Sonny Belenkie introduced our speaker Laverne Bissky, founder of the No Ordinary Journey Foundation, which is dedicated to revolutionizing the care, treatment, understanding, and acceptance of children with cerebral palsy in Vietnam. Ms. Bissky's family knows CP first hand, as her daughter was born with the disorder. She told us the occurrence of CP is consistent around the world, and its incidence has remained constant over time. However, attitudes towards children with CP vary widely.

 

On a trip to Vietnam, Ms. Bissky was struck by how children with CP are largely housebound. By comparison, children in Canada such as her daughter have a wide array of supports that allow them to lead fuller lives. In her first act of charity, Ms. Bissky arranged to have a wheelchair sent to a child she met in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the intended recipient passed away before the wheelchair arrived. This even led her to found the No Ordinary Journey Foundation to train CP caregivers in Vietnam. She shared the story of a Vietnamese child in the NOJF program. This young girl previously had to be carried everywhere. After working for three weeks with a NOJF trained therapist, she was able to walk on her own with a walker.

 

The NOJF is an ideal organization to partner with Rotary. Over the past five years, NOJF has been the recipient of one global and three district grants, and Ms. Bissky has been recognized by Rotary.

 

At the conclusion of her presentation, Walter Haessel thanked Ms. Bissky by presenting her with our customary certificate acknowledging our donation made to CAWST in honour of her address to the club. Following this, Walter awarded an honorary Paul Harris Fellowship to Ms. Bissky as our acknowledgement of her making a difference in the lives of children in Vietnam who are living with cerebral palsy.