Rotary Club of Dabolim Goa

Our club participated in the pulse polio immunisation drive at the Pulse Polio booth manned by Rotary Club of Vasco da gama. Also present was Rtn. Leif R Carlsson, District Governor of Rotary International District 2410, Sweden who traveled to India to participate in in the Immunization program. He and his wife Mona Carlsson personally administered drops to over 100 children. Rtn. Carlsson is a member of Rotary Club of TORSÅS-BERGKVARA.

Pulse Polio is an immunization  campaign established by the government of India in 1994 to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating  annually all children under age five against poliovirus.

Rotary International is the volunteer arm of a global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. In 1985, Rotary volunteers around the world embraced the fight against polio and ‘POLIOPLUS‘ was born.

Till date, the PolioPlus programme has contributed  US $ 610 million for the protection of more than two billion children. By 2007 the end of the programme, Rotary’s contribution will touch more than US$650 million apart from the manpower, materials and individual support provided by 1.2 million Rotarians world wide.

Also see the video below: Bill Gates thanks Rotarians for their commitment to the polio eradication effort. Because of the work of Rotarians, says Gates, polio has declined by 99 percent.

Gates Message EN from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Rotary community, health, projects

As a part of our initiative to partner with schools, we donated reading material to one of our partner schools – Yuvak Sangh High School, Headland Sada, Vasco. The 134 books and magazines will augment the school library, and will be used by the children. Thanks to Amit T, Karuna, Lalit, Shubhangi and Sonali for donating books.

Please help collect reading material from your home, office, and from your friends and family. The material / envelope should be marked with your name. Your small contribution will go a long way to improve reading and learning in children.

FAQ:

What can I donate ?
Reading Material can include any books and magazines in reasonably decent condition that will help a child read and learn. They can include the 5-year old India Today that you have lying somewhere at home, the Amar Chitra Katha that your child doesnt read anymore, Gode Goshti in Marathi, or the workbook on Financial Accounting from your graduation that you have not touched for ages. They can be in any language (English, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Tamil, or even Swahili), and on any topic under the sun.

What will the club do with the reading material ?
These books and magazines will be sorted according to topic, suitability etc. and then donated to our partner institutions. We will be donating the reading material to the schools: (classes 1st to 10th) and colleges (11th-12th, B Com / BBA / BA) students. The children will be from ages 5 years to 20 years.

Which are your partner institutions ?
These schools and colleges are in the vicinity of Vasco / Dabolim, and have been shortlisted after evaluation on numerous parameters by our members Amit B and Snehal.

Rotary education, projects, school, vocational

The All Goa Open Category Chess Tournament was conducted Jointly by RC Vasco and RC Dabolim in association with Goa State Chess Association. The prize money was sponsored by Dr Peter Carvahlo , chess coach and associated in hosting chess tournaments.

The Chess tournament was held at Regina Mundi School, Chicalim, and had 108 participants taking part over the 2 day event.

Rotary projects, vocational

Our club distributed hearing aids to 4 elderly patients and 5 deaf and dumb children.

These were a part of the Hearing aids and analog audiometer donated to RC Vasco by the Rotary Club of Birmingham, UK (Rotary International District 1060).

Rotary community, health, International, projects, RID 3170

350 is the most important number in the world -it’s what scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

On 24th October 2009, people all over the world will take a stand for a safe climate future. In over 2300 actions covering almost every country in the world, there will be big rallies in big cities, and incredible creative actions across the globe: mountain climbers on our highest peaks with banners, underwater demonstrations in island nations  threatened by sea level rise, churches and mosques and synagogues and ashrams engaged in symbolic action, star athletes organizing mass bike rides–and hundreds upon hundreds of community events to raise awareness of the need for urgent action. These events will be photographed with the number 350 in the background and be part of a gigantic visual petition at the UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Rotary community, environment, projects

Dandiya Nite, an event organised to raise funds for our school project, was a great event. People of all age-groups had a wonderful time. Dandiya enthusiasts turned up in large numbers in colourful ethnic wear and were seen dancing away to garba and dandiya beats and Bollywood numbers. Numerous prizes including attractive cash prizes were given to the winners of the different dance competitions. The food court with mouth watering food stalls was a runaway success. Ladies lined up at the mehendi stall, while other games made it a fun filled event for everybody.

We were overwhelmed with the response. Our sincere thanks to all the participants, the Chicalim Sarpanch Mr. Cleto, Mr. Rajan Satardekar, Deputy Collector (South Goa), PI Braz, NISA, Goa Times, Vasco Watch, Vinsan Graphics, Sanjana Lotlikar, Vibhav Joshi, Aditya Mehta, Dr. Sanat Joshi, Ms. Lalita Joshi, Nimisha Saraswat, Vidya Tapadia, Pankajbhai of Jailaxmi Transport, Chaat Street, Flintstone, Wonder Ice Cream, Everton Vales, Temptations, Big G, Magsons, ING Bank, Ms. Sweeja Diwekar and RC Vasco,  and Event Sponsors: Prime Builders, Hiralal & Co., RNSB Trust, ACM, Kiran Dhabolkar and Sons, Maharaja Hotels, NRB Group, S K Land Developers, Vijai Marine Services, Goa Medicare Devices, Hyundai – Goa Motors, Links – HDFC Car Loans – Devang Gosalia, Mahalaxmi Mines and Minerals, Mohit Ispat, Tarshish Exports and other donors; Prize Sponsors: Coconut Creek, 10 Calangute, The UB Group and Teles Mega Store;

We hope to be back next year with a bigger more memorable event.

Dandiya Raas is the traditional folk dance form of Vrindavan, where it is performed depicting scenes of Holi, and lila of Krishna and Radha. Along with Garba, it is the featured dance of Navratri evenings.

The Rotary Club of Dabolim, a part of the Rotary International family, will be investing the funds in our School Project. We are partnering with selected educational institutions in improving their infrastructure, buying training aids, and providing training for teachers. The project will improve the quality of education, impacting the lives of a large number of students and their families. Improving the employability of students is critical for India to harness the potential of its demographic dividend where over 52% of the population is below 25 years of age, and this project will be our small contribution towards the larger goal.

Rotary club, fundraiser, projects, school

Heavy rains inundated parts of Canacona causing flash floods, and immense hardship to the residents, flooding and damaging hundreds of houses, damaging crops, affecting thousands of people, causing few deaths and rendering many homeless.

Acting speedily on a few requests, we provided flood relief material including food, tarpaulins, bedsheets and clothes to the affected area. The material was distributed with the help of an NGO manning the 24-hour relief centre in Poinguinim, one of the worst affected areas. The NGO has 120 volunteers actively helping with the rescue, rehabilitation and distribution of relief material.

Many thanks to the RC Dabolim team, and to Everton, Sonali and Suresh for their help.

Rotary community, disaster, projects

We organised a “Free Tree & Plant Saplings Distribution Camp” in association with the Village Panchayat of Chicalim.

Saplings of plants like jackfruit, tamarind, kokum, guava, rain tree, peltophorum, bayo, bougainvillea, custard apple, neem, jamun, etc. were distributed free of cost. In addition to these, there were a variety of garden plants available for distribution.

The Club also simultaneously organized a “Green Products Exhibition”. This included a display of various eco-friendly products and other organic products like manures, seeds, EM, insect repellents, etc. by Green Goa Works (Mapusa), Earthworm (Porvorim) and Green Essentials (Panjim).

The Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) also exhibited appliances such as solar cookers, solar pumps, solar TVs. These appliances can be operated by using renewable energy resources such as Solar Thermal, Solar Photovoltaic, Wind Energy and Biomass Energy.

Rotary community, environment, projects

An unique summer camp that blends art & craft, sports, personality development, environmental awareness, games, fun and more…

Dates: 18th to 24th May
Time: 09:30 am to 1 pm
Venue: Rotary Hall, Tilak Maidan, Vasco
Age Group: 9 – 12 years
Fees: Rs. 750/-

Rotary community, fundraiser, projects, vocational

Without proper street lights, the safety of both bicycle riders and motorists is at risk in the dark. Our “Reflector stickers on bicycles” for Road Safety project aims at providing reflectors to bicycles. Something as simple as a small strip of reflector tape stuck on the front and back can dramatically improve the visibility of a bicycle on a dimly lit road and reduce accidents.  We identified a particularly vulnerable location and convinced dozens of bicycle riders to allow us to stick the red reflector tape on their bicycles.

Rotarians At Work Day happens the last Saturday in April each year.  Each year, Clubs around the world identify a hands-on project that all members can participate in to help their local community.

Rotary community, projects

We celebrated World Earth Day in 2009 by distributing glass bottles marked ‘Battery Collection Bottles’ among our club members.  This was done by participating in GoaCan’s Battery Waste Collection Drive – The Consumer Household Battery Collection Drive is a micro example of how Segregation At Source (SAS) can help Protect the Environment.

When batteries are disposed in garbage, heavy metals like cadmium, cobalt, copper, zinc, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, and lithium leach from the batteries that are deposited in landfills. This contaminates soil and water. All of these elements are potentially harmful to humans and the environment. For example, cadmium can cause lung damage, kidney disease, and death, and lead can damage the kidneys, nervous system, and reproductive system. Lead poisoning is also commonly diagnosed in cattle, and the death rate can be close to 20 percent. One of the more popular rechargeable batteries, nickel-cadmium, is also one of the most environmentally harmful. Besides the presence of cadmium, NiCd batteries, as well as nickel-metal hydride batteries, contain cobalt, which can cause asthma and pneumonia and is considered a possible human carcinogen. Even lithium, another element used in some rechargeable batteries and considered a more environmentally benign substance, can produce acid rain when present in salt form and is a suspected kidney and liver toxicant.

Also Read: Rechargeable batteries can be big danger

Update (Feb 2010): The 2009-10 District Governor Rtn. Gurudatta D. Bhakta has appreciated this project during his official visit to our club.

Rotary community, environment, projects

On International Women’s Day, we organised a free “Women’s Health Camp”. 147 women attended the free medical camp at Mangor, Vasco.

Dr. Reena, Dr. Amita and Dr. Shubhangi volunteered to conduct the health checks. We had a pathologist in attendance to conduct the blood tests. Dr. Kapil took charge of disbursing free medicines and explaining the dosage to the patients. Free vitamins, iron and protein supplements were disbursed, as were some OTC medicines. All patients were offered snacks. Abhay, Dr. Amita, Amit B, Amit T, Avez, Charuta, Dinesh, Jennifer, Dr. Kapil, Lalit, Dr. Shubhangi, Snehal, Vidya volunteered. Dr. Reena was invited by Dr. Shubhangi. Nikhil and Pramod of RC Vasco also visited the camp.

Also see: Health Camp Results.

Rotary community, health, projects