Rotary.... with a little help from my friends!

Rotary's motto is: Service over Self. How true.
http://www.wyckoffmidlandparkrotary.org/

AIDSfreeAFRICA has been the recipient of support for numerous projects helping Cameroonians.
We are always welcome by Rotarians and the list of invited speaking engagements is long.
Ramapo Valley Rotary in Sloatsburg was the first club to sponsor a medical kit, followed by Wyckoff-Midland Rotary. John Adams was the man behind the scence making it possible that we were able to double the amount of supplies. Since we got the supplies from Anne Richards we were able to use the Rotary money to pay transport cost. We doubled the amount  to deliver 100 pounds instead of 50 pounds last year. We also delivered insulin syringes and a glucose meter with test strips donated again by my former student from Westchester Community College. Every year we receive a very generous donation of chewable children's vitamins from the Ossining Health Smart Pharmacy Dr. Bruno Tullio. The vitamins have been handed to so many places and people that it would fill a book with pictures. Maybe one day I will do that.... what do you think?

Our recipients of the medical supplies are the clinic in Limbe (see separate blog later) and new to us: a small bush clinic hours away from the capital Yaoude and too far for me to go to. But Mary (right) makes the trek every so often, and she will carry these boxes all the way to where they are needed. Also in the picture is my SERVAS host Steeve (left) - who by the way wants me to find him a young American woman who wants to marry him..... and my dear friend Solomon who made sure I traveled safely.

This is my Bamenda family where I spend  Christmas. From left is Dr. Christopher Anyangwe, proprietor of the Royal Alpha Clinic in Bamenda who saved me when I had a gallbladder attack of some sort. the two boys belong to Samuel Anyangwe and his wife Florence (not in the picture). The tall boy has been juvenile diabetic since age three. His mother knew something was wrong. She had the presence to taste the child's urine to convince a doctor to test the insulin level. In the US non of us can imagine what heroic an act it is to attempt to keep a diabetic child healthy and alive in Cameroon. We are told that the syringes make a big difference, since now they can reuse them a little less often and throw them away when the needle gets dull and it becomes to painful to use.... can you imagine?

To my very left is Christopher and Samuel's mother. She is the mother to many more Anyangwe's, some of whom I have met and others I am sure I will. She speaks only Pidgin English and whatever she says it is said with a welcoming smile that translates any language into just that: a warm welcome. 

AIDSfreeAFRICA thanks our donors, all Rotarian's, my students, my friends and family and my Cameroonian friends for receiving me so warm in their homes.