One of my most favourite Rotary quotes would be that of the first Australian RI President, Sir Clem Renouf: "Rotary takes ordinary men and gives them extraordinary opportunities to do more with their lives than they ever dreamed possible”. I'm sure, though, he didn't consider that getting to within an inch of dying was part of the plan...Last Wednesday, our member Rock O'Keefe gave us a fascinating run-down of his experiences as team leader to establish a home for abused boys in Bhutan, that small nation to the north of India and east of Nepal. (Some of our members might recall our club doing something very similar for girls, with the 'House of Hope' in Apia, Samoa). The project, under the auspices of RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service) and principally executed by the Rotary Club of Ashmore (of which Rock was a member at the time), was nothing short of a gigantic project. Rock first outlined how to get there: fly in via Kathmandu (Nepal) into Paro Airport. "The runway was very short, an there were lots of burn marks at the end of the runway" he quipped. But that was not his (personal) biggest problem: upon arrival, he fell so ill that, genuinely, he expected to die. Whatever the local hospital could provide didn't fix it. Then, a monk procured some 'Red Rice', a miracle cure. Literally.
Rock's account of how, against all odds, it all happened cannot be summarized in a couple of paragraphs. Sorry, peeps, you should have been there. As a consolation to those who couldn't make it, Rock gave me permission to upload a copy of his slides (in PDF format) - check it out, it's in the Download Section on the right.
Photo: Rock (right), meets the Minister for Happiness. "It's the most powerful ministry in the nation of Bhutan" he said. The costume? A special honour, only bestowed on very important visitors.