Rotary free IOLT operations.....So that the poor blind may see a bright new dawn!
Bonaventure D'Pietro played on his saxaphone to bid Adieu or Vaya Con Dios to the Past Rotary International President Rtn. Rajendra K.Saboo after his short visit to the Rotary Club of Mapuca at the Intra Ocular Lens Transplant [IOLT or cataract]surgery community clinic held at Vrundavan Hospital & Research Centre, Peddem- Mhapsa, Goa. D'Pietro, who has played in the Durbar Hall of the Goa Raj Bhavan and at the Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur, is also a famous Konkani novelist whose latest detective thriller, Janya-Celi, has caught the fascination of readers in Goa and abroad. Alexyz Fernandes, the famous Goan cartoonist on Sakal's Gomantak TIMES newspaper and who has had his works displayed all over India and Europe, as well as Joel D'Souza, the man behind Daily Goa News Clippings [DGNC]on Goacom and Editor of the Konkani tabloid GOENCHO ULO, were present on the ocassion. PRIP Rtn. Raja Saboo was an embodiment of simplicity and concern for the poor and the less privileged. When asked by the reporters of the visual media as to what his advice would be to the Rotarians in Goa as the the past Rotary International President, he replied, " I am a Rotarian. In 1991-92 I had the privilege of heading the international organisation as its President. some others become Club Presidents, others become Governors. We are all Rotarians. My advice to Rotarians, not just in Goa but all over the world, is to work to help the needy. A Rotarian must feel wanted by the society, he must be there to help the less privileged" When queried by the vernacular media, he replied in Hindi with words giving the same advice. Earlier, in the Operation Theatre with Dr. Prassanna Parulekar and Rtn. Dr. Digambar Naik, PRIP Rtn. Saboo appreciated the facilities available to the Rotary Club of Mapuca at the ISO 9000 certified VHRC to carry out the Matching Grant Project of the club with finance from The Rotary Foundation, the Rotary Districts 3170 [India] and 2400[Sweden] and the Rotary Club of Solvesborg- Sweden. He said operations in Lesotho-Africa do not have such facilities and yet Rotary is at work doing the best it can for the less privileged. Rtn. Saboo went round the pre-operation ward and spoke to the patients. One of them was a 90 year old man who was recommended by Dr.Chandrakant Shetye, an opthalmologist in Mhapsa who was earlier involved in a similar project in association with Rotary Club of Oklahama City [South]-USA. When asked how come he came to VHRC for the Rotary programme, he replied that he was made to make many trips over four months to another facility and the operation date had not yet been fixed. Then he approached Rotary and here he was on the way to an operation later tonight after just one visit to Vrundavan Hospital. Charter member of Rotary Club of Mapuca and one of its past Presidents, Rtn. Jacome Saldanha was the seniormost Rotarian present for the visit of the PRIP. Also present were Past Presidents Rtn. Avadhut Pokle [the first Chairman of the IOLT project], Rtn. Rozendo Mendonsa[who made fellowship the lynch pin of his term and introduced the current President, Secretary and Treasurer to the world of Rotary], Rtn. Dr. Digambar Naik [who re-started the Rotaract Club of Mapuca during his Presidentship in 1996 and it has produced 2 DRRs in 3 years!] and IPP Rtn. Viraj Paraz, during whose term the IOLTs really gained momentum. Also present were Ann Mangala Digambar Naik, the adminstrator of the Vrundavan Hospital, PDG Dilip Salgaocar [the designated 'Contact Person' when the new MG project for IOLT was applied] and Rtn. Pamela Cabral [ the "Additional Contact Person" for MG#058106], Rtn. Mohan Koul, Rtn. Guruprasad Pawaskar [ the new club dynamo], GSE team member/TRF Alumni who has recently been inducted as Rotarian, Rtn. Dr.Chandrashekar Kelkar and the latest member, Rtn. Clive Harry and his wife, Ann Gillian. Cesar Cabral helped document the event. Ms. Doris Faria did likewise. It is now 10.00 P.M. IST and the operations that began at 3.00 P.M. have ended. The patient-beneficiaries will sleep well with the confidence that they will wake up to a brighter tomorrow. The IOLT project of our club has had an astonishing 100 percent success rate. All the systems are in place to assure success. All care is taken to ensure it. Not for nothing is Vrundavan Hospital & Research Centre a ISO 9000 certified hospital! As I demit office as the Club Secretary what better way would I choose than to give my blood to someone in need through the Goa Medical College and VHRC on the penultimate day and assist a score of persons to see a brighter dawn while we go to bed on the last day of the Rotary Year One-O-One? The Rotary Motto remains ever the same: SERVICE Above Self Lord bless the Rotary International. May its tribe increase with more dedicated men and women joining its fold in every club. Viva Rotary. Rtn. Miguel Braganza Club Secretary, 2005-06 Rotary Club of Mapuca. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org