Posted by Gordon Cheyne
We had a good turn-out at DIK on Saturday, sorting through heaps of “stuff”. In other words, we re-packaged several pallets of assorted medical goods.  
 
It was a bit like opening the Christmas presents: we were never sure what we would find. Some boxes were nicely packed with a single product, and others were a real mixture. 
 
10% of our club turned out, and two fourth-year Medical Students from Monash University who had come along to see what DIK was all about, stayed on to help. Fortunately several nurses and midwives were there to keep us correct, both medically and politically.
 
We were basically putting stuff that looks alike into basins: “What’s this thing for? What’s the difference between triangular bandages and the others, and why do we separate them?  It’s a catheter, isn’t it: cardiac or foley’s.  So what?”  Yes, we worked it out.
 
The morning tea-break was an opportunity to network with the new Passport Rotary Club, and to discuss opportunities with Rotarians from other clubs who had come to see a presentation on Cambodia by PDG Bronwyn Stephens and District International Chair Jenny Foster.  Daryl Steer, next Tuesday’s speaker on Clean Water for Cambodia, and Dr Peter Gray of Phnom Penh Rotary Club added constructive ideas.
 
As we settle into Shed 39 in West Footscray, we are gradually getting things into order.  Moving from Shed 40 before Xmas meant taking down and re-assembling all the shelving, and re-stacking the pallets. In the rush, things were put wherever they could fit in our two medical aisles. We have nearly cleared the back-log of donated goods, and now can see what we have on the floor and shelving. Can we now start making a list what we have?
 
Because Hawthorn Rotary contributes to the rent at DIK, and help out regularly, we have access to the goods for sending. There is an abundance of beds and other goods ready to fill another container, and over the past few months we have been carefully setting some aside. Show us the money and we will send a container to Cambodia for a new surgical wing at Kampong Speu.
 
Thanks to Andrew Crockett, Katrina Flinn, Peter Lugg and Noel Halford for your enthusiastic assistance.  
 
Next Working Bee?  First Saturday in November! Alternatively, come along any Tuesday or Thursday.
 
Our photos show Peter Lugg with a publicity poster, and one of our busiest Working Bees, when a class of school children turned up to help.