October 2018 – Rotary Club Chandigarh

Diwali celebrations with Saketri children

diwali

Under guidance of R’Ann Usha Saboo, Inner-wheel members and Rotarians celebrated Diwali with nearly 100 children of Saketri village. Competitions of rangoli making, poster making and Diya making were held and the winners were given gifts.

President of Inner-wheel, Ms Vanita Talwar and President A.P. Singh addressed the children and encouraged them to follow their dreams and work hard to achieve their goals, thereby becoming a strong support for their parents who are now facing such hardships in life for them.

Sweets were also distributed to all the children.

World Polio Day celebrated at Elante Mall

We marked the World Polio Day on 24 October 2018 with an event at Elante Mall, Chandigarh. Rotractors from Rotract Club of Chandigarh presented a street play on the theme of Polio.

A large number of visitors at the Elante Mall gathered to watch the play. District Governor Praveen C. Goyal and President A.P. Singh, along with many Rotarians were present.

Today, India is Polio free, but the picture was different a few years ago when people were resisting giving Polio drops to the children, and many children were getting affected by the polio virus. The play presented the story of one such family where the child was afflicted with polio after her family refused her polio drops. Now as the child battled polio and its effects, the family is all out for polio eradication and giving polio drops to the children.

The play ended with the celebration of India being polio free since 2014. A message was also given to the people who gathered that the fight against polio still continues, and administering of polio drops will continue.

Fake email and social media accounts target Rotary members in new scam

Rotary recently learned that scammers have created multiple email and social media accounts that impersonate RI President Barry Rassin, RI President-elect Mark Maloney, and General Secretary John Hewko. The social media accounts have been on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Some of these messages also reference Viber, another messaging platform.

These are not authentic Rotary communications. They are phishing and spoofing attempts to obtain money and personal information.

Rotary monitors for and responds to these attempts as part of an ongoing effort to keep member, program participant, and staff data safe. We also work with LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp to remove imposter accounts.

Neither President Rassin’s, President-elect Maloney’s, nor General Secretary Hewko’s authentic accounts have been compromised.

Rotary members should continue to exercise caution:

Disregard any suspicious message that offers money, requests money, or asks for your personal information.
Avoid opening attachments or following links in suspicious messages.
Pay close attention to the details of the email address and signature block to verify the sender.

If you receive what you believe to be a suspicious message from the president, general secretary, or another Rotary leader, please forward it to Rotary’s chief information officer at fraudreport@rotary.org and then delete it immediately. Please also report any suspicious social media accounts to fraudreport@rotary.org.

Nutrition awareness talk held at Saketri

A talk on Nutrition Awareness was organized by the Women’s Health and Hamari beti Committee, at Saketri village, in which a team of experts, comprising Dt Madhu Sharma and Dr Manvi Singh spoke to women and adolescents.

Rtn Seema Gupta, Rtn. Abha Joshi, Rtn. Lalita Grover and Rtn. Ritu Nakra were also present.

Most of the young women and adolescent girls were found to be anaemic and malnourished. Some of them complained of fatigue and digestive issues, even giving history of worm infestation. Dietitian Madhu Sharma explained to them the importance of green leafy and other vegetables to help combat iron deficiency. They were also explained about healthy cooking methods and how to combine available foods in order to enhance the availability of nutrients from seasonal fruits and vegetables.

In view of the anaemic status of most women and history of worm infestation, it was suggested by Dr. Manvi to supplement iron capsules, along with de-worming treatment.

The talk was highly appreciated by all the women who suggested having more of such session for them. They said ,”Aap roz aaya karo!” (Please do try and come every day)

Celebrating Indian doctors making a difference in Africa for last 20 years

On 15 October, we honoured former RI President Rajendra K. Saboo and his wife Usha Saboo for conceiving the first-ever initiative of medical missions to Africa 20 years back.

The Intercontinental Medical Mission was conceived in August 1998, to enable Indian doctors to serve beyond borders and spare their time and expertise to heal the suffering humanity in Africa.

This year, from 5th to 15th August, a team of 18 medical specialists and 9 volunteers led by PRIP Saboo, conducted 420 eye, 56 orthopaedic, 94 general, 38 Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT), 23 plastic, 420 dental and 27 gynaecological surgeries.

The team of doctors from India also trained Ugandan doctors in newer medical techniques.

City doctors in the team included: eye specialist Rtn Dr SPS Grewal, dentist Dr Jagat Bhushan, surgeon Dr Kuldeep Dhawan, plastic surgeon and Dr V.D. Singh. PDG Shaju Peter was the Team Coordinator.

His Excellency, the Vice-President of the Republic of Uganda, Hon Edward Sekandi visited the camp during the mission to congratulate the team.

District Governor Praveen Goyal presented Citations to the team members of the Ugandan Medical Mission.

PRIP Rajendra K Saboo was honoured for his selfless service by the Interactors, Rotaractors, Doctors, Volunteers, Members of Innerwheel and Rotary Club Chandigarh.

PP Dr. PS Chari, an eminent plastic surgeon who has been a part of many medical missions, was honoured for lifetime of service to mankind.

Global Hand-washing Day

hand wash day

On 15 October, the global Hand-washing Day, a special session on Hand-washing and clean water was held by us under our WiNS programme. Correct technique of hand-washing was demonstrated. A musical activity, including songs on hand-washing was also conducted.

Separate MHM and Gender Sensitisation sessions were facilitated for about 500 boys and girls from classes 6th to 10th, at the Govt. High School, Dadumajra, by Rtn. Manjula Sularia and her colleagues Gulshan and Pooja. Thereafter, around 200 sanitary napkins were distributed to the girls who together posed as PadGirls.

We also involved the girls in some special special yoga asanas which ease the pain of periods and make them feel more at ease.

WiNS Project update

wins project-02

On 9 October 2018, MHM and Gender Sensitisation sessions were facilitated for more than 1300 students, comprising of 705 boys and 615 girls from classes 6th to 10th, at Govt. Model Senior Secondary School in Dhanas. It was quite a labour intensive job to sensitise and create awareness amongst such big group of students and that too on such a sensitive topic.

Later, sanitary napkins were distributed to nearly 450 girls.

Project Chair Rtn. Manjula Sularia facilitated the sessions.

RYLA@Chail

We successfully organized and hosted RYLA@Chail on 5-7 October 2018. More than 80 students from our Interact schools participated. The two nights, three days event was held at Snow Trail Camps near Chail, Himachal Pradesh.

IMG-20181006-WA0041 The participants not only had an opportunity to fine-tune their leadership skills, including time management and mind-fullness, through a series of sessions by experts, but also had an opportunity to experience out-door activities that included use of rope bridges, nature walk, star gazing, etc.

CLICK HERE to see the pictures and videos of the event.

Peace Rally at Elante Mall

elante-03

29 September 2018, which was marked by the visit of the RI President Barry Rassin and the First Lady Esther Rassin, was a proud moment for our Club. The theme of the meeting was: “Peace in the world” and the venue was the sprawling courtyard of Elante Mall that provided a perfect ambience for the Rally. The Chief Guest and his gracious wife were pleasantly surprised to see a large assembly of nearly 2500 Rotaractors and Interactors – all chic, enthusiastic, peaceful, and sitting on the floor or standing, not the least discomforted or unnerved by the hot sun.

President A.P. Singh welcomed RI President Barry and the First Lady Esther. Thereafter, Rtn. Reema Diwan, Vice-President of our Club, introduced the Chief Guest. Then followed a melodious medley by Interactors of Bhawan Vidyalaya, a dance by MCM DAV Rotaract Club, and a radio show by DPS Interact Club – all performances had world peace as their theme.

After the audience was regaled by students, Barry and Esther released the Peace balloons, coloured white and blue, and administered the pledge of Peace to the audience.

The address of RI President Barry can be summed up in one sentence: “If you touch a stone, you are touching the past; if you touch a flower, you are touching the present; but if you touch a life, you are touching the future”. He also gave a simple formula for ever-lasting peace and that is to have good relationships and positive thoughts.

The function ended with a vote of thanks by Rtn. Sartaj Lamba, District Chair Interact.

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