PROGRAMS OF ROTARIANS - Rotary Down Under

ROTARY OCEANIA
MEDICAL AID FOR
CHILDREN (ROMAC)
From humble beginnings with one child, ROMAC today changes and
save the lives of up to 30 underprivileged children from the Oceania
region each year.
Children like Rocelyn, from the Philippines, who had what started as a
small lump in her mouth that quickly turned into a 2 two kilo tumour.
She couldn’t eat, could only see out of one eye, and had trouble breathing. Surgeons
commented that had she not been treated she would have died within a month.
Theary was abandoned due to the unsightly face birthmark, but fortunately her new ‘mum’
took her in, contacted ROMAC and now she lives a normal, healthy life with her new, caring
family in a remote Cambodian village.
Varayame became paralyzed following surgery on his back. Whilst he had never walked he’s
proud to be a Fijian national wheelchair basketball champion. The New Zealand orthopaedic
surgeon recently repaired a deep wound on his back, but regrettably had to amputate his
twisted feet. The lad has been fitted with prosthetic feet that enable him to walk. His amazing
story has received extensive media coverage on N.Z.’s ’60 Minutes’, a TV documentary, and
in the local press.
On a lazy Sunday Dr Ken Jureidini, ROMAC’s Medical Director, received an urgent call for help
for Nelia, a 6 day old Timor Leste baby, as she was unable to feed or digest her food due to a
rare condition. Unfortunately local doctors were unable to perform surgery, Five days later
ROMAC’s team had her on the operating table at Melbourne’s Monash Children’s Hospital for
an operation that saved her life.
It’s not always easy generating publicity for Rotary, yet the general public have read, listened
to and watched probably more ROMAC success stories than any other Rotary project. From
alarmingly disfigured faces, conjoined twins to emergency life-saving operations it’s no
surprise that the sometimes desperate stories have frequently made ‘good news’ stories in all
the media in Australia and NZ.
Often patient visas need to be urgently issued and extended, but as ROMAC has a great
relationship with the Department of Immigration they always facilitate patients for ROMAC.
This has done much to promote ROMAC’s good work and enables our surgeons to gain
valuable experience with extremely rare conditions, seldom seen in our region, that provide
‘hands on’ benefit for our children.
ROMAC is supported by compassionate surgeons and their teams who donate their time and
expertise, plus a number of hospitals offer ROMAC free operations. This, coupled with minimal
overheads - no office, no paid staff - ensures that every donated dollar is worth many times
more. Importantly, donations are spent supporting our local businesses in the vicinity of our
local hospitals.
ROMAC is a multi-district programme financially supported by generous Rotary Clubs and run
by a small group of caring volunteer Rotarians, just like you.
ROMAC Deputy Chairman: PDG Brendan Porter Ph: +61 7 4796 3000 mob 0409 490 608
e: brendan.porter17@gmail.com
www.romac.org.au & www.romac.org.nz
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