Bill and Marion Irwin see poverty at its wc Africantrip opene By MARION IRWIN camels than we were. AFRICA- the very name conjures up ail sorts of A small desert area we drove through gave us pictures- heat, desert, hunger, poverty, Humphrey very distinct impressions of unending sand, ex- Bogart, safari, lions, malaria, camels, beautiful tremely scrubby vegetation, and utter dryness. On flowers and trees, and 80 on 1 our way by plane to Morocco we flew over the My husband Bilil pnd 1 have just returned fromn a western edge of the Sahara further imprinting on month long trip to five countries in West Africa: the nur minda the relentless conquest of the desert. Un- WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1985, PAGE 7 à ci ner eyes tok rtrip to determine if, in fact, the braces had EDITO] gone where they were supposed to, to take pictures Marlon to justify to our fellow Rotarians and others the knowni money investèd in such projeets, and to determine, by. In as well, whether or not we had sent suitable workm materials. We are extremely happy because we Rotary have returned more than satisfied that the project is been In thus far 95 per cent successful and certainly merits local1 not only finishing but perhaps even* extending. It Canadi would be great to think that not only had Rotary 'the "La eradicated polio fromn those four countries but had, for Car, as well, assisted with the improvement of life for ber i the many already suffering the effects of a disease organiz practically unknown to us now in the western world. For h In fact, Rotary International a world-wide to the1 program, Polio 2005, which will hopefully eliminate she wai polio from the face of the earth by Rotary's ioth wlth M birthday in February, 2005. and Joy In order to more fully understand Africa, one ner of must learn about and accept their beliefs and Perry customs no matter how unusual or contrary they town's may seem to our ways of life. I feel it is impossible citizen f CONT'D ON PC. 8 L )R'S NOTE: 1lrwln Is a weli resîdent of Whlt- addition to her wlth the Whltby jClub she bas nvolved wlth the branch of the ian Red Cross, ldles' Great Ride kcer' and num- of community zatlons. her contributions Town of Whitby s named, along iandy Crawford yce Cox, the win- the 1982 Peter Award as the outstandlng ror that year. This la the street markct in Fez, Morocco. This is part of the old city that was built around 800 A.D. and about 32,000 people stili live within its walls. Fez was one stop on a fact finding trip by Whitby residents Bill and Marion lrwin on behaîf of the local Rotary Club. Photo by Bill Irwin Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Senegal, and Morocco. For example, iL certainly was hot - at least in The Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone - where we enjoyed temperatures around 24 degrees. In The Ivory Coast we were just above the equator. So, obviously, win- ter or not, one would expect lots of warmth. In Sierra Leone, however, the evenings were cool enough that a jacket or sweater was often necessary. By the tirne we reached The Gambia there was just hazy sun, unfortunately for the many English, French, and Germans who were there to capture a winter tan. This was apparently unusual weather, as The Gambia is known as the Florida of West Africa where the sun always shines. However, here as elsewhere, people were experiencing dif- ferent weather patterns. By the time we arrived in Morocco we were far enough north that the early mornings and the evenings were quite cool often making a light coat necessary. A safari we did not undertake, lions we did not see, Humphrey Bogart we misse and malaria we did not get (at least not yet). PuIs, started two weeks before we lef t and continued each day throughout the trip, are to be taken for six weeks yet. Camels we did see, although only two by the roadside on our way by car to Banjul, The Gambia. They were enjoying the leaves of one of the trees as natives strolled by obviously more used to seeing fortunately, perhaps, we did not see the drought and starvation areas. We did see, though, enough hunger and poverty to give us some idea of the fur- ther tragedy there is in such areas. This could reach even more drastic proportions if methods are not found and undertaken to combat the desert, for the Sahara is slowly creeping further into the countries it embraces. The purpose of our trip was to follow up on the Leg Brace Program initiated by about 35 Rotary clubs in Rotary District 707, the district to which the Whitby club belongs and which extends from Belleville on the east, west to Guelph, Toronto and north to Alliston. Dr. Ken Hobbs of Whitby, while on a fact-finding trip for Rotary International about three years ago, was impressed hy the number of children who had crippling deformities as a resuit of polio. He had been sent to search out the requirements for a polio immunization program in Morocco, Senegal, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone. He felt, however, that somnething should be done for the people who had already been afflicted by the disease. Consequently, the World Community Ser- vices Committee of District 707 took up his suggestion and one year ago sent the first of two shipmrents of leg brace materials to Rotary clubs in these four countries. Before sending the second phase Bill and I under- Marion Irwin is seen here making notes after she visited an up-country clinic in the The Gambia recently, lrwin and her husband, Bill, recently went on a tour of North Africa for the Whitby Rotary Club. In addition to checking on previous aid given to African Rotary Clubs, Irwin was interested in preparing a general report for the Canadian Club on health care in that country.PhtbyilIrn Polio and other childhood diseases are almost unknown in Canada but stili pose a major threat to children in Africa. Here a young, (about 6 years old) girl is seen wearing a set of braces sent to Dakar, Senegal by members of the Whitby Rotary Club. Marlon and Bill Irwin of Whitby recently went on a tour of North Africa in an attempt to ensure that the club's aid was getting to the people who needed it. Photo by Bill Irwin