The Spirit of Rose Charity

Karamoja Bicycle Project; 'Ugandan Mechanic'

2011-09-26T13:14:00.001-07:00

Su's lovely garden: A lesson for we all, not to mention urban planners

2011-09-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

1,000 National Trust allotments created! from National Trust on Vimeo.

Cholera in Haiti - Amy Osborne

2010-12-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Cholera

by Amy Osborne on Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 9:38am

i was hunched down by a bed, making a patient drink ORS when Deska, our driver, came up and tapped me frantically on the shoulder. he tells me in French (most people here speak creole) that there is an emergency. i follow him to the other ward and find a teenage boy lying half-naked on one of the cholera beds. i think to myself that he must be mortified to be lying there, so exposed, his naked buttocks hanging over the hole cut in the cot so his diarrhea will simply fall into the bucket placed below his bed. as i get closer i start to see that he's not mortified because he's barely conscious. his eyes have sunken into his head and the skin on his face is pulled taut over his now-prominent cheekbones. i rush over and feel for a pulse in his right wrist. it's not there and his hand is cool. i grab his other wrist and there's still no pulse. i tell deska to run for one of the doctors and he goes. i feel the boy's neck and i can't feel his carotid pulse. i know he's alive because his breathing is fast and furious. i ask one of the nurses for a stethoscope and she tells me there are none. i ask her to start an IV in one arm and i'll start one in the other. she gets to work and can't find a vein- he's severely dehydrated. another nurse comes in and i ask her where the doctor is. she shrugs. I tell her to start the next IV and i go run for a doctor who i'm hoping, at the very least, will have a stethoscope and, at the most, will be better at starting IVs on severely dehydrated patients than we are. i find Kanako and she goes to find one of the elusive doctors while i go back to check on the boy. his breathing is slowing down. his brother, who has clearly been told in my absence that ORS is the key to survival, is trying to pour ORS down his throat. i want to tell him to stop because the boy is barely unconscious and can't swallow, but i also know that it's too late for this boy and i think the brother needs to feel that he did something. i notice something white coming out of the boy's mouth and i look closer- white foam is bubbling out. it begins to pour out of his mouth and both nostrils. at first i wipe it away, but then i notice that he's not choking on it because he's no longer breathing. i sit back and just watch it flow out. the doctors arrive and one of them stands back and observes (he has a tendency to be less than inclined to touch cholera patients) while the other doctor does a few half-hearted chest compressions. we haven't been able to find a vein and there is nothing more to be done. it's over.

there is little time for compassion in a cholera outbreak. the "corpses" are highly contagious and need to be quickly cleaned with disinfectant and then put in a body-bag to be buried. i want to give the family time to grieve- they just lost a 19-year-old boy- but the families of the other patients want him gone immediately. someone runs for a body-bag. i pull the sheet over his face as people are gathering around to gawk. his mother is in shock and doesn't seem to believe that he's really gone. she goes over and pulls the sheet down. she touches his face. she pulls the sheet down further and touches his stomach. then she touches his feet, one at a time. i don't know what she's looking for it, but she doesn't find it. she sits down beside him and looks incredulous. I am about to be the only person in the room to cry so i step out onto the balcony and take deep breaths. i manage to pull it together.

Someone arrives with the bag and Kanako lays it out on the bed next to his. together we open it and his mother and brother take his arms and legs and lift him into it. Kanako and i reach in and take his hands and lay them on his chest. then we zip the bag closed, over his still open eyes. he doesn't look dead. he looks like even he can't believe that he's gone- that one day he was a normal teenage boy and the next day he died the most degrading death a human being can ever experience.

cholera is merciless. it robs you of any and all dignity you once had. untreated, you can lose up to 20 litres of fluid a day in the form of diarrhea and vomit. you will lose all of your strength and you will literally lie in a pile of your own diarrhea until you die. the management is simple. you need fluids. it's just that easy. cholera treatment centers (CTCs) are easy to set up. it just takes resources- people and supplies. it just takes someone actually caring.

why this STILL hasn't been properly implemented here, I have no idea.

I don't know why I have such a strong belief in justice. but i do. as a Christian, a Libra, a woman, a human being... I have this intrinsic belief in justice- that the world is just. or more realistically, that it can and should be just. in spite of all of the places i've been and the things i've seen that have shown me time and again that life is anything but just, i still believe it can be. and what's happening here isn't just.

Word Love - just as wonderful as ever....

2010-07-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

www.WordLoveWorldLove.com The Word Love magic continues... the idea is timeless..

2009 Charity Rose Recipient: Mike Webber, New Zealand

2010-07-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

Mr Mike Webber (left of picture) of Rose Charities New Zealand has been awarded the 2009 Charity Rose Award. Over the last 8 years Mike has given copious amounts of professional time, not to mention funds and materials of his own to establish refraction services in Cambodia at the Rose Charities Clinic. Mike was also one of the pivotal persons in re-establishing the Clinic from its debilitated state after it was totally looted allegedly by an American expatriate in 2002. He has personally taught at the clinic, training local refractionists. He also helped establish the current main refraction course in Cambodia operated by other major ophthalmic NGO's. Mike has elicited donations of very valuable equipment, materials and supportive funds. Together with Dr David Sabiston also of great stature and importance to the Clinic Mikes work for Cambodian eye issues has been unparalleled. Mikes has worked the world over. Born in Kenya, he continues involvement with Fred Hollows Organization and NZ Aid in the South Pacific. Despite a very busy schedule in this area he took on assisting Rose purely out of the kindness of his heart. Two years ago Mike Webber was awarded NZ's highest civilian honour - the NZ, Order of Merit.

In the photo above, Mike is seen with Dr Hang Vora (CharityRose2006), Dame Silvia Cartwright, Natalia Vora, and Mr Bun (a refractionist trained by Mike) . Below is the Award Ceremony, at the Khmer Surin Restaurant at the Rose Charities 3rd Intl. Meeting on Saturday 26th June 2010

The Charity Rose Award is awarded once a year and only to one person. That year thus 'belongs' to the recipient, and is shared with no-one else. Recipients are carefully selected (within or outside of Rose Charities members) and vote made. It is thus the ultimate Rose Charities acknowledgment of the charity of the recipient. Mike is a deserving winner.

The film clip below shows Mike Webber training at The Rose Charities Cambodia Eye Clinic

Doing an Iron-Woman Event for Cambodian Physio-therapy: Joanna Thomson

2010-05-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

BEAC winning documentary of the year (2010): by Caroline Carter

2010-04-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Caroline Carters BEAC (Broadcast Educators of Canada) 2010 wonderful award winning film

And a child shall lead them. .. Gail Belchers story

2010-03-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Journey

The date was December 26th, 2005. A huge tsunami had hit the coasts of many countries in South East Asia. It was devastating!

All my life, for as long as I can remember, I was going to grow up to be a nurse and go to Africa and help the sick children. It was my personal dream but life got in the way. I got married, had two children and all the rest is history. But I never forgot the children---

My nursing career took me to the children in Canada. Not the children with cuts and bruises and fevers---but the children with hidden illnesses, sometimes silent illnesses of mental health. Neurological or societal---the children of broken homes, abuse, loneliness, sadness, loss, depression and sometimes rage. It was where I wanted to be.

At least until I saw the children of South East Asia on television in my cosy living room. Suddenly my childhood longings leapt to the forefront of my being. It was time to go! and go I did!

I retired from the BC Childrens' Hospital and, by April, I was on a plane to Colombo Sri Lanka. There was no reasoning with me. It was something I had to do. I have no idea what made me believe that I could journey to the centre of all those tears and be of some help to the children there.

The physical devastation was everywhere. The beach was strewn with the belongings of the dead. One of the doctors said that when he was standing on the beach, he felt that he was standing in a sea of ghosts. I never forgot that.

The Tamil people were so friendly and so eager to tell their stories. I don't know how many stories I bore witness to while I was there. Aduts and children alike would wander up to me on the beach or on the streets of Kalmunai to tell their story. I believe that this sort of informal sharing in the community is something we have lost in North America.

This youngster was only too happy to tell me the story of his escape up the trunk of the tree he is standing beside. He escaped not just once, but twice, up the same tree. There were two waves that hit the shore, the second one was the larger. It took me a couple of days to acclimatize to the vast extent of the destruction.

Rose Charities already had our man Anthony on site in a house in Kalmunai and he had already hired a team of approximately 12 young people who were our counseling team. As an aside Anthony is the Canadian man of Sri Lankan origins who was followed by Global TV at the time of the tsunami. He and his wife and two daughters had lost a total of 56 family members in Kalmunai. He quite simply had to go and he has not returned, instead running Rose Charities Sri Lanka on a shoe string budget.

It was my responsibility to go out to the schools with the counseling team and meet with the students one classroom at a time. There was a total of 18 schools that we were involved with. The teachers at these schools had started school classes in very early January in an effort to bring some normalcy back to the lives of the children. There were many teachers who died; many teachers and principals had family who had died; many students at the schools had died; everyone had lost many friends.
These teachers and principals are the true heroes of the tsunami.

The task was formidable! The counseling team started with the youngest students at the hardest hit schools and moved on from there. These are the bravest young people I have ever met. Imagine having the courage to walk into those classrooms and support those children in their loss and grief. These young people had no formal counseling knowledge. They had lost family and friends as well. My job was to teach and supervise their work with the children.

Mostly what I taught were little things---make eye contact, get down to their level on your knees, stay calm yourselves (breath, breath, breath), offer comfort, be reassuring, touch them on their arms and shoulders, listen, listen, listen., answer questions, ask questions, smile when appropriate, observe for signs of PTSD---child by child, desk by desk, classroom by classroom, school by school, camp by camp. Arrange a central room for play therapy on Saturdays, travel out to the isolated camps on Sundays. We did art sessions. We did plays about the tsunami.
We demonstrated the tsunami with a balloon full of wate. We had the children sing songs for us. We had them play games with us.

These children are truly amazing! They are resilience personified. When they said, " A very good morning to you ma'am", they chirped like little birds. I will never forget their beautiful smiles or their soulful eyes or their exhuberance at play, in spite of everything---their openess, their trust, their honesty.

Initially the children were doing artwork about the tsunami. With simple crayons and paper they drew pictures of their life before the tsunami, pictures of the tsunami and then pictures of their life now, after the tsunami. The counseling team would mingle and talk to them, offering support and encouragement while they were drawing. Sometimes the children would cry. Sometimes they would talk. Sometimes they were silent---and sad. Later, we would have them draw pictures of their future. They are very studious and they all wanted to be doctors and teachers and lawyers and nurses when they grow up.

We did a special project at one of the schools. I had brought squares of plain beige cloth with me to Sri Lanka. We had gathered a special group of children who had experienced major losses from one of the schools. They were selected from all the classrooms and were all ages. They were asked to trace their hands with crayons onto the cloth and, then to draw or print anything they wanted on their squares. It was magical! Some of the squares were joyful, some were full of sorrow and some were full of anger. From these squares I created a quilt. It is hanging now at the Childrens' centre in Kalmunai.

Another modality we used for the older children was to have them write their stories, although they did love being able to draw. I remember the first group of high school students that we did this exercise with. The children were not used to having crayons or coloured pencils--or even plenty of pencils. Especially, they weren't used to having paper. Often they would take a school exercise book and, when it was all used, they would erase all their work and start writing in the book all over again. The focus and the energy that these brave young people put into their stories was nothing short of amazing. They wrote and wrote their little hearts out. Some of them even wrote poetry.The plan was to have them share their stories with each other in smaller groups in the future, although I was not there for that experience.

The counseling group took the time to process that experience with me the following day. They read one story in particular and then translated it for me. There were no dry eyes that day! It is the one quality that these young counselors possess that has stayed with me. They are not afraid of the tears!

When I left Kalmunai, I cried. I waved goodbye to the team from the car window. At that moment I think I knew that I would be back!

The Return

It was clear that the counseling team would need more skills to move forward with the Kalmunai kids in the future. What those skills would be was unclear. It was felt that there was so little available to the kids both inside and outside of school. They were no toys, no sports equipment, no places to play. Everyone was afraid of the beach. Any open spaces were filled up with camps for the homeless. We had delivered cricket sets to some of the schools and camps but there was so much more to do.

My husband is a Youth Counselor who also happens to have played a lot of sports in his "hay day"---principally basketball! So in November I returned to Sri Lanka, husband in tow. We visited schools and camps. We discovered basketball courts. We gave out awards for the Elephants and Roses art competition. We opened bank accounts with money for the winners---yes, they had a little childrens' bank on site at the school and the childrens' passbooks were so cute with pictures of elephants on them.

Most importantly, my husband was able to start some basketball games with the kids. I was the sideline Mom figure who gave the kids healthy treats, talked with them about life, learned Sri Lankan language from them and also gave them crayons and paper to draw with. Some of them were still expressing trauma about their losses during the tsunami through art.

We met with CIDA and World Vision, wrote initial proposals for project money and tried to sell the idea for a childrens' center in Kalmunai. Money, money, money--- moooney! Play is so critical in terms of the children having an opportunity to work out their losses and their stressors. But these kids had no where to play and nothing to play with.

The Memorial
Our counseling team and Anthony and those amazing teachers and principals have done it again. They organized, not one, but two memorial marches for the childen in Kalmunai---one at 6 months and one at 12 months. They lit candles, they marched from one end of town to the other, passing 18 schools on the way, they sang, they prayed Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian prayers, but most importantly they gathered in huge numbers to mark the day when their world came tumbling down.

The Peace Project
One of the members CIDA spoke quietly to my husband as we were leaving Sri Lanka. He said, "Why don't you write a Sports for Peace proposal and submit it to CIDA?" Now this man is a Sri Lankan who was educated at st. Michael's School in Batticaloa, close to Kalmunai. From my story you will recall that this is the one place in Sri Lanka where basketball reigns supreme. He is a basketball fan! He wants to start with a Basketball for Peace program. So we came home and Rose Charities began writing serious proposals.

WHY?
Because the 22 year civil war is escalating. Because these children have never known anything but war. Because Rose Charities sponsored an art competition for the children. Because the topic was Peace and all that was received in Vancouver were drawings of war. These children have no concept of what peace looks like because they have never known it. Yes, it has happened. In April 2007, CIDA approved a grant to our program in Kalmunai for $220,000. The title of the project is Sports for Peace. Steve Nash has been contacted for support. This means that countless Hindu, Muslim, Sinhalese and Christian children will be brought together to play in peace and harmony. The land has been purchased and prepared for the childrens' center. More money is needed to build it. When it is opened, it will be called The Tsunami Memorial Childrens' Center. There will be a healing garden there. The plants have already been planted and will be moved there before the opening. There is a huge rock in this garden, a strange rock formation that was found on the beach. The plaque reads:

"---AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM"

Our very own Iron Woman .... Joanna Thomson

2010-02-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

Joanna Thomson, Perth Physiotherapist and director of Rose Charities Australia, is training up to carry out an iron-woman event for Rose Charities Australia programs to assist disabled people in Cambodia. Joanna is setting up a poly-rehap unit for the Cambodian poor in conjunction with Rose Charities Cambodia and Operation FIRST Cambodia. First-Rose ( www.FirstRose.org ) currently is Cambodias leading family rehab surgery unit, providing free or cheap operations for cleft lip and palate, burns victims (including acid burns) and other disabilities. It operates from a proper Ministry of Health facilities

Touching note from volunteer in Port au Prince

2010-02-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

For those who have not met him, Dr. Pargat Bhurji is a pediatrician at Children's Hospital BC and a frequent and generous volunteer with Rose Charities. Dr. Bhurji and RN Kirby Pirckard recently arrived in Port au Prince with the latest Rose emergecy aid mission. Dr. Bhurji has just sent back this brief, touching message.

I am fortunate to be on this mission. A lot of work needs to be done, Sick, tiny dehydrated babies are at the top of the list. When I first arrived I worked with a French pediatrician, setting up tents for pediatric and neonatal care. Every day we get more than 10 admissions plus over 100 outpatients. Despite lack of proper resources, medication and equipment we are able to help.

On my birthday I saw a 32 week old boy whose parents wanted to name Pargat! After many tries to pronounce it in Creole we settled on calling him Peter. It was the best birthday gift ever.

I am glad that God gave me this oppotunity to serve.

Letter from Haiti

2010-02-08T13:56:00.001-08:00

The following is a message from one of our volunteer nurses in Haiti: "Its sad here but intensely beautiful even with all the destruction and poverty. They have beautiful landscape and people. I feel like what I’m doing here isn’t enough... I had a woman who told me she had been pregnant for 12 months...I was so busy, I assumed a doc would look into it but I don’t think one had the chance. Supposedly women often have horrible fibroids in their uterus or ovaries or something and so they think they’re pregnant.   It’s so disorganized, bad writing everywhere...not enough pain meds...education not getting through to patients but of course wonderful things happening too. It’s more medical poverty issues and not so much trauma but i do have some ortho patients and an amputation.    Yesterday I took care of a mother and baby and the mother was hiv positive but wasn’t telling anyone. The baby was 22 days old and only weighed 5lbs which would be a birth weight even to be concerned about. So mother hadn’t breastfed understandably and a lot of the mothers here over dilute their formula as a way of rationing. The little guy was malnourished and dehydrated but such a trooper. I fed him and held him lots and made sure the mother was ok with that. I’m getting more and more patients each day and a ton of the group is leaving so I’ll probably end up having 12 of my own patients in the next couple of days. No idea how I am supposed to help anyone when it’s like that but I am trying.

Our usual day is we wake up in the morning around 6am, have breakfast at 7, take an hour-long bus ride to the hospital. Then I took at the pieces of paper next to the patients and try to figure out what I can do for them. It’s mostly antibiotics, pain meds, and then giving meds in a ziploc bag to patients and family and giving them instructions on when to give stuff. They’re great about it. We get off at around 5pm so not super long but we don’t take days off unless we are sick.   We take the bus home and we wear masks cuz of all the fires and dust. It’s good because then I can have a bit of a cry and no one notices.

The other people I am working with are fantastic. We have 5 GPs, 3 surgeons, 10 nurses and other randoms. I’m one of the only non Haitians here. They thank us for coming seeing as how we have no ties to the community but I don’t really see it like that.   We are all people."

Sikh generosity - material and of spirit

2010-01-31T16:44:00.000-08:00

Rose Charities has been enormously touched by the generosity of the lower mainland Sikh community in helping with its fundraising efforts for Haiti medical relief. In this disaster scenario, Rose Charities, along with a number of other smaller organizations quickly accessed Haiti through the Dominican republic while the bigger organizations were trying to clear the gridlock at Haiti Airport which was hampering their efforts.

Rose Charities, working with AMDA was thus able to get medical teams in place rapidly. The Sikh community in B.C., Washington State and other areas collected around 5 millon dollars. Much of this was given to M.S.F for its excellent work but Rose Charities also benefited from its generosity with several tens of thousands. By supporting the smaller scale though rapid and efficient efforts of Rose Charities (which has no administration costs) as well as larger groups, the Sikh community demonstrated an excellently balanced approach. Many people considered that a more proportionate response from donors to a be more inclusive of the smaller, more rapidly effective organizations would have increased overall rapidity and efficiency of relief efforts, but these organizations tend to find it hard to compete with the well financed publicity units of the larger organizations which tend to have the resources to rapidly monopolize the attention of the media. In its donations to Rose Charities the Sikh community also patriotically supported a Vancouver born and run organization, and one which has assisted in almost all major disasters of recent years (Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Myanmar typhoon, Sichuan etc) and many minor ones (Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia etc etc) .

Dr Pargat Singh Bhurji a pediatrics Consultant at the B.C’s Childrens Hospital was in addition one of the first to volunteer with Rose for Haiti disaster relief. At this time, Dr Bhurji is in Port-au-prince working in a tent-pediatric unit which they have helped to set up. In 2005, Dr Bhurji was leader of the 4th Rose Charities medical relief team to Kalmunai, Sri Lanka.

The organizers of Rose Charities Canada are touched and honored to have been in receipt of such generosity by the Sikh Community and want to express their very considerable gratitude. Dr Pargat Bhurji will, on his return be central in orchestrating the continuing medical aid efforts for Haiti which will be greatly assisted by the Sikh Community donations.

The Organizations below were especially generous in their donations. These came from their congregations often from persons who do not themselves earn very highly. In addition, many individuals handed donations directly to Dr Bhurji or Rose Charities personnel. One of very many similar examples of the incredible generosity was truck driver, who gave half his months salary in cash - some $1000 with the words ‘the people of Haiti need it more than me’

Of special mention here for generosity are

Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Temple, Delta
Khlasa Diwan Temple Abbotsford Surrey
Mission Gur Sikh Society

Thank you !

On palliative care - by Dr Jessica Otte

2010-01-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from Dr Jessica Otte’s amazing blog writings   http://drottematic.wordpress.com
(Rose Charities Cambodia was privilaged that Jessica elective’d there in 2009)

"I am not an expert in palliative care, but hopefully by the end of my rotation, I will have deeper insight. In my present understanding, palliation involves treating all aspects of a person’s ‘unrest’; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, relationship, and other concerns are what we can help the terminally ill work through. Our focus is not on curing the disease. A team involving doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, spiritual leaders, family, friends, counsellors, and outreach/community care aides, has the patient at its centre; together, we work to come up with a plan. There are some common aspects to these plans:
·    Worldly: getting affairs in order (i.e. making amends, assigning power of attorney etc.); filling out the Palliative Drug Benefits plan
·    Spiritual: reconnecting or gaining strength from faith, perhaps by speaking on a regular basis with a minister, rabbi, or the hospital chaplain
·    Symptoms: being free from pain or uncomfortable symptoms; bone pain, nausea, trouble breathing due to fluid on the lungs (pulmonary edema) are some pretty common issues with many terminal illnesses, like metastatic cancer; care may also involve consulting appropriate specialists to see if they can be of service (eg. would the patient benefit from a surgical debulking of their tumour
·    Living Will: deciding what to do if things get worse: exploring whether the patient could benefit from an attempt at resuscitation or whether a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order should be signed; drawing the line for other interventions (eg. refusing a ventilator for ALS/Lou-Gerig’s disease); figuring out who will serve as a proxy decision maker should the ill patient be unable to do this herself
·    Dying: making a plan around dying – would they prefer to be cared for at home or in hospital?; exploring how much intervention would be desired (eg. if a cancer patients happens to contract an infection in hospital, should we treat the infection or not, with the possibility being that they succumb to the infection before the cancer)
·    After death: making a plan for after death – funeral arrangements, finalizing a will, etc. which is an important way of sparing the surviving family from decision-making in the most difficult of times
End-of-life planning and sorting out these issues may be a practical and necessary part of the job, however, much of our efforts are centred around helping someone enjoy their remaining time with their loved ones, and to aid them in the process of confronting death. I have never been terminally ill, so I do not know exactly what it would be like. I cannot sympathize, but I can empathize. I can imagine how it could be difficult and frightening for some, and welcome or calming for others. I understand the manifestations of grief, how different they are from person-to-person, and can help someone to recognize that their feelings are normal. I cannot take away their feelings but maybe I can help them be more comfortable with having them. There is no pill for uncertainty or regret, but re-framing thoughts can offer a way to cope.
I can sympathize with those losing a loved one, as I have already been in those shoes. This is one time in medicine where sharing my personal experience may benefit my patients (or their families). I remember the first time I had to tell someone they were dying – she handled it better than I did! Since my preceptor made me do this on my own, I tried using some ideas from the SPIKES mnemonic to deliver the bad news. They may be a great start, but one can never go wrong “doing onto others as you would have them do unto you” in those circumstances. If they really don’t like something you are doing or saying, they’ll tell you to stop!
Let’s see in a month, after formally experiencing the field of Palliative Care, how different my ideas are about it. It feels wrong to say that I’m looking forward to it, but there is great capacity for helping people in a tangible way, and much learning for me to do."                                         Dr Jessica Otte

Asian Tsunami Boxing day 2004. Message to Rose Charities Sri Lanka from Rose International Chair

2010-01-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

MESSAGE FROM ROSE CHARITIES INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMAN TO ROSE CHARITIES SRI LANKA AND MEMORIAL THOUGHTS ON THE ASIAN TSUNAMI 5 YEARS AGO

HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS on the occasion of your Center's 5th Anniversary Celebrations. IT is also to
commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Kalmunai Sri Lanka Medical,Psychological.Social Support Group for child survivors of the 2004
Tsunami tragedy.

Anniversaries offer the opportunity to reflect upon where we have been and where we are doing. Since your Center's inception,the dedicated
and loyal volunteers of ROSE CHARITIES SRI LANKA have worked together as a team to improve the lives of individuals in your community and
around Sri Lanka .

Your commitment to providing quality service has given our international global village of ROSE CHARITIES VOLUNTEERS distinguished
reputation and is a prime example of what has kept Rose Charities International running for more than 10 years .

AS we celebrate our achievements, we will continue to look to the future for opportunities to improve and
expand our community based service projects and activities .

I am sure that you will continue to encourage membership growth and retention of volunteers and to develop
leadership skills amongst your volunteers .

CARRYING on the Rose Charities tradition of humanitarian service to the community with quality center
volunteers is testament to your commitment to our motto- PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE .

I am confident under the dynamic and exemplary leadership of your CEO Anthony Richard and his team of faithful ,dedicated and committed band of volunteers,your Center will have another GREAT YEAR of
humantarian service to the community in which we live in .

DECEMBER 26 2004 is a day of solemn prayers and remembrance of Tsunami victims as Asia including
SRI LANKA marked the 5th Anniversary of one of history's worst national disasters when an underground
earthquake unleashed a devastating wave that killed more than 220,000 people in 13 countries .

AN estimated 31,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka while a million were driven out of their homes .

WE pause to pay our tribute of love, affection and respect to the memory of all those who died in the
tragedy .

WORDS are futile at a time like this to assuage the anguish of families and friends of victims . We can only
bow our heads and say to ourselves :

IS THERE BEYOND THE SILENT NIGHT AN ENDLESS DAY ?
IS DEATH A DOOR THAT LEADS TO LIGHT ?
WE CANNOT SAY, THE TONGUELESS SECRET LOCKED IN FATE
WE CANNOT KNOW, WE WATCH AND WAIT .'

MAY the families of victims derive some measure of comfort in the knowledge that we share their
grief

Lawrence Cheah. Chair. Rose Charities International

Merry Christmas and New Year from Rose Charities Sri Lanka

2009-12-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

(Click on image to enlarge)

Relief to typhoon stricken central Vietnam

2009-11-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

A Song For You: the darker side of life: Poems by Lyn Hansen-Blizzard

2009-10-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

Lyn Hansen Blizzard has known sadness, despair, pain, and helplessness in the face of relentless progress of life destroying disease. He poignant poetry cuts through the bluster of fine words and eloquent phrasing to deliver descriptions straight into the depths of the heard with clarity and simple beauty . Lyn writes about the things that matter, and about things that should matter but are so often overlooked. The poems in book will both move you to tears yet show you just occasionally those tiny glimpses of flickering hope that make us all keep going.

2009-10-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

Helping gifted Sri Lanka students through University/College

2009-09-14T14:29:00.001-07:00

Picture. Visiting film producer Donna Williams of Word Love organization and Mr Anthony Richard present the first Rose Charities Sri Lanka Univeristy Scholarship (2005)

Children of poor families in Sri Lanka know that the best road to lifting themselves and their families out of poverty is through attaining a proper education. While Sri Lanka has a fine education system and tuition is free for those who need it, there are other costs associated with attending university or college besides the tuition fees. Living costs, costs of books and materials needed for the courses, food and costs for those small aspects of daily living all addup.

Four years ago Amanda and Chais, two students from B.C. founded their University sponsorship program, now run by Rose Charities Sri Lanka For around $200 per year, all costs for the student can be covered to enable them to benefit from their free placed in University or College.

Sponsoring a child to go to school in Sri Lanka gives them hope and a future

2009-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

(CLICK HERE)

Sponsoring a poor Sri Lanka child to go to school will give her/hm a life, a future and hope, for both them and their whole family. Please click one of the links below to see who is in need. If you are interested, please email: Contact@RoseCharities.org

(Click here for current list of children needing educational sponsorship)

The Bloom Manifesto

2009-07-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

Diana Saw from Singapore founded 'Bloom' in Cambodia. It is not an NGO but a self sustaining social enterprise, to provide livelihood for poor Cambodians and help Cambodia. See www.bloomcambodia.com Diana has listed 'the Bloom Manifesto' (see below)... which it is hard not to agree with

THE BLOOM MANIFESTO

1. We believe in the right of all people to a decent life, free of poverty and with access to education

2. We believe you will be enriched helping the poor

3. We believe women hold up half the sky

4. We believe workers should always be paid a fair wage

5. We believe if you knew the truth, you would not be an accessory to the exploitation of workers

6. We believe exploitation is evil

7. We believe in the power of good over evil

8. We believe in the power of the individual to bring about change

9. We believe your bag is a reflection of you - are you really a sheep?

10. We believe quality is worth paying for

11. We believe in love at first sight - at least where our bags are concerned!

12. We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of handbags!

The joy of new friendships

2009-06-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese children make friends with Noot Seear ('Heidi' in the Twilight series ) and other international Rose Charities members. Artist Jason Rosenstock (Rose Charities USA) fascinates with his amazing drawings. This childrens home close to Saigon is full of happiness and laughter. It is supported by Rose Charities Vietnam and other organizations and private donors.

Lets just try ! - The song

2009-06-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

Lets just try
A Song for Peace by David Bethune

"Only when humanity is able to overcome the boundaries that we alone have set, will we be able to take that next step towards the World of Peace that many of us search for."
Gary Newton Osborn

The road to Santiago

2009-06-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

..The rain has stopped, but the blanket of clouds refuses to move and allow the sun to do its job, warming the way to Santiago. The path is muddy as I walk up the hill in between two strings of down flow streams trying to keep my feet dry. I look down and notice a worm that has been swept away by one of the streams. 6 Spanish people, 4 men and 2 women, stop and ask why I am limping, if I am okay? I´ve told my story a thousand times over, so I start explaining, once again, the problems I have with my legs.
As I am speaking, telling my story, I can´t help it but think of the little worm that was swept away by one of the streams. The worm was drifting with the water, when it got tangled around a pebble in one of the streams. You´d figure it would un tangle itself and continue with the flow? No! This worm, so courageous and determined, fights against the current, trying to get back to the top; to the point, where the flow of water, so strong and powerful, without any question or remorse, knocks it off its path, only to take it to an unfamiliar place.
I think to myself, I compare myself with this little worm... Have I not been swept away by a powerful tide last year? Am I not fighting against the current too? Has life presented its difficulties to test my faith, my courage, my dedication? Do I let go and drift with the flow, or do I fight back?

Denis Dronjic's voyage to Santiago continues (click for more)

Disasters and Children

2009-05-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

The impact of disasters on children. By Dr Yaya de Andrade

(clicking on article below will enlarge it)

The never ending road

2009-05-12T21:59:00.001-07:00

I am walking to Santiago...

The never ending road! By: Denis Dronjic

I’m not speaking of the Road to Santiago I am so anxiously waiting to begin on May 13th, I am speaking of the road we choose for ourselves; the road that brings us to our destination, only to realize, once we arrive at our destination, that the destination has always been within us during the journey.

Here I am, once again, counting down the hours before the start to the new expedition. I must say, it’s a mighty coincidence that I am starting on my Santiago expedition on the same day I set off on my ‘Pedal for the Medal’ expedition I did two years before, in ‘07. It was on May 13th, 2007 I set off from Nanaimo, British Columbia, to cycle my road bike 3,000 km to San Diego, California, to help raise money for Rose Charities. It was during this expedition when I was first introduced to my never ending road.

So here it goes…. On May 13th, 2009, I’ll be starting my walk on the Road to Santiago. I had originally learned of this 860 km road through Northern Spain , from one of Paulo Coelho’s books. Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author whom is recognized throughout the world for some of the most amazing mystical stories written. He completed this road himself and praised it a number of times in his books; that is how I came to learn of this Christian walk.

The 30+ days it took me to cycle the west coast is nowhere near the 45 - 60+ days I am predicting will take me to complete the walk to Santiago . I know, I know! I should be able to walk more the 30 km per day and get this done in less than a month. If you are rushing to get things done, sure, a person could complete it faster, if that’s what they desire. But even if I wanted to rush - which I don’t - I can’t!! I am starting the walk on my one year anniversary from the day I almost lost my legs and my life.

On May 13th, 2008, I was crushed by a car! I was riding my motorcycle when I lost control of my rear tire – due to rain and inexperience-- and since I was not able to regain balance I had to dislodge my motorcycle, only to hit the pavement and slide underneath an approaching vehicle.

The collision with the vehicle was so severe that I was thought to be dead by all the bystanders since they literally had to lift the car off my body with their bare hands. After I was revived back to life, I was rushed to hospital in critical condition. A dislocated hip like I was dancing salsa on a deserted island hanging of the coast of Spain; broken right femur; broken right head of tibia, connecting into my right knee; broken right and left fibula; broken left tibia (open fracture with more the 3 cm of bone missing); broken left ankle; broken scapula; and last but not least, like all of this wasn’t enough-- internal bleeding and swelling in the frontal lobe of my brain. Besides the road rash, I think that is the complete list of the injuries I sustained in this horrific accident.

Now don’t be shocked, it sounds worse than it really is. If you were to see me today, you wouldn’t even know I went through this. Besides a few hidden scars and limping when I walk, I function like this was nothing more than a bad dream. I mean, physically I am not what I use to be, and I might never be again, but this hasn’t stopped me from chasing my dreams on this never ending road. And that’s what this walk is: a journey, a journey to the destination called Santiago. A journey for all the children and families that don't have a chance to dream like you and I do. A journey for this world to wake up and take care of its people. A journey for all the wonderful work that ROSE CHARITIES has done and is continuing to do. A journey for you!!

Please donate, even if a dollar is all you can afford, trust me it will make a big difference. It is people like you that make the difference in this beutiful yet unfair world. I will be doing something that doctors DO NOT think is possible, and I hope you will do something I know is possible.

www.justgiving.com/denis-dronjic

Thank you for taking the time to read my fundraising page. If you are interested in following my journey I am taking with my father, you may add me to facebook. Search for Denis Dronjic. I’ll be posting pictures and stories periodically when I arrive at a village that has internet. It is said that a person walking the Road to Santiago has a spiritual awakening during his/her journey, so I am sure my blogs will be an interesting read :-)

Thank you and may God bless you
Denis
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dying with dignity

2009-03-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Starfish Programme

San Lazaro Hospital is a 600-bed infectious diseases hospital in a poor area of Manila. It deals with people who have diseases such as rabies, measles, tetanus, tuberculosis and AIDS. The hospital is under-funded and struggles to provide care for people who are themselves poor. The life-threatening nature of many of the diseases affecting San Lazaro patients means that there are many deaths in the hospital.

In 2000 Dr Pearla Albans, head of the hospital’s HIV/AIDS unit, attended a WHO training programme in Australia. As part of the programme the participants were introduced to palliative care by Larri Hayhurst, a palliative care educator from Sydney. Dr Albans immediately saw the relevance of palliative care for San Lazaro Hospital, and Larri was invited to the Philippines. Her visit resulted in a formal invitation from San Lazaro’s Medical Centre Chief, Dr Benito Arca, to introduce a palliative care education programme in the hospital.

Dr Arca had long wanted to improve the care of dying patients at San Lazaro. When asked what his vision was for them he replied: “I want every dying patient in this hospital to die in the arms of a loved one”. His vision encompassed introducing the principles and practice of palliative care to all staff in the hospital, with San Lazaro eventually acting as a training centre for other hospitals. In Larri Hayhurst he found the first member of a small team who would help make his vision a reality.

Larri Hayhurst invited Sydney palliative care specialist Dr Sue Marsden to join her in working at San Lazaro. In November 2000, Auckland psychotherapist Liese Groot went to Sydney to conduct seminars for Sacred Heart Hospice. There she met Larri, who invited her to become the third member of the team. Liese is a palliative care educator, who for ten years worked with and for Elisabeth Kubler- Ross, conducting seminars on grief, loss and palliative care in the USA, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The scene was set for the beginning of a remarkable programme which was to change the culture of a hospital, and the lives – and deaths – of many people.

The Starfish Palliative Care Programme, as it came to be known, aims to educate staff members from different parts of San Lazaro Hospital in palliative care. Four-day workshops in “Basic Palliative Care” are the starting point for staff willing to be involved, together with courses covering symptom control in palliative care, and courses which help staff to improve their communication with dying patients.

The high stress situations in which staff worked soon made apparent the need for a Self-Care Course for those who were dealing with many dying patients. For example, on one day when the palliative care course began at 8am, a nurse came to the course from the TB ward where there had been five deaths since her shift began at 7am. The level of “carer pain” and grief overload is high, compounded by the fact that staff can not always provide the medication patients need due to the hospital’s funding difficulties.

Early in the programme a Core Group of San Lazaro staff members was established, made up of doctors, nurses, chaplains and a counselor. The group receives intensive teaching when Larri, Liese and Sue visit to conduct workshops, as the Core Group will be the long term resource for their colleagues. The workload of the Core Group is high, as their participation is in addition to their duties in an understaffed hospital. Their dedication, passion and knowledge will ultimately make the palliative care programme sustainable when the Australian and New Zealand input finishes in 2006.

As well as conducting workshops, the palliative care team worked with staff in wards to introduce the practicalities of palliative care. Initially Larri had worked with the staff of the HIV/AIDS unit at the hospital, and the plan was for the team to also work in this area, introducing palliative care practices and building up a team of staff who could teach others. However hospital staff were particularly concerned with the plight of the patients in the rabies ward, and the decision was made to begin by introducing palliative care in one of the most difficult clinical areas in the hospital.

There are on average two deaths per week in the rabies ward at San Lazaro Hospital. If a person is bitten by an animal with rabies they have a short period of time in which injections of a rabies vaccine will be effective in preventing the development of the disease. There are queues of people at Manila hospitals waiting to receive the vaccine after they have been bitten by one of the many types of animals which carry rabies. These people are the lucky ones – many children and adults do not realize they have been bitten by a rabid animal. Animals are infectious before they exhibit symptoms, so the danger may not be obvious. The symptoms of rabies take two weeks or more to appear, and once they do, death inevitably follows a few days later. Patients suffer a violent death in a state of psychotic terror of air and water, afflicted by painful spasms.

A person showing the first signs of rabies is brought to San Lazaro Hospital by several people wearing padded protective clothing. When the palliative care team began work with the staff of the rabies ward, they found that it was standard practice to tie the patients to the bed, with their arms above their heads, because they were violent as well as infectious. There were no sheets on the beds, no blinds on the windows to keep out the heat of the sun, and the patient remained in the street clothes they were wearing when they arrived in the ward.

Valium was being used unsuccessfully to control the symptoms, and the dying patient spent most of the time alone. Doctors and nurses were frightened to have physical contact with patients in case they were bitten or spat upon, as staff are not vaccinated against rabies due to lack of funds. There was no furniture provided for family members to enable them to sit with their dying relative.

The rabies treatment protocol was set down in a policy written by the Philippines Department of Health. The palliative care team found that changing the protocol was no easy matter. Staff believed it was impossible to control the psychotic symptoms, and little professional nursing care was given to the patients because of the fear of infection. It was also difficult to do much for patients when they were tied to a bed.

The team worked with staff to bring about small changes, such as putting sheets on the bed and blinds on the windows. Instead of having both arms tied to the bed above the patient’s head, one arm was tied by the person’s side, which was a little more comfortable. A breakthrough came when the psychiatrist at San Lazaro participated in the basic palliative care course, and became involved in the care of the rabies patients. She assessed them as psychotic and was able to prescribe an anti-psychotic drug.

Prompt administration of the anti-psychotic medication is critical in controlling the acute psychosis suffered by rabies patients. If the patient receives the medication on admission they do not become combative, and there is no need for restraints. The effectiveness of the medication was never in doubt, but its availability was initially a serious problem. The hospital pharmacy did not always have it due to funding constraints, and the patient’s relatives generally could not afford to pay for it. The variable availability meant that sometimes the patient did not get the vital first dose soon enough to control the psychotic symptoms. The situation was resolved when the doctor involved in the palliative care of the rabies patients personally purchased five doses, so that the medication could be on hand. Relatives are asked if they can pay, but if they cannot the Philippines Charity Sweepstake Office now provides funding to replace the doses which are used.

The staff of the ward were still frightened to approach the patients even when the anti-pyschotic medication made them peaceful, and they did not want the restraints removed. A simple act by Larri helped to allay their fears and to change the practice of tying the person to the bed until they died. One patient who had been restrained for 72 hours had not received any nursing care, and his wife was in great distress about his situation. The medication had been effective in controlling his psychotic symptoms, and he was not aggressive. Larri, together with one of the nurses from the Core Team, sponged him and attended to his needs. This act broke through the fear of the ward nurses, and led to the practice of restraining the patient only until medication has controlled the psychotic symptoms. Now parents can hold their dying children, relatives can sit with and tend to their loved ones, and nursing care can take place.

The situation of one particular patient highlighted another issue for the palliative carers. The patient had not been told he was going to be restrained, and was hurt as he fought with the men who tied him to the bed. He did not know that he had rabies, or that he would die in a few days. Before medication was used to control the psychotic symptoms of rabies, staff had found it difficult to communicate with the patients. With the psychotic symptoms controlled, it was possible to talk with the patient and to tell them the truth about their situation. It became apparent that staff had no training in breaking bad news, and so time was allocated in the palliative care courses for dealing with communication issues. It is now accepted that it is better to tell the patient and the relatives the truth, and staff have become experienced in handling the resulting distress. Telling the patient the truth has also opened the way for the spiritual and psycho-social care which is an integral part of holistic palliative care.

During one of the palliative care courses participants expressed concern about the needs of relatives who stay in the ward and help to care for their loved ones who are dying of rabies. Relatives are often traumatized people with nowhere private to go during their stay at the hospital. A silid damayan or “room of comfort” was set up for the relatives of rabies patients, and it now provides a private space where relatives can take a break when possible, and staff can talk with distressed relatives.

In the clinical area the Core Group and palliative care team are now working with the staff of the TB ward. This is a large ward of 180 beds, often with more patients than beds, which means there are two patients in a bed. Tap water is not always available for periods of the day, and a long hose is used to bring water from another part of the hospital. Some patients stay in the ward for many months; some are discharged home to their families but readmitted when the family does not want to care for them. There are children in the ward who no longer have TB but whose parents have vanished.

The TB ward is very isolated from the rest of the hospital and the staff are seriously overloaded. At times there are only two or three nurses on a shift to care for 200 or more patients. Much of the care of the patients, many of whom are terminally ill, is done by the Bantay, “the watchers”, who are mostly friends and relatives of the patients. The Bantay are an integral part of the operation of the ward, which simply could not function without them.

The palliative care team soon recognized that the Bantay have their own needs, and Liese was instrumental in designing the Bantay Support Programme. This programme teaches the Bantay basic physical care and infection control, and gives them time and space to express their emotional concerns and pain. They are taught how to best respond to the difficult issues they are confronted with, such as talking about death and dying with their loved ones.

Charity Rose Award 2008

2009-03-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Mrs Jan Johnston is the recipient of the
2008 CHARITY ROSE AWARD.

Jan has devoted at least half of her liftetime to charitable endeavours in all parts of the world. Jans father as well as her husband Bill Johnston were/are diplomats and this has meant that Jan has lived in a large number of countries around the globe. Wherever she has been however she has taken up local or international charitable causes with unparalleled energy and drive. In 2006 the Johnstons were posted to Vietnam for Bill to become the Canadian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City. In these last two years she has been hugely active in many Consular Club assistances to the poor and vulnerable, Operation SMILE programs, and many other charities. Co-founding Rose Charities Vietnam in 2007 she has assisted in the rapid progress of the organization to its present level of around 10 projects.

The Charity-Rose Award Committee was unanimous in its decision.

"Life and work is possible because I am living mindfully....."

2009-01-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

Life and work is possible because I am living mindfully, and in every moment I feel right to be here, to do what I am doing, and to help others to feel that this is part of their journey. There is no doubt most of us have thoughts about being here, AND about being or not being somewhere else. Only a few of the people I see are truly citizens of this town. We are all visitors, and we must remember to leave things in order, and make even better after leaving. I continue absorbing more and more David Brazier's books – I keep reading them again, and making notes, which I likely will delete soon… The desire for so many things, for company of loved ones, for a pedicure. It is amazing how sometimes it is hard to keep the fire in control, smile at all thoughts I have about somewhere, someone who is not present. And then I am able to return to my life and work in Malakal.

Yaya de Andrade (from her writings from the Sudan)

Acid burns Cambodia

2009-01-18T07:09:00.000-08:00

This is one of Ania Kania's writings about her work in Cambdoia. Ania's wonderful work is truly in the spirit of rose charity. Please see her blog on http://www.anatopia-in-Cambodia.blogspot.com

Acid burns - her story

Chan is a woman. She is one of the acid burn patients here at ROSE Charities that I have been treating. She is 33 years old and has a 10 year old daughter - a beautiful girl with chocolate eyes and an enchanting smile. Every time she sees me she beams a smile and laughs out "hello". Before her sister-in-law poured acid all over Chan's face, arms, torso and genitals, she was a potter with her husband. She tells her story during an interview a couple of days ago - the interview was to assess the suitability of the acid burn patients for a potential weaving-training project.

She sits, bandage over the right eye socket (the right eye was removed last week because the acid had caused too much damage). She plays with her hands and looks at her knees. We ask the standard questions - how old, place of birth, how many children she has...She answers them all quitely. When we ask about what she is going to do when she leaves the hospital on friday, she begins to cry and her story comes out through her tears: she had problems with her sister-in-law and there was a family dispute of some sort, which the sister-in-law decided to settle by pouring acid over Chan. Now, because of the acid burns, her husband wants to divorce her and look for another wife. She has no family - both of her parents are dead and she has no siblings. She has no place to go now. She continues to cry, softly and quietly, while she speaks in Khmer. The nurse, Nemol, translates. She wants to die, she says. Begging is the only thing she will be able to do. She is going to go out on the streets with her daughter and will become a beggar and die somewhere on the streets because there is not other choice for her - nobody will have her. After she finishes translating this, the nurse laughs. I have been told many times that when situations are very uncomfortable or disconcerting, the Khmer response is to laugh. Half of my brain recalls this piece of information at this very moment and the other half is having a melt down at the bizzare response. I look at the nurse and explain that I realize this is a difficult situation however it is not funny, and laughing is not the response this patient needs. I think she understood because she quickly continued to inquire about further details of Chan's immediate situation.

Chan's daughter is beautiful and if they end up on the streets, she will quickly be swept up by someone and sold into some sort of child/sex trafficing situation...the idea is untolerable. She is quick, bright and lovely - like her mother. I have never met a patient as compliant as Chan- she has done everything I have asked her do regarding exercise routines, scar massage, wearing pressure garments... and her future is the streets, out of necessity, out of lack of choice. In this very moment I am greatful to have Will (an Aussie nurse) sitting across from me. It's silly really, but I'm acutely aware that although this is Cambodia, where "Cambodian" things happen, I realize that this situation is not a case of a "canadian" and a "cambodia"... what is happening here is so completely human - this has nothing to do with culture or history or nationality. This story is not uncommon in many places. These are daily occurances in many culture. Dispair, poverty, lack of basic necessities for life are the result of human activity. The places and cultures only give it a differnt colour. Helping and supporting one another is a human ability - not one determined by culture or history or nationality. I think our tolerance of violence and inaction is more cultural. I'm suddenly acutely aware of how closely and profoundly we can affect each others' lives and how most of the time we do not realize or recognize it or respect it. She is ready to slip through the very fat fingers of a system that shrugs it's shoulders at such circumstances and realities; "people here are poor and that is what happens. It's normal".
One thing I made up my mind about right now: she is not going to end up on the streets and her daughter is not going to be exploited by some sex tourists. I looked an Nemol (the nurse) and explained that we can help this woman and we are going to. Please tell her, I ask Nemol to translate, that she will have a place to live, she will find a job and her daughter is going to go to school.

The nurse translated this to Chan. Chan put her hands together to say thank you. She continued to speak softly. I know she is still in shock over all of it - how she looks, her life as she knew it is over, her husband is leaving her to find a second wife. She has no home, no money, nobody to turn to. What does she hang onto?...I don't know. I can't and won't pretend that I do. But what I do know is that for her and her daughter the streets are not the place where they will carry on their days. That is not an option.

Will and I make a few phone calls to expates working in NGOs here in Phnom Penh...we are referred to Hagar Shelter - a shelter for woman and their children. The next day we pack up Chan and her daughter into one of the trucks and head off to Hagar for an assessment interview. Will keeps the daughter close to her side and Chan hangs onto my hand. She has put on new clothes (a pajama set) and wrapped a towel around her head in the traditional Khmer way. She is wearing glasses I gave her to keep the dust and dirt out of her left eye that still cannot completely close because of the scars. Nemol does all of the talking and translating - she is fantastic. We walk around the shelter - looking at the bedrooms, the kitchen, vocational training rooms (sewing and haircutting), the shool rooms with kids couting in english. Chan's daughter counts along with them and shyly edges towards one of the rooms. Hagar shelter is an incredible place. The woman showing us around is gentle, understanding, soft spoken and very aware of what these woman go through...she knows their stories and accepts them.

Today, Chan comes into the recovery room for scar massage and dressing changes. Her scars are coming along well. Her left eye can almost close completely. Her neck range of motion is good and has maintained. She is always wearing her pressure garments. She says: I want to get fat. So when I get fat what do I do with this (pointing to the pressure garment)?". I explain she will get a new one. Nemol asks how she is. "I am happy. I don't want to die", she responds.

On a personal note: This very moment has made this entire trip worth while. This very moment is changing my life. I cannot express the happiness I feel in my heart - it is a happiness filled with relief and hope. It is a sensation where you need to take a deeper breath, your heart beats a little faster and harder, and you want to bow to what is infront of you. Chan accepts my hand as we walk back to her bed, where she has begun packing her few belongings.

Doctor of the Fallen Turtles

2009-01-17T12:18:00.000-08:00

Kratie Province Cambodia 1994

I can still see it. The great clay green waters stretching like a slowly moving ocean. The tooth-like jagged rocks puncturing the surface as though some giant had scattered a pepper shaker of molten larva into the waters eons ago and the huge green islands basking in sun-warmed languor under the dusty sky of a Cambodian dry season day. Some time in the future there will be tourist hotels here and bars and swimming pools and stalls selling trinkets and handicrafts. But now there is just the rustle of the wind in the sugar-palm trees, the whack of small boy driving a water-buffalo to the river and the humming background chirp of a crickets.

And here in this small patch of dangerous paradise works a remarkable doctor. She is in her early 30's, dark haired and graceful in her step as she moves softly between the raised wooden houses of the small riverside village a small notebook in her hand. She wears around her waist the coloured kromma of the Khmer, and she speaks in their language to the people who come to greet her. Yet her skin is white and her dress of western style. Now and then she pauses to bend and put a comforting arm around a small child while the other lightly yet expertly assess the full curve of its protruding tummy. Then she rises to make a small note in her book while the children, unafraid stare at her with their big liquid eyes and smile.

To some of the children it is all part of a game, but Dr. Sophie Biays and the people of the river well know otherwise. For this is the land of the 'Fallen Turtle Disease' which swells children's stomachs and causes them to vomit blood until they can take no more. Old belief by some was that a turtle had fallen down inside the belly. Others considered the culprit was a bees nest. To Westerners it is known as Schistosomiasis.

For the people who live beside the Mekong it is their life. They drink its waters, use them as their source of refuge on in the relentlessly long afternoons of the hot season, wash in them, fish them, are carried by them in their small wooden boats and use them to transport the great jungle logs that they cut to be sold to eager traders from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Yet it is in these very waters that the fallen turtle disease lurks and is maintained by an unlikely creature; a tiny water snail, the largest of which are no bigger than a shirt button. The snails live on and under rocks and hence thrive in this area of the Mekong. Known as the 'Sambo Rapids', there are no real rapids in the normal sense of the word. Rather it is an area where for some primordial geological reason, the normal mud and earth bed of the river gives way to a structure predominantly of rocks and stones. As you run your eye across the glistening water great jagged icebergs of stone rise from the surface like dragons teeth and small swirls indicate boulders lying just below.

Until the French administration mapped out and marked a usable channel in the 1940's navigation through the area was a risky business. Now the large cement markers still stand, one of the very few remnants of the colonial era left untouched by the Cambodian holocaust of the 1970's.

The snails themselves are not the culprits, simply an inadvertent intermediate vehicle for one of the stages in the infection cycle of the miniscule blood 'fluke', a type of tiny short worm, which is responsible for the disease. After a gestation in the infected snail the organism is released as a tiny, torpedo shaped form known as a ceracria. The cercariae swim freely but will bore through any human or animal skin which has entered the water in their vicinity. Once inside the body, the organism changes shape and migrates to the veins around the liver and stomach. There the flukes mate and produce eggs. Of social interest in these days of increasing broken marriages it is interesting to note that the male and female schistosome mate for life. The longitudinally grooved male wraps his body around the cylindrical female to spend their days affectionately locked together as one egg producing unit.

It is not the adult flukes but the eggs which cause the long term damage. They excite inflammatory and immune reactions which block vessels and cause massive enlargement of the spleen and liver which will often lead to complications and death. Some eggs however will find their way through the intestinal wall and be excreted with the faeces. If the faeces are deposited near the river and are not treated the next rain storm will wash the eggs back into the river where they hatch into yet another form. And this form, the miricidium, penetrates the water snail to comple the cycle..

Dr Biays speaks with the soft accent of her native Brittany. She tells me modestly that the disease in Cambodia had been discovered years before and that her project was simply a continuation. The enormity of this understatement makes me smile. Although it was certainly recorded in the mid 1960's the almost umimaginable holocaust of the Marxist 'Khmer Rouge' overthro of the government ten years later resulted, along with the deaths of three million people, in the total destruction of almost every record of every fact in the country. The Khmer Rouge themselves appropriately referred to the start of their regime as 'year Zero', and set out to remould society comletely from a beginning wiped clean all local links with its past.

And within bloodshed and the destruction, the forced labour and the so called 're-education camps', later found to be basic extermination camps, the fallen turtle disease of the river and its sufferers were simply carried along in the juggernaut of horror. Their disease had been forgotten about and their lives hung like the others only on tiny threads of chance. For a smile or a tear at the wrong time was not permitted, a word or silence when it was not appropriate could mean a sentence of execution.

So when the UN men in the blue caps followed in the NGO workers so fifteen years later, they found a country almost totally devoid of any fabric of infrastructure or historical record. They found a people shattered, confused and shocked, and evrerywhre, the crumbling aftermath of mass distruction.

And into this vortex of disoriented confusion came Dr Biays, her job arranged through an NGO to assist the National Malariology Department in the capital, Phnom Penh to re-establish its role within the country. This meant regular field trips and one of these took her to the Sambo District of the Mekong.

'I was shown some "bad cases of malaria"' she said. 'Well, they do have malaria here and it does give enlargement of the spleen and liver.. but these cases seemed just too largd... I was suspicious ... I came back and took samples..'

So, far up the Cambodian Mekong Dr.Sophie Biays rediscovered Shistosomiasis. She realized immediately that there was a desperate problem. Medical services in traumaitzed rural Cambodia were in an almost totally non-functioning condition and even where help might be available, the disease was being wrongly diagnosed as Malaria, for which the treatment was entirely different. But she knew also that there was hope. Her training in Tropical Medicine had given her the knowledge that there was a cure and what was more, that it was close to 100% effective, could be given in just one dose - an enormously important point for treatment compliance. Developed originally for the lucrative vetinary world, the drug Praziquantel had to wait several more years before anyone was prepared to spent the money to carry out the necessary trials for human use. The sad fact is that the humnan pharmaceutical industry well knows there is little money to be made in developing countries where such diseases tend to lie. Eventually however the World Health Organization agreed to subsidize the trials, and a human wonder drug was borne.

But Praziquantel is relatively expensive and Dr Biays knew that if she were to start a treatment program, she would need help. And the help came from the Dutch/Belgian/Swiss branch of the NGO Organization Medicins Sans Frontieres, one of the most effective in the world. They not only agreed to sponsor Dr Biay's program but also to put her in charge and assist in building a small district hospital for the area. Early in 1984 Dr Biays bumped up the potholed hour and a half access road, moved into her small wooden house in Sambo Village and started work.

Few others would have. For in the dark brooding forests of Cambodia, the men of death, the Khmer Rouge guerillas, still lurk, moving silently into the villages at dusk or nightime to take food or money from the inhabitants. In the daytime they melt back into the forest but from their jungle bases manage the logging trade by taxing those who come to cut wood. Mainly without roads and largely ignored by their own governmment except by corrupt officials after the same lumber taxes, the villages of Sambo live in a semi- autonimous shaddow land of alleigance, bending theis way and that depending on who is making demands on them. No one, not even the villagers themselves, know when the Khemer Rouge will turn up, and neither does Dr. Biays. 'I have been lucky' she says. 'No problems so far, although there three full time Khmer Rouge villages we cant get to'

Yet there were problems, twice. In late 1994 when there was a flare up in fighting MSF had to pull Dr Biays and her team out for three weeks, and later, perhaps more seriously, she narrowly avoided being kidnapped at the time when the Khmer Rouge we looking for Western hostage. Dr.Biays had been held up by work-load in the small clinic that day and cancelled plans for a district visit. She later heard that on the road she had intended to travel, every passer by had been stopped by Khmer Rouge soldiers looking for Westerners. Of the seven that they did end up in taking in several episodes over those weeks, only one survived.

In the height of the dry season, the heat is intense. From middy to around 4pm it becomes almost unbearable as the land sweats and swelters under an apoplectic Cambodian sun. Only the tall sugar palms with their neat green haircuts seem to stand up to intensity. Yet on the doorstep of Sambo village runs the great river, its waters now low but softly calling a cool invitation to all those who are within earshot. And the buffalo and the children are the first to accept, the former wallowing happily their horned heads only visible like a cluster of Viking helmets thrown overboard by some ancient raiding party, while the latter in contrast jump and roister in a flurry of splashy antics which bring smiles to the fishermen and log cutters labouring on the sandy bank.

But it is in the dry season when schistosomiasis transmission is the highest. Then the water flow is slow and the low level brings the rocky habitats of the aquatic snail close to the surface. In their free time, the children are almost constantly in the water but to try and change this lifestyle of a thousand years or more would have been almost an impossibility.

My visit to Sambo was almost a year after Dr. Biays had started her work. In that time, with almost limitless energy she had time

systematically screened and treated the children of almost every village in the area. Like some tropical Florence Nightingale,

Everywhere we went we would be greeted by children and their grateful parents. Time and again she would point out to me a

child in the process of reverting to health under the effect of the drug or those who had ben completely cured. Amazingly she

seemed to know every one by name and I could see her overwhelming pleasure in their happiness. 'I love my work' she said,

and I believed her.

Christmas Message from the Chairman of the Rose Charity Malaysia

2008-12-28T06:54:00.001-08:00

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas Message from Mr Lawrence Cheah: Chairman of the Rose Charity Malaysia
www.MyRoseCharity.com

Today is Xmas day.Christmas is a time for gathering family and old friends together. Christmas never fails to bring to mind the divine words."Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards fellowmen ."So, on this Christmas Day, while we exchange good wishes and entertain visions of a better future for us and for everyone else, we solemnly dedicate ourselves to do whatever is in our power for the realisation of "Peace on earth and goodwill towards our fellowmen "

But just as it makes us feel loving and loved to open the door to familiar faces and new faces of Rose Charities International global village volunteers and welcome them in,it's also a time that reminds us of those who are no longer there.

So in the midst of all our drinking,eating and getting very merry, we shouldn't forget that Christmas is also a good time to stop the usual noise of our everyday life........to remember and then celebrate those we're loved and lost .

Former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru once said : " What we really are matters more than what other people think of us " .

To achieve our international global mission statement,we will build on the strength of our volunteers,our track record and professional reputation .

WE should forge ahead towards new levels of excellence in order to create sustainable growth and distinctive value for our members and the community at large .

Mother Teresa said : " Never worry about numbers ,help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest YOU ."

We should also empower our international pool of volunteers to serve their communities,meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding and goodwill through Rose Charities Centers throughout the world .

We should have passion for everything that you do,then joy will come from that passion " .

Theodore Roosevelt once said : " DO WHAT YOU CAN,WITH WHAT YOU HAVE WHERE YOU ARE '

As volunteers , we must demonstrate to others......how much good can be achieved ( the numerous projects and activities carried out by Rose Charities CHAPTERS )by sincere efforts,unselfish spirit of service and excellent spirit of suport and co-operation in the community in which we live in .

IF you give somebody hope ,you give them dignity. Most important, you show them that somebody cares. That is how i found what i call purpose of life .. trying to lend a helping hand to someone and show them that somebody does CARE .

With another milepost in sight and another year bckoning us with hopes and opportunities for service to the commuity, we stop a moment to reflect upon our pleasant relations of the year about to close.

It is indeed,with gratitude that i look back upon the past year and thank you for your continued support and trust in electing me your Malaysian chapter president.

Your presence will be the barometer for our efforts.It will spur the adminsttration on to greater heights and achievements .It will be more than an indication of support,it will be an inspiration for even better and more projects and activities for the malaysian organisation .

May i extend to you,your family and volunteers from Rose Charities global village bst wishes for a very happy,healthy and properous NEW YEAR .

Warmest regards

Lawrence Cheah..

The Rose Charity Award

2008-12-26T10:56:00.000-08:00

The RoseCharity annual award (also known as the Charity Rose Award) is given every year to individuals who have shown outstanding compassion, energy, charity, or achievement in the helping of others.

More details of this award will soon be placed on this site.

www.RoseCharity.com