President’s Message
EVERY WARRIOR COUNTS
What a time to be living in the world today with illness, dread, and desperation all around. The Covid-19 pandemic is far from over – the second wave is overwhelming us and the prophets of doom are proclaiming the onset of a third wave. How does one react to this; how does one cope; how does one survive – questions that have no specific answer. It seems to be testing our sanity, strength and resolve, pushing us to give up and give in.
No, we cannot and must not keel over and admit defeat. As one, we must endure and persevere and encourage one another to fight against these unbeatable odds. And each one of us, in our own way, has and will continue to do our utmost to alleviate the suffering of those less fortunate and without the means to weather this storm.
For more than a year now, we have concentrated on raising resources for our Covid relief activities and I am proud and happy to state that so many of our family, friends and acquaintances have dipped into their savings and donated generously. We are also very fortunate to belong to the international fraternity of Rotary, which has been in the
forefront of all such relief work around the globe.
But the battle isn’t over yet – we need more hot meals and rations, more PPEs, gloves, masks and hand sanitizers for our front line warriors, more ICU beds and monitors, ventilators, High Flow Nasal Cannulas, oxymeters, dialysis machines, oxygen concentrators, for the multitude that are suffering. Besides the physical discomfort of millions, there are also tens of thousands that are severely mentally stressed and they must be encouraged to seek counsel from professionals. Above all, we need to ensure that each and every one of us, young and old, has access to centres to get vaccinated.
Through the ages humankind has survived, reinvented the wheel and thrived. This battle against Covid is now a full- fledged war and we, its proud foot soldiers, determined to conquer and beat it.
Let’s keep up the good fight, every warrior counts.
Framroze Mehta
President