Rotarians huddled around their computers, monitors, and devices on Wednesday, January 29th, 2024, for the monthly Zoom meeting. The meeting began with a call to action from Seattle 4 President Jon Bridge urging Seattle Rotarians to complete the membership survey. The survey is currently (at the time of writing this report) still open and access can be found within the weekly bulletins for the club. Additionally, President Bridge asked Rotarians to make their annual commitments to the Settle Rotary Service Foundation and the Rotary Foundation by March.
It was also announced that on the evening of January 30th, 2024, the three finalists for the $75,000 SRSF grant will be presenting at 5:30pm at the Rainier Club. The current finalists are Operation Nightwatch (https://www.seattlenightwatch.org/), Uplift NW (https://upliftnw.org/), and Third Avenue Project (https://wearepda.org/programs/third-avenue-project/).
The first short program of the afternoon was from Roy Chang of School Connect Washington to speak about the $30,000 grant that School Connect received. With this grant, Chang and School Connect Washington were able to create the Read Seattle Movement. “The goal to of the grant is to ignite a volunteer driven literacy movement across Greater Seattle,” Chang said when speaking about the goal of the movement. In addition to starting this movement, the grant has allowed School Connect Washington to partner with the producers of the documentary Sentenced. Together, both groups hope to foster a a literacy driven movement across cities in the United States. Through local showings of this film, School Connect Washington has been able to add over 70 volunteers. More information can be found on School Connect Washington’s website at https://www.schoolconnectwa.org/.
The second short program of the afternoon was from Arik Korman of the League of Education Voters, A Washington state based nonprofit education advocacy group. The League’s mission is for every student in Washington state to have access to an excellent public education that provides equitable opportunities for success. Currently, school districts, superintendents, teachers, and students in Washington are facing unprecedented challenges. Specifically, issues related to budget, access, behavioral health and mental health. The League of Education Voters aims to help address these voters for the State by providing voters with resources to keep up to date with the legislative session taking place as well as make their voices heard. “You can sign up to testify or submit written testimony, or you can just say, ‘You know what? This is a good bill,’ and you can sign in ‘Pro,’” Korman said when sharing ways for Rotarians to utilize the League’s website. More information about the League of Education Voters and the resources available can be found on their website at https://educationvoters.org/.
The long program for the afternoon was a presentation from Dr. Tesfaye Telila, MD. FACC, FSCAI. Of Heart Attack Ethiopia, a non-profit with the aim to save lives and improve cardiovascular health in communities within Ethiopia and other African nations. After completing his medical school in 2008, Dr. Tesfaye was retained as an assistant professor. During this time, a mission group came to Ethiopia to provide ultrasound training. Within this group was Sharon Ashton, whom Dr. Tesfaye connected with and was able to continue his training in the US to become a cardiologist.
After completing his many years of training, Dr. Tesfaye began a new life in the US after meeting his wife. Despite starting this new life, Dr. Tesfaye was still thinking about the cardiovascular crisis occurring in
Ethiopia. “I've been very disturbed by the mortality of young individuals in Ethiopia and most of Africa from cardiovascular conditions, not just valvular heart disease, but also heart attacks and strokes,” Dr. Tesfaye said. After many sleepless nights, Dr. Tesfaye and his wife established Heart Attack Ethiopia to help alleviate the long waiting list of patients seeking treatment for cardiovascular issues. According to Dr. Tesfaye, the waitlist for patients requiring cardiovascular procedures at the Cardiac Center of Ethiopia are over 7,000.
Compounding this issue is the number of doctors in Ethiopia who have the training and knowledge to perform cardiovascular procedures, in relation to the 120 million citizens of the country. Dr. Tesfaye shared that most of the cardiovascular specialists are in the capital city Addis Ababa. For this reason, many patients in rural areas may not get the treatment that they need, and even those within the city will have to wait before they can be treated.
Through the Heart Attack Ethiopia’s first mission, they were able to provide 32 life saving procedures, and through fundraising and volunteering the second mission grew to 17 volunteers and they were able to treat 91 patients. Treatments performed included open heart surgeries, coronary interventions and stent placements. Beyond just treating patients, Heart Attack Ethiopia aims to provide a sustainable plan for interventions and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. “What we do is we do missions to end missions,” Dr. Tesfaye said. Heart Attack Ethiopia’s goal is that through training they can provide Ethiopia with the resources to combat the rising cardiovascular crisis.
In closing, Dr. Tesfaye shared examples of the positive impact that his group’s missions have had when visiting Ethiopia. Specifically, Dr. Tesfaye shared a video of their mission in action on a trip to Ethiopia when they saved the life of a father. A link to that video on YouTube can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTka_71K7CQ. More information about Heart Attack Ethiopia can be found on their website at https://www.heartattackethiopia.org/.
Following Dr. Tesfaye’s presentation there were announcements for upcoming events. On February 3rd, the Seattle Rotary Mariners will be meeting at the Seattle Boad Show at 3pm for a walk through followed by drinks at 4-6pm at the Tunnel Club Lounge (cash bar). It will be free admission day for women. Those interested in attending should buy tickets to the show in advance and RSVP at the following link https://secure.interactiveticketing.com/1.42/df5aac/#/select. The next Seattle Rotary meeting will be February 5th at 12:30pm at Plymouth Church and will feature a panel on aging with panelists Dorothy Bullitt, Bill Center, Mary Goldie, and Lisa Mayfield. The link to register can be found here https://ourmayberry.com/campaigns/270/events. Finally, on February 12th there will be an evening event at the Seattle Aquarium from 6:30-8:00pm featuring a panel led by Jon Scholes and Bob Davidson will be moderated by Mark Wright. Tickets for the event are $25 and there will be snacks and soft drinks. Registration closes at noon on February 7th and the link to register can be found here: https://ourmayberry.com/campaigns/270/events.
-Thank you for such a detailed meeting report, Logan, and good luck on your move!
