Dear Rotary Leaders
Delhi Premier League
The IPL has been postponed. But there is another Premier League in Delhi that is scoring high. Here, you can bet that the players will perform to their highest level of skill and the results are always predictable. It will be a Win-Win situation. Everyone plays for the team and they know how not to breach the bio-bubble that has been created when working in full view of the public and for the benefit of the community.
We are talking about the Rotarians of Rotary Club of Delhi Premier and their work is a story of selflessness, service and commitment to make Delhi a safer place where Covid patients need not die for want of Oxygen. The District Governor of RI District 3011 Sanjiv Rai Mehra had committed to install 10 Oxygen plants within a week! Delhi was always known for its daredevils who can convert any challenge into an opportunity to step up on the run-rate to meet the target. The Club’s President and his team of 72 members installed 7 Oxygen plants in 7 hospitals in Delhi within 2 weeks and the first plant breathed the precious oxygen into the patients within 48 hours of the Club entering the arena.
Six plants with a capacity of 45 litres per minute were installed in small hospitals which had up to 50 beds and the 500 litres per minute plant was set up in Deen Dayal Hospital which has 100 beds. This Rupees Two Crore project, will benefit hundreds of patients immediately and the hospitals have agreed to treat all underprivileged persons.
After the Rotary Covid Task Force started to interact with the Rotary clubs and leaders, we are seeing how much these unsung heroes accomplish every single day. Rotarians are the ones putting in overtime as frontline healthcare workers in rushing medical aid to various parts of the country. They are taking up activist role in their community and removing vaccine hesitancy among people. Many Rotary families are stepping up to care for the families of those who need help when situation demands their intervention. The news I get about the varied services Rotarians are doing is awe inspiring and what gives me so much hope is that Rotary leaders, everywhere who read these stories, are getting determined to replicate the projects in their districts.
People are waiting in ambulances and some are dying there even before they can enter the hospital premises. We can’t let that happen. Every person who is affected by Covid deserves a treatment.
Projects done by such Rotary Clubs should be a catalyst for a long overdue investment in development of small medical facilities by Rotary Clubs in every village. Creating such centres will breathe new life into societies and move patients from hope to life. May be some clubs can do it alone, some clubs may need to collaborate with donors and other institutions. But Rotary’s mission will guide our efforts to fulfill our desire of making this world a better and safer place for all to live.
Eradicating Covid is so important to us because we know that people all over the world are watching to see how India gets over this wave. The citizens are observing the full expression of our brilliance, talent and ideas when we say we, “Serve to Change Lives.”
For the participants in the Rotary Premier League, there is no postponement of service, because they feel inspired to continue the work of saving lives today, tomorrow and for eternity.
