Rose Hall Montego Bay member Melissa Chang at the Installation and Charter Banquet

On Friday the 23rd of April 2010, the newest Rotary Club in Jamaica held it's Charter and Installation Banquet at the Rose Hall Great House in Montego Bay. The Rotary Club of Rose Hall Montego Bay was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Montego Bay.

Newly installed President of the Rotary Club of Rose Hall, Michael Baugh (far left) poses with other Rotary Club Presidents (L-R) Donovan G Brown, President of the Rotary Club of St. Andrew North, Manoj Ramchandani, President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay Sunrise, Michelle Daswani, President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay and Audley Knight, President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay East

For more highlights from the event click here.

All Photos courtesy of Michelle Daswani (c)

GSE Australia Team hosted by the Rotary Club of Montego Bay

2010-04-23T11:09:00.001-05:00

L-R: PP & GSE Team Leader Trevor Lynch, Katrina Mason, President Michelle Daswani, Philipp Bourquin, Dayle McGeachie, Scott Johnson and GSE Director Immediate Past President Kay Reuben at Lunch Meeting of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay

At our Lunch meeting on the 27th of April 2010, President Michelle Daswani welcomed the Group Study Exchange Team visiting from Australia. The Team Leader, Past President of the Rotary Club of East Maitland, Australia, Trevor Lynch was presented with a Paul Harris Medallion by our Past President George Palmer.

The Team Leader, PP Trevor Lynch, and each of the other four members of the team gave interesting and informative presentations about themselves, their work, their families, special interests and aspects of Australian geography, life, culture and heritage.

PP Trevor Lynch thanked PP George and the Club for bestowing the Paul Harris Medallion on him. He also thanked the various Hosts of the Team and those who have helped to transport and look after them. He stated that highlights of their stay in Montego Bay have been the Rose Hall Rotary Club's Installation & Charter Banquet, visits to schools and to the Jamaica Public Service.

Trevor is a retired Mathematics teacher and has been a Rotarian for 15 years. He lists sport as an important part of his life. He highlighted the different types of snakes of Australia, informing the meeting about their reputation, danger and antidote to their bite.

Other Team members are :-

Dayle McGeachie - sponsored by the Rotary Club of Charlestown, is an Area Coordinator for the Ronald McDonald Learning Programme. The program supports the educational needs of children recovering from serious illness, by providing individual learning programs.
She also facilitates Professional Development courses to make Educators aware of the effects of serious illness on a child’s education. Dayle also holds National and World titles in Surf Lifesaving.

Philipp Bourquin – sponsored by the Rotary Club of Nelson Bay, works in the Energy Utilities Industry overseeing the operation and maintenance of natural gas infrastructure, having under his management a team of 36 people. He enjoys outdoor activities and is an active member of the local Surf Life Saving Club.

Katrina Mason – sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newcastle Sunrise, works as a Residential Case Manger in the Youth Service. Katrina is responsible for 15 children and young people, the training of caseworkers and a team of youth workers. Katrina enjoys travelling and has spent long periods in South East Asia and New Zealand. She especially enjoys activities which revolve around the ocean.

Scott Johnson – Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Morisset, is a Residential Programme
Coordinator at a Sports and Recreation Centre. Scott’s role is to organise a wide variety of clients and provide mainly recreational activities for them. These include archery, sailing, canoeing and rock climbing, to name a few. The majority of the clients are school children but he also provides programmes for family groups. Scott enjoys sport especially cricket and golf.

The Group was hosted by The Rotary Club of Montego Bay East on the evening of Monday the 19th of April at a member's home and visited the Rotary Club of Montego Bay Sunrise, The Rotary Club of Falmouth and Lucea before heading to Kingston for the District Conference.

Gourmet Bake Sale - Saturday May 1

2010-04-19T12:38:00.000-05:00

THE RACE TO LITERACY IS ON IN MONTEGO BAY

2010-04-06T09:52:00.000-05:00

Interactors at Cornwall College gather round and discuss their plans for spring cleaning and bringing all their old textbooks to contribute to the Race Toi Literacy Book Drive Project. Pictured left to right Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke; Island Books @ Whitter Shopping Village owner Rayer Headly; Interact President Norman Malcolm (back row); Head Boy Malike Kellier ; Ivan Godfrey; Odaine Thomas; teacher Nadine Ellis Hall

On Monday 29 March, Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke and Rayer Headly, owner of Island Books at Whitter Shopping Village, visited schools in and around the second city starting the challenge that could end in a Guinness Book of World Record being set.

Island Books at Whitter Shopping Village in association with The Rotary Club of Montego Bay, partnering with the Montego Bay EarlyAct Clubs have joined the international race to beat the Guinness Book of World Record set in 2008 at Rotary International’s convention in California where 242,624 books were donated to charity in a 7-day period.

For the month of April, books will be brought to schools by students, teachers and their families and Island Books will collect, count and store until May 1 – 7 , the official 7-day period during which donated books will be handed over to Rotary Clubs all over Jamaica to set the record.
To spice things up island style, Island Books has offered to donate a lap top to the school who collects the most books. The books can be of any kind - new, used, fiction, children’s novels, adults, cook-books, textbooks, etc.

The books collected will be donated to The Jamaica Library Service and the lap-top computer presented to the winning school on Teacher’s Day 5 May.

Naz Children’s Centre had a motivated principal, Alixann Narcisse-Campbell who quipped: “you might as well leave the lap top here – we have awesome parents at this school and with their children’s encouragement I know we’ll win this challenge” ; Cornwall College Interactors embraced the challenge and pledged to spring clean their homes and bring in their old textbooks and more ; Heinz Simonitch received their flyers with enthusiasm and immediately students began chattering about how many books they would bring ; Mount Alvernia Prep’s Principal accepted the challenge and instead of a lap top requested a smart board which she enthusiastically detailed the wonders of; Greenwood Prep’s Principal and EarlyAct co-ordinator eagerly took their box and happily reminisced about the successful coin-drive carried out in September 2009 where over J$ 200, 000 was collected by Montego Bay EarlyAct clubs ; Montego Bay Prep‘s EarlyAct teacher co-ordinator Mrs. Hudson was found at the desktop computer in the main office of the school and was determined that her vibrant club would win the lap top – it would save her coming to the office all the time she joked ; Edwards Prep high energy parent Sophia Alexandropolous was as enthusiastic as ever, promising to rally the troops during devotions and assemblies before and after the Easter break ; John Rollins Success Primary’s Principal looked forward to the book drive and more so , forming an Early-Act Club at her school in the new term.

EarlyAct teacher co-ordinator ; Principal and members of the EarlyAct Club of Greenwood Prep receive their collection box from Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke; Island Books @ Whitter Shopping Village owner Rayer Headly.

As the trip was concluded, Lucas & Savannah Clarke, 2 EarlyActors and children of Rotarian Natasha, who assisted with the tour of schools mused: “If every student of Success Primary brings 1 book , we would collect over 1,000 books ; 2 books each, that’d be 2,000 books – WOW!” , and on that note the Race To Literacy Book Drive Project began in Montego Bay :

“W-O-W”.

Island Books @ Whitter Shopping Village owner Rayer Headly, Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke and EarlyAct teacher co-ordinator of Montego Bay Prep Mrs. Hudson pose in front of the school’s showcase of trophies and medals with their box for the book drive.

Article and photos contributed by Natasha Parchment Clarke (c)

Rotary, Early Act join hands with Island Books & Beyond in the Race for Literacy!

2010-03-31T13:54:00.000-05:00

For more information on the Rotary Race to Literacy Drive click here.

Snapshots from Wine 10 - Part 2

2010-03-24T14:48:00.007-05:00

The Rotary Club of Montego Bay hosted its annual Wine event this year on March 20, 2010 at the Shoppes at Rose Hall in Rose Hall, Montego Bay. The event was geared towards fundraising for the President's Club.

This year the President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay has embarked on raising funds for the neo-natal unit of the Cornwall Regional Hospital and especially for the purchase of an incubator for that unit.

Please find snapshots from the event here & below :-

(Above) President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay East Audley Knight with guests at the Wine 10 event

(Above) Rotarian Winsome Stewart

(Above) AGD Govind Chulani

(Above) L-R: Dominica Pradere David Tavares & Winsome Stewart

(Above) Lucea Rotarians enjoy themselves at the Wine 10 event

Above: (L-R) Kay Reuben & David Tavares

Bhagwan Chuganey in lively discussion with guests (left) while

Neville & Donna Anderson toast each other (right)

All Photos courtesy of Dominica Pradere (c)

Snapshots from Wine 10 - Part 1

2010-03-22T14:35:00.000-05:00

All Photos Courtesy of Michelle Daswani (c)

Rotary Race to Literacy is in full swing!

2010-03-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

Children's books donated by one generous donor to the Rotary Race to Literacy Project

Photo Source: rotaryracetoliteracy.org

The Rotary Race to Literacy project is in full swing!

What is this? An effort to collect a whole LOT of books

What kind of books? ANY kind – cookbook, novel, fiction, non-fiction, textbook etc. For adults or children

So what’s all this fundraising about? To buy books for children. This is a zero budget project – all money collected buys books for children

Why is the book drive buying books for children? Because there are not enough in Jamaica and the children need them for their development

Do people HAVE to donate children’s books? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Any kind of book will do. We need numbers and there are not enough children’s books in Jamaica to even match 242,624

Who is collecting? Until April 30th, drop off points are project partners across the country. http://rotaryracetoliteracy.org/drop-off-points/

So what is May 1-May 7? Collected books are donated to Rotary. http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/convention08_bookdrive.aspx

And what is Rotary doing with these books? Giving them to the Jamaica Library Service. Some will go to Haiti, as appropriate

Why the library?

•The library is the best custodian of the books for the long term.
•The library has its own reading programs.
•The library is accessible to all people on a daily basis.
•Service clubs can always organize literacy programs around the books once the books are there
•The library has the broadest reach – 558 public library service points. In addition to the 22 areas of service to special needs clientele in hospitals, children’s homes, penal and correctional institutions, specialized service is offered to the visually impaired and persons identified as affected by autism. The School Library Network serves 927 school libraries”

Can you donate to Jamaica alone? YES – just let us know

Can you donate to Haiti alone? YES – just let us know

Why participate?

•Be a part of history – this has never been done before
•Make a real difference- these books are needed just for the target beneficiaries but to build a more stable society
•It’s easy to do and fun!

We can do it!

BOOKLAND joins the Race to Literacy

2010-03-09T11:30:00.005-05:00

To find out more or to Join The Rotary Race to Literacy click here

Wine 10 - Saturday March 20, 2010 : Shoppes at Rose Hall, Montego Bay

2010-03-05T14:58:00.002-05:00

Wine, the annual wine and food tasting fundraiser

of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay, will be held on

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Shoppes at Rose Hall, Montego Bay

Tickets: $2,500.00 per person presold

$3,000.00 at the gate.

Tickets are now on sale at Fontana Pharmacy (MoBay only), Fairview Texaco service station, Montego Bay Yacht Club, Ironshore Total service station, Gymkhana (MoBay), Diamond Drugs, Digicel Blue Diamond, Jimmy's Supermarket at Holiday Village, The Commissary at Half Moon Village Shopping Center, Royal Shop at Shoppes at Rosehall

For more information, please call our hotline 848 3904 or email rotarywine10@hotmail.com

Click here for the Facebook Page

HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE UPDATE: March 3, 2010

2010-03-04T10:23:00.006-05:00

Inside the Petionville Club, a Port-au-Prince resort where some 50,000 displaced Haitians have set up camp, a woman receives a pedicure in a makeshift salon. The sprawling camp has seen the opening of barbershops, beauty salons and a market where residents sell goods. Photo Source: United Nations

At District 7020’s Leadership Training in Miami last weekend we had the opportunity to meet with most of the members of the Haiti Task Force at once. What a great opportunity to share our thoughts and experiences through all this.

The purpose of the meeting was to understand the most current critical needs that that our Haiti Ground Team feels we must focus on medium term while agreeing to commit to a long term sustainable solution for the country to be decided after the PDNA is completed.

We went around the table and got everyone’s input as to what we needed to do next, and how we should approach the future needs of the country. The response was amazingly consistent. In the short term we need to address the overpopulation of the schools in the various regions and do what we can to get as many of the children as possible back to school. That will involve a number of things depending on the particular region, but classroom shelters by way of tents or other structures, desks, benches, materials for those items, meals and tuition fees are at the top of the list.

A man gets his hair cut in a makeshift barbershop inside the Petionville Club, a Port-au-Prince resort where some 50,000 displaced Haitians have set up an IDP camp. The camp has seen the opening of barbershops, beauty salons and a market where residents sell goods.
Photo Source : United Nations

We have asked each Club President through the Assistant Governor to identify one school in each Rotary Community that needs our assistance and to provide us with an exact list of what we can provide for each school to meet our objective of providing a place for schooling and social activity for the refugee children. It was also suggested that the displaced senior students and university students be used as tutors in the school system to make up for the extra students and limited additional teachers.

This will be completed by week’s end and we will evaluate based on the magnitude of the requests, and decide what we can do. We urgently need 20’ through 60’ tents for this purpose and hope you can all call someone who might have access to one or two. They do not have to be new or any exact shape or size. Please put the word out.

We have agreed that our response for the long term sustainable recovery will depend on the competition of the PDNA and the recommendations that come from the United Nations review of that document with the international rebuilding partners. We have agreed to put forward Haitian Rotarian Kyss Jean-Mary as our representative on the PDNA committee in Port au Prince. I will send a letter confirming that to the Prime Minister of Haiti later today.

Barry Rassin will be assisting with the Rotary presence at the United Nations when the recommendations are reviewed at that level.

Photo Source: United Nations

We asked each assistant Governor to provide us with a synopsis of their respective club's health and to report back to me by week’s end.

Barry is following up on our proposed $50,000 contribution for seeds through the UN Agricultural Cluster. I am getting information to clarify the routing of the funds.

ROTAH, Regroupement Oeuvrant a Travers des Actions Humanitaires en Haiti will have its NGO finalized this week and will be used as our primary consignee for the relief aid we send to Haiti.

We discussed many options and possible directions for Rotary to go in the rebuilding plan and were quoted a Haitian saying which I want to share with you all.

A dog has 4 paws, but can only go one place at a time.

PDG Richard McCombeDistrict 7020

Chilean Rotary member reports on earthquake

2010-03-01T10:50:00.006-05:00

Map : citywire

At least one member of a Chilean Rotary survived the earthquake in that South American country.Esparza, an Internet-based journalist, communicated Saturday by e-mail with The City Wire that he has been unable to visit with many friends, family and members of the Internet publication for which he works.He said phone and other communication lines are down in many parts of the country.

“I'm fine with my wife and my daughter, we are in Santiago, the capital and stand in a flat, has minor damage, many things broken. It was terrible and we get scared much, but we've still trembles and now we have again light and water, here in Santiago only breakdown some churches, and hard damage to highways and other monuments,” Esparza noted in his e-mail.

He said the major earthquake was followed by numerous aftershocks, which he said were strong enough to be “terrifying.” He said the hardest hit area was in the region between Temuco and Santiago in the middle of the country. Story Source: citywire

Photos above & below: Facebook Page: Help Chile through Rotary

An initial consignment of 448 ShelterBoxes is being sent to Chile in response to the massive earthquake that hit the country.

ShelterBox is utilising all its global resources to respond as quickly as possible to this latest disaster. ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members Pat Prendergast (UK), Tom Lay (UK) and Traci Oliver (US) are currently en route to Chile’s capital Santiago. On arrival the team will join up with local Rotarians and the Red Cross to establish where the greatest need for emergency shelter is.

The team will be joined by 448 ShelterBoxes, enough aid for up to 4,480 people. The boxes are being sent from prepositioned stock in Melbourne, Australia. ShelterBox has a network of strategic locations around the globe where boxes are stored to allow a speedy response to any disaster wherever it may strike.

Head of Operations, John Leach, said: ‘The full extent of the damage in Chile is yet to be seen but there’ll undoubtedly be a need for emergency shelter.

‘Our first response team was mobilised as soon as news of the earthquake reached us. We’re now sending ShelterBoxes form Australia and once our team arrive in Santiago they’ll be working closely with Rotarians and other aid organisations to make sure the aid reaches the people who need it most.’

Urgent donations needed

With the earthquake in Chile following so soon after the earthquake Haiti, the need to support ShelterBox could not be greater.

General Manager, Lasse Petersen, said: ‘We’re responding to the massive disasters in both Haiti and Chile as well as other disasters across the world that aren’t making the headlines.

‘Whenever disasters strike they inevitably leave devastated families in their wake, families who lose everything through no fault of their own.

‘We urgently need donations to fund our disaster relief efforts, to help us respond to the current disasters and to acquire more tents and life saving supplies in readiness for future disasters.

‘I’d urge you to please donate and support our relief efforts and to help build our disaster response capacity to help those most in need.’ Story Source: ShelterBox

UPDATE: Rotary Race To Literacy Book Drive- May 1-7

2010-02-26T09:17:00.000-05:00

An ordinary book drive will not provide mass quantities of special books for children.

BUT, thanks to publishers who have partnered with Rotary Race to Literacy, as long as YOU donate the funds, we have special preferential prices to buy some of the best books possible for children. Thanks to their Early Childhood Advisor, Rotary Race to Literacy Committee knows these books are ideal for early childhood education. And all the literature and research agrees that those years from 0-6 are the most critical to a child’s long term development – not only in IQ but also in socialization.

But there is more! Some of these books have very special features such as textures and flip ups that have been proven to be best for children with a range of learning disabilities. This is indeed an unusual opportunity to fill a real need.

If we are to have the kinds of quantities of children’s books we hoped for, we have to act ASAP – these books have to be ordered and shipped. Local books are here, but there are not in large quantities so we must act quickly.

We have an opportunity to shape an entire generation. Let us make the very most of it!

For more information about the publisher partners:

•Scholastic – www.scholastic.com
•Jackmandora – www.jackmandora.com
•Reggae Pickney - www.reggaepickney.com

To donate to buy these books:

•Cheques : “Rotary Race To Literacy Project”
•J$ Deposit: Bank of Nova Scotia A/C # 822269 (Hagley Park Branch)
•US$ Deposit: Bank of Nova Scotia A/C # 822271 (Hagley Park Branch)

Our wire transfer instructions --- US$ Account are as follows: -

Address

Instructions to: JP Morgan Chase Bank, 270 Park Avenue, New York, New York, NY, 10017. USA

SWIFT code: CHASUS33

Routing (ABA) Number: 021000021

For the initial credit of: Bank of Nova Scotia (JA) Limited, Hagley Park Branch, 128 Hagley Park Road, Kingston 11, Jamaica. W.I.

Account Number: 001058608
SWIFT Code: NOSCJMKN

Transit Number: 90175

For further credit to: Rotary Race to Literacy Project

Account Number: 822271

The Rotary Race to Literacy is also an Amazon Affiliate.

Buy not only a book, but buy ANYTHING through the Rotary Race to Literacy Amazon Link and the Rotary Race to Literacy receives a commission for EVERY purchase. 100% of these proceeds will go towards buying books for children.

For information in using this option or if you have questions or comments, please contact the Rotary Race to Literacy Committee at rotaryracetoliteracy@live.com

HAITI UPDATE: February 25, 2010 from PDG Dick

2010-02-25T09:57:00.007-05:00

Photo source: Food for the Poor

Just a quick update covering my trip Tuesday to Haiti and the meeting with Rotary International President John Kenny, with the temporary head of the civilian side of the United Nations, and the head of the Red Cross. The trip there and back with Captain Paul Luehrsen in his Mooney aircraft was wonderful. It was just the two of us in a small but comfortable plane and a good time to talk to a very well informed and intelligent person to test our theories of the recovery. (about 8 hours round trip with an additional 5 on the ground), and Thanks Paul. All meetings were very successful and informative and the trip was worth every minute.

Our meeting with President John Kenny was to bring him up to speed with the recovery efforts so far and to give him some idea of what was needed in the future.

We must now bridge the gap between the acute relief stage, and the recovery stage. As UNDP Ms. KIM Bolduc, Regional Representative for the United Nations stated at our meeting, “We cannot fail at this or Haiti will never be fixed”.

The Challenge is that this period requires solutions which might only provide temporary relief and will make the lives of individuals a little better, but must also be consistent with the long term sustainable recovery plan recommendations derived from the Post Disaster National Assessment and ratified at the United Nations. We would recommend the following priorities be established, for the near term by Rotary International.

Food

· Seeds (landed next 2 to 3 weeks only due to planting season)

· Beans

· Rice

· Vegetable oil

Basic, uniform tents are used for shelter in Barbancourt, in the mountainous region outside Haiti capital Port-au-Prince, where a community of approximately 1500 dispalaced Haitians has relocated. PHOTO: UN News & Media

Shelter

· Large Tents

o 30’ X 30” through 60’ X 60’ for classrooms, recreation areas, community centers, therapy shelter etc.

o Semi permanent shelter buildings for families

· Awnings to create / build shelters

o 10” X 10’ and up to 30’ X 30’

· Tents

o Straight sides 6’ X 8’ to 10’ X 12’

Money

· Funds to allow us to get exactly what’s needed when we need it and where we need to get it from (to buy local or support local production whenever possible)

o Medical supplies and equipment

o Educational supplies and classroom needs

o All other random requests which meet the urgent priorities identified at the time

Medical supplies and support

· Medical supplies and equipment as specifically requested by specific location

· Physical Therapy equipment and resources to be specified

· Prosthetics

o Continued guidance and support by Jaipur with serious consideration of the Mobile units I have recommended

Agricultural and Industrial development support
(Click here for more information from the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation on this aspect of the recovery effort )
o Tools and supplies for agricultural production

o Lists to be specified

o Equipment and supplies for light industry start ups

o To be specified by defined need

Photo Source: PBS

I appreciate the need to provide everyone a list of very specific items so we can focus on only them in the short term but given the varied needs and the varied regions, this is not as straight forward as it might seem. The priorities are changing as the elements of a sustainable future are studied and tested against the master plan being developed. I am confident that we will have a clearer picture of the long term needs in the near future and at that time I hope that we can re-inspire those who can help to “step up” again to help us achieve a long term sustainable healthy future for the country of Haiti.

We are meeting in Miami this weekend during the District Leadership Training with many of the key “On The Ground” players and the District Leadership. I hope to share more information with you shortly.

Richard McCombe
District 7020

Check out The District 7020 Newsletter for how Rotarians all over the District have responded to the disaster in Haiti.

Rotary Clubs of Montego Bay have joint celebration for Rotary's 105th anniversary

2010-02-24T15:10:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday February 23rd, 2010, Rotary International celebrated its 105th anniversary. To mark this occasion, the Three Rotary Clubs of Montego Bay had a celebratory joint meeting at the Sandals Royal Hotel, the usual meeting place for the Rotary Club of Mobay. Also at the meeting were members of the prospective Rotary Club of Rose Hall.

Presidents of the Three Montego Bay Clubs (L-R) Audley Knight-President Rotary Club of Montego Bay East, Michelle Daswani-President Rotary Club of Montego Bay and Manoj Ramchandani-Charter President of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay Sunrise.

The President of Cornwall College's Interact Club addresses the Clubs

at the Lunch meeting on Tuesday

L-R: President of the Cornwall College Interact Club, Rtn. Natasha Parchment Clarke and Rotary Mobay Sponsored Ambassadorial Scholar at Tuesday's meeting.

HAITI UPDATE: February 22, 2010 from Barry Rassin

2010-02-22T13:48:00.000-05:00

Video Source: Doctors Without Borders

On Saturday February 20, 2010 a delegation of Rotarians (PRID Barry Rassin and PDG Richard McCombe) along with the Haitian Ambassador to The Bahamas Louis Harold Joseph (Honorary Rotarian) and Pilots Paul Pyfrom and Paul Aranha (mentioned because of the many, many relief flights they have volunteered to fly, especially Paul Aranha) flew from Nassau, Bahamas to Port au Prince, Haiti. Our purpose was to visit the epicenter and to meet with the Rotarian Leaders who have continued working tirelessly to bring relief to all they can.

We were met at the PAP International Airport by Rotarians from Haiti: PDG Amos Durosier and his wife Arlette, DGN Dr. Guy Theodore, AG Caleb Lucien, AG Dr. Claude Surena, PP George Nicolas, and Ted Lazarre.

First we met as a group for a briefing on the current needs in Haiti resulting from the earthquake on January 12 and the 54 subsequent tremors. We then joined the Prime Minister for Haiti, the Honorable Jean-Max Bellerive, and had a very cordial and accommodating meeting. He expressed his appreciation for what Rotary has done over many years in Haiti and specifically for what they continue to do now. He stated that all Haitians know Rotary and what they do.

The following is a synopsis of the two meetings:

1. It is believed that 250,000 have lost their lives to the earthquake.

A man carries a coffin through a street in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Behind him, a toppled building testifies to the strength of the earthquake that struck the capital on 12 January. Photo Source: United Nations News & Media

2. One million are homeless and need shelter and about 40% of the homeless are children.

3. Food, Water and Shelter are the priorities for all the country. The migration from PAP has placed a burden on all the other cities on top of the obvious burden in PAP.

4. For shelter there is still a major need for tents and/or tarps in order to at least provide some shelter for those who have been left homeless.

Photo: United Nations News Centre

5. Eighty Percent (80%) of the schools in PAP have been destroyed. On Tuesday, February 23 the government is meeting with the Association of all Schools in order to try to get them open to the degree that at least the children have a place to go and a meal to eat. (It may be their only meal of the day). If we can get larger tents (20 x 20) next to the schools then they can at least meet. The children are considered a priority by the Government. Many students have died, many teachers have died. 80% of the 80% were private schools but the government accepts their responsibility to get schools going to accommodate all the children. The consolidated education fund will continue to do everything it can to restart the schools. Clearly Rotary can help with the schools.

6. Rotary’s final NGO status will be complete in days but in the meantime The Prime Minister will give us a letter of authorization to clear customs efficiently and duty free. (This will only apply if advance notice is given to the local Rotary Leadership with details of the goods shipped, time and place of arrival and intended rotary destination). The priorities for incoming shipments will first be the NGO’s with proper documentation, second urgent commercial goods and lastly all other commercial goods. This is important as the customs duties have been restored in order to ensure that only appropriate items are received duty free.

7. While temporary shelter (tents and tarps) is critical work has to begin on sustainable housing. It must be done in a way that provides jobs for the short and long term as well as shelter and an infrastructure to support the residents (Homes, sanitation, water, agriculture, trade, transportation, etc.).

A resident of Haiti displaced by the 12 January earthquake builds a makeshift home in what used to be the stadium in downtown Port-au-Prince.

Photo Source: United Nations News & Media

8. The government appreciates the opportunity to sread out the population density to improve all facets of PAP life. With the support of the local population and the recognized needs along with international support, the government should be able to make the changes they could not make before.

9. It is clear that a caution light is now up for all to see with continued relief support for free food and water. A substantial part of the economy is small farms growing and small business along with street vendors selling produce, fruits, rice and other staples. With incorrect levels of free items distributed it puts the single family business in financial trouble spiraling the economy downhill. We must be cautious not to “kill” the economy through well intentioned donations. The economic balance needs to be enhanced through the efforts of Rotary and other NGO’s.

10. A Post Disaster National Assistance (PDNA) Committee has been formed and consists of local representatives as well as all significant international entities that are assisting in the restoration efforts. Rotary is included on the PDNA with Dr. Claude Surena on the committee. This committee is making an assessment of the damages and the resultant needs and will formulate priorities and prepare a plan. The plan is scheduled to be complete by March 15 and is intended to be presented to the United Nations around March 23 or 24.

11. The District 7020 Haiti Earthquake Relief Committee will continue to meet and assist with getting the final containers (40 to 50) to Haiti by the end of March. However, the committee is now turning to the planning for the longer term relief efforts. We have to consider:

a. Basic Education and Literacy – Getting the children back to school.

b. Disease Prevention and Treatment – Continue helping the hospital and health workers as well as developing comprehensive rehabilitation.

A mother at Delmas 33, an IDP camp in Port-au-Prince for Haitians displaced by the earthquake, comforts her child as he receives tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Photo Source:

United Nations News & Media

c. Water and Sanitation – The clean water needs must be addressed and effective sanitation is essential with so many tent cities now in place.

d. Maternal and Child Health – We need to address the nutrition of the children and the mothers.

e. Economic and Community Development – We need to help to boost the economy providing micro credit for business start up and we need to enhance the community life for a positive economic growth.

A man sharpens his machete inside Port-au-Prince's Petionville Club, a golf and tennis resort where some 50,000 Haitians displaced by the earthquake have set up makeshift shelters. The residents of the sprawling camp have also opened barbershops, salons, and a market. Photo Source: United Nations News & Media

We are in this program for the long haul and will be proud as we stand beside Rotarians in Haiti and lend them a hand as together we rebuild a beautiful country and show our respect and admiration for the people of Haiti.

The Future of Rotary is in Our Hands and the future of Haiti depends on what we continue to do.

Barry Rassin
PRID 2006-2008
District 7020

RYLA Knox, Spalding, Jamaica 2010

2010-02-21T18:43:00.007-05:00

Images from the RYLA Camp 2010 which took place recently at Knox, Spalding, Manchester.

Click on images for larger image.

Watch this space for more pictues!

Photos: Natasha Parchment Clarke

(c)

Haiti's Top Priority: Tents

2010-02-20T09:26:00.007-05:00

Ulrigue Idal gave birth to 2 day old Edwige at the Centre D'Ebergement and is now staying in a ShelterBox tent. Photograph: Mark Pearson

It is now five weeks since Haiti was rocked by a catastrophic earthquake and there is still an urgent need for secure shelter which can stand up to the Haitian climate.

ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member Jane Nash has just returned to the UK from Port au Prince. She says the importance of getting people into tents cannot be underestimated.

‘The rains are going to be really hard and it's going to take a long time to get transitional housing up and running. Our tents will withstand heavy rain. Would you want to be in a tarpaulin sheet in a torrential downpour when the ground will be soaked? The look on one woman’s face when I gave her a tent was like it was the best thing she had ever had, ’said Jane.

ShelterBox General Manager Lasse Petersen added: ‘At present the vast majority of people left homeless have yet to receive even plastic sheeting. These families need immediate emergency shelter rather than becoming caught up in policy debates.

‘A tent, as we’ve already seen, can be a life saving difference to many of the most vulnerable during what is likely to become a very lengthy wait for anything more permanent. It’s vital we continue our efforts in Haiti; tents are the number one priority.’

So far more than 7,000 ShelterBoxes and disaster relief tents have been distributed in Haiti and another 1,200 are due to arrive in Port au Prince, Haiti’s capital, by Friday. The SRT in Port au Prince already has a planned distribution in place for these boxes.

ShelterBox has committed another 5,000 tents to Haiti, which will provide shelter for another 50,000 people. These will start arriving at the end of February. ShelterBox tents undergo rigorous testing and will be able to stand up to the spring rains which will soon descend on Haiti.

Long-term commitment

On February, Tuesday 16, SRT members Mike Greenslade (AU) and Dave Ray (UK), who are in Port au Prince, worked closely with community leaders and the Red Falcon, US 82nd Airborne to distribute 180 ShelterBoxes.

Mike said: ‘We could not have achieved a safe distribution without the 82nd Airbourne. The soldiers of Red Falcon ensured that boxes went to the most needy in the camp.

‘Conditions in the camp are amongst the worst I’ve seen with people living cheek by jowl, camping out on piles of rubble, surrounded by rubbish and rotting waste. In this space people have to wash, cook, eat and sleep, many with no more than a bed sheet for overhead cover.

‘This picture is replicated throughout Port au Prince and the outlying affected by the quake. There are not enough tents to go round and the consensus is that when the rains come we will have a second emergency on our hands.’

The below video, shot by SRT member Tom Lay (UK) who returned to the UK from Haiti last week, features SRT member John Diksa (FR) and outlines ShelterBox’s work in Haiti so far:

ShelterBox will continue responding to the crisis in Haiti until the job is done. At the same time, we need to rebuild our stock levels so we have the capacity to immediately respond to the next disaster that strikes.

If you can help in any way, great or small, please visit ShelterBox.org

Article source:ShelterBox.org

Haiti Physcal Rehabilitation Programs

2010-02-19T08:48:00.000-05:00

Photo: Shelterbox.org

Click Here to see the minutes of the February 10 Haiti Injury Rehabilitation and Disability meeting as well as the list of participants.

Our biggest coordination challenge at this time to have updated information.

For organizations already operational in Haiti or those that have plans to start rehabilitation activities, we kindly request your support to share this information by filling the attached form and sending it back to readaptationhaiti AT gmail DOT com for compilation.

Thank you very much.

Article Source : Haiti Physical Rehabilitation Programs Forum

Haiti : Tents & Shelter Boxes URGENTLY needed

2010-02-18T08:07:00.000-05:00

Photo: CARE

Just so you are aware, we have put out a call for 200,000 tents for Haiti and clubs are working hard to find them. I am told there are not that many in the world but what is there Rotary will find.

We are aware that shelter is the urgent need and are also looking at longer lasting shelter as if a hurricane hits the tents will be gone.

Barry
Barry Rassin, FACHE
RI Director 2006-08
office 242-302-4765
cell 242-424-3650
ba...@rassin.org
Join The Caribbean Partnership at http://www.caribbeanpartnership.org/ and http://www.thinkcaribbean.org/

................................................

Sent: Tue, February 16, 2010 2:10:28 PM
>Subject: Re: Haiti update from Al Ingersoll Feb 16, 2010

Barry... Knowing that the ShelterBoxes are in limited supply, is call the that you folks have for 200,000 more ShelterBoxes? If not, what type of tents are you looking for?

Thanks for the additional feedback!... John

John N. Billock, Chair
Haiti Earthquake Relief Committee
Rotary International District 6650, Ohio USA

Humanitarian Services Committee
Rotary Club of Cortland, Ohio USA

............................

In a message dated 2/16/2010 2:21:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, barryj...@yahoo.com writes:-

A tent alone is less expensive which would allow us to get to more families. It needs to be strong enough to provide shelter for a reasonable period of time.

Barry

Barry Rassin, FACHE

...............

Sent: Tue, February 16, 2010 2:53:24 PM
Subject: Re: Haiti update from Al Ingersoll Feb 16, 2010

Barry... Thanks for the quick reply!... I will see what I can do from this end.

I assume someone has already talked with the ShelterBox folks about just being able to get tents, as I know what they use are of excellent quality and I assume they have the contacts to get them at reasonable price!

John

....................

Tom Henderson at Shelterbox is aware and just feels there are no tents available. I feel if Rotary Clubs try they will find them.

Barry
Barry Rassin, FACHE
RI Director 2006-08

For more information on "Shelter Haiti" go to the Discussion Forum.

HAITI: Race to the Rainy Season

2010-02-15T08:31:00.001-05:00

Photo: ShelterBox

PORT-AU-PRINCE (February 11, 2010) - One month after the catastrophic quake that leveled most of Port-au-Prince, CARE and other aid agencies are in a race against time to get people waterproof shelter and decent sanitation before the rainy season hits at the end of March. Most people crammed into overcrowded temporary camps are huddled under bed sheets strung between poles or sticks – hardly enough to block out the sun, but useless against the torrential downpours of Haiti's rainy season.

"The coming month will be all about the rain. We need to get these people waterproof shelter. Acute respiratory infection is rising, because they are sleeping on the bare ground, and they get damp at dawn from the dew," said Lizzie Babister, senior shelter advisor for CARE in Haiti. "Drainage will be the next issue, partly because of excrement near the sites, and partly because they'll have rivers running through their shelters. It's going to be a real push to get this done in time for the rainy season at the end of March."

While tents might seem to be the logical solution, there simply isn't enough room in downtown Port-au-Prince's limited public spaces. The shelters that have sprung up after the quake are sandwiched in one next to the other, often using the same poles as supports.

"A typical family tent has a floor space of 16 square meters, which is four times as much space as people are currently squatting on in the urban areas," said Babister. "If we start distributing those in downtown Port-au-Prince, we're going to displace three-quarters of the population. The immediate solution for the congested areas isn't tents, it's tarps. Lots of them, and fast."

In the less-crowded rural areas, family tents are a temporary solution, as people have more access to open space. But shipping in enough family tents for all the people in need would take months – too late to beat the rainy season. By contrast, shipments of sturdy, reusable 6 meters x 4 meters tarps (plastic sheeting) can arrive in Haiti in days or weeks. This will keep people dry while aid agencies start implementing a longer-term solution to the shelter crisis.

Sanitation is the other half of the ongoing crisis in post-quake Haiti. While organizations like CARE are building latrines in the camps, we are doing "sanitation triage" in camps built on hills or areas without access to latrines, said Paul Shanahan, CARE's senior water and sanitation advisor.

"We're still fighting the latrine battle in the sanitation war, but we've also started the second line of defense, which is going into the camps and removing the excrement that is piling up. It's not pretty, but it needs to be done," said Shanahan. "Our biggest fear at this point is the outbreak of disease. It's one thing to see half your family die in an earthquake, but it's another to watch the other half die slowly from diarrhea. It's more than any flesh and blood can bear."

In addition to building 3,000 latrines, CARE is also providing hand-washing education, hygiene kits with soap and cleaning supplies and removal of excrement from the camps. For housing, CARE plans to provide emergency shelter for 8,500 families (42,500 people).

Despite the challenges, great progress has been made by the Haitian people and humanitarian community to assist the nearly three million people affected by the earthquake. To date, CARE has reached more than 184,737 people with food, safe drinking water, shelter, water and sanitation facilities, emergency supplies and reproductive health care for pregnant and nursing mothers. But more needs to be done.

The next looming hurdle is the hurricane season, which starts as early as June. Port-au-Prince is surrounded by mountains and therefore largely protected from hurricanes, but flooding is a huge risk as rain comes streaming down the mountains, bringing rivers of mud along with it.

"We have rubble from the buildings that we can use as flood defenses, but we need to start planning for this now," said Babister. "Everything is a race against time."

Article Source: CARE

Rotary Race to Literacy - May 1-7 2010

2010-02-11T18:39:00.010-05:00

Photo: PBS

The Rotary Race To Literacy Book Drive Project was launched in Jamaica on Wednesday February 10 2010.

The project is inspired by the 2008 Rotary International Convention in Los Angeles, California where Rotarians set the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Most Books Donated to Charity in Seven Days” with 242,624 books.

On the occasion of the 36th Annual Rotary District 7020 Conference in Kingston, Jamaica, we seek to have new and near-new books — of any kind — donated between May 1-7, 2010.

HOWEVER, donors are urged to start collecting books from now and drop off to project partners who are collecting on behalf of the public between February 10 and April 30 2010. This endeavour will be both a National and International Project.

Collected books will be donated to the people of Jamaica and Haiti.

In Jamaica, the primary recipient will be the Jamaica Library Service with its island-wide network of branch, school and mobile libraries. In Haiti, the primary recipient will be determined by Rotary at the appropriate time.

Drop off points identified for now are : -

1. The Gleaner Company's Head Office at 7 North Street, Kingston

2. Any Jamaica Money Market Brokers Branch islandwide. For Branch Locations click here.

Persons can also contribute through cash to the drive. Money raised will go towards buying special books for children. Persons can make a donation to the Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaican Account Number 822 269 or to US Account Number 822 271.

Karen McDonald Gayle (left) acting CEO of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, hands over a cheque to Errol Alberga, District 7020 Governor at the Launch of the Race to Literacy Book Drive Project at the Spanish Court Hotel on Wednesday. Looking on is Deika Morrison, chief organiser of the project - Photo & label : Jamaica Gleaner

WHY ?

Literacy is the cornerstone of sustainable development.

The vast majority of Jamaican children do not enter Grade 1 as emergent readers. A significant cause of the problem is the severe deficiency in appropriate reading material for the early childhood age group, and for children with special needs.

Photo: Ellen in Liberia

Haiti was already struggling to meet literacy targets before the devastation from the earthquake. In the absence of major intervention, the situation will only deteriorate. As the country in Rotary District 7020 most in need, Haiti will also be a beneficiary of appropriate English, French and Haitian Creole books.

We can make a real difference.

Photo: Liam Quin

HOW TO HELP

H is for “Home”. Please donate at least one (1) book from home. You must have even one!

E is for “Explain, Enlighten and Encourage”. Please be an ambassador for the book drive. Tell your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues here and abroad about the book drive and why it is important. Spread the word in person, at work, social events, by phone, mail, email, instant messenger, Facebook, Twitter etc. Join the Facebook Fan Page, follow us on the blog and on Twitter. Share the links!

L is for “Lend a Hand”. This project needs enabling partners. If you can, please be a drop off point, offer storage, shipping, customs brokerage, transport, media etc. Corporations and Non-Governmental Organizations can be key enabling partners on a large scale.

P is for “Pocket”. Please make a financial contribution to the Rotary Race to Literacy Project to purchase special books for children as your donation. The general public, Diaspora, Corporations, Foundations and International Development Partners can all make a significant difference to early childhood education, environmental education, bilingual materials, Braille, and special needs for learning disabilities etc.

Cheques : “Rotary Race To Literacy Project”

J$ Deposit: Bank of Nova Scotia A/C # 822 269

US$ Deposit: Bank of Nova Scotia A/C # 822 271

Online : Click here
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LINKS

Email: rotaryracetoliteracy@live.com

Blog: http://www.rotaryracetoliteracy.org/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/racetoliteracy

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/rotaryracetoliteracy

Haiti's TB outbreak could affect the world

2010-02-10T21:03:00.002-05:00

Video : CNN

Rotary Club of Carrollton Farmers Branch partners with Rotary Club of Mobay to bring Medical Supplies to the Cornwall Regional Hospital

2010-02-09T10:04:00.009-05:00

A big THANK YOU to The Rotary Club of Carrollton-Farmers Branch in Texas who will once again partner with the Rotary Club of Montego Bay to provide Medical Supplies for the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

The Carrollton-Farmers Branch Club has partnered with our Club almost every year providing over US$200,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment to date. Past President Regina Edwards of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Club will take time out from her vacation in Jamaica with her family on the 28th of April to make the presentation to the Hospital with our Club.

The Cornwall regional Hospital is the premier public health care facility serving Western Jamaica and our own PP Bhagwan who acts as laiason with the Hospital was advised that its current urgent requirement is medical disposables.

Regina's son, Luke, convinced the Director of his pre-school, Mary Barter to get his school mates at the Bent Tree Child Development Center in Addison, Texas involved in the project. Luke and his friends made a poster (see photo above) to raise awareness and funds for the mission trip. Funds raised will go towards purchasing the disposables.

Says Regina, "We also found several Snoopy stuffed animals that the boys want to bring to give to the kids in the hospital. (They have a Hawaiian looking shirt on so they seem just right for Jamaica.)."

Special thanks to Regina, her Club and the Bent Tree Child Development Centre for their gracious act of kindness and taking this initiative once again to bring supplies to Jamaica!

Update from Haiti: PDG Dick - January 7, 2010

2010-02-08T10:29:00.006-05:00

Rotary Water-Survival boxes being distributed in Haiti after the Earthquake.

Photos: WorldWaterWorks

Dear all,

I have just concluded our assessment of the situation in Haiti, and have just finished making a number of lengthy calls with the team on the ground in Haiti. Based on this I wanted to share with you the situation as I understand it today.

The position we took last week in which we said to hold off on further deliveries of medical supplies not already in route was the correct one. Currently in the Port au Prince area there is no shortage of these medical supplies. In fact the challenge is now the sorting and the distribution of these items. This is at a critical stage because of the volume of random medical inventory received and specific needs that may currently be outstanding. As far as medical supplies are concerned the advice from the team is, "Do not send anything else unless it is specific in terms of the location and the product". We need to be sure we co-ordinate this so we do not duplicate the supply chain and add to the problem.

There are a number of private Hospitals in the rural areas that are in need of some specific things, but there are also others that have an excess of supplies. We are in the process of balancing this as best we can now. After that specific orders will be processed as they come in. I am told that most of the Government Hospitals are getting the supplies they need with the exception of a few specifics which we are trying to address on their behalf through the Rotary Leadership in that area. That seems to be more equipment related than medical supplies.

Photo : Neil Van Dine, Haiti Outreach

The food and shelter needs are still very high on the priority list. The challenge we have on the ground now is the storage and distribution logistics of the food and shelter items. In Port au Prince in particular there are numerous International Organizations that are distributing food in the quake region. For the most part their capabilities for this are better than ours so most of those efforts should be left to them. Our Rotarians on the ground are doing some food and shelter distribution as well from the supplies Rotary has sent. It is important that they continue to do this and that we continue to supply them. Not only is it helping the most needy, but it seems to be providing our Rotarians a purpose on the ground in their respective communities.

Keeping the Rotarian alive in spirit is essential at this difficult time and it must be rewarding for our Rotarians to be able to help their neighbours and their communities through this. I will try to get further specifics to you on what we should continue to supply, but bulk rice, beans, flour, proteins, vegetable oil etc and Tents are a safe bet for now.

There are in excess of 10,000 Shelter Boxes in Haiti and most of them set up or in the process of being set up. The distribution is being done through a number of international organizations. Rotary has had an allocation of them for the use of Rotarians and their families in need. As of today there are about 45 in our possession still not distributed but they will be sent out in the next couple of days.

Photo: Neil Van Dine, Haiti Outreach

There has been a great response with Water Boxes, Purification Systems and water supply. In many instances these resources have been sent directly to Rotary in Haiti for distribution. In my discussions with the team on the ground it appears that the distribution of these assets would be best handled by the Haiti Water Commission and the selected agency it is working with for the distribution. They are better equipped to know where the camps are set and what the needs are. They also know what supplies are available to each of them from the organizations currently on the ground. My advice to Claude was to help train the group doing the distribution on the use of the equipment before they deliver these units to families and groups. And then assist by providing the assets to them for distribution.

Photo: Neil Van Dine, Haiti Outreach

The rural situation remains the same. The need is for shelter, food, school supplies and the support for secondary medical assistance, education etc. The bulk food supply is still available in most areas in the country. Our best help there is to fund the purchase of the basics while it lasts. This is what we have been doing and will continue although this can be very expensive and a little more difficult to manage.

I am expecting a specific request from our leaders for their regions that will identify the exact number of Schools, families and students we are talking about.

Photo: Neil Van Dine, Haiti Outreach

The consensus is the rural areas have each grown by in excess of 20% since the earthquake.The response to this has varied from funding bulk shelter and feeding camps, providing international NGO's that provide food and shelter with bulk food, to each Rotary family committing to look after a specific number of displaced families.

There is the potential for hoarding and other issues with this, but we are taking all precautions practical and possible at this time. Long term we will need to be better at this if we want to continue with it.

The long term response to this disaster is going to be an enormous drain on our human and financial resources for some time to come. I believe that we should begin discussing our role in the long term recovery and rebuild effort right away. I think our response going forward should be more and more in line with what we ultimately identify as our long term sustainable strategy. To do this we will need to get a sense very soon of where we are going to fit in the grand scheme of things in Haiti. Will it be an emphasis area, will it be communities, will it be in the planning? Who knows!

Aid workers open boxes of food provided by Numana in which warnings against human trafficking are provided to raise awareness of vulnerable Haitians.

Photo:Salvation Army Blog Usa

I have approached a well respected international investor and business man who has developed a sustainable settlement tradition in The Bahamas. He has a concept and some ideas that I believe could well be at the core of our response to the future development of Haiti. His concept addresses the creation of a sustainable settlement that takes into account social, financial, cultural, health, and environmental elements. I believe this is an opportunity that needs to be explored as a possible Rotary solution in its long term response. I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea when I hear back from those I have sent it to.

There are some immediate needs that will come up that we must still fulfill but we must also begin to recognize that response must move from the immediate to the medium and long term.

PDG Dick

Photo: Neil Van Dine, Haiti Outreach

UPDATE from Haiti: PDG Dick: January 31, 2010

2010-02-03T07:45:00.004-05:00

Photo source:Rotary District 7020 Haiti Updates Blog

Dear all,

Sorry about the delayed update but we are working on a number of issues and none of them seem easy right now. As you know we are re- evaluating the situation with an emphasis on our Haitian Family of Rotary and where we need to go from here. We obviously have many of the supplies and assistance that was originally called for still coming in and are processing it through onto the ground daily. The status reports by region and for our Quake Zone clubs should be in by later tomorrow so a clearer update will be posted then. We have Dr. Greg Hoeksema, a fellow Rotarian from Cayman on the ground doing a medical evaluation of supplies and equipment. He is done in the Pignon area and is going to Cap Haitien tomorrow and onto Port de Paix Tuesday evening.

Infants from a Port-au-Prince orphanage.
Photo Source:The Salvation Army Blog USA

President Shaun Ingraham, and Tyson from the Eluthera Rotary Club are on the ground and on their way into Port au Prince tomorrow morning with the Director of Habitat for Humanity. He is going to be texting out information to us, so that should help with our insight. I just spoke to him and he will be providing me with his sense of the situation later on today.

The entire education system in the country has been shut down. Not one child anywhere going to school. There is slow movement now to begin to reopen Missionary and Private Schools although the Education Ministry has not officially permitted that yet and they have no clear strategy to do so. The transient population with children arriving in their respective new communities may well never get back to school unless we do something. I have a call out for BIG Tents, Circus or MASH type tents. There were in excess of 300 schools destroyed in the PaP area alone so this challenge is a big one. The children, orphaned or not, need a place to get together and play and socialize at the very least soon, so keep that in minds you search for the tents.

Haitians gather to receive food and water distributed by The Salvation Army.
Photo Source: The Salvation Army Blog USA

Food and Shelter is still a core need. For food be sure its more in the way of beans, rice, protein supplements, baby formula etc. Tents, sleeping matts, blankets, clean clothing etc. We have our Florida Rotary Friends setting up 10 40ft containers throughout the State to collect food and shelter items. We are hoping to ship 8 containers from Nassau as well this week. We are still at the point where we can buy supplies in Haiti so money still works. Certainly for the long term and for the bigger longer term projects, money will be the most necessary.

Through the high tech capability of our District I was able to go live on REACH radio in the BVI's yesterday thanks to Don. Good job Don.

Transportation into and on the ground is a difficult and an ever- changing process. The last flight we sent in was met by a road block and an unruly crowd with sticks. The UN, police, and Dr. Guy put down the unrest but it is getting more complicated and difficult there as you can imagine. The people are getting more and more desperate as the population numbers in these rural communities increases and supplies dwindle. There are also Political factions now using the opportunity to try to build a constituency and some control by having the goods in their possession. More to come on this as I better understand it.

We had some issues with some of our supplies being taken yesterday by force by the French Army. It's a clear sign that the coordination of all the relief in Haiti is and will continue to be a BIG challenge as we go forward. On a good note, 40,000 lbs of supplies from the Sint Maarten / St. Marten area clubs got through to Rotary's storage in PaP after a very complex transportation route, so we can get it done.

A Salvation Army volunteer helps a woman with food and water at a food distribution.
Photo Source: The Salvation Army Blog USA

We are setting up a more permanent and defined response committee for the ongoing relief. Our 1st meeting is 4:00PM tomorrow and I will share the structure of it with you after the meeting.

Have a good day
PDG Dick

PS: Here is a further update on the "Goods taken by force" issue:
An update on the Shelter Box issue from this morning's update.

What happened was the Shelter Boxes were sent into a Rotary warehouse in error and they (Shelter Box and French army) had come to get them back. Those in the warehouse as I can tell did not realize this recieving error and accepted the supply, and were not happy that they were being taken away from them.

Shelter Box and the Rotarian Haiti ground team met this morning and have sorted out the issue and should be good going forward. Understand that there is a lot of confussion on the ground given the circumstances and Shelter Box has been working extraordinaruily hard to get the boxes to where they need to go in the midst of this confussion and in very difficult circumstnces since the very begining.

They are doing a great job.
PDG Dick

Children enjoy returning to school, which helps them escape from the trauma of the earthquake. Photo Source: The Salvation Army Blog USA

Humanity in Motion in Haiti

2010-01-30T10:29:00.000-05:00

Video: You Tube -Rotary International Channel

UPDATE FROM HAITI: PRID Barry Rasin- January 27

2010-01-29T09:46:00.006-05:00

Salvation Army Volunteers are seen unloading and setting up for distribution food and water. The distribution totaled more than 260,000 meals, 1600 gallon bottles of water to help in preparation of the meals. The entire distribution effort was concluded in four hours. Source: Salvation Army Blog USA

On Wednesday January 27, 2010 a delegation of Rotarians (PRID Barry Rassin, RIDE John Smarge, PDG Richard McCombe and PP Carla McCombe, DGE Diana White) and others visited Haiti to meet with Rotarian leaders on the ground, visit the epicenter and further coordination of Rotary relief efforts to Haiti. PRID Barry Rassin has issued the following summary.

Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts Summary

District 7020

January 27, 2010

On Wednesday January 27, 2010 a delegation of Rotarians (PRID Barry Rassin, RIDE John Smarge, PDG Richard McCombe and PP Carla McCombe, DGE Diana White) along with one Orthopedic Surgeon (Dr. Patrick McGrath) who would stay, and ZNS News Anchor Jerome Pyfrom and Videographer Burton Wallace flew from Nassau to Pignon, Haiti. Our purpose was not to visit the epicenter but to meet with the Rotarian Leaders who have working tirelessly to bring relief to all they can.

We met at the Hôpital de Bienfaisance de Pignon which is run by DGN Dr. Guy Theodore. Dr. Theodore, AG Caleb Lucien and Adele Noel-Romelus from Pignon met us at the airport and transported us to the Hospital. AG Dr. Claude Surena, PP George Nicolas and Jean-Baptiste Brown flew to Pignon from Port-au-Prince to join us and ensure that we understand the present conditions and anticipated short term future needs of the most affected areas. Dr. Surena is our Rotary Disaster Chair for Haiti and also the President of the Haitian Medical Association and was appointed by President Preval to coordinate the receipt and distribution of all medical relief. His complete involvement into the relief efforts of the country is a great help for us to understand what is happening and what we need to do to assist. The Rotarians from Pignon have been coordinating the delivery of items sent in by Rotary to ensure they get to the appropriate people.

We only had a few hours as Dr. Surena had to return to meet with President Preval. When the meeting concluded we toured the Hospital which is overloaded with victims from the earthquake. We also toured the Hosean Mission and saw the housing for visiting physicians.

Below I have summarized the primary points made during our meeting:

The Government of Haiti immediately called a State of Emergency for three months which will enable an easier and more efficient entry of goods and medical personnel into the country. This could be extended to six months.

The acute relief efforts are coming to an end over the next couple days.

The next phase will be on fixed clinics and then hospitals as the medical care becomes much more focused.

They are working closely with the World Health Organisation to get the supplies and equipment needed for patient care.

Orthopedic supplies and strong antibiotics (Bactrim, Cipro and Keflex) are still the most urgently needed in the medical area and will be for some time.

72 yr. old retired Salvation Army officer Lt. Col. Herb Rader undertakes an operation in the Salvation Army clinic in Port-au-Prince. (Photo: Jeremy Watt/The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory)Source: The Salvation Army Blog USA

The Hospitals have been treating and the patients are recovering to go home but they have no home to go to. The plan is to put tents up next to the Hospitals in order to provide a step down situation for the patients out of the hospital.

They estimate a need of 200,000 tents to house those who lost their homes. Not necessarily full blown shelter boxes but just the tents.

Dr. Surena suggested that one possible Rotary project, in partnership with other agencies, would be to establish a Rehabilitation Center for all those who need Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Psychosocial Counseling. In conjunction with the facility we need to establish a workshop for artificial limbs (DGE Diana White has begun discussions with the Rotary Jaipur Limb Project to plan for establishing locally the necessary workshops). There have been a substantial number of persons with crushed limbs resulting in amputations.

The School System in Port-au-Prince has been shut down. Those migrating to unaffected areas of the country are now causing an overflow situation in all schools that are available to continue. Many children have no school to attend.

The Government is now setting up a committee to handle the airport landing priorities as the Port-au-Prince airport has been overwhelmed.

Significant Rotary manpower will be needed but not yet.

They are in great need for psychological counselors who speak Creole.

There is probably no more need for Rotary to supply medical teams as other organizations have now geared up and are providing appropriate manpower in the medical arena.

There is an urgent need for Food and water and that will continue for some time. While fixed and pre-prepared foods are good they would like to see more of a focus on staple goods like Rice and Beans. They will need to provide about 150,000 meals per day for many months to come. They are able to buy some of the basic food items locally for distribution if they could receive cash donations to do so. That would also help the economy.

They need clothes including shoes as they lost all of their possessions. They ask for separated and sorted clothes.

They understand the need for an overall plan for relief and will begin on that task as they can; however they must do all they can to sustain life and develop an ability for the population to become self sufficient in the short term.

They have begun a concerted effort to locate Rotarians from all of the five Rotary Clubs that were affected. We will develop a report from each of the five Rotary Clubs so that we can also support them and assist them as individuals as they are also victims of the disaster. They have lost everything and need our help.

We are considering the purchase of a truck for Rotary in Haiti in order to help them move the high volume of supplies from the ports or the airports to those that have been targeted for distribution and assistance. What Rotary sends in aid is received by Rotarians and distributed to those in need.

All of these priorities listed does not mean that there are not other needs like x-ray machines, autoclaves, or specific supplies, but these listed are considered the top priorities for Rotary to pursue.

We in Nassau are now organizing a cargo ship to take into Port-au-Prince all the collected supplies from Rotary in The Bahamas, The Red Cross and the Methodist Conference. We are able to fill about 12 containers or more and so it will be much more effective to spend about $40,000 for the ship to transport the goods. We will ship when the Port is ready to accept which is expected in two weeks. We will need the cash to pay for the ship but the containers are being lent to us at no charge. Again our Rotarians will meet and unload and distribute.

The Rotarians in Haiti greatly appreciate the outpouring of support from Rotary in The Bahamas and the District 7020 but also from all the neighboring districts and around the world. They are strong and positive and will continue to work to bring their country to the healthy, vibrant and productive country that it needs to be.

They specially thanked PDG Richard (Dick) McCombe for his incredible support and assistance from the first moment of the disaster. They also thanked RIDE John Smarge and DGE Diana White for our District 7020 for taking the time to fly in for this visit. They also appreciate the hard work being done by Rotarians within our District led by our excellent District Governor Errol Alberga.

We ask Rotary Clubs and Rotary Districts to consider the above and work with us to focus on their needs for today. However, please keep in mind that this is a long term relief effort and we will be part of the rebuilding and will need significant cash to participate in meaningful projects as time goes by and we have a plan in place for us to help implement.

I am proud to be a Rotarian and know that Rotary around the world will work side by side with our Rotarians in Haiti to bring them to a new and positive era for their country.

Happy residents benefit from a orderly and dignified process of receiving food from a generous and caring world via The Salvation Army. 261,000 meals were distributed in four hours by volunteers and staff of The Salvation Army’s Earthquake relief operation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Source: The Salvation Army Blog USA

Please stay current with the needs as the transitioning of relief efforts will continue.

Barry Rassin

PRID 2006-2008

Source: Rotary International District 7020

EARLYACTORS COLLECT WITH COMPASSION FOR HAITI

2010-01-28T11:37:00.003-05:00

Rotarian Natasha Parchment-Clarke had bribed her friend Sophia Alexandropoulos with a belly full if she would spend the morning driving her mini-bus to collect donated children’s clothes from schools in Montego Bay with EarlyAct clubs and deliver them to the Salvation Army headquarters. So over a hearty homemade breakfast, the route was planned, appointments were made and then the duo set off with Maxi Priest energizing them on the stereo.

The first stop was Naz Children’s Centre in Ironshore where the children’s clothes drive began as an idea of the EarlyAct secretary – 7 year old O’Neil Campbell. The school secretary and the Principal appeared with bag after bag of clothing, shoes and blankets until the mini-bus was filled to capacity – the door was slammed shut and the bags pressed down so Sophia could see out the back. Click Here to read more on this amazing effort by our EarlyActors!

Immediate Medical Needs in Haiti -- Updated January 21

2010-01-27T22:38:00.002-05:00

Dear all,

Here is the latest list issued by Claude

Immediate Medical Needs in Haiti -- Updated 21 Jan 10

Antibiotics (oral & IV):

Cloxacillin
Amoxil
Bactrim
Cipro
Fucidin and or Bactroban
Futhithalmic/ophthalmic gtts/oint

Analgesics: (liquid, tablet, injectable, IV)
Tylenol or Advil
Codiene
Morphine or Demeral injectable

Other Medicines:
Gravol liquid, tabs, injectable
Xylocaine 1% or 2% with and without
Anti-inflamatories (oral and IV)
Anti-asthmatics (oral and oral sprays)
Anti-bacterial solutions
IV fluids -- NACL, Dextrose 5%, DW with NACL Ringer lactate

Orthopedic Supplies:
Steinman pins
K-wires
Splints
Casts
Cast padding
K-nails
External fixators
Bandages
Betadine
Alcohol
Orthopedic drills
Big scissors
Softbank gauze
Surgical masks

Other Supplies:

Gauze, cling, dressing supplies, bandaging (all sizes)
Adhesives
Suture materials
Disinfectants (wound care/sterile saline, etc)
Gloves
Syringes â?" 1cc/2cc/5cc/10cc
Needles (22, 25, 18gauge)
Alcohol
Plastics bags
IV sets, a lot

Immediate Food Needs in Haiti

Rice
Beans
Cornmeal
Dried foods
Canned foods
Powdered milk

PDG Dick

Source: Rotary District7020 Haiti Updates Blog

Update from PDG Dick: January 25

2010-01-25T22:17:00.002-05:00

The day before yesterday we had a couple flights come in from the US with medical supplies gathered by our South Florida Rotarians with the pick up coordinated by PDG's Larry Labadie and Phil Lustig. They came in on two planes owned by friends of ours from Kentucky.

Yesterday was a very rewarding day as were able to reach the suffering on the ground directly again with 6 flights of medical supplies. There were 4 from the Bahamas and 2 from the DR with an aircraft provided by the BVI. There may have been a few others that came in, but I was in Pignon Haiti and missed all emails and phone calls. Our DR Rotarians (Charles Adams) have been very generous in resupplying the flights from Port de Paix in the DR to save the return flight to the BVI for supplies.

We brought Dr. Kevin Tetsworth into Pignon with us yesterday who hails from Australia. He is an Orthopedic Surgeon who has volunteered to help out while on vacation. Unfortunately he is desperately needed in Les Cayes but Dr. Leger said to hold off until we get the Orthopedic supplies there necessary to do the surgeries. There are currently 50 waiting at his hospital. Pignon has some limited supplies left so only the surgeries that they have the supplies for are being done.

I flew into Pignon on one of the flights yesterday with supplies and a number of Bahamian Rotarians. We were graciously met by Guy Theodore, Caleb Lucien, ADG Adele, President Evinel and a contingent of local Rotarians. We went to Dr. Theodore's house and held a meeting at which we discussed our relief efforts, their needs and tried to understand clearly how best we could help them and what direction things would take going forward. This was very productive and helpful. I am going in on Wednesday with RIDE John Smarge, PRID Barry Rassin, DGE Diana White, and PP Carla. We will meet with Haiti Disaster Chair Dr. Claude Surena, PAG Nessim, PAG Caleb, DGN Guy. We are going to try to get a consensus of the stages relief that will be required and a cleared understanding of what role our fellow Haitian Rotarians want us to take. They will guide us on this.

After our meeting we toured Dr. Guys Hospital in Pignon. Most of the patients came from one of the affected areas. They had been brought there in the back of a truck bed by surviving family members or total strangers. These was a young girl going into have both her legs amputated. The Volunteer Doctor that met us told us that her mother had arrived with her after struggling for her own life. As I understood it she had not eaten for days, and had lost her other 2 children and her husband. Carla came with two duffle Bags of Teddy bears and she gave the first one to her. We gave the Teddies to all the children in the hospital. Tragically there were some that did not even know they got one. The pain and suffering that those poor people suffer is something none of us will ever comprehend.

After that we toured Calebs Camp where he is housing some of the refugee children. They were cooking up dinner for 200 that were at the Hospital. The venue could well turn up to be a refugee Shelter site. I will keep you posted.

Our St. Croix shipment encountered mechanical problems and has been working on them. It is now scheduled into PaP tomorrow morning.

My classmate Phil Lustig and Larry Labadie have consolidated another shipment and the flight is due into them in Vero Beach tomorrow morning. If they can turn the flight around in time, they may make a run into Pignon with the supplies.

We have 8 doctors that arrived in Miami tonight that we are trying to get into the hospitals in Haiti. We are trying to coordinate that right now. Worst case, is they come to Nassau tomorrow and go into Haiti Wednesday.

We have a couple of Dialysis machine offers that we are still coordinating. One is on the way to South Florida right now. I am waiting on Dr. Claude Surena's advice as to where it needs to go.

Dr. Greg Hoeksema from Cayman is in town with us on his way to Haiti. He has spent the day with local Rotarians inventorying the medical supplies and sorting them so we can more easily send them out to the specific hospitals based on their exact needs.

I urgently still need an Autoclave and a Dermatome. The Autoclave is the tool sterilization piece of equipment, and the Dermatome is used to lift the skin for the skin grafting. Can anyone help with this?

We have a Telethon tonight in Nassau to raise some additional funds. I will let you know how we make out.

I know Jamaica was trying to get some goods into Haiti but had been struggling with the Southern Command air restrictions so I await the results of that. All disaster coordinators need to send me any new relevant info so that I can post it.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks
PDG Dick

Source of Videos : CNN

Update from PDG Dick - January 22 - A synopsis of Rotary's Relief Efforts

2010-01-22T22:04:00.002-05:00

Montreal police officer Hugo Letellier delivers food to an orphanage in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, on Jan. 26, 2010 as part of a United Nations program. Photo: LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO Star

I wanted to share a synopsis of the District 7020 relief efforts as I see it right now. As we move forward we will be redirecting our efforts as the needs dictate, and everyone's input is important and appreciated. (We will) post this on the Blog and we welcome your comments and recommendations as we consider and develop our next steps.

When the earthquake struck, the International Community undertook to provide relief for the victims through the normal response organizations such as, United Nations, USAID, US and other countries' military response teams, International Red Cross etc. I will call that group, "The Machine" for the purpose of this synopsis. Within days "the machine" was arriving in Port au Prince (the front door) and beginning the painful task of rescue and relief coordination. The magnitude of the destruction and the number of injured, buried and dead was enormous and dealing with that was the primary focus. They undertook to: Provide medical aid to the injured, dig from the rubble and save the ones that could be saved while there was time and opportunity. Remove and bury those that were not fortunate enough to survive to prevent disease. While that immediate need was addresses, "the machine" also began to put in place a temporary infrastructure to provide basic life necessities such as food, shelter, water and medical care.

While that was happening the Haitien People were doing the same, They were trying to provide medical aid to the injured family members and friends. They were trying where possible to dig from the rubble and save those that could be saved while there was time and opportunity. They were removing from the rubble their families and friends, and many of them were evacuating Port au Prince to distant communities in the country where they may have family or friends or was just safe, and that may not have been as badly damaged from the earthquake. Many of them took the sick and wounded to these communities for care as the immediate medical response in the Port au Prince area was nowhere near up to the challenge of the required capacity. The sick wounded and scared began to move back to the country!

That's where District 7020's Rotary Relief initiative comes in. We had 17 Rotary Clubs in Haiti and in excess of approximately 350 Rotarians. (last calculation, but its close). These Rotary clubs are spread throughout the country of Haiti with 5 of them being located where catastrophic destruction had taken place. Port au Prince, Delmas Airport, Petion-Ville, Carrefour, Jacmel were most seriously affected. There was damage in the other communities but not as catastrophic. The daily reports I have submitted describes our Disaster Relief response to Haiti. Our relief effort began with our first flight of medical Supplies and support going in on Friday. We went in "the back door" into the communities where we have Rotary Clubs and those that were not on the radar yet of "the machine" but to where Haitians were evacuating to. This has continued as you know every day since we started. 57 flights as of yesterday and approximately 55,000 lbs of medical supplies. The numbers of the sick and wounded numbers arriving in these communities has been going up every day, and the challenges they face has begun to change from immediate medical aid to shelter and life sustenance needs.

"The machine" has now dealt with its initial priorities in Port au Prince and the surrounding most affected areas and is now building the infrastructure for a comprehensive relief and recovery effort and is now and moving deeper into the country with its relief efforts.

Rotary must now re-evaluate what we should be doing next as far as our relief effort is concerned. Some of the issues we must consider are:

The ballooning population growth in these small communities is beginning to tax the basics of life, such as shelter, food, water, education, not to mention the medical aid. What should Rotary be doing about this? In the past this has been our community focus?

The health and strength of our Rotary Clubs is at risk. If we are sick, wounded and tired it makes it very difficult for us to care for others. How do we help sustain and support our Haitian Rotary Clubs and Rotarians?
What role should we play as international aid begins to come into our communities? Should we do as we have done in the past and find a community need or should we specialize and pick one or two main focus area that we should concentrate on?

How do we partner with other international organization, many of whom are specialists in one area. Do we help coordinate that with them or do we let them do that and find our own focus area?

How do we continue our fund raising and what do we do with the funds we receive? How long should we plan the cycle of fund raising and spending on this initiative? How much do we want to raise and spend and on what?

Orphaned Children and misplaced families need to be supported by some sort of infrastructure. Is that something we should be thinking about.

The mental health of the suffering in this nation is being challenged, What role do we have in that?

Construction quality and the need to rebuild. Should we be educating people on proper construction practices and should we reconsider our bricks and mortar rule in this instance?

These are just thoughts, and I welcome your comments and ideas. Many of you have experiences that will help us make sound decisions. Please share them.

Rotary Shares. Yes ! Yes ! Yes!

I thought I would get that in! I am meeting with some of the Task Force team on Sunday in Pignon to discuss the current status and our efforts in the Northern Region, and we will be meeting with Claude Surena and the Haiti Rotary Leadership on Wednesday next week in Port au Prince. PRID Barry, DGE Diana White, and RIDE John Smarge will be at the Wednesday meeting.It is most important that we listen to our fellow Rotarians on the ground in Haiti and follow their advice.

PDG Dick

Source: Rotary International District 7020 Website

Update from PDG Dick - January 21

2010-01-22T08:16:00.013-05:00

Video source: CNN

Dear Fellow Rotarians

We had two flights today from Nassau into Haiti today. We had the Odyssey Caravan loaded with 3000lbs of medical supplies for Pignon and another flight sponsored by Van Meurs Corporation and taking in some high end medical supplies with the Red Cross. Unfortunatley when the Caravan arrived the Pignon grass strip was fogged in so Captian Paul Aranha went back to Cap Haitien. Caleb called his brother who met the flight there and secured the supplies while the Pignon Hospital truck drove to Cap Haitien and collected everything. It went very well and the supplies were at work with the sick and wounded last night when I spoke to DGN Dr. Guy.

A young woman begs for her leg to not be amputated after doctors concluded that it had to be cut off. PHOTO: Shaul Schwarz / Reportage via Getty Images for TIME

The second flight arrived later and went directly to Pignon. They were received by the ground team, given a tour of the hospital dropped the supplies an left. I hope to hear from them this morning.

We had some interesting Air issues yesterday. A gentleman that was adding his plane to the fleet from the Bahmas had to ditch in the sea on the way down here. No injuries but very unfortunate. Another flight lost an engine due to catastrophic failure on take off, but he was empty so all was well. He called me last night and has borrowed a friend's plane and has an engine on the wait for his. The challenge ahead is Inagua is out of gas and does not expect to have any until Wednesday next week. We will now need to fly through Georgetown Exuma with the small planes for refueling which adds to distance and time. Our Caravan uses jet A so it's still OK.

A boy injured in the earthquake is treated by a medical team from Cuba. According to medical workers, he is orphaned; both of his parents were killed in the collapse of their home. Photo: Timothy Fadek / Polaris for TIME

It was a very difficult day on the communication side yesterday. I did not get through to Claude Surena at all and neither did any of the ground team so we are still struggling with the communication is a big way. I did hear from Assistant Governor Ted Lazzare. He had moved out of his car and into a Shelter Box and felt that he could venture further now that his wife and daughter were properly sheltered. We were also able to give him some cash so he can get some supplies and gas. He will be trying to locate some of the Carrefour members and assist with their plight.

I will be meeting with the Red Cross today in Nassau. They have received enormous amounts of "Stuff" for Haiti. Much of it is still outside their building and they are sorting. If there are critical supplies there we will take them and get them on the ground in Haiti in the next short while. The rest of the stuff can go with our Sea shipment which is being planned now. We are trying to secure containers in Nassau and Freeport which can go down. A number of Rotarians are trying to secure a barge that we can ship on. I have contacted a fellow Rotarian from the Petionville club in Haiti and he will provide the trucking for the goods. We can container ship to Cap Haitien and truck down or Ro-Ro barge to St. Marc or Gonaives, so the plan is coming together. This shipment will be things like food, water, beds, blankets, heavy supplies and clothing as a filler.

The surgical tent in the Hospital yard in Les Cayes is imminent. I should have final times on that later today.

Residents use buckets to collect unsafe water streaming into an open sewer. Municipal water pipes were damaged by the earthquake, disrupting the supply of drinking water. Photo: Timothy Fadek / Polaris for TIME

St. Croix has a barge in St. Marc full of 1200 cases of water and additional supplies. I will try to get information on that for you today. The Tortola X-Ray machine and supplies are in the air and will be in Port de Paix by noon today. Yves will meet the flight. There are two Doctors on board that flight that are being dropped in Pignon and will go to Claude Surena's house/clinic when they arrive. The Dialysis machines are still needed.

We have 100 water boxes couriered to Miami and in the queue and destined for Haiti consigned to our team down there. I will try to find out how we can move them through quickly today.

I'll keep you posted.
PDG Dick

EarlyActors join in the Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort

2010-01-21T10:42:00.001-05:00

The day after the earthquake struck Haiti, a young 7 year old Montegonian began thinking about how he could personally help children just like himself who had been affected by the tragedy.

Read about what this 7 year old is doing to help the Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort here.

Rotarians Party for a Purpose & Raise Funds for Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort

2010-01-21T10:20:00.002-05:00

Pictured left to right: Kamal Chuganey, Raveen Dadlani (Fellowship Chair, Rotary Club of Montego Bay - Sunrise), Manoj Ramchandani (President, Rotary Club of Montego Bay - Sunrise), Nishant Sevkani, Amit Rupchandani.

Rotarians and friends partied for a purpose on Saturday 16 January raising almost J$ 500, 000 from a handful of Montegonians, who were worried and affected enough to donate to the Haitian earthquake relief fund.

What should have been a birthday celebration for Raveen Dadlani, turned into a fundraising social at his trendy home in Ironshore, Montego Bay.

When suggested by the Director of Rotary Club of Montego Bay Sunrise, Manoj Ramchandani, he was eagerly supported and the word spread quickly throughout the Rotary family. Attendees included members of The Rotary Club of Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Montego Bay East, Montego Bay - Sunrise, and the soon to be chartered Montego Bay – Rosehall.

‘Twas a contradictory evening of revelry and remembrance as wine passed between candles lit for lives lost and conversations swayed form friendly chatter to tragic commentary and even a respectful moment of silence.

After dinner and drinks Amit Rupchandani picked up his guitar to entertain the group with his talent. In a flash, all Blackberries were out and song lyrics were being accessed and requests were being made thick and fast; Neville Scott played the guitar next to a choir of faces lit by Blackberry screens then Rory Frankson crooned a few classic pieces before the guitar returned to Amit and popular requests.

Amit Rupchandani and Neville Scott musically entertain guests

As guests departed, they were optimistic that they had contributed to the relief of their neighbours in Haiti whilst, unlike them had families and homes to go to for the night.

Written by Natasha Parchment-Clarke

(Rotary Club of Montego Bay)

Update from PDG Dick - January 20

2010-01-21T08:15:00.001-05:00

Video Souce: CNN

Today (Actually yesterday, Jan 20th) I had some challenges! It was to be a lay day in the air as we had the Haiti ground team transporting supplies into Port au Prince, thanks to Caleb and Hosean Ministries large Bus and someone's truck. This got done and all the Medical Supplies were delivered to Claude Surena in PaP. Additionally a Shelter Box and supplies were also delivered to ADG Ted Lazarre who has been living in his car. Thanks Caleb for that personal rescue mission.

We had two flights today from Nassau into Les Cayes Haiti. Unfortunately we had a mix up with our flight partners and some of the stuff that went there was supposed to go to Pignon and Verrette but we dropped it never the less and will make up the balances to get Pignon and Verrette sorted out in the next day or two as we acquire what is needed and or requested by them. Les Cayes is in good shape with the exception of a few specific items which we are working on as well.

We have a team out of Florida and another out of North Carolina that are prepared to set up a surgical tent in the Hospital yard in Les Cayes. That is being organized today and I should have an update ion it in the next day or so.

St. Croix has a barge which is landing today if all is as planned in St. Marc full of 1200 cases of water and additional supplies bound for PaP. Tortola has also located an X-Ray machine and supplies and they are on the way and should be in Port de Paix Friday. We still need additional X-Ray machines. PDG Richard has located some from a St. Croix connection and we will organize them today. The Dialysis machines are also still needed.

Our Immediate Past Assistant Governor Eves Martial advised me that the team into Port de Paix was making great progress with the surgeries and they are going to be needing some supplies soon. That's on the top of the list for today.

Dr. Batsch from the Pignon hospital sent some pictures and some X-Rays to show the work they are doing as well and as soon as I can I will get them posted to the site.

St. Croix has sent 1200 cases of water and additional supplies by Barge and are intended to land in St. Marc and transhipped into PaP. I am following that and will advise how that goes.

I probably missed something but will add it to tonight's info.

I'll keep you posted.

PDG Dick

URGENTLY NEEDED in Haiti

2010-01-20T14:34:00.005-05:00

Two men carry a child with a splinted leg on a makeshift stretcher in Port-au-Prince
Photo: JONATHAN TORGOVNIK/REPORTAGE FOR CNN

Dear all,

I need portable x-ray machines and orthopedic surgeons and surgical nurses for haiti.

Please contact me if you can help.

Thanks

PDG Dick McCombe

Photos: CNN

Update from PDG Dick - January 19

2010-01-20T12:54:00.011-05:00

Video Source: CNN

We had two flights today from Nassau and 1 from Tortola into Haiti. The flight from Tortola had Dr Klas Buring and Dr Belkys Rhymer on board along with the orthopaedic tools and supplies necessary for the surgeries that were waiting. Our Immediate Past Assistant Governor Eves Martial received them. Thank you to the BVI team.

On a side note, the three Rotary Clubs of the BVI and their Family of Rotary had a fundraiser the day before yesterday and raised $180,000 and have pledged to get to $200,000. It's a small country but what a huge heart!!!!! Thank You!

Of the 2 flights from Nassau today one went on to Pignon, and landed on the grass strip there. It is only 25 miles further south but saves 3 or 4 hours of delivery and transport on the ground. Pignon is the home of Caleb Lucien's Hosean Ministries and DGN Guy Theodore's Hospital. In the Rotary fashion Caleb was in Cap Haitien clearing the flights in and his wife Debbie received the flight in Pignon. Thanks Debbie. Tomorrow we are taking a lay day in the air. Caleb has loaded up one of his big school busses and a truck and is making a run into Port au Prince.

The supplies will be sent to Rotarian Dr. Claude Surena in Port au Prince to allocate where needed. We will resume flights in again tomorrow. We have been receiving very specific Medical supply lists that we are continuing to fill. We have sent approximately 50,000 lbs of medical supplies so far and most of them donated. We used some of the relief funds raised to purchase the exact supplies needed and have them ready to be loaded tonight. PRID Barry has a full size Gym at the Western Medical Clinic in Nassau. We have received enough to fill it and it sits about 1/3rd filled today for those trying to imagine the quantity we have moved.

Photo: JONATHAN TORGOVNIK for CNN

As I mentioned we have spoken to our Rotarians in Jamaica and we are now in the process of shipping the big and heavy stuff from the US through Jamaica via Air Jamaica and onto Port au Prince. We have huge generators, water makers, water etc going that way. Nathan is trying to organize for the Southern Command to meet with us to plan the ground distribution to remote sites in Haiti. That will probably work hand in hand with the Shelter Box Camps. More to follow on that if it happens. We will use some of their big helicopters to do lifts out of Port au Prince and drop in sites designated and distributed by Rotarians as mentioned earlier.

St. Croix has sent 1200 cases of water and additional supplies by Barge and are intended to land in St. Marc and transhipped into Port au Prince. I am following that and will advise how that goes. We have 2 inbound flights from the States that are picking up medical supplies in Vero Beach and then on into Nassau and onto Haiti. They are staying with us for a week to do additional runs.

I think we have approximately 15 planes at our service in total right now. Rotary Rocks! And, Rotary Flies too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are trying to organize the barge and should have that completed in the next day or so. That will be a run for the heavy stuff. We are cleared into cap Haitien and should have the ground trans available to get it to Port au Prince.

We are going to need to take fuel to provide for ou=r truckers as that commodity is very low right now. Our club in Carrefour is desperate for some. Unfortunately we can not fly it so we are trying to get some to them from within Haiti.

The way forward is beginning to be more strategic as we are able to find out more information on what is happening on the ground and the international relief becomes more organized. We have been very effective in providing support where the "big guys" have not yet been able to get to yet, which has avoided wastage and duplication of effort.

I plan to go down with a small team in the next short while to assess where we are with the ground team in Haiti, but will only do so when they feel that is appropriate and will not impede what they are doing. I have been told that the quake that hit Cayman on Tuesday morning did not do much damage.Thankfully that is the case.

Keep up the great work with the fund raising and supplies collection through you local relief efforts throughout the district. This will be a very long process and every effort that you have made will eventually be put to use on the ground there when appropriate.

Please let me know what you have done and if there is any way I can facilitate getting it on the ground for you.

Thank you for the support.

I'll keep you posted.

PDG Dick

UPDATE from PDG DICK: JANUARY 18

2010-01-19T16:21:00.009-05:00

An old woman whispers a prayer while sitting outside her quake damaged home in Port-au- Prince, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. The woman was one of more than 100 old men and women living outside the home with no food or care other than an occassional bath from two orderlies who remained to help.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Another brief update.

We got 7 flights off the ground and in the air for Haiti today. Of those flights, 6 will go into Haiti directly and the 7th, the Caravan will do a second run from Inagua. We dropped in Cap Haitien, Les Cayes and Jeremie. The Methodist group was able to get 20 plus of their missionaries out on these flights

An old man lays on a bed outside his nursing home in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. More than 100 old men and women were living outside the home, that was damaged during Tuesday's earthquake, with no food. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

One flight from the BVI arrived Cap Haitien around noon full of Medical supplies. They return tomorrow with one Orthopaedic Surgeon and his tools and medical supplies and one EMT. They will be clearing and going through to Port de Paix. Our Immediate Past Assistant Governor Eves Martial will be receiving him.

Tomorrow we are looking at 3 flights into Cap Haitien. We are going to do a trial run into Pignon tomorrow to see how it works. It is closer to Port au Prince and will eliminate the ground transportation cost for that distance south. The supplies will be sent on to Claude in Port au Prince.

An old woman lays on the ground outside her earthquake damaged nursing home in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. With no food or medical care, some of the remaining 100 patients have already died of starvation(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

We have 2 very specific Medical supply lists that we are filling now for Port au Prince and Les Cayes and will have them ready to fly Wednesday morning. The balance of our donated medical supplies will be gone and we will begin to send the blankets and food as the main items. We do send in water but at $0.50 a lb it follows Meds and food on the priority chain.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

We have spoken to our Rotarians in Jamaica and we are making preparations to ship the big and heavy stuff from the US through Jamaica via Air Jamaica and onto Port au Prince. PRID Barry is working the details out on this with Dennis Chong.

Nathan is trying to get the Southern Command to agree to use some of their big helicopters to do a few lifts out of Port au Prince and drop in sites designated and distributed by Rotarians. Details to follow.

Our Team is doing well in Haiti given the situation. Pray for them as they work almost around the clock. Special blessing to PAG Caleb Lucien for his extraordinary efforts as the point person in Haiti for all these supplies.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

PDG Dick

Rotary in the News - Rotarian Claude Surena takes in over 100 earthquake victims into his home

2010-01-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

Photo: Associated Press

Haitian doctor takes more than 100 patients into his home as refuge from devastation
By Mike Melia (CP) – 3 days ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — It wasn't long after Tuesday's earthquake levelled nearly all of the houses next to Claude Surena's that neighbours started showing up at his doorstep.

For years, the 59-year old pediatrician had treated the sick at his two-story hillside home near the centre of the Haitian capital.

Suddenly, he was running a triage centre, treating more than 100 victims on his shaded, leafy patio with food and supplies salvaged from ruined homes.

Read the full story here at The Canadian Press.

UPDATE from PDG Dick - January 17

2010-01-17T23:10:00.006-05:00

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

Today's update will be brief.

We got 11 flights off the ground and in the air for Haiti today. Of those flights, 10will go into Haiti and one will go to Inagua.

The flight time from Inagua is less than an hour and much easier for the small planes so we are stockpiling there One flight has left from the BVI and is going through Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and on to Cap Haitien tomorrow. We are hoping that after clearing in Cap it can fly on to Pignon. We will know this later.

We have 3 pallets of Medical Supplies in Vero Beach and are working on the flights to get that to Nassau and on to Haiti with our Bahamas Methodist Habitat partners. Turks & Caicos has organized some more Shelter Boxes and they will be sent shortly.

Nathan has a container on the way to Miami and we will know more about the delivery method soon. We have asked for an indication from the on the ground medical team for specific medical Supplies needs and I will post for you as soon as I get it.

I believe Michael Terrelonge will be starting a blog for us.

Look for his announcment.

Thanks PDG Dick

Lionel Michaud cried after finding his 10-month-old daughter among the bodies outside the central morgue.

His wife was also killed when the building they lived in collapsed while he was at work.
Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

UPDATE from PDG DICK- January 16

2010-01-17T11:41:00.004-05:00

Doctors in a search-and-rescue team from Miami explained to Ajnor Amel, 55, right, and his wife, Lina Blanxfort, 53, that to save their son, Herby, 21, from the rubble they might have to amputate his foot. The team extracted him without an amputation, but it was not clear if he would have access to the medical care he needed to live.
Photo: Maggie Steber for The New York Times

A great day.

I am wrong, an EXTRA ORDINARY day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were able to communicate by phone with a couple of our Team in Haiti today, but our Satellite phones did not work. It did not matter we knew what we had to do. Claude Surena who has been one of our Primary Contacts in the Haiti disasters has been designated as the National Coordinator of the Health Commission they are putting in place.

That is a huge responsibility that he accepted at the insistence of the President Preval. Congratulations are due to him.

Our priorities Remain: Money, Medical Supplies, Blankets, Clothes, Shelter, Food, Water.

The Bahamas Clubs today collected in excess of 50,000 lbs of medical supplies, blankets and food.

We sent out 5 twin engine flights to Cap Haitien, of which 2 were scheduled to go on to Les Cayes. They were turned back to Cap due to rain.

Tomorrow we have 10 twin engine flights and 1 DC-3 leaving loaded with medical Supplies to be dropped in Cap Haitien and Les Cayes. We are working closely with the Methodist Ministries and they are bringing back departing missionaries on the return flights. We have another 6 flights schedule Monday.

The Jamaica Clubs together with their military connections are flying in supplies and returning with Jamaican nationals. Their proximity and the availability of these resources makes them extremely effective. They are coordinating the flights with inbound supplies and staffing with Claude Surina as well. Thanks Claude.

Many of the regions have raised large sums of money. As I said yesterday I have not had a chance to confirm these amounts but hope to do so for you soon.

I hope that the note below clarifies the need and importance of the fundraising by all of you across the District.

These fund raising initiatives are VERY important. While everyone wants to get or collect something to send, it becomes painfully clear very quickly that the challenge to get the stuff to where it needs to go on the ground is impossible.

The benefit to the most needy diminishes by the day. Many Rotarians can beg the supplies necessary but many more must do what they do in the fund raising department because that's what gets the job done. We will probably send $150,000 to $200,000 worth of goods down to Haiti in the next 2 days, but it will cost us close to $50,000 to do so. The $50,000 will get the goodwill on the ground where the needy will actually benefit and they will do so while the need is still there. Without it, we would have $200,000 sitting in a warehouse. A point to remember! Goods in a warehouse while they rebuild the port or arrange for shipping after commercial shipping opens will be too late for anybody.

Our container of medical supplies in Atlanta that was going to be transferred to a DC-3 tomorrow has hit a snag and further details will follow.

Our 3 Beechcraft from North Carolina are ready to go and we will coordinate that tomorrow.

PDG Dick

Vinette Zamor, who lost her entire family during the quake, awaits treatment outside the hospital.
Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Update from PDG Dick - January 15

2010-01-16T09:47:00.009-05:00

Photo: BBC News In Pictures

January 15, 2010

A Great day!

PDG Amos and family are safe! Ted Lazarre has been found and is ok!

A very productive day as well. Supplies and money came in in great quantities from everywhere. Our District as always did the extraordinary. One club raised over $39,000 at their meeting, and another one matched it!!!!!! Supplies and funds in every region under the regional coordinators is coming in quickly and in great quantities. Great work clubs and Rotarians. I am sorry that I can not give you exact figures but the funds are going to a number of regional accounts and I am not sure of everything and would not want to mislead you.

Still using Satellite phones to communicate. Caleb, Claude, Guy and Ted. This Disaster Investment has been a life saver. Some protocols to work out yet but generally what a great thing!

Photo: BBC News In Pictures

On the lighter side, we had one flight leave from Nassau to Haiti with medical supplies and a Doctor Ageebe and a Nurse Fountain. Not everything went as planned but we made progress. The plane got there with the supplies which were picked up, but we lost the Doctor and Nurse. OOPS!

We finally found them but the old challenge of communication was interesting. I got a mixed message that they had been dropped in Port de Paix. I could picture them standing on a vacant dark lonely runway looking for someone they may be comfortable staying with until they were found, but in fact they had been left in Cap Haitien at a hotel whose name they did not know and no phone contact for.

The good news is in texting them on their Bahamian cell we were able to ascertain where they were and it was the same hotel we had stayed at when we visited the Cap Haitien club so we were able to use the satellite phone and communicate with Rotarians on the ground in Haiti and by tomorrow at 11:00 they will be on their way to Pignon to help the wounded at Dr. Guy Theodore's Hospital.

The challenges remain that the Port is closed, the airport in Port au Prince is over taxed and on occasion has to turn flights away, and the communication systems are restrictive. We are working around those. We are working with District 4060 (Charles Adams) on a plan to ship by sea to the Dominican Republic and tranship over land from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. We need to overcome the availability of trucks, the boarder and the inland challenges but with their help I am sure we can.

Photo: BBC News In Pictures

In speaking to Shelter Boxes they expect to have 2900 on the ground over the next few week. 900 are there now, and 1000 are on the way with the balance to follow.

We have a container of medical supplies in Atlanta that is going to be transferred to a DC-3 tomorrow and will be in route to Haiti by Sunday. A number of relief flights from other countries have gone in as well. Our Jamaican Rotarians in concert with the Jamaican Government and Coast Guard have sent in an army of supplies and people and are continuing to build their relief efforts.

Photo: BBC News In Pictures

We have 4 flights (Twin engine) leaving Nassau tomorrow for Haiti followed by a DC-3 on Sunday. The 3 Beechcraft from North Carolina to Haiti are due early next week and we will have 4 planes on the ground in Nassau for the remaining 2 weeks available to us and all we need to cover are the fuel costs.

The Donor Advised Fund is set up and we have full exposure on the International Web Sites.

Tomorrow is another day!
Successes to follow!!!!

Another very proud moment for us all.

Rotarian Claude who has been one of our Primary Contacts in the Haiti disasters has been designated as the National Coordinator of the Health Commission they are putting in place. That is a huge responsibilty that he accepted at the ins...istence of President Preval.

Congradulations are due to him. Please do not email him any congratulatories at this time as his email is very busy and he is trying to get things done. Congrats Claude"

PDG Dick

Photo: CNN

OTHER NEWS: We've heard from ADRR Christian Inervil from Haiti who says he and his family are fine. He confirmed also that two other Rotaractors - Pierre Carisme and Dominique - are also fine. Let's continue to pray for them all- Kameika Fullerton Delisser (Rotary Club of St. Andrew North)

Walk For Haiti - Wednesday, January 20

2010-01-15T21:11:00.004-05:00

Photo: James Wray -In Pictures: 'Haiti Earthquake Aftermath'

The Rotary Club of Trafalgar, New Heights and the entire Rotary family in Jamaica are raising funds for the Rotary District 7020’s Disaster Relief Fund for Haiti, to secure urgently needed humanitarian supplies and other pressing needs as identified by those on the ground in Haiti.

As part of this fundraising effort, the Rotary Club of Trafalgar, New Heights will be staging a walk-a-thon at Emancipation Park and surrounding areas in New Kingston, between 5:30-9:00 pm on Wednesday, January 20, 2010.

Photo: James Wray - In Pictures - Haiti Earthquake Aftermath

Walkers are being invited to bring a donation of $200 and a candle.

As many people as possible will be given collection cans, which will be used to solicit funds from motorists and pedestrians during the peak traffic period. Walkers will re-converge at the park for an evening of reflection, forming a human chain around the track for a candle-lighting ceremony.

Departing from Emancipation Park, the planned routes are:

- Group 1: Knustford Boulevard to Trafalgar Road to Devon House entrance and return

- Group 2: Along Oxford Road to Half Way Tree Road to Chelsea Avenue to Dominica Drive to Knutsford Boulevard and return.

- Group 3: Along Oxford Road to Belmont Road/Worthington Avenue to Trafalgar Road to Knutsford Boulevard and return.

Contacts:

Fabian Brown, Club Member and Event Coordinator: 474-2570, stpats94@gmail.com

Allison Hickling, Director of Service Projects: 331-4548, allison.hickling@gmail.com

Photo: James Wray -In Pictures: 'Haiti Earthquake Aftermath'

Rotary Club Montego Bay Sunrise hosts Fundraiser for Haiti Relief Effort

2010-01-15T11:00:00.005-05:00

Photo : SOS Childrens Villages Haiti

Hey Everyone,
As we are all aware, the situation in Haiti is, in the words of Haiti Disaster Relief Chair, "Very Terrible."

As logistics prohibit the movement and storage of "kind" donations at this time, cash is of significant aid.

It is in this effort, that I invite you to a social on Saturday Night, January 16, 2010 at 8pm at Palmshore Apartments, Ironshore, Montego Bay. Food and Drinks will be included.

Contribution is JA $2,000.

All proceeds will go to towards the Haiti Relief Efforts through the District 7020 fund.

As space is limited, RSVP is required.

Yours in Rotary Service,
Manoj Ramchandani
President 2009-2010
Rotary Club of Montego Bay Sunrise
rotaryclubmobay@gmail.com

Photo : SOS Childrens Villages Haiti

UPDATE from PDG Dick

2010-01-14T18:15:00.005-05:00

Photograph by Lisandro Seuro, AFP/Getty Images

Dear Fellow Rotarians

This has been a very fulfilling yet frustrating day. On the fulfilling side we have had overwhelming support from everywhere and everyone again. Thank you so very much for all your efforts.

The District has asked the Assistant Governors to coordinate a local relief strategy for their regional areas. Through this initiative we hope to coordinate the appeal for support, coordinate / consolidate shipments and promote contribution to our relief funds.

We have been able to have communicate occasionally with PADG Caleb Lucien by Satellite phone, but this has been extremely difficult. The needs remain the same with specific emphasis on medical supplies and blankets for right now. We are coordinating with Missionary Flights International to get some stuff flown in and have arranged a few flights from Nassau.

We have been able to get Volunteer Doctors and Medical supplies committed and the flights to get them there as well from a number of our regions. We have the Rotarians from District 7710 who have 3 Beechcraft on the ground in North Carolina ready to come down full of supplies. We have a 40 FT container in Athens Georgia rweady to move with $200,000 worth of medical supplies and on and on

The challenge now is that the airport in PaP is restricting air traffic and some of today's flights were returned and things are backing up and the PaP Port is closed. We have arranged for approval to fly into alternate sites and to truck the supplies to PaP. This is being studied and will be an option we consider for our shipments. We have received approval from the Prime Ministers office to bring in any relief supplies we wish, however this approval does not guarantee access to the airport and port, so it is more of a comfort than a fact.

We have Shelter Boxes, Water Purification Boxes, relief supply Flights, Money and everything else coming in. We now need to position our on the ground team to coordinate it. With the communication that will be difficult but we can get it done.

Sadly we have not been able to reconnect with ADG Ted Lazarre and have not yet heard from PDG Amos and we remain prayerful they are OK.

Not much more to say today without listing the names of the 100's of Rotarians throughout our District and others that have done extraordinary things to get us the support we need, but I believe it would be better just to say a heartfelt THANK YOU from Haiti and all of those you are helping. God Bless You!

A special Thanks to my Haiti Team, Errol, Rupert, Diana and Barry for their usual unwavering support.

I'll be in touch with further update tomorrow.

PDG Dick

UPDATE: HAITI RELIEF EFFORT

2010-01-14T14:40:00.006-05:00

Photo : Blog Salvation Army USA

Fellow Rotarians,

Many of you have emailed or phoned me to ask what are we, as a club doing for the Haiti disaster.

Firstly, we have already sent funds to the account number provided by district.

Secondly, Rtn Keri has been rallying for supplies and been intouch with PAG Haresh and the Salvation Army so that we can team with them to get the much needed supplies into Haiti.

I personally have secured items ready to deliver to any aircraft that will be flying into Haiti at this time.

At this time we are still being asked for funds to be sent so if anyone would like to send donations please forward it to our treasurer Karen so that she can channel it to the right account.

If there is anything else anyone wishes to donate please coordinate with either myself or Keri.

Please read the email below for further information on aid.YIRMichelleThis is the latest email i have received from District.

President Michelle

Rotary Club of Montego Bay

Jamaica Assistant Governors: Some of you are asking how you can best work within the District to assist our friends in Haiti. We suggest and encourage you to coordinate a local relief strategy.

To this end we are requesting that you, as Assistant Governors in your area decide who is to spearhead you local relief program in the various areas of Jamaica and to select a point person for your country who will be responsible for communicating your progress to us.

Please confirm to PDG Dick McCombe and myself whether or not you are able to do this and who your point person will be rmccombe@gussiemae.org

I will be in San Diego next week and it may be difficult for me to communicate promptly so I am requesting you copy DG Errol, PDG Dick and myself on your correspondence.

Photo: SOS Childrens Villages Haiti

Suggested ways you can assist are:

APPEAL FOR FUNDS:Alert the community that your clubs are collecting money to assist Haiti with an explanation that funds will be used both within Haiti to enable Rotarians to carry our relief efforts on the ground and also outside of Haiti to fund the cost of supplies and transportation of large air or sea shipments.

While money is probably the most efficient way we can help, it is evident that many in our communities would like to offer emergency supplies. In this regard, we suggest you ascertain whether collections are being made by other organizations within your territory, contact them and offer to publicize and coordinate the shipping of these collections.

SHIPMENTS:Crowley Shipping transports from Miami to Haiti and we are currently investigating details of how we can coordinate District 7020 shipments to Miami for onward forwarding to Haiti. As soon as we have this information we will pass it on to you. In the meantime, you will need to make your own investigations locally to ascertain how you can get your shipments in to Miami. You will be responsible for getting your shipments to Miami.

AIR FREIGHT:The District is not coordinating air freight but if any of you have access to private planes and offers of flights in to Haiti directly, please notify PDG Dick McCombe with this information.

ITEMS FOR SHIPMENT:It is important you specify the items being collected for shipment, these should be non-perishable foods, over the counter medications that are not past the expiry date, general toiletries. Clothing should be limited to clean, nearly new. In addition, it would be helpful if clothing is pre-sorted into men, women and children packages.

WIRE TRANSFER INFORMATION:If shipments are being organized then funds received should remain in local hands until the shipment(s) are dispatched and paid for.

Any remaining funds can then be wired to the account below. If only money is collected it should be sent as soon as possible.

Please send an advice to PDG Richard Harris of your wire to rwh@candw.ky

Send to: Wachovia Bank, New York

SWIFT Code: PNBPUS3NNYCABA Code: 026005092

For credit to: FirstCaribbean International Bank (Cayman) Limited

SWIFT Code: FCIBKYKY

Account Number: 2000192002655

For further credit to: Rotary International District 7020

Account Number 3481106Reference Haiti Earthquake Relief

US$ Payment by Bank Draft or Cheque (Check):Mailed payment must be an official Bank Draft drawn on a US clearing bank or a cheque drawn on a US domestic bank. (US$ denominated cheques drawn on a bank outside of the continental USA are discouraged as they may be difficult to negotiate)

Mail to: PDG Richard W. HarrisRotary International District 7020P.O. Box 557 Grand Cayman KY1-1502CAYMAN ISLANDS

I thank you all in advance for your assistance to our Rotarians who are already working around the clock despite their own losses, to help those in need in their community.

With kind regards,Diana

UPDATE FROM HAITI: Verrettes Rotarians

2010-01-14T13:53:00.006-05:00

Photo : Salvation Army Haiti

Fellow Rotarians, here is the latest email received about Haiti. -

YIR President Michelle (Rotary Club of Montego Bay)

Dear all:

Thank you for your many emails of solidarity.

Please pass this email on to your ADGs or anyone else who needs it whose email you do not yet see in the reception list, which was not put together for emails such as these!

The Verrettes Rotarians are assessing local damage and providing first response as they can. We will be coordinating with DG Errol and DG nominee Guy Theodore.

The best way to help Haiti, as Rotarians, is to coordinate through our district leadership who will be coordinating in turn with all the Haitian clubs.

In further news, I have received emails this morning that Hopital Albert Schweitzer is jam packed with earthquake victims. If there are collapsed buildings in Petite Riviere than the small MSPP hospital there must also be packed. I have not established contact with them yet but Partners in Health (Paul Farmer's group) is an active partner there and may have news.

Our club also has members from the Ministry of Health's regional health coordination and the maternity hospital in Verrettes. I have not yet heard from that member but I would guess they are handling patients as well.

Resupply of fuel and medical supplies will be the key. Unfortunately not only is the port infrastructure in Port au Prince damaged and bridges between us and Port down. The national Ministry offices and their records involved in customs clearance, and unfortunately some of the ministry workers themselves, are now entombed in rubble.

I suspect we will have to get clearance directly or through Red Cross etc. to bring supplies in through the ports in Cap Haitian, St. Marc, and perhaps Gonaives as is possible. I have no doubt that district leadership and local rotarians are tracking down the key people in the St Marc and Cap Haitian clubs to see what arrangements can be made.

Friends and fellow Rotarians, responding to this unparalleled crisis will take all our clubs and all our connections working together as few other organizations can.

Please keep alert for notifications from the district leadership as they coordinate. The future of Rotary and more than Rotary is most certainly in our hands.

With great gratitude,

Dawn Johnson

President 2009-2010,

Rotary Club of Verrettes 2010/1/13 Rotary Club des Verrettes <mailto:rotaryverrettes@gmail.com>

Photo : Blog Salvation Army Usa

Brief news from the Rotary Club of Verrettes this morning:

There is damage in our area of Haiti - Desarmes, Petite Riviere de l'Artibonite, Borel, perhaps Verrettes itself. Petite Riviere has some buildings collapsed, but not to the extent of Port!

Rotary members and postulants at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital report casualties coming in.

They have power and email, but phone service is still down.

From our Vice President/ President elect Thelius Luckner to Fran, me 8:57 AM (1 hour ago)

Think you for receiving your e-mail so, I´m not too bad in the name of God.

About the earthquake there is a lot of houses destroyed in Port-au-Prince, Petit Goave,Petion Ville, Carrefour Delmas some where else such as the palais of Haiti where the president is, one side is distroyed the palais of Justice also some Schools, so there is a lot of parents who has their children at school in Port-au-Prince who a lot of problems: children die, has broken leg, arm some injury in the body. We already receive some cases from Port-au-Prince to Hospital Albert Schweitzer of Deschapelles. So we need some helps from united state and prayers so there is a lot of city in the others stranges in anothers country such as : Sainto-Domingo, Cuba, who has a lot of Prolbems also.

NB: So we have some employees of Hospital Albert Schweitzer who have theirs children died in Port-au-Prince last nigth, according their parents.

So, according to the station of radio we listen so there are more then two hundred people died in Port-au-Prince.

Finally, we are waiting for your help and your friends also.

What God has laid up for you flad will not carry away,this the proverb of Haitian,
I will let you know everyting during the day.
God Bless you and the care of you

Pastor Luckner Theklius

UPDATE: Haiti Disaster

2010-01-13T22:52:00.006-05:00

Video Source: MSNBC

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

This is the most tragic situation that you can imagine. The support from Rotary and the world has really stepped up to help and thank you for it.

Here is a brief summary of where we are after 24 hours:

We have communicated by Satellite Phone or Satellite e-mail to most of our Haiti Task Force Team. The situation is so grave they are not yet in a position to move or check on others. Currently we know that ADG Ted Lazarre lost his house and his business and he and his wife and child are on the street in front of the Palace with nowhere to go. I received this message from him via his satellite phone and it went dead almost immediately during the conversation. We are trying to coordinate some assistance as soon as we can contact anyone that is in a position to help. We have not heard from PDG Amos and are still working on it. All other Task Force Leaders are accounted for although we have not communicated with all of them.

At this point our priorities are as follows:

In order of priority we are asking for money first and will have a Foundation DAF account available tomorrow and will also have a District Account with detailed information available by tomorrow. I have also spoken to Rotary in the DR and there is a possibility that we can buy goods and services in the DR and Truck them to PaP.

Secondly we are working on getting shelter, Shelter Boxes of which we have approximately 500 organized to start. We are also looking at the possibilities of â?oMash" type tents for temporary housing and medical shelters.

We desperately need medicine and food. A number of containers have been organized throughout the District and in America and we are in discussions organizing the shipping of those containers through a number of international shipping companies (Tropical Seaboard) that are working with us.

We need clean water and have 100 Water Boxes on their way from England. Additional water purification and supply will be necessary as we go forward.

Our Haiti Task Force ROTAH N.G.O. has funded immediate relief for the few that it can reach.

We need another day or two to effectively decimate the situation and to have our Rotarians to tell us what they feel they want us to do.

Rotarian Claude Surena our Haiti Disaster Chair is our primary contact on this and is working very closely with the Government of Haiti and the Red Cross on our behalf. God Bless him. By 7:00 PM last night he had over 100 injured people in his yard and was out of food, blankets and space.

I appreciate your patience and concern. Please pray for Haiti and give something in support. Your fellow Haitien Rotarians will get it to where it will serve best.

Thank You
PDG Dick

The above is an e-mail received by PADG Haresh Ramchandani at 10:20pm January 13, 2010.