Introducing the International President 2012-2013 - Lions Clubs ...

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LCIF UPDATELions Quest partnerships stretch worldwideBy Chris BunchLions Quest is changing lives around the world, and the world has taken notice. The US State Departmentand the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have recognised that the school-based youthdevelopment programme is an effective way to teach life skills related to character education, servicelearning,bullying and substance abuse prevention to students around the world.The State Department gave LCIF a $150,000grant to expand Lions Quest in five Africancountries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawiand Botswana. Lions Quest launched theexpansion in Tanzania in January. Lionsfrom the five African nations, as well as Lionsfrom Zambia and Nigeria, met to discussways to involve Lions, parents, schools andgovernment agencies with Lions Quest.African Lions learned more about the LionsQuest programme and realised its potentialto bring positive, meaningful change toyoung people. "The programme focusesthe students to be more committed to thereal purpose of their lives," said a UgandanLion. After two days of immersion in LionsQuest, Lions returned home with a purposeof their own.Lions Quest training workshops were held ineach of the five countries to prepare teachersto implement the programme. Lions didn't justapproach the workshops as opportunitiesto educate - they used them as momentsto celebrate. Lions made banners, inviteddistrict leadership to give speeches andinvited key community members to attend.As a result of their collective efforts, 25workshops were completed, 750 teacherswere trained and 30,000 students are nowbenefiting from Lions Quest.The expansion of Lions Quest in Africahas created believers like Past DistrictGovernor Abdul Majeed Khan of Tanzania."The invention of Lions Quest is a milestonein human progress," said Khan.African Lions Quest summit is in the worksand the Lions Quest curriculum is beingadapted to local African languages andcultures. Nigeria recently took the first steptoward building its own programme when itreceived an LCIF grant to help Lions createpublic awareness of Lions Quest."The future of our country lies with theyouth," said a Ugandan Ministry ofEducation official. "It is therefore gratifyingto know that the Lions Quest interventionin Uganda is aimed at helping the youthlive their lives responsibly."The UNODC is partnering on an initiativeto help the young people of southeasternEurope live healthier and more responsiblelives through Lions Quest. LCIF provideda $100,000 grant to translate, adaptand implement Lions Quest in Serbiaand Montenegro in collaboration withthe UNODC. The two entities will worktogether to implement family skills trainingprogrammes to prevent drug use, HIV/AIDS,crime and delinquency among young people.The UNODC has embraced the Lions Questcurriculum, "Skills for Adolescence," becauseit is an evidence-based programme that hasproven effective in reducing behaviours thatput young people at risk."We are enthusiastic about the possibilityof aligning Lions Quest with UNODC'sFamily Life Skills Programme," said PieroBonadeo, a UNODC deputy representative,at Lions Day with the United Nations inMarch. "It will be the beginning of a strong,solid and fruitful relationship."Progress is still being made. Newworkshops are being planned, anotherIn Malawi, Lion Venunadhan Pillai presents Lions Quest materials to Dr George Chaponda, theMinister of Education.LION, South Pacific Edition | July/August 2012 32
MEASLES INITIATIVETrust in Lions spurs measles campaignBy Michael HardyWhen Snehlata Shresha heard that local Lions Club members were helping organise a measles vaccinationclinic in her village in Nepal, she immediately signed her son up to be vaccinated.Not all of her neighbours were so willing.They remembered a recent, governmentrunhealth campaign against filiariasis inwhich some of the children who receivedvaccinations died. Rightly or wrongly,Shresha said, the people in her villageattributed the deaths to low-qualitymedicine. But when she heard that theLions were involved, Shresha knew thevaccines would be safe."When I heard that the Lions Club wasrunning a measles campaign for children,it was good news for all the mothers likeme. I took my son to the nearby schoolfor vaccination."Lions and healthcare workers register children for the shots.Shresha's son was just one of an astonishing1.8 million children to receive vaccines in thefirst phase of the Measles and RubellaInitiative in Nepal, made possible in part bya $15 million challenge grant from the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation.Since being founded in 2001, the Measlesand Rubella Initiative has inoculated overa billion children worldwide against the twodiseases, and has helped reduce deaths bya remarkable 74 percent. Although originallyfocused on Africa, the initiative has recentlyspread to countries around the world.In Nepal, the programme was co-organisedby Lions Clubs International Foundation,the World Health Organisation (WHO),UNICEF and the Nepalese government.The first phase of the campaign, whichran from February 14 to March 28,targeted 15 of Nepal's poorest districts,mostly located in the underdevelopedwestern part of the country.Despite its wide availability, however,10 million Nepalese children still haven'treceived the vaccine. These are thepeople targeted by the Measles andRubella Initiative, which is using highlysophisticated marketing and data collectionto make sure that every child in everyvillage gets inoculated.Lions helped organise a massive mediablitz to promote the Measles and RubellaInitiative. Invitations to receive the vaccinewere mailed to every household in thetargeted districts. Television and radiocommercials starring Nepalese celebritiesspread awareness of the campaign. Vanswith loudspeakers drove through villagesand towns, announcing the date of thevaccination clinic.Throughout Nepal, Lions have become theface of the Measles and Rubella Initiative,appearing in advertisements wearing theInitiative's "One Shot, One Life" logo ontheir signature vests.Sanjay Khetan, Lions' country co-ordinatorfor the Initiative, said: "We had the mostproblems in the urban areas, especiallywith certain ethnic communities. TheMuslim community is a bit conservative,and the local mullahs have a lot of powerover them, so we co-operated with themullahs and set up our clinics in mosquesand masjids."Rumours spread in some villages that USdrug companies were testing a new drug inNepal. To quash the rumour, Lions broughtin local doctors to tell community leadersthat the vaccine used by the Initiative wasthe same one given in their clinics."So slowly they got convinced," Khetansaid. "We covered the same areas once,twice and even three times, and we finallymade our targets."Because their involvement was crucialto the Measles and Rubella Initiative'ssuccess, the Nepalese government hasasked the Lions to help administer all ofthe country's vaccination campaigns.LION, South Pacific Edition | July/August 2012 33
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