1. Celebrating 100 years of Rotary Internationalservice
THE
DEC
2004
www.rotary.org
Taming
technology
Extending
the lifeof your
computer
Rotarians
deliverhightech,
I highhopes
Going digital
Does your lifeneed an upgrade?

2. r
,
I
t'
r
I'
Nigeria
Hospital visit leads to
safer blood supply
From the moment he set foot in
the University of Uyo Teaching
Hospital in Nigeria, Warren Kaufman
knew he wanted to help. The cash-
strapped hospital was sorely lacking
equipment, and Kaufman says the l1eed
was "just too compelling" not to act.
That was in 2002, and Kaufman, a
member of the Rotary Club of Carmel
Valley,Calif., was visiting Africa with a
Group Study Exchangeteam. Before the
exchange was over, Kaufman and his
host, Edemekong Edemekong, 2002-03
president of the Rotary Club of Uyo,
Nigeria, had launched an effort to
improve blood storage
conditions at the hospital.
To help get the project off
the ground, Edemekong and
Kaufman enlisted the help of one of the
best in the field, Dr. John Watson-
Williams, a California resident who
spent 10 years working in Uganda and
Nigeria and whom Kaufman describes
as "the father of modern hematology" in
Nigeria. Today, Watson-Williams serves
as SafeBlood Africa'smedical adviser.
The joint effort, known
today as the Safe Blood
Africa project, led to the
construction of a new blood
bank at the University of
Uyo Teaching Hospital.
Previously,blood was stored in an old
refrigerator,and if it wasn't used within
four hours, it had to be destroyed.
Edemekong saysimproper blood storage
has led to unnecessarydeaths in Nigeria,
and Kaufman estimatesthat the addition
of this blood bank could saveas many as
8,000 livesannually.
Safe Blood Africa is also working to
create a voluntary blood donor system.
Much of Nigeria still operates under a
paid-donor system,which contributes to
shortagesand can compromise the safety
of the blood supply. Under the current
system, people only donate when they
need money, sometimes leaving banks
FieldReports
Kaufman tests
new equipment at
the blDDdbank.
The need was
'justtoo
compelling' not
to act.
16 THE ROTARIAN + DECEMBER 2004
without blood at crucial
moments. The system also
prompts some to lie about
their health history to maintain eligibility
as donors. Kaufman says that patients
receiving blood through the paid-donor
system have a l-in-lO chance of dying
from blood-borne infections contracted
as a result of the transfusion.
In order to help remedy these
problems, SafeBloodAfricaisworking to
make voluntary blood
donation more socially
acceptable. Kaufman says
certain traditional beliefS
deter some potential
donors. Further restricting
the number of donations is the fact that
people of high status sometimes refuseto
give blood to those of lower status. At
Watson-Williams' request, Rotarians are
setting an example by recruiting
volunteer donors from their own ranks.
The Uyo club is responsible for
stocking and maintaining the bank, and
their work has already proved successful:
Two lives were saved the day after the
equipment was installed.
According to Edemekong, the hospital
staff is grateful for the upgrades, "Every
time I go to the hospital, the medical
director is happy," he says.
- MATTREPCHAK
.
Florida
Rotarians strike deal
to help disabled bowlers
Before an accident lefr him
paralyzedfrom the neck down, Bill
Miller was an activecollegestudent. The
Leesburg,Fla., resident, now 27, lovedto
work out and play racquetball. At the
University of Florida, intramural flag
football was his sport of choice. But just
as he was about to srart his senior year,a
dorm room fall dislocated two vertebrae
and bruised his spinal cord. Afrer the
1997 accident, recreationtook a"backseat
to more fundamental challenges as he
began the arduous process of relearning
to talk, eat, and breathe without the aid
of a ventilator.
Then Miller met Claude Giguere, a
member of the Rotary Club of The
Villages, Fla., and a former General
Motors engineer. Afrer learning about
Miller's desire to get back into some
sort of recreational activity from the
young man's stepmother, a judge in a
courtroom where Giguere was a vol-
unteer for the local sheriff's department,
he set out to designa portable devicethat
would allowanyone to bowl. He enlisted
Miller's help, and the pair worked
together to fine-rune a device called an
IKAN Bowler, which attaches to a