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February 1 - Dharamsala Rotary

Dharamsala Rotary Club
It took 20 hours of driving to cover 750 kilometers (450 miles) from Agra to Dharamsala. That's an average of 22.5 miles per hour! I had arranged to arrive in Dharamsala on the Saturday afternoon because the Dharamsala Rotary Club meets on Saturday evenings.

I received a very warm welcome from the Club. I was very impressed by this first meeting. The Rotary Club of Dharamsala is very active and dynamic. They have 48 members, and here is a list of their main projects:

Build an orphanage and retirement home. The land has been donated by the government, and they have raised the money for the buildings. They need more funds for the equipment. Maybe a matching grant could be done in a year or so.

Dental Camps, twice a year with Australian doctors. Each camp is over two days and they see 300 patients. The Tibetan Delek Hospital provides the facilities for these camps.

Eye Camps, once a year with Japanese doctors. The camps is over five days and they provide 75 cataract surgeries. The facilities are also provided by the Tibetan Delek Hospital.

Mega Medical Checkup Camp in rural areas, once a year with 20 doctors and 2 veterinarians, to treat over a thousand patients, and providing over $1,000 worth of medicine.

Fund Raising for the Red Cross, at Red Cross Fair.

Two Tree Plantings per year, 250 trees each.

They support PolioPlus when a National Immunization Day is scheduled, like the one coming on Feb 9.

They provide free Hepatitis B vaccines.

They send two kids to an International RYLA in Southern India, with over 600 kids from 6 neighboring countries.

I assume there is more. This is just what I learned during the first meeting. I will try to visit some of these project sites, and write a more detailed report with pictures in upcoming pages.

Rotarian Parmar
My main contact in the Dharamsala Rotary Club is Rotarian Parmar, immediate Past-President of the club. He was actually President for three years. Mr. Parmar owns a Philips TV and stereo shop next to the hotel where Rotary meets.Mr. Parmar was very kind to me and offered to host me at his home for the first two nights. This really shows that Rotary is a big family!