|
Sandra Mahlberg and Yvonne Robson brought us a ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children) update. Sandra is a retired Midwife and has been involved with ROMAC for 29 years. During that time they have looked after 48 children a year through an Australian/New Zealand partnership with an annual turnaround of $1,000,000, 40% of which is funded by Rotary. ROMAC's medical board have difficult decisions to make. They choose to treat children where the treatment will be life changing and life saving. Heart operations, for example cost between $60,000 and $70,000. There is a memorandum of understanding between Canberra Hospital and ROMAC and the hospital treats 4 children free of charge per year. ROMAC pays the hospital $5,000 for each subsequent child. ROMAC look after the children and their support person (usually the mother) from their arrival in Australia, through the treatment and their convalescence and departure from Australia. Sandra houses the parents during the surgery and the parents and child during the convalescence period. It can be quite a challenging time because of the cultural differences. Apart from language barriers most of them have never seen lifts, escalators, dishwashers, washing machines and so on. Sandra has been referred to as a Guardian Angel and in 2014 received ACT's Senior Australian of The Year award. For further information on ROMAC please visit their website https://www.romac.org.au/ |
