1983-1988 - Brisbane Oxley-Corinda
Local - Blue Nursing Service
Most of the equipment donated to the Blue Nursing Service over the years by our Club in all four guises has had interesting names, for example; a stethoscope, sphygmonanometer, glucometer and a transcutaneous nerve stimulation machine or TNS. At least I know what a replacement car was for, and there have been seven of these.
The TNS machine was used to provide relief for patients suffering from chronic lower back, neck and even phantom limb pain. Traumatic neuralgia (the names of the problems are as bad!), arthritis, sporting injuries and post operative pain are also relieved by the electrical pulse induced by the pads of the machine. The TNS machine donated in 1987 was only the second to be made available to the service in the Brisbane Metropolitan area. One of the reasons for the relief is that endorphin (the body's morphine) is released naturally by the electrical trigger from the TNS machine through the nerve centre to the brain.
National - Speak Up
Leaving behind their electric blankets one cold July morning in 1983, members of Oxley-Corinda with assistance from the proprietors of Oxley News, delivered promotional material to approximately 1000 homes. The 'Speak Up' campaign was being conducted in conjunction with the Queensland Police Force. It's aim was to make people aware of the need for security of their homes and cars, as well as bicycle safety for children. At this time Sherwood decided not to be involved but with Noel Ross as the District Chairman and Lions representative on the Qld 'Speak Up' committee this was changed a few years later. (Noel was given an International Award in 1986 for his efforts with this project.)
International - ERDA
For 10 year old Ramon, home in 1982 was the stables of the Manila Jockey Club. Peeling onions and garlic, his father's job, could not bring in enough money for a proper home or even an elementary education. Yet thanks to Father Pierre Tritz and his Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation, and the financial help of the Oxley-Corinda Lions, the boy didn't become a mere statistic in the county's figures of school dropouts.
At the end of each school year, ERDA collates lists of dropouts from public elementary schools. The foundation's social workers then go to the baranggay where these children may be found to determine who will be assisted. The kids are usually hungry, poorly dressed and easily humiliated.
It costs around $A10 to cover fees, two sets of uniforms, school supplies and even a schoolbag, and the benefit to their self-esteem can be seen by the fact that 93% of the 1480 children assisted in 1981 stayed in school. ERDA also extends help to the student's families with a centre to teach dressmaking and tailoring, and seed money available to start home industries.
The ERDA programme so impressed Oxley-Corinda that ten children were sponsored each year from 1983 to 1986, the club winning a Club Service Activity Award for the project twice, in 1983 and 1986.