Varayame is finally home

At the club meeting of 2 February 2012, Sarah  Graham Read reported that Varayame returned home to a welcome by 30 family members in his village in Fiji.  He has been very diligent in continuing to learn to walk and is now able to cover 500m unaided on the gravel road.  His smile is amazing and his quiet determination has touched many hearts.  This project involving the club, Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) and others has been an outstanding success!

Three in One Meeting - just incredible

Today's meeting was amazing with Varayame attending following the amputation of his feet - his recovery from this is so incredible and his spirits so high, especially at the likelihood of prosthetics being fitted next week that he lifted everyone's spirits as well; this is a club/ROMAC project.  In addition we had the Fiji RWC team along for breakfast and also our guest speaker Andrew McKenzie, this year's St Johns Rotary Youth Yachting Scholar. 

Fiona shares a quip with Fijian RWC team members

What a breakfast - continental and / or cook - what choice!

The "Sergeant Session" was highly entertaining and very well thought out. 
Anyone who thought a Rotary meeting was dull got that myth thoroughly dispensed with!

Andrew McKenzie is a high achiever with commendable future plans and is the 15th
scholar and like his predecessors finished tops in the CORK Regatta in Kingston. The scholarship provides promising young sailors assistance to their first international competition



Other activities mentioned during the meeting were:

• An update on Varayame (mentioned above)
• The success of the Glen Taylor Camp that many members made donations to
• The Brian Gibbes Memorial Golf Tournamant in October to raise funds for a sporting scholarship
• Also in October is the Trivia Night raising funds for club projects but also an incredibly popular fun event
• Simon Jones gave an update on Deltacom and the fact that the club support programme has contributed $18,000 back to the club over the years and 150,000 to Rotary in general - people signing up can ask for 5% of their bill to be donated to their charity - in this case, the club.  More information later as services have hugely increased since first launched.

Varayame progressing

Varayame had his last operation, and very successful, to remove his feet on 23 August - in fact it went so well he bypassed ICU and went straight back to his room.  He is in plaster to the thigh and will be going back to family in Auckland very soon where he will have the plaster on for another week.  As soon as he has properly healed he will be fitted with prosthetics at the Auckland Limb Centre.  This process will take at least 6 to 8 weeks and it is hoped he will return home to Fiji around the end of November.

This is a project of Rotary Oceanic Medical Aid for Children and the Rotary Club of St Johns Inc to restore this young man to health and his ability to walk again - for more information about ROMAC go to www.romac.rotarysouthpacific.org in the first instance.

Foir an additional article about Varayame on his arrival go to http://stjohnsrotary.blogspot.com/2011/05/club-provided-support-and-family.html 

Varayame's Feet - a life changed forever

The club provided support and family hosting for a Rotary Oceanic Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) patient (Varayame) brought to New Zealand from Fiji for life saving surgery.  This is described in the article in the May 2011 issue of Rotary Down Under magazine - to read the article click here

There are significant medical challenges but irrespective of the final outcome Varayame's life will be changed for the better as will be that of his family on whose care he has been reliant.

For more information on ROMAC please visit http://www.romac.rotarysouthpacific.org/