RadioRotary

Gail Piazza, a professional food consultant, and her daughter Laura, who suffers from chronic Lyme disease, discuss their award-winning book, Recipes for Repair: A Lyme Disease Cookbook. The book, which applies to everyone, not only those with Lyme, was a 2012 USA Best Books selection. People often have inflammation in their body without realizing it, and some foods make the inflammation worse. Therefore, the authors emphasize the need to identify one’s personal hidden sensitivities and ways to conduct a self-assessment to determine foods that might be a detriment to your own health. Also discussed are the telltale signs of Lyme (besides the bull’s eye rash), Lyme prevention tips, inflammation in our body, and a lot more.

This interview tells a complex story of romance, success against great odds, and unexpected disaster. The children of two Hyde Park Rotarians met as young adults at a function, fell in love, married, and together joined the Peace Corps in Madagascar. The Rotarian in-laws, Sue Osterhoudt, Pompey Delafield, and spouses, visited the Madagascar village and asked what was most needed. The simple answer of “books” led to amazing results: building a library, creating a manual (by Ms. Osterhoudt, a former librarian) about how to set up a library, villagers young and old wanting to read both in English and in Malagasy (the language of Madagascar), volunteers teaching villagers to read, peer tutoring to expand the reading population in the village, literacy improvement in which the village moved from last place in Madagascar to first place, a business selling vanilla beans to support the project, and more. Then a Class 3 cyclone hit the village.

In this interview about her experiences with hospice patients, Ms. Suzanne O’Brien, R.N, shares her holistic model to end of life care. Hospice is a program to relieve the suffering of those in the last few months on life. In her frank discussion, Ms. O’Brien, a Registered Nurse, provides important practical advice to patients and their families to make the end of life peaceful and beautiful. Her book, Life, Love, and Transition, includes her personal stories at the bedside of hospice patients and the valuable lessons she has learned over the years. In describing the history of hospice, Ms. O’Brien conveys many interesting statistics, examples of patient decisions, and information about the improved quality of care we offer today, especially about pain management.

Larry Palant (Suffern Rotary), Disaster Response Chair for Rotary District 7210, discusses the District’s immediate and generous response to helping victims of Hurricane Sandy. Previously the Rotary District in 2005 provided quick relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and Mr. Palant learned from that experience. This time, with generous donations from District 7210 and neighboring Rotary districts, Mr. Palant was able to buy 47 electrical generators, extension cords, gasoline containers, and other necessary items. As with Katrina, only with great difficulty was Mr. Palant able to locate generators, eventually finding them in Chester, New York. A volunteer donated his time and tractor trailer to deliver the supplies to the affected areas in New York and New Jersey, starting with police and fire departments. Mr. Palant also describes a “Go Bag” suggested by experts that people should have ready for immediate evacuation. Much more needs to be done to help those who lost everything.

Stephanie Fitzpatrick, a Red Hook Rotarian and Executive Director of the nonprofit Hidden Hollow Farm Riding Center, discusses how riding and grooming the farm’s docile horses encourage growth in those with a broad range of disabilities. In addition to horseback riding, the farm supports “petting as healing,” using miniature horses, goats, and pigs also living on the Farm. The animals also help restore health to crime victims and those in the “hero” category: veterans, police, EMS, fire fighters, and their families.There is no fee for these heroes. Ms. Fitzpatrick’s heartfelt stories are very moving and powerful, such as her description of people of various ages who speak for the first time in their lives at the Center. Ms. Fitzpatrick is also a coach for the Special Olympics.

Wendy Maragh Taylor, a social worker, became an instrument of change by helping an impoverished Liberian community build a church that also doubles as a school. Working with her husband, a civil engineer and architect who was born in Liberia and attended college in America, the two used their own savings and fundraised at their bike riding club, their church in the United States, and their workplace, telling the story of the village’s need. The journey of this endeavor, from beginning to end, is extremely powerful and heartwarming, starting with a visit to Mr. Taylor’s grandmother, still living in his birthplace after fourteen years of civil war in Liberia. Ms. Taylor’s interview includes many unique experiences in Liberia. The story about their journey is told in Ms. Taylor’s book called This Part of the Sky: Building in Liberia, with a percentage of the proceeds going toward a playground and school building separate from the church.

Not to be missed, this highly informative on-site interview with pediatrician and child psychologist, Rotarian Dr. Abraham Nussbaum, covers vital information about vaccinations against communicable diseases, especially for children. Dr. Nussbaum discusses the progress toward polio eradication worldwide, information about the influenza and shingles vaccinations, and our successes in childhood vaccinations starting in the mid 20th century. He reports the truth about a study linking vaccinations with autism, now admitted to be totally false and thoroughly recanted.

The program features on-site interviews during Rotary’s United Nations Day on November 3, 2012, with Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka (2012-13) and other humanitarian leaders from around the world who discuss how their service projects save lives and create goodwill. Rotary and the United Nations have a long history of working together and sharing similar visions for a more peaceful world. Each year at Rotary UN Day more than 1,300 Rotarians come together at UN Headquarters in New York. The program is designed to inspire and educate all participants as well as provide insight into the relationship between Rotary and the United Nations. These interviews tell us what the world is doing in its efforts to encourage peace and understanding through humanitarian service.

Jeri Miller, a high school guidance counselor who suffers from Type I diabetes, has been on insulin for 15 years, injecting herself four or five times a day. She discusses how children and adults in her situation can benefit from a Diabetes Alert Dog such as her Morgan. A half hour before her meter tells her that she must take her medication Morgan alerts her to the need, working every hour of every day. Ms. Miller describes in great detail how Service Dogs like Morgan alert their companions from a mile away, obey commands to get a test kit or juice, and dial 911 when needed. These special dogs start their training at 13 weeks old, and they can work with children as young as two years old.

Union Vale’s Dog Control Officer Valerie Cote describes her role as Dog Warden, mainly finding stray dogs running loose and enforcing licensing regulations. She explains the dangers of dogs on the loose, the best way to help ensure their safe return, and what happens to unclaimed dogs. Providing helpful information about what owners should do when their pets go missing, she corrects misinformation along the way—answering questions such as such as “Do old dogs really wander away to die?”. Ms. Cote emphasizes the “reputable rescue” aspect of her work and her hope that more people will consider adopting pets now living in shelters.

Margaret Bryngelson (Kingston Rotarian) describes her experience as a non-medical volunteer in a recent mission to Venezuela where she assisted a medical team of doctors and nurses operating on children with cleft lip and palate disfigurations. Rotaplast (“Rotary” + “plastic surgery”), heavily supported by Rotary districts and clubs around the world, was started by doctors in the Rotary Club of San Francisco in 1992 to provide such services. Such reconstructive surgery is difficult to obtain in poor undeveloped countries. Venezuela’s Cumana Rotary arranged for 3 operating rooms in a local hospital to be available to the medical team. Over 10 days the team performed 99 surgeries on patients selected from among hundreds of families; many had traveled very far to reach the clinic in order to give their loved ones a chance for a better life. The immediate transformation after an operation is powerful to witness, as children can suddenly hear, speak, eat, and drink.

What is the current condition of the Hudson River and how will it affect you? Dr. David Strayer, Freshwater Ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York and author of The Hudson River Primer – The Ecology of an Iconic River, discusses the positive effects of the federal Clean Water Act and other government regulations. Together these make Hudson much cleaner today than years ago, with most of the Hudson today now safe for swimming. However, Hudson River fish are still contaminated with chemical compounds (PCBs), limiting food fish to those that spend most of their lives at sea. Furthermore, alien species, often carried on ships entering the Hudson River from foreign lands, disrupt the Hudson’s ecosystem. Dr. Strayer also discusses future Hudson Valley prospects in the face of climate change, such as the effect of sea level rises on the Hudson River.

Dana Gavin, Director for the Center of Prevention of Child Abuse in Dutchess County, shares the latest information and statistics about child abuse that are at times surprising. Ms. Gavin began her career with the Center as a volunteer several years ago. Today, involved heavily in Public Relations, she speaks to organizations about the Center’s many programs that teach children and adults important ways to prevent child abuse. These include educating children in school systems in an age-appropriate Puppet People program and providing families with contacts that help them stop an abuse before it starts. Ms. Gavin explains some factors contributing to an increase in child abuse since 2005, such as the economy that places stress on parents and a rise in reporting abuse cases by those who suspect abuse, such as teachers, coaches, and doctors.

Past Rotary International President (2000-2001) Frank Devlyn, author and humanitarian, discusses how our world becomes a better place to live in through Rotary, giving specific examples. He also describes his personal humanitarian work through his family business, Devlyn Optical Group of Mexico. His extraordinary initiatives include pairing patients with free used-but-restored eyeglasses. He created the largest used eyeglass bank in Mexico, which today serves as a model in different countries. Devlyn says: “It’s an honor and opportunity to serve the world of Rotary in our quest to serve mankind…As the needs of communities change, Rotary will work to meet those needs” for the next century.

Rachel Swanson, Director of Volunteer and Community Partnerships for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Ananda Grant, Deputy Director of Office of Strategic Partnerships for UNICEF, discuss the work that this extraordinary global humanitarian relief organization does in over 150 countries. UNICEF’s projects include children’s health care and immunizations, clean water, nutrition and food security, education, emergency relief, and more. The two directors emphasize UNICEF’s longstanding partnership with Rotary International in addressing the same areas of global concern, especially eradicating polio and improving the lives of children. UNICEF shares Rotary’s objective of peace and understanding and the belief that such initiatives in health and education contribute to achieving that objective.