"We have to do something… and the Mt Eden Rotary Club can help”.
"The words fell out of my mouth after hearing from a relative (a seasoned nurse in NZ) about her recent experience in a hospital of her home town in Fiji," said Dr Ursula Bach, President of Mt Eden Rotary Club
Describing how under-resources some medical facilities are, Dr bach's relative retold how staff used their hands to move patients from bed to bed instead of sheets, because there were none. It soon became clear that this project was about providing the smaller thing: those which help patients feel more comfortable, and medical professionals more confident to do their jobs well. Raising money for basic medical supplies was the essence of this project, and something we felt we could achieve as a small club (<10 members).
The club decided to host Mt Eden Rotary's Quiz Night Fundraiser for Fiji. This was a hugely successful night, held on Saturday 24 February at The Danish House in Penrose, Auckland. We were absolutely thrilled that almost 100 friends, family, colleagues, Rotarians, Rotaractors, Danish Society members and other people who cared about the cause turned up for some fun and fundraising. Mt Eden Rotary Club is particularly grateful for the support of the Rotary Clubs of Auckland Harbourside, Auckland Airport, Manukau City Sunrise, St. Johns and the Rotaract Club of Auckland City. The Quiz Master was Dr. Bach's husband Aditesh Rajkumar, (himself from Fiji) together with Chris Colby (Mt Eden Rotary’s newest member).
After a catered meal, to kick things off, Becky Giblin (Rotarian and Rotaractor) talked to us all about her recent experience with the Fiji health system. Becky's experience mirrored many others Mt Eden Rotary had heard of: while hospital staff were wonderful and did as much as they could, they were desperately short of some very basic supplies.
It was a roller-coaster ride of a night for the 12 teams participating in the Kahoot quiz. But, at the end of the evening, the winning team was found. Congratulations to Rotary Manukau City Sunrise which combined with the Auckland City Rotaract Club, defeated all other comers.
Overall, NZD $4,000 was raised from ticket sales, silent auctions, and donations. This would not have been possible without the generosity and/or hard work of many people. Thank you all very much!
The money raised will help provide as much supplies to Fiji Hospitals as possible. With the assistance of our District Governor Vineeta Nand, who has compiled a list of the basic general and medical supplies that are still needed by seven hospitals and medical centres in Fiji.Mt Eden Rotary Club hopes to get more funding from District Trusts and are working with Medical Aid Abroad and MFAT to achieve this goal, and are grateful for these connections.
Updates will be posted on their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MtEdenRotary).
