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N E W S L E T T E R # 1 4N E W S L E T T E R # 1 4
Heart problems didn’t spoil Junior’s Christmas! ROMAC met a cute li�le boy named John Junior when he arrived from Honiara for ini�al tests at Westmead Hospital accompanied by his
mother Junita. Junior suffered from a heart malforma�on and at 7 kilos was very underweight for his age. Unfortunately the Honiara Hospital does not have surgical facili�es available to operate on him. Being less than 8 kilos in weight for his age of 2 years and 3 months, he also suffered from breathing problems and no prospect of
a normal life. It was quite a new experience being in Sydney – a very different world to what they had been used to! It was decided that his surgery would be carried out at Randwick Children’s Continued inside...
Ricky’s no longer ashamed of himself Heldericky (aka Ricky) had a vascular
malformation in his leg, which meant
the leg muscles did not develop
normally and he had chronic pain.
Professor Tony Penington at
St Vincent's Private Hospital in East
Melbourne operated for six hours
and was followed by extensive
physiotherapy. All the treatment
was provided to ROMAC free of
charge, so we are very grateful.
Ricky was superbly hosted by
Jason and Intha Che�y, of the Rotary
Club Moorleigh-Moorabbin, and
supported by the ROMAC team in
District 9810 during his 2 month stay
in Melbourne.
He was well entertained and
also received English lessons from
Intha, who is a teacher. He was lent a
guitar and i-pad throughout his stay,
and had many ou�ngs including a
voca�onal visit to Continued inside…
Left Johnson & Johnson MD and ROMAC Ambassador Gavin Fox-Smith with
John Junior and mother Junita at the recent Carols in the Common event.
Jesuina’s heartfelt thanks for a new life Jesuina and her mother Teresa arrived in Melbourne from East Timor with
minimal clothing and were not prepared for the unexpected cold weather.
They were taken by their hosts John and Judy Berends to the local shopping
centre and were fortunate to find a young lass who spoke Indonesian and
assisted them with the language challenges whilst they were ki�ed out with
new clothes. The majority of the next day was spent
at Monash Medical Centre, with the a�endance
of James (a local member of the East Timor
community) who assisted with transla�on.
Soon they arrived at the hospital for
Jesuina’s open heart surgery. Professor
Andrew Cochrane and his team of volun-
teers once again worked their magic and,
a@er a number of hours, Jesuina came out
of surgery with tubes a�ached. Seeing her
daughter like this was rather Continued inside…
No longer ashamed... Lewis Engineering, Healesville Sanctuary,
Kooyong Tennis stadium, Australian-Timorese Community mee�ngs and
Rotary clubs. Ricky's English was basic when he arrived but now he has
been able to write this note:
Through the operation at St Vincent's hospital, I feel my life will become
normal again. Before the opera-on I was disabled from the age of 3 years
old. With my disability I always felt
I was different from other people.
I felt shy and ashamed to be with other
people. The opera-on meant so
much to me as it almost could fix my
foot to 90 degrees. I can be strong
and live my life with happiness and
without pain. Everything will be
okay if I have good health and am
without disability and pain. I will
then be sa-sfied with my life and
not ashamed of myself.
I am grateful to ROTARY and
ROMAC which sponsored me to get
medical treatment. Also to my host
family in Melbourne who were look-
ing a7er me and trea-ng me like
their son. Then to all the people who
supported me with prayer and every-
thing else.
I love you all, Ricky. Ricky and Jason at the golf clubRicky and Jason at the golf club
Weak and breathless Crisma was adopted by her caring aunt Crisma was born on 26 December 2006 in the Solomon Islands, so she
was named for Christmas. At birth the duct between the two major
blood vessels leading from the heart did not close off, causing a
condi�on known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
If Crisma had been born in Australia this PDA would have
been closed when she was �ny but this surgery was not available
in the Solomon Islands. Over �me this large opening led to high
pressure in the pulmonary artery and her heart muscle was geEng
weaker, causing her to
become weak, �red and
breathless.
Tragically, Crisma's
mother passed away and
she did not have access to schooling in her village. Luckily her aunt Caroline,
who lives in Honiara, recently agreed to foster Crisma and seek treatment
for her. She also sent her to school for the first �me.
ROMAC arranged for Crisma and her aunt Caroline to fly to Melbourne
where they were welcomed by District 9800 ROMAC Chairman Jim Prokhovnik,
host "Mum" Helena Wimpole and Rob Winspear, Rotary Club of Glenferrie
President . Crisma had her heart surgery at Royal Children's Hospital Mel-
bourne and recovered very quickly. She and Aunt Caroline stayed with
Helena Wimpole for just over a month. Helena was a very kind and caring
host arranging outings for them, including visits to the zoo and the aquarium.
Helena also started teaching Crisma to read and write English, and her
ability to learn, improved drama�cally during her stay. Thanks to ROMAC
the Life Giving change from a sick li�le girl to a healthy, self confident 9-year
-old was wonderful to see.
Crisma and Caroline Crisma and Caroline
with host Helena Wimpolewith host Helena Wimpole
Kirribilli House success
What a wonderful night, raising almost
$20,000 for ROMAC. We were able to
wander outside and enjoy the gardens
and magnificent views of Sydney
Harbour with ROMAC’s local and inter-
state friends who certainly enjoyed the
Australian Prime Minister’s official
home. We were entertained by the
Oxford Falls Grammar School Senior
Woodwind Ensemble who were
delightful. ROMAC’s Ambassador Rosie
Lotawa, above left with ROMAC District
Chair Maria Moran, gave a wonderful,
heartfelt speech on being the 5th
ROMAC
child to be treated in Australia, how
scared she was when she first arrived,
her operations and recovery and her
wonderful new life now as a proud
Australian citizen. ROMAC is as proud
of Rosie as she is with us. Rosie also
thanked former Prime Minister’s wife
Margie Abbott, Eastern Region Chair
Ron Delezio, ROMAC Board Members
and ROMAC supporters in attendance
for their involvement and support of
this event.
An exciting end to the night had
our guests unable to leave due to the
arrival of Prince Charles and Camilla,
the Duchess of Cornwall, at Admiralty
House next door. They had to be
se�led in before we could leave which
added a bit of excitement to our
already wonderful evening.
A great eye opener for Viniana Viniana came back to New Zealand’s Starship Hospital for follow-up surgery for a
severe encephalocele. Paediatric Eye Surgeon Shaun Dai felt it would be worth-
while to insert a new lens and remove her large congenital cataract. Her le@ eye
had been totally destroyed and she had only a �ny degree of sight in her right
eye. She had in fact been declared func�onally blind. ROMAC’s New Zealand
Region’s Secretary Sharon with husband Wayne looked after Viniana, even taking
her Christmas shopping! Remarkably Viniana was seeing everything in the shops
through her one eye, and was so excited, running around looking at every
object! She chose a pair of sunglasses to protect her eyes from the sun and was
excited when visi�ng the beach to see the sea for the first �me! Sharon and
Wayne also took her to see all the street fairy lights of Auckland in the evening,
which was a truly exciting experience. Viniana will be coming back for fitting of
a prosthe�c eye (to match her right eye) and also to fit her with glasses to further improve her exis�ng sight.
Heart problems... Hospital. Junior was in Intensive Care for two days and was crying
quite a lot due to being uncomfortable with all the wiring linked to him. On discharge he and mother Junita were given accommodation post-op with host parents Liz and Hans Rupp
(Rotary Club of Glenhaven) for eight days, which did them the world of good. Junior was full of energy, could breathe normally and put on weight rapidly a@er his life saving opera�on and, thanks to ROMAC, will now grow into a healthy child. ROMAC gives sincere thanks to Rotary Club of North Ryde member Liane Corbe�
who managed Junior’s case with the support of her Club who, along with the Macquarie Park Rotary Club have run the
“Carols in the Common” since the year 2000. This popular event usually
a�racts 6,000 - 10,000 people with the
majority of proceeds go to ROMAC. We’re delighted to add that Johnson & Johnson is a major supporter of this event and it was wonderful to welcome Junior and Junita to this ex-cellent carol singing night prior to their return home to the Solomon
At Carols in the Common from left to right District 9685 ROMAC Chair Philip
Smith, host mother Liz Rupp (Rotary Club of Glenhaven], Darryl Harkness Vice
President DePuy Synthes, host dad Hans Rupp (Rotary Club of Glenhaven),
John Junior, mum Junita, ROMAC Deputy Chair Rob Wilkinson, Gavin Fox-
Smith and ROMAC volunteer Liane Corbett (Rotary Club of North Ryde).
Jesuina’sthanks...a shock for Teresa! They received visitors from
the East Timor community, who brought them familiar food and also had
a visit from a rela�ve who lived in Melbourne.
Jesuina was discharged and returned with her mother to her hosts
John and Judy. Jesuina was given a number of medica�ons at post op
when they were advised that she would be ready to go home to East Timor
in about one week.
While recovering from her opera�on, Jesuina and Teresa spent a day
at Healesville Sanctuary and also went out for a special dinner hosted by
John and Judy at a local Chinese Restaurant.
Helpers from the East Timor community also
attended. John and Judy said their final
goodbyes to Jesuina and Teresa as they
headed for home.
A ‘new girl’ with a new and healthy
start to life, thanks to the work of Monash
Medical Centre, Professor Cochrane and his
team, their hosts John and Judy plus
ROMAC and the sponsor Club – the Rotary
Club of Carrum Downs. Le7 at the Sanctuary with mother, right with
Professor Cochrane
MISSION: To provide specialist treatment for children from developing countries in the form MISSION: To provide specialist treatment for children from developing countries in the form
of life saving and dignity restoring surgery not accessible to them in their home country. of life saving and dignity restoring surgery not accessible to them in their home country.
YES!
NL#14 Feb16
ROMAC th
anks
Emerald Press
(02
) 98
46 610
0 fo
r their co
ntinue
d su
pport I would really like to save a child’s life. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.
Donate securely online: www.romac.org.au or www.romac.org.nz or post below.
I enclose a cheque for ( ) $25 ( ) $50 ( ) $75 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 ( ) $1,000 ( ) $2,500 ( ) Other $____________
Debit my ( ) Visa ( ) MasterCard for a ( ) one-off or ( ) monthly $________ that I can cancel at any /me.
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No more hiding behind a blanket Baby Zoe arrived from Vanuatu with her mother Qwendolyne for
treatment at New Zealand’s Starship Hospital in Aukland.
The neurosurgery involved incision across her scalp and sawing
through her skull. Forehead skin was pulled down to her eyebrows and
the whole forehead bone removed. The protruding brain �ssue,
(encephalocele) was then excised and meninges sealed.
The Neurosurgeon’s work took over two hours.
The faciomaxillory surgeon, a plas�c surgeon and finally the facial
cosme�c surgeon took over 5 hours to reconstruct Zoe’s face.
The top le@ sec�on of the removed frontal bone was used to fill
the defect above her nose, where her brain had protruded.
Addi�onal frontal bone was used to construct her new nose.
The two facial surgeons spent over an hour on the le@ eye alone,
and also on Zoe’s mouth. Zoe healed very well and Qwendolyne was
very excited to be taking her home and able to show her off in public,
instead of hiding her behind a blanket.
A great example of how ROMAC provides Life giving surgery to
children from our nearest neighbouring islands.
Why support ROMAC? ROMAC is exclusively run by Rotarian volunteers with no salaries, no offices
and no company cars. Even more suppor�ng are our humanitarian
doctors and their teams who rarely charge fees. Whilst some hospitals
do charge us, their costs are o@en heavily reduced and some�mes as
good as free.
It’s also comfor-ng to know that whilst the children are from
overseas, the money you donate is spent in our own country and never
sent overseas.
Please consider making a financial dona�on to ROMAC. Consider
sugges�ng to your friends, fellow spor�ng friends, work colleagues and your
relatives that they too could change and save deserving children’s lives with a donation or,
perhaps, by organising a fund raiser.
Find out more: To answer your ques�ons, request a ROMAC presenta�on or any other informa�on you may want please visit
www.romac.org.au or www.romac.org.nz This will help you to know more about our children and how we operate,
how easy it is to be a host Rotary Club, the joys of being a carer or occasional pa�ent driver, maybe hos�ng a pa�ent and
guardian (now that’s an interesting, eye opening and very rewarding experience).
Our websites will also enable you to locate your nearest ROMAC representative.
Zoe before
her operation
and, top, 2 weeks
after the operation.
> ROMAC c/o PO Box 779, Parrama�a, NSW 2124, Australia. www.romac.org.au > 8a Lifford Place, Mt Roskill South,
Auckland 1041, New Zealand. www.romac.org.nz