The Charter for the newly formed Interact Club of MDAV School, Sector 22, Chandigarh was presented to the Principal Ms. Neelam Sharma on 15 December 2018, by President A.P. Singh, who also pinned the members of the Board of the new club.
On 4 December 2018, President A.P. Singh and Secretary Vinod Kapoor visited young Harsh Vardhan Dixit, who has been admitted to Chandigarh Rehab Centre for treatment. His stay at the centre is being sponsored by the club. He was involved in a freak accidental fall during practice at the bar while preparing for his defence service examination and he injured his spine.
His father approached our Club through PRIP R.K. Saboo and our members immediately offered to help the young boy who has been assured of a major improvement after three months of rehabilitation program. He should be able to walk with aids if all goes well.
The cost of the program is ₹40,000 per month, which includes stay, food and treatment at the Center.
We are grateful to the following members for pitching in to help Harsh Vardhan by contributing generously: PRIP R.K. Saboo – ₹40,000, G.S. Chawla – ₹15,000, S.P.S. Matharoo – ₹15,000, D.V. Bhatia – ₹10000, P.J. Singh – ₹40,000.
Chandigarh Administration and Rotary Club of Chandigarh have signed a memorandum of understanding for setting up a Health Education Centre in the city.
The MoU was signed by Secretary Education Mr. B.L. Sharma, representing the Administration, and President of the Club, A.P. Singh, in the presence of Governor of Punjab and Administrator UT Chandigarh, Sh. V.P. Singh Badnore, PRIP Rajendra K. Saboo, members of our Club and other senior officers of the UT Administration.
Rotary Club Chandigarh would be setting up the Centre in association with another world-renowned US-based NGO, McMillen Health Centre, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which shall equip it with hi-tech gadgets, models, teaching aides and expertise.
Rotary Club Chandigarh would be spending approximately US$ 300,000 (₹2.2 crores) to set-up this unique project in the city which will be the first of its kind in India.
This state-of-the-art Health Education Centre is meant to educate school students about fundamentals of medical science, human physiology, and would also serve as Training Centre to impart training to master trainers as well as teachers. The project has been conceived by PRIP Rajendra K Saboo .
Chandigarh Administration has decided to setup this Centre in Government Model High School, Sector 22-C, in the first phase, and later a site would be identified by a committee comprising representatives of the Engineering, and Architecture departments and the District Education Officer.
It would also work as centre of excellence in providing basic medical education, health checkup and training, and would be managed by a team of administrative staff, team of doctors and experts under a society which shall have Adviser to the Administrator as Chairman, Home, Health, Finance and Education Secretaries of the Chandigarh Administration as members, along with other members from various departments as well as the head of the PGI, and two members of the Rotary Club.
Our regular Monday meeting was postponed to 14 November (Children’s Day) to celebrate Interact Utsav – a cultural evening. The idea was to celebrate and recognise on a larger scale the good work being done by Rotary’s youngest partners in service.
The event was co hosted by Delhi Public School.
Hon’ble Justice Jitendra Chauhan was the Chief Guest and Mr. Silvain Choin, Director of Alliance Francaise, was the special guest.
Welcoming the guests, President A.P. Singh briefed the audience on the history of Interact clubs. He informed that first Interact club was chartered on 5 May 1962, at Melbourne High School, Florida, USA, and presently we have more than 20,000 Interact clubs all over the world, with a membership of more than 4.6 lakh.
The Interact clubs have been doing amazing work in service of humanity in different fields, specially in water sanitation and hygiene, environment, working with senior citizens, etc.
The Rotary Club Chandigarh-sponsored Interact clubs presented a cultural extravaganza of music, dance and drama.
Justice Chauhan appreciated the energy, skills, rhythm and enthusiasm displayed by the youngsters. He also appreciated Rotary’s effort to involve the youth and getting them on board for the service to humanity. He cited examples of service by Bhai Kanhayia and Mother Teresa and was pleased to see the youth in service trying to contribute for the betterment of the community. He called upon the youth not to deprive a person who has lack of facilities when they enter the competitive world.
“Schools participating in the service activities are temples of education of heart, he added, wherein they are sensitising the kids on having a heart and preparing them to regulate their conduct in future since they are going to provide leadership of future.”
He also called upon the students to always keep the child alive in themselves.
Justice Chauhan and DG Parveen C. Goyal awarded the citations to the schools. Principals/representatives of AKSIPS, Sri Aurobindo School of Integral Education, Bhavan Vidyalaya, St. John’s High School, Sri Guru Harkishan Senior Secondary Public School and Delhi Public School were honoured for their work in different fields of service through their respective Interact clubs.
PDG Yoginder Dewan and his wife, PDG Dhian Chand, PDG Manmohan Singh, Presidents of RC SAS Nagar and RC Chandigarh City Beautiful also attended the function.
Vice President of our Club and Principal of DPS, Rtn. Reema Dewan, while presenting a formal vote of thanks, offered to host the Interact Utsav every year in the school. She iterated that the empowerment of the youth will usher in an ideal future for the nation.
We are grateful to Delhi Public School for co-hosting the event.
Surgery # 716: Atharv Joshi, 9 months old boy from Village Hathikhal, Haldwani, District Nanital (Uttrakhand), was successfully operated upon at PGIMER, Chandigarh by Dr. Sandeep Rana on 30 October, 2018. It was a case of hole in heart (VSD). His father is working as Operator, having monthly income of ₹12,000.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
Rotary Club Chandigarh 