Rotary International Convention
RFPD Events at the Rotary International Convention
June 2009: Birmingham, England
Annual General Meeting – Sixty people attended the RFPD Annual General Meeting. RFPD's board of directors were elected. Minutes from 2008 were presented, the future of RAG's were discussed and an open forum took place, which generated many ideas and support for RFPD.
Salem Mashhour, Robert Zinser & Harald Marschner
Tam Mustapha & Frank Wargo - Zone Coordinators for N. America
Membership Breakfast – A special event was held during the convention that included RFPD & RI leaders, RFPD members and potential members. Twenty-five people were in attendance, and RFPD board members spoke about the future of Rotarian Action Groups.
Exhibit Booth – this year RFPD had great visibility in the House of Friendship. Members gained: 14 lifetime and 3 annual.
Three workshops were presented, following a broad solicitation for proposals by RI, RFPD was invited to present the following:
Rotary Projects-Reducing Maternal & Child Mortality: The comprehensive approach "Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality – Prevention and Treatment of Obstetric Fistula," successfully running since 2005, was featured. RFPD shared its project expertise with 600 participants. Panelists included: The Nigerian project chairman, PDG Kola Owoka; Project staff, Zainab Mohammad Pawa, Chief Midwife; Robert Zinser, Dolapo Lufadeju and gynecologist Dr. Hadiza Galadanci, of University Teaching Hospital Kano. During the workshop outgoing RI President, D.K. Lee, was awarded the RFPD Nafis Sadik Award for Courage and responded with inspiring acceptance comments. Dr. Galadanci and Zainab Mohammad Pawa were awarded Paul Harris Fellows for their outstanding work.
Buck Lindsay, Kamal Sanghvi, Rekha Shetty, Sandeep Narang
Robert Zinser & Dr. Galadanci, Recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow Award
Saheli Centers-Women Helping Women: The 90-minute workshop informed Rotarians about RFPD's successful and expanding Saheli Centers for Women in India. There are now 28 Saheli Centers in the northern states of Bihar and Jkarhand that provide vocational training, education and reproductive health for women and girls. The successes of these projects were displayed, along with concept-expansion and information on how Rotarians can sponsor additional Saheli Centers. There were close to 100 Rotarians and guests in attendance who participated in this exciting workshop.
Promotion of Child Health by Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV: Dolapo Lufadeju, Robert Zinser, midwife Zainab Mohammad Pawa and Dr. Hadiza Galadanci, member of Nigerian PMTCT task team, explained how Rotary promotes Child Health by PMTCT. Dr. Michael Rabbow, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, CD Communications, Ingelheim, Germany presented the donation program utilized for this project. Brian Reid of OraSure Technologies presented HIV tests on oral fluid instead of blood. RFPD shared its expertise of PMTCT with 250 attendees.
Page Updated: May 10, 2010