Our Projects
The Rotary Club of Osborne Park are involved with several projects. Listed below are the principle projects that we support.
- Cambodia Hospital Equipment
- Make FASD History
- Rotary Supporting "My Home"
- Interplast
- Shelterbox
- Polio Plus
- RYLA
- RYPEN
- National Youth Science Forum
- The Science Experience
- Adventures in Citizenship
- Camp Opportunity
Cambodia Hospital Equipment
The Rotary Club of Osborne Park’s principal charitable project involves the recycling of used hospital equipment to Cambodia, where the public hospitals have very little and patients often do not even have beds provided for them. Our club has shipped forty 40 foot containers of used hospital equipment & medical supplies having a replacement value of over $20 million to Cambodia over the past ten years. The two C Arms recently sent have a replacement value of $300,000 each & the 16 Defibrillators new would have cost close to a $1million.
The upgrading & replacement of Perth’s hospitals that has been occurring over the past few years has resulted in a lot of serviceable second hand equipment becoming available. Our new hospitals are mostly being equipped with all new fittings and many of the beds and other equipment in our old hospitals that are being shut down are being disposed of, resulting in a large volume of used equipment becoming available. Rather than this being dumped, some of it is being recycled and put to good use in less developed countries.
This equipment has typically consisted of beds (which are in great demand in Cambodia) X Ray machines, monitors, pumps, theatre lights, C arms, screens, operating tables, humicribs, hoists, intravenous hanging stands, wheel chairs, bed pans, Stryker drills, surgical equipment, to name just some of the equipment put to good use.
Members of our club collect the equipment from various hospitals and take it to Goldstar's warehouse, where they store it temporarily at no cost in a Container donated by a Club member. Once sufficient equipment has been collected a busy bee is organised and the equipment packed into a container by club members and volunteers Nurses, Doctors & others. The Club then arranges shipment of the container to Cambodia at a discounted rate.
A retired WA Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr Tim Keenan, who spends part of his time in Cambodia, arranges for the distribution and setup of the equipment in various public hospitals. Volunteer technicians & nurses, partly subsidized by the Club, then go to Cambodia to ensure the equipment is working and assist in training local hospital staff.
Make FASD History.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is a term used for a spectrum of conditions in people, caused by the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Alcohol can cause damage to the unborn child at any time during pregnancy and the level of harm is dependent on the amount and frequency of alcohol use and the stage of development of the foetus.
The symptoms of FASD vary and can be mild to very severe. Brain development of the child can be disrupted due to their mother's alcohol consumption while pregnant, leading to a small and structurally abnormal brain. This can cause the brain to function abnormally, leading to a range of learning and sensory regulation difficulties, including issues with memory, completing complex tasks and numeracy. In addition, people with FASD often have problems coping with sensory inputs (eg. noise, sound, touch) that others would regard as normal. Children with FASD may also develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, conduct and oppositional disorders, risk-taking, anxiety and depression. Children with FASD may also develop into youth and adults who make poor choices and end up in corrective services.
In 2016 Rotary teamed up with the Ability Centre and Patches Paediatrics to support children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and their families in the Pilbarra region.
Patches Paediatrics is run by Dr James Fitzpatrick, former Young Australian of the Year for the work he has done with these children and their families. His work with children with FASD started at the request of some of the elders in the Fitzroy Region, who wanted their grandchildren to have a better life experience than their children. The support Patches provide through their team of a Paediatrician, Psychologist, Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, as well as Aboriginal support workers, has since extended across the Kimberley, into the Pilbarra, and also the Armadale area of Perth.
Patches work in three main ways: the prevention of FASD, diagnosis, and evidence based therapy to improve outcomes.
Research has identified that in some regions of WA as many as 1 in 8 children are impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, the highest known incidence in the world. With support from the Patches Team working in the community, the number of expectant mothers consuming alcohol in the Fitzroy has reduced from 70% to 20%. Early diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) as well as timely therapy input to support the child, family and community is essential.
Research has identified that in some regions of WA as many as 1 in 8 children are impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, the highest known incidence in the world. With support from the Patches Team working in the community, the number of expectant mothers consuming alcohol in the Fitzroy has reduced from 70% to 20%. Early diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) as well as timely therapy input to support the child, family and community is essential.
Patches Paediatrics is also linked with Telethon Kid's Institute who are carrying out research at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre, where preliminary work has identified that over 40% of the youth have FASD.
In January 2019 the Rotary Club of Osborne Park, in collaboration with a number of other WA Rotary Clubs and Rotary District 9455’s Aboriginal Reference Group, set up a Project Management Committee and established a pilot project to ‘Making Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder History’ in the remote town of Leonora, where many professional people have reported that there is a high incidence of children who appear to have FASD. Rotary’s is working with PATCHES and the local people to prevent, diagnose and support up to 160 children with FASD and their families.
Community participation, including the employment of a local Aboriginal support worker, is a key part of the project. If successful in this community, then, with local involvement, similar supports could be expanded to other Goldfields communities with local involvement.
Thanks to our sponsors, especially the Children's Orchard Foundation, Healthways, Minara Community Foundation, Stan Perron Foundation and the Goldfields Australia Foundation, Rotary will be working with Patches Paediatrics over the 2 years 2019 to 2021 providing a comprehensive, wrap-around, holistic program.
The project consisted of three components, a diagnosis element which was primarily to provide the research on the prevalence of FASD, a treatment program to assist those affected by FASD and teach the local health practitioners how to treat them, and a community educational program to reduce the incidence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and consequently prevent FASD. The research program has effectively confirmed our suspicions, about 25% of the children tested had FASD, and the treatment program is now treating these kids and a community engagement program which has been a spectacular success.
We have been very lucky to have Bruce Dufty involved, as he has a great admiration and affinity for the aboriginal people and has been visiting Leonora every 6 to 8 weeks. Bruce is a Community Change Agent and has worked with the elders and locals, developed their trust and have them set up the Lenora Aboriginal Resident Community Group. This group has empowered them, given them ownership of the issue and a voice in the community and they have gone on to set up a range of community programs to help the aboriginal people and develop their self-worth. The community has worked with some publican to promote “responsible drinking measures” and a “voluntary curfew”, provided education to 30 school teachers in how to work with Children with FASD, and generally changing the attitude to drinking in Leonora. The Group are working with a Kalgoorlie film producer to make five short films to increase community awareness of FASD and have set up a Youth Hip Hop dance and horse riding groups to get the kids off the street, which has reduced the juvenile offending rate. They have even succeeded in doubling the number of aboriginal people employed in the local community from 17 at the start of the program to 34 now. Work on the program was temporarily suspended during the early part of 2020 due to the COVID issue, but has since resumed.
Rotary Supporting “My Home” project for homeless housing
On any given night in Western Australia, around 9,000 people are considered to be homeless. Rotary in Western Australia are keen to assist in resolving this issue and have agreed to support “My Home” Australasia Limited to provide low cost housing for people experiencing homelessness in Western Australia.
“My Homes” Australasia Limited, a charity set up by a local architect is about to construct over 50 low cost houses in North Fremantle, Victoria Park and Woodbridge. The “My Home” project is based on the Housing First principle that has been shown to be World’s Best Practice with an 80% success rate, i.e. people do not regress back to homelessness. The project aims to construct low cost sustainable houses, in small clusters within landscaped grounds integrated into the local community. The housing will be constructed on land provided at negligible cost by the state government that is earmarked for future use but available for at least 15 years. Funding from the private sector is required for construction and furnishing of the houses.
Once constructed, the houses will be managed by a Community Housing Provider (CHP) engaged and experienced in this work. The CHP will collect the rent, which will be set at an affordable proportion of the tenant’s income, maintain the houses and provide other support to the occupants. Land has already been made available in North Fremantle, Victoria Park, Woodbridge and Maddington for the project. The first group of 18 houses were completed in June 2023 and eighteen homeless older women moved in over the next few months. Rotary gave every new resident a welcome pack which included food and toiletries.
Rotary undertook to support this project and make these houses into homes by providing furniture and household items to the houses constructed by “My Home”. The Rotary Club of Osborne Park were instrumental in initiating the project which has been embraced be several Rotary Clubs in Western Australia. Further small groups of houses are planned to be constructed over the next few years and Rotary will be there to assist.
Interplast
Interplast is a Rotary charity that sends teams of highly qualified plastic and reconstructive surgical volunteers to developing countries in the Asia Pacific region to deliver programs of treatment and training. The main type of surgery undertaken are cleft lip and palate repairs, removal of tumours and the releasing of burn scar contractures.
Interplast currently does approximately 1,000 life changing surgeries a year, the majority being on Children. A two hour operation can change a child’s life from being ostracised by their community, to growing up normally and healthy; they can go to school; they can have friends; they can contribute to their family’s income and they become independent.
Every Interplast program is a training program providing very effective ‘on-the-job’ training to build that country’s capacity. Interplast also sometimes brings overseas surgeons to Australia for training.
The Rotary Club of Osborne Park was instrumental in getting an Interplast program started in our Rotary District in WA. We have been able to raise sufficient funds through the collaboration of clubs within the district to fund a medical Programme in each of the last four years. Each programs costs $45,000-$50,000.
In August 2015 a seven person Interplast volunteer team of Surgeons, anaesthetist and nurses travelled to Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines and performed a total of 100 procedures on 68 patients over a two week period. Previous trips have been to Labasa, Fiji,
There are always more patients than surgery spots and plenty of good medical volunteers willing to give up their time. The limiting factor is the money to fund these programmes. Approximately $45,000 is needed to fund each trip to pay for medical equipment and supplies and transport costs. The travel and accommodation of the volunteers is also paid out of these funds. Donations can be made from the Interplast website.
Shelterbox
Shelterbox is a Rotary Charity that provides emergency shelter and vital supplies to support communities around the world overwhelmed by disaster and humanitarian crisis. The support is provided in a Shelterbox kit, typically contains a disaster relief tent for a family, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, mosquito nets and children’s activity pack.
Shelterbox aims to get the first shipment of boxes dispatched to a disaster area within 2-3 days where a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) meets it. The team ensures the boxes are distributed to those most in need. Often ShelterBox is the first outside aid agency on the ground distributing desperately needed shelter and emergency aid to people whose lives have been destroyed.
Polio Plus
By far the largest project ever undertaken by Rotary is the eradication of Polio. We are close to eradicating a human disease for only the second time in history.
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that most commonly affects young children, under the age of 5. Most know it as polio. The virus is spread person-to-person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine – one which Rotary and our partners used to immunize over 2.5 billion children worldwide
Through a global public-private partnership we have reduced the poliovirus caseload by 99.9% over the last 30 years, but there’s still plenty of work to do. Fewer than 22 children were paralysed by polio in 2017, the lowest number in history. This is a dramatic decrease from the estimated 350,000 cases per year in 125 countries that the world saw in 1985 - the year that Rotary International initiated a worldwide effort to eradicate this terrible disease.
In 1988, Rotary was joined in the effort by WHO, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, UNICEF (and more recently the Gates Foundation) to create the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Today the virus is limited to a few areas in just two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. Africa was declared free of Polio in 2020, the last case of wild polio virus was detected in Nigeria in August 2016.
More information is available at the EndPolioNow website https://www.endpolio.org/
RYLA
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive leadership experience organized by Rotary clubs and districts where young people develop their skills as leaders while having fun and making connections. Young people aged 18-25, chosen for their leadership potential, attend a 7 day camp, organised by Rotarians. Australia needs to develop proactive youth leaders with self-confidence and a capacity to be positive role models to others. In WA, the camps are run each year in January.
RYPEN
The Rotary Youth Program for Enrichment is a program for full-time students 14 to 17 years of age, to help them develop “life skills” and motivation to cope with the challenges of a very competitive future and benefit greatly from the opportunities available to them.
RYPEN targets everyday young adults that have not yet achieved leadership positions. Participants will be given the opportunity to learn from achievers in the world of Business, sport and entertainment.
National Youth Science Forum
The NYSF is a national Rotary program that aims to nurture and encourage young Australians to be the next generation of leading scientists and engineers supporting a sustainable future for our nation.
The NYSF helps students moving into Year 12, who wish to follow careers in science, engineering and technology by introducing them to research and researchers, by encouraging the achievement of excellence in all their undertakings, and by helping to develop their communication and interpersonal skills. The NYSF’s mission is to provide community minded and science focused young Australians an opportunity for network development and insight into skills, careers and a lifetime of achievement in science, engineering and technology.
The flagship event of the NYSF is the January Forum. Until recently this event had been held exclusively in Canberra and hosted by The Australian National University. One of the most important aspects coming from the NYSF is a network of friends, colleagues and support groups throughout Australia, which will be of value to participants for the whole of their lives.
The Science Experience
The ConocoPhillips Science Experience is a fun 3 or 4 days of science activities for Year 9 and 10 students in 2016.
Each program is designed to provide students who have an interest in science with an opportunity to engage in a wide range of fascinating science activities under the guidance of scientists who love their work.
Adventures in Citizenship
Rotary Adventure in Citizenship is an intensive and fun filled week-long program in Canberra to help prepare young adults for full participation as citizens of Australia. Run in partnership with the Parliamentary Education Office, the delegates spend a lot of time inside Parliament House in areas not usually open to the public.
Camp Opportunity
Camp Opportunity is a week long live in camp for young disabled adults, “Camper”, between the ages of 18 and 35 years“, to team with an able bodied “Buddy” for a week of adventure as they mix and interact in a fun atmosphere to share new friendships and experiences.