The Twinning Program 1992- 2010

 
The Rotary Club of Ballarat West has been involved with the Vaiola Hospital in Tonga since 1992. 

We are particularly proud of the great relationships we have been able to build up with the staff of Vaiola hospital. They are great friends, and an enormous relationship of trust has built up. E.g., a young senior Registrar when we first began our program, Dr Viliami Tangi, is now the Minister of Health, and deputy Prime Mininster.

At the present time, (January 2008), they have seen:

• The Twinning Program they fostered between St John of God Hospital in Ballarat and Vaiola hospital in Tonga established with support from AusAID in the form of repeating triennial grants. It has become a significant contributor to the redevelopment of the hospital in Tonga.

• A dental program, started up in 1996 by Dr David Goldsmith PHF and a member of our club annually takes a team of up to 17 RAWCS volunteers to develop dental and medical health services throughout the Kingdom of Tonga. Details of the dental program are also posted on this website

• An equipment acquisition program which has sent at least one million dollars worth of new and used medical and dental equipment over the years to the hospital in Tonga.

• A fund raising program centred around the Matching Grants program of the Rotary Foundation which has raised over $250,000 in 8 Matching Grants. Clubs in Ballarat and District 9780, in Melbourne, in Auckland, in Massachessetts, in Usa and Nuku'alofa (Tonga) have worked with the Rotary Club of Ballarat West in Matching Grants #'s 3263, 5499, 5714, 6550, 9817, 18877, 52394, and 60810 to purchase new equipment for the Tongan Health Sector.

• Carl Miller Discovery Grant #0764 was awarded to send a team to Tonga to investigate the supply of softer water. This led to MG#18877, which provided two water softeners, renewed the roofing over the kitchen, laundry and engineering workshops, and collected the water for the laundry, inter alia.

• Worked with Donations In Kind in Geelong to ship 1-2 containers per year of equipment requested by the staff of the health system in Tonga. DIK have been very co-operative and professional. Using DIK has taken a large load off our shoulders, as they look after every aspect, except for acquisition, funding, and inservicing of this enormous mountain of aid.

• Worked in conjunction with Interplast, and with Dr Michael Toohey's Ophthalmological team, which is funded by the Pacific Island Program of AusAID. Michael, also from Ballarat, has led his eye team on 7 trips (an annual affair now). As for members of the twinning program and the dental RAWCS teams, he has developed special relationships with the clinicians in Tonga, and has been able to seek out needed items like operating microscopes, lasers, etc. The Rotary Club of Ballarat West has raised funds to help pay for these items, and through DIK in Geelong, shipped them to Tonga for Michael to do the Inservice education.

I believe that the Rotary Club of Ballarat West, through these programs, has placed the hospital and health system in a strong position to get the very best results out of the recent rebuilding of the hospital at Vaiola.  We hope that we have been able to help the staff devel clinical skills and equipment to make this hospital an example for modern health care development in the South Pacific.

John Oswald
Vaiola Hospital Project Co-ordinator
The Rotary Club fo Ballarat West D9780
8 Jan 07