On Mindoro Island, one of the 2,000 inhabited islands among the 7,000 that comprise the Philippines, the mother of Ladner Rotarian Alfredo Goco injured herself badly, but had to travel many painful, agonizing hours to reach medical help.
Since then Goco has been working with various health authorities to bring medical assistance closer to the people of that island.
Demonstrating the global as well as local reach and impact of Rotary, a 40-foot shipping container fully packed with used medical equipment is on its way to the Philippines thanks to 25 members of not only the Rotary Club of Ladner, Goco's home club, but several other Rotary clubs in the Lower Mainland and to the ongoing work of Vancouverbased Rotary World Help Network, a multi-club and multi-district Rotary program.
The Rotary Club of San Jose, in the Philippines, is receiving the container loaded with hospital beds, mattresses, IV poles, wheelchairs and more, and will distribute the equipment to a clinic on or near the remote island.
The medical equipment and supplies, worth $200,000 to $300,000 in terms of replacement cost, will be of tremendous value to people in that remote island, according to Rotary Club of Ladner president Walt Hayward.
"We are grateful to our hospitals and health system which provided the equipment to make this project, along with many Rotarians in the chain over many months," said Hayward.
Rotary Club of Ladner is one of 35,000 Rotary clubs around the world run by 1.2 million members.
For more information, visit http://www.rotaryworldhelp.com/or www.rotaryladner.org.
