Albertina Nyatsi spoke to  us about being diagnosed with Tuberculosis and living with TB. She told us how difficult it is to get diagnosed as women must get permission from their husbands to go to the hospital, which is often far away, and the cost is prohibitive. Even when they get a diagnosis, their husbands want them to use "traditional" treatment, rather than "modern" treatment and so they do not heal. And modern treatment is no walk in the park.

The treatment for TB is to take 1t pills per day, twice a day for six months, it is expensive and difficult for people in a poor and often under educated country. There is a stigma to the treatment and the side effects also make the treatment difficult to live with. If you are HIV positive (and many in her country are) it is even harder to see the symptoms of TB. She told us how two of her sisters, needlessly died of TB because they were never diagnosed.

The disease also takes a toll on the children in the country, who often have to become heads of household and take care of their parents who are ill and their siblings. The children do not finish school, and a cycle of abuse starts. She told us we must support the women and children in her country. She told us that TB is becoming drug resistant and we must fight it now.

To read more about Albertina Nyatsi click here!

Upcoming Events: JK Harris, Entrepreneur and Author 

JK Harris is a highly respected and accomplished entrepreneur who has founded or purchased more than 18 companies in his 30-year business career. His goal is to share what he knows so that you can get our business on the fast-track to success and achievement. Flashpoint: Seven Core Strategies for Rapid-Fire Business Growth is only the beginning - there's much more ahead. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Events: GSE Team is Coming and We Need Your Help!

The Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) is Coming and we need help on two fronts.

First, we need five host families. Attached is a page from District 3080's newsletter that has bios of the team members.

Second, we think we have vocational days lined up for four of the members, but we need help with Shailendra Kuma Pandey (Assistant Professor in Physics). Anybody know any physics professors or researchers? Please note that he has a keen interest in design and development of lab equipment so if you know of a test lab in the area that would work too.

If you are interested, please let Bruce Arsten or Neil Hewitt know. 

Upcoming Events: New Officers!

Can you believe the 2011 Rotary year is only four months away? New leadership will take over on July 1, 2010.

The current leadership proposes the following officers.

Chris Kellen - President

Jeff White - President Elect

Hamid Khaleghipour - Secretary

Brian Bertcher - Sergeant of Arms

Bruce Arfsten as Treasurer

Raffle:  Every Week!

Show me the money!  We will have a “BIG JACKPOT” raffle drawing every week.  Here are the rules.

-          The drawing will be held every week after the speaker concludes.  Tickets can be bought up to that time.  $1 for 1 ticket, $5 gets 6 tickets.

-          A ticket will be drawn at the end of the meeting.

-          But the weekly winner, will not automatically get the jackpot.  To ensure we have a BIG JACKPOT, we then ask the winner to draw the “winning card” from a standard deck of 52 cards.  If they pull the “winning card”, they get the BIG JACKPOT.

-          How do we determine the “winning card”?  After the jackpot is won, we will draw one card from a standard deck of 52 cards.  That card becomes the “winning card.”  It is reinserted into the deck.

-          If a non-winning card is drawn by the weekly drawing winner, that card is discarded.  This means the odds of drawing the “winning card” will improve every week as the BIG JACKPOT grows.

-          The jackpot is rolled over every week until the “winning card” is drawn.

-          The value of the BIG JACKPOT will be reported in the newsletter.

-       Half of the winning pot goes to the Addison Midday Rotary Foundation.