International Champions of Change 2018

Tony is a consultant orthopaedic Surgeon from Wrightington Hospital. His work, under the Sustainable Orthopaedic Trauma Services in Africa project, has changed the lives of the medical staff in hospitals through training and, as a result saves the lives of the many patients.

He leads a small team of surgeons and ancillary nursing staff from the UK, and now Australia, to Ethiopia. They took instruments and other essential equipment enabling them to perform operations on whilst training and mentoring hospital staff from surgeons to nursing staff in all aspects of trauma care.

The accompanying staff members benefitted by working in conditions far removed from their normal working conditions and broadening their own individual skill levels.

In just under two years, over 2,500 major operations have been carried out locally. The project is backed by Worsley Rotary and the World Orthopaedic Concern UK.

Peter was instrumental in organising and delivering medical units to Pakistan and Bangladesh. These units provide breast-screening services, a mobile artificial limb clinic, a general clinic and polio immunisation.

By securing the help of Rotary in Karachi and persuading NHS Scotland release the medical units, Peter’s work has provided essential care, which is often taken for granted.

The results are incredible. Since May 2017, over 20,500 patients have visited the chest pain units including over 9,000 cardiac patients.

1,247 lives have been saved after suffering cardiac arrest.

10 years ago, Patsy saw for herself the desperate plight of people in the Gambia. She decided there and then to find support and resources to improve the lives of school children, local village people, health workers and patients in numerous ways. She has, along the way, linked Rotary clubs from different continents together and recruited numerous individuals, groups and organisations to help her.

Had Patsy not intervened in, the Gambian people would not receive the education and care that they do today. Patsy self-funds two trips each year to keep up to date on progress.

Despite all her international work, Patsy continues to work locally as a nurse and, with Rotary, supports the local homeless community.

Back in the nineties Bob was moved to Croatia, where the war was just coming to an end, leaving a huge number of displaced persons, including orphans who had seen sights that nobody should witness.

He organised convoys of at least five vehicles at a time and subsequently sent aid consignments using road trains to a vast number of people living below the poverty line.

As if this were not enough, Bob has helped equip a hospital in the Gambia over the last two decades and has visited Bansang to assess what is most needed.

He went on to equip schools in Sierra Leone, another country ripped apart by war.

His sourcing of medical and kitchen items for Mercy Ships is inspiring and he stays aboard the ship in Liberia to give practical help.

In 2004 Alison started the life-changing charity COGRI-Nyumbani Trust which raises funds to deliver care-based projects for over 4,000 HIV infected orphans in Nairobi, Kenya.

These are the Nyumbani Home, Lea Toto and Nyumbani Village. 

12 years ago, Alan visited Sierra Leone whilst volunteering for Mercy Ships. His 11 day trip as a volunteer was life-changing.

He has visited the country many times and established direct links with school communities where he works tirelessly to help them to develop.

The initial need was to reduce class sizes as children were tightly crammed into small rooms and often did not have any classroom furniture. Some of the classrooms were in makeshift buildings consisting of tarpaulins or matting with wooden timbers and were not always resistant to adverse weather conditions.

A project to rebuild classrooms addressed all these issues and it was possible to start secondary education, at the request of the community, in a school which had only catered for the junior age group.

15 years ago, Norman founded Partners in Education Swaziland, following a trip where he saw children live on the streets, making them extremely vulnerable.

Many of these youngsters have lost parents to AIDS and although some are cared for by grandparents, when the elders die the children are on their own.

PIES feeds 180 children a day and provides pre-school education for over 40 children at a high school.

There are now two care centres which operate in partnership with the charity SOS Villages. These centres provide a safe place for the children where they can receive medical care, nutritious food and care.