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A True Statement
 
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Author and Founder/Chairman of BNI-Business Network Int'l, Ivan Misner
Telling our Story
This is a great membership article.   My thanks to PDG Chamnan Chanruan for sending me the link.
 
TELLING OUR STORY
 
 

Our identity is more than our logo and colors. It is the essence of who we are and what we do. The Strengthening Rotary initiative helps us tell that story in a compelling way. By providing a clear and consistent image of what Rotary stands for and how we differ from other charitable organizations, we offer prospective members, donors, and other stakeholders a compelling reason to engage with us.
 

Research conducted among Rotary members worldwide revealed insights about who we are
 

  • Rotary members are responsible leaders, both socially and ethically. We define leadership by mindset and approach, not labels or titles.
  • Connecting with each other and our communities will always be the driving force behind Rotary.
  • Rotary affects local communities on a global scale to create lasting change.


We found our voice:
 

  • Smart — we are insightful and discerning
  • Compassionate — we tackle community challenges with empathy and understanding
  • Persevering — we find lasting solutions to systemic problems
  • Inspiring — we encourage others to take action, conveying hope, enthusiasm, and passion


We defined three core ideas to help you describe Rotary to a new audience:
 

  • Rotary joins leaders from all continents, cultures, and occupations. 
  • Rotary exchanges ideas, bringing our expertise and diverse perspectives to help solve some of the world’s toughest problems.
  • Rotary takes action to bring lasting change to communities around the world.


Our story hasn’t changed. But how we share it with the world is vital to our future. Through a unified Rotary look and clear and compelling voice, we are enhancing our legacy as one of the most widely recognized and respected organizations in the world.

Start now with the Voice and Visual Identity Guidelines.

 

Mae Tao Clinic
 
 
Introduction:
 
At its humble beginning back in the 1980’s The Mae Tao Clinic was a very simple, one room building with only a rice cooker to sterilize instruments.  Today Mae Tao Clinic provides health care to over 150,000 displaced people per year. 
 
                The Child Recreation Center at the old campus.  Very subject to flooding! 
 
Did you know that the Mae Tao clinic provides free medical service to Burmese immigrants and displaced persons along the Thai / Myanmar border in Tak province?  They see between 300 and 400 patients a day, six days a week!  Many travel great distances to be seen at the Mae Tao Clinic, where they can receive quality medical care in a safe environment. There is no financial obligation for the patients, this health care is funded by donors some large and some small. 
 
Did you know that many big donors have re-directed their giving to within Myanmar, leaving Dr. Cynthia Maung and her team with horrendous funding shortfalls?  While there has been some progress in Burma, many citizens are still ostracized by the government.  They continue to come to Mae Tao Clinic because other options are not yet available.  The most optimistic predictions indicate that the Mae Tao Clinic will be an absolute necessity for at least the next five years.  Most feel the clinic will be needed for at least the next 10 years. 
 
After years in the planning stage and construction since 2011, the new campus of Mae Tao Clinic officially opened 28 May 2016.  However construction continues.  It is anticipated that the full campus will be finished in approximately 2 years (2018).   The lease on the old campus will continue to be in effect until the end of 2017.   In the meantime that area is being used for training rooms and temporary housing.  The acupuncture clinic and the prosthetics lab are still at the old campus and will move in the future.
 
 
Mae Tao Clinic has expanded its scope of service to three main areas:   Health Services, Training and Child Protection.  Learn more at www.maetaoclinic.org  The things they are accomplishing is truly amazing!
 
From the CMIRC’s inception, we have continually tried to support the Mae Tao Clinic  We realize that as a small club we can’t possibly do all that’s needed.  That said, there is much we have done, are doing and will do in the future.  We actively seek other Rotary Clubs to help Mae Tao Clinic.  Mae Tao Clinic touches on all six areas of Focus.
 
 
Peace and Conflict/Resolution:   Their work with indigenous hill tribe and other ethnic minorities makes a difference in conflict resolution within Myanmar and along the border in Thailand.  The medical training and health programs inside Burma also help to reduce tensions.  Mae Tao Clinic’s birth registration program allows babies the opportunity to flourish by giving them the beginnings of opportunities to be educated and work in Thailand, Myanmar.
 
Disease Prevention and Treatment:  This is Mae Tao Clinic’s original and still primary area of focus.  They have programs for the prevention and treatment of denge fever, malaria and much more. 
 
Water and Sanitation:   As their community based training and treatment expands Mae Tao Clinic must deal with water and sanitation issues in poor villages and schools on both sides of the Thai / Burma border.
 
Maternal and Child Health:  This is one of the largest areas of focus for the Mae Tao Clinic.  The new born babies at Mae Tao Clinic have a much lower morbidity rate than babies born in Burma.
 
Basic Education and Literacy:   Mae Tao Clinic focuses on the child.  Their Child Development Center can take as many as 1,000 migrant children.
 
Economic and Community Development:  Mae Tao trains medics to work in Myanmar.  This project touches lives of people who otherwise might not have any opportunity to make meaningful contributions to their society.  The Mae Tao Clinic Training Program alone touches all six areas of focus.  
 
What follows below are a few paragraphs describing CMIRC’s involvement with the Mae Tao Clinic
 
Chiang Mai International Rotary Club:
 
Introduce Members and Guests: Because the Mae Tao Clinic is located in Mae Sot, some 360 kilometers from Chiang Mai, it is not practical to have daily contact.  However, several trips have been organized for the purpose of introducing our members and friends to The Mae Tao Clinic.  The more people who are aware the more support we can garner.  One example is an American Couple Tom and Alene Tunny who are working with their local Lions club to provide support of Mae Tao Clinic’s Eye Clinic.  Another fine example is Rotarian Neal Herman of the Estes Sunrise Rotary Club.  The orientation trips will continue.
                                   CMIRC Members and Guests Visit The Clinic
 
 
New Campus Waste Water Management System.  CMIRC raised 186,000 baht to help fund the waste water management system for the Mae Tao Clinic’s new campus.   The money was transferred to them on 24 February 2016
 
Mae Tao Clinic’s Burma Flood Relief Project  Horrendous flooding occurred in many parts of Burma in 2015.  CMIRC donated 26,400 baht to Mae Tao for their flood relief project.  We knew the money would go to help the flood victims.
 
Boys Dorm:  On the 28th of February, 2015 in Mae Sot Thailand a sugar cane farmer burned a field. It was a windy day and the result was the loss of 2 buildings that were home to 62 boys and 2 teachers from Mae Tao Clinic’s Child Development Center. An emergency fundraising effort spearheaded by a member of Chiang Mai International Rotary Club raised 134,300 baht which was donated to Mae Tao Clinic on 10 March. 
  The boys lost everything that was in the dorm, papers, study papers, clothing, everything! 
 
Child Recreation Center:  As a follow on to the fund raiser for the Boy’s Dorm another 10,000 baht was collected and transferred to Mae Tao Clinic.  Largely because of a an emergency grant The Rotary One, Hong Kong the new Boy’s Dorm was fully funded.   Therefore, we were able to earmark this 10,000 baht for the Child Recreation Center at the new clinic. Money was transferred on 19 May 2015.
 
Dr Cynthia’s talk in Chiang Mai:  On 27 January 2015, CMIRC hosted a public meeting at the Le Meredian, Chiang Mai where Dr. Cynthia Maung, founder of the Mae Tao clinic was our honored guest speaker.  The event was attended by well over a hundred people and raised 104,600 baht
   
                    Dr. Cynthia with students from the BEAM project
 
Surgical Equipment:  In September 2014, CMIRC teamed with the Chiang Mai Expat club to provide some 60,000 baht worth of badly needed surgical equipment to the Mae Tao clinic.  The club recently subsequently received a second list of needed equipment; we are looking at ways to provide these items.
 
CMIRC and Chiang Mai Expat Club delivering Surgical Equipment
 
A Compassionate Connection:  A gentleman by the name of Bill Feetham passed away in Chiang Mai.  His widow Fran Decoster contacted Roger Lindley, our Charter President.  She had several pieces of expensive hospital equipment including a hospital bed, a machine that generates oxygen, an aspirator and much more.  She wanted to donate this equipment to the Mae Tao Clinic. 
 
A couple of days later, on Friday 21 March 2014, two Rotarians picked up the equipment and the next morning we delivered it to Mae Tao clinic where it was put to good use.  This was an opportunity to be of service by provided by a compassionate connection.  CMIRC was able to facilitate community needs and strengthen the bond between Mae Tao Clinic and CMIRC, Bill Feetham has a bit of his legacy at work helping the people who need the equipment. 
 
 
Child Protection Training Program;  We raised 159,700 baht for the Child Protection Training Program. The total budget was 156,700.  The extra 3,530 baht was designated to support the nursery at the Pa-Hite clinic.  Funds were transferred in 4 segments, the last on July 4, 2016.
 
Fresh Drinking Water:  A typical government hospital or clinic in Burma or Thailand does not provide free drinking water other than to inpatients.  The Mae Tao Clinic clients are typically extremely poor Burmese migrants or day travelers.  They simply cannot afford to buy a bottle of water for their children or for themselves.   Problem solved.  CMIRC conducted a fundraiser and has financed 10 water tanks and 8 sets of water filters which are disbursed around the campus.   A total of 81,000 THB was donated for this project.  It is designated for
42,000   10 water tanks at 4,200 each
36,000     8 water tanks filter systems at 4,500 each
03,000     3 years maintenance at 1,000 per year
---------
81,000   THB 
 
The MTC Maintenance Engineer came up with 2 filter systems making it possible to install all 10 water tanks.   This project was a great success.  Thank you one and all who generously gave.
MTC Facilities Engineer and the 1st installed water tank with filter
 
The Next Project:  Hopefully it will be G.E.D. scholarships for deserving students in the the Burmese Migrant / Refugee population.
 
Donations are Gladly Accepted: With your help we can do more.  There are three easy ways to donate:
 
  1. If in Chiang Mai, just hand Jerry Nelson a check or cash.  Contact me at jerry@cmirotary.org or +66 89-556-4293 for more for details.
  2. Make a electronic transfer to the Bank Account we have set up for this purpose:
          

BANK:   BANK OF BANGKOK,  Kad Suan Kaew  branch

SWIFT CODE:  BKKBTHBK

ROUTING NO:  026-008-691 (For USA)

ACCOUNT HOLDERS:  MR WILLIAM CAREY MASON AND MR GERALD EDWARD NELSON

ACCOUNT NUMBER:  531-0-82675-4

(Please send me an email so I can thank you and keep the books strait)

 

 
Please contact Jerry@cmirotary.org for details.
 
 
Last Updated:  7 February 2017
CMIRC Water Safety Program Update
Another class is set for graduation from the CMIRC sponsored children's water safety program at Khru Payu's  Bronco swimming center in Chiang Mai this week.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Children's Sight Project Update
Cooperation was the theme at the most recent CMIRC roaming eye clinic school visit. Jack Giles from Chiang Mai North Rotary and PP Hope Ratcharaprecha from ThingThaiNgam Rotary joined CMIRC members Peter Bell, Joe Evans, Mike Lake, Roger Lindley, and Jerry Nelson at the Wat Lak Pan School just outside of town.
 
Also in attendance were ThingThaiNgam Rotary president Supaluck Lohajoti and Yuhan Giles. Special guest Mady Reid, a Rotary Youth Exchange student, handled all of the color-vision screening at the clinic. Mady, a 10th-grader from Binghamton, New York, has been in Chiang Mai for a month. She's now at a Thai public school, struggling with language, culture, and food challenges, but holding up quite well so far. We hope that Mady can join us on September 7th, when re return to Wat Ban Lak to complete our screening.....the preschoolers she entertained will also be happy to see her again!
 
 
PP Joe Evans handled the initial close-reading screening Wednesday, while Mady Reid checked student and teacher ability to distinguish colors. Mady used her knowledge of Thai numbers to complete this portion of the screening, since most of the Thai kids didn't know the English words for the numbers they saw.
 
 
Yuhan Giles helped a student during the "stereo-vision" portion of the eye screening, which tests ability to see in three dimensions. Yuhan also provided invaluable translation skills to the CMIRC team.
 
 
Another successful school visit for the CMIRC Children's Sight Project team, with gifts of indestructible footballs from One World Play and notebooks from the ThingThaiNgam Rotary Club presented....but what's that tall guy in the back row looking at?
 
 
A Visit to Burma Children's Medical Fund House
On Thursday CMIRC members, led by “Team Wells,” visited the Burma Children’s Medical Fund Patient House. We delivered a "One World Play" indestructible football, and Jeannie Wells also arranged for students from a hair cutting school to visit and give haircuts to the residents. Raelene and David Haines brought Pam Manning, a potential Rotarian, along to see our activities.  
 
The students needed to practice cutting hair and the BCMFH residents needed haircuts - a perfect match!
 
These children have medical challenges that require the talents of the big Thai Government hospital in Chiang Mai. Spending time with them has much improved my spirit. In the photo below the three angels are playing with each other and having a great time. The little girl in the blue and pink has cancer and is undergoing chemo-therapy. The little boy has had some horrible injury to his right arm and the little girl in the red has a very serious injury to her leg. Rejoice in their childlike ability to deal with life. As an aging adult, I learn much from these marvelous children.  These children come from different areas and are of different ethnicities, although they are all from Burma and all have very serious medical challenges. During our visit Thursday afternoon, we noticed a little boy too shy to come out and play. Angel (my nickname for the girl with cancer), and Smiley (the little boy) managed to encourage him to join them. The boy's father was absolutely delighted, as were we.  
      The taller boy was drawn out by the other children.
 
In the West our culture dictates that we must not interact with other people's children without their specific permission, and unfortunately for good reason. Our members are vetted and we have a very strict policy that no adult is allowed to be alone with children. Here we are dealing with people who love us because we care for their children.   
 
   Proud parents looking on.  The man in the green is the dad of the little boy who was too shy to play.  
 
As time goes on CMIRC members will enjoy supporting this patient house and the people they serve, patients and family members.
 
             Jeannie, three of the children and Karl
 
You can learn more about Burma Children's Medical Fund on their website.   Their financial statements are available for all to see.  The work they do is badly needed.   This is one really great organizaiton
 
 
 wi
Read more...
Articles of Interest from Rotary Afar
This article is re-printed with the kind permission of the Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth  in South Africa.  It’s so nice to be connected to Rotarians around the world.
 
 
Speaker @ Lunch - 8 September 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mark Mousley the Pharmacist and Dischem Manager in Walmer Park, has a special interest in Nutrition and educating people to keep medical costs down by proper eating. Sugar causes more deaths from heart attacks and strokes than fats. Pasta, porridge, potatoes etc. all get broken down by the liver into glucose. If you don’t use up this glucose in your blood by exercise it gets stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. Fats get stored as adipose tissue, and these fats that not only go to the tummy and thighs, but also pack around the walls of the blood vessels around the heart and brain!
 
The most nutritious foods are as simple as A,B,C. On the A list are Almonds, Apples, and Avocado - in that order, according to articles by 3 cardiologists from SA, NZ and India. Almonds are the most nutritious food you can get, and 18 per day will help control blood pressure and regulate bowel elimination. Two apples a day are better than one. If you have gastro intestinal upsets apples help the tummy work and so encourage the elimination of the pathogens. Avocado also lowers blood pressure and is full of healthy fats. Berries, Broccoli and Beetroot are tops on the B list, and are essential for your health. Vitamin C is highest in guavas, then strawberries, and oranges are only 3rd on the list.
 
General nutritional rules - don’t eat more than one banana per day, as too much potassium can be as bad for you as too little. Eat veggies raw rather than cooked where possible, and use plenty of raw Olive oil. Always have many differently coloured foods on your plate for all round nutrition. Be wary of salt, sugar and milk - a little of each is fine, but don't use too much. At one stage eggs were considered bad for you, now they are considered good. Just be balanced in all things! Re drinks - red wine and whiskey are the best choices.
 
It is important to note that however healthily we eat, uncontrolled stress can play havoc with our health, as this raises blood pressure and causes cardiac problems.
 
Denise Pudney
Rotary Club of Port Elizabeth
 
 
Bulletin Editor
Mike Lake
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