Morning Tea this month was again at the Galston High School where the students were very impressive in their running of the coffee shop and all of the associated tasks. A credit to the school.
This month the club had a more relaxed outing with a visit to Brooklyn and Kangaroo Point for a relaxing morning tea. Following this the group had a walk along the newly created boardwalk at Picnic Point.
The boardwalk has only been completed recently by Council and a very pleasant stroll around the foreshore and mangroves was had by all in attendance. The visit was then completed with a lunch of fish and chips and a relaxing day was enjoyed by all.
The guest speaker this month was Sallymae Bailey who spoke on The Mercy Ships. Sally has made two volunteer periods on a Mercy Ship and was able to talk with esperience on their operation. The Mercy Ships were founded in 1978 and have been operating in Africa and only Africa since that time.
There are two ships and they spend 10 months of the year in Dock providing medical services and two months in the Canary Islands undergoing maintenance. The Ships only visit a country if they are invited. They provide They provide medical treatment, train local staff and check procedures in local hospitals.
A short video showed a hobbling young girl with disfigured feet walking almost normally aftr treatment on board the hospital ship. Cataracts, cleft lips and cleft palates are among the many procedures that change the lives of the recipients.
As well as medical volunteers there is the Hospitality group, there are 1,000 people to feed plus the finance and management volunteers on the ship. These come from up to 4 countries and spend 2 to 3 months on board. The ships are like small towns and have medical and dental facilities, a pharmacy and Post Office etc on board for the volunteers.
One year before a Mercy Ship arrives at a location prospective patients are assessed, appointment times allocated and there are 35 four wheel drive, and 12 twelve seatvehicles to pick up patients who are sometimes 6 to 8 hours away. A very fascinating and informative talk.
The Club meets on the at 11.00am on the 4th Wednesday of the month at Glenorie RSL and new members are welcome. Contact Wendy Black on 9653 1022 or email [email protected]
