Back to Normal, Professor Adri Vermeer and More on Polio

Back to Normal!
Thank goodness the laptop has been sorted out and the blog is back to normal.  My apologies to all those on our Rotary non-member list who have not received the blog but I was unable to access the list on my wine-soaked laptop.  A cautionary tale, Dropbox does not save things that only appear on Desktop, only Documents etc.
We also don't have any photographs of last week's meeting so I am having to resort to other things...no, not photographs of me, don't worry!

Mike Vink & Mario Hendricks  Click on this to watch the video.

Business Meeting
At last week's meeting the logistics of the Rotary Family Health Days was spelled out.  I have received no feed back or photos as to how well it went.  Steve Du Plessis was interviewed on 'The Mix' on Radio Veritas on the Friday which was repeated on Sunday.  The other major issue was the development of a three-year plan for the Club and the necessity of identifying a President for 2015/16.

This week




Our speaker is Professor Adri Vermeer, see his Curriculum Vitae below.  I'm not sure what he is going to talk to us about but I am guessing it is his involvement withSizanani Childrens Home in Bronkhorstspruit.

Training: Gymnasium B (Apeldoorn, 1957) School of Military Physical Education (Hooghalen, 1958) Teacher College of Physical Education (Arnhem, 1963) Med Educational Sciences (Free University Amsterdam, 1972) PhD Social Sciences (Free University Amsterdam, 1983); Thesis:Movement and Child Rehabilitation

Jobs: Sport instructor Dutch Army (1958-1959) Teacher of physical education in primary and secondary schools (1963-1973) Lecturer Pedagogics and Didactics of physical education for young children in Teacher College (1966-1971) Assistent professor Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, Department of Educational Sciences, Free University Amsterdam (1973-1985) Ibidem Associate professor (1986-1997) Professor in Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Educational Sciences, Utrecht University (1991-1997) Professor in Special Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Educational Sciences, Utrecht University (from 1997-2001), since 2001 professor-emeritus. Guest Professor European Masters Degree in Adapted Physical Activity, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Katholic University Leuven, Belgium (from 1991) Visiting Professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland (1993)

Johannesburg Zoo Wattle Crane & Ground Hornbill Projects

It was decided at the Business Meeting that we visit these projects on Saturday 22nd June at 10,00am.  Unfortunately I have to attend a Memorial Service that morning but I will send a notice round closer to the event.

In the face of danger

by Megan Ferringer
The Rotarian -- May 2013 
Photography by Jean-Marc Giboux. (All rights reserved. Not for reuse.) 

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Political and religious leaders in northern Nigeria boycotted the polio vaccine in 2003, arguing the vaccine was tainted and part of a ploy to spread HIV and render girls infertile. Immunizations resumed in September 2004, after new tests convinced officials of the vaccine's safety.

         

In 1998, thousands of families in Sierra Leone fled their homes as the Revolutionary United Front executed its campaign of terror against civilians.

Despite the chaos, health workers and volunteers carried out National Immunization Days as planned. Polio immunization teams searched for refugees along the nation’s roadways and in the jungles. Risking their lives as heavy artillery resonated nearby, they continued on, determined to provide lifesaving drops of vaccine to every child they could find. Today, Sierra Leone is polio-free.

Because of the sacrifices of those who have participated in the global immunization effort, including hundreds of thousands of Rotarians, polio is on the brink of extinction. Teams have conquered the disease in war-ravaged countries and in regions grappling with political unrest. Only Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan remain polio-endemic.

But obstacles persist in the final battle for worldwide eradication, and the disease has proved to be a complicated, contentious foe. Misinformation and rumors of conspiracy continue to sweep through some areas, as vicious and nimble as the virus itself. The small drops of vaccine, administered to save children’s lives, become a source of fear, and as suspicion and hostility grow, immunizers can become targets.

The frontline heroes of the world’s war on polio are its health workers and volunteers – the nurses, mothers, fathers, Rotarians, and community leaders who travel door to door, in slums and in isolated villages, to carry out immunization efforts. And with the recent murders of at least 20 health workers in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan, as of 2 March, eradicating polio has become an act of courage.

Photographer Jean-Marc Giboux has reported on polio for 16 years, traveling through 15 countries in Asia and Africa, including Sierra Leone, Nigeria, had, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, to document the faces behind the campaign.

“The polio workers travel through places of desperation and distress, through every slum, war zone, and refugee camp, with one mission in mind: to reach as many children as possible. No place is off-limits,” Giboux says. “They have a commitment to their cause that you don’t often see. Without them, polio eradication cannot happen. I’m proud to document their legacy.”

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