Dear Members It is hard to believe that we are already well into a new year. We sincerely hope that you had a Merry Christmas and on behalf of the Management Committee I would like to wish you a Happy New Year. It has been a very busy time since last July with 5 young patients coming to Perth. To start with, last July I took over the Presidency from Dr Thierry Venaille who had presided over the Association faithfully for Hive years and we are very grateful for his contribution to COMMSSA-‐
SACIM. He is holding the position of Vice President, so we will enjoy his company and the beneHit of his experience on the Committee and at our functions. We also welcomed two new members to the Management Committee, Mrs Izabelle StMart and Dr Joan Catherine who will be providing some help to the Medical Director. The Secretary is Mrs Céline Templin while the Treasurer is Ms Patricia Nicole. Other members of the committee are Mrs Mirella Augustin and Mr Jean-‐Jacques Venaille affectionately known as JJ. And of course we have our evergreen Medical Director, Dr Serge Toussaint who works tirelessly dealing with referrals and medical reports from SACIM Mauritius and, through his valuable contacts, ensuring that the children have the very best care possible. He arranges all the appointments and even attends some whenever his busy schedule allows him to do so. We are very privileged indeed to have such dedicated members on the Management Committee. We are also very fortunate to have many generous sponsors namely Austral Fisheries and Kailis Brothers. We also receive cash donations from many members and non-‐members whether they are regular donations or donations for speciHic functions which help with the purchase of rafHle prizes. We are also very grateful to all those who helped with the children. Last year has been particularly challenging as since September our place has been a bit like an orphanage and this without counting the numerous appointments at doctors’, hospital and others. Emmanuel Alexandrine and his mum, Marie-‐Ange travelled to Perth with Jack and me at the beginning of September, Emmanuel had such a contagious laugh, you couldn’t but want to hug this chubby boy. Then Valencia Carver arrived with her mum later in September, this little one was the cheekiest thing you could come across, she didn’t miss anything and it was a delight to have her and her mum Vanessa who showed so much courage, she reminded us so much of Natacha. They left the Hirst week in November and as Emmanuel went to through the departure door at the airport, he just burst into tears, maybe feeling sorry to leave all the wonderful and kind people he met while he was here. One week later arrived Natacha, Shelly and Jean-‐France as well as Angela Chan Show and her young son, Aeron, a bundle of mischief but Mémé as I am commonly known by all the children soon showed who was the boss, but this is counting without Pépé whom they have around their little Hinger. I was very lucky to receive support from many people whether it was to offer accommodation to the children and their mum allowing us to have a break or to help with transport and for this we have to thank Jacques Hardy who provided transport on numerous occasions. A special mention also goes to Peter and www.commssa.org.au
Christiane Melvin who after visiting Emmanuel Alexandrine at St John of God, took care of them for nearly two weeks. There are many more, you know who you are and we could never thank you enough. However, I need to mention Céline and Jean-‐Maurice Templin who, sometimes, had 5 people all at once when I had to go away for a week and whenever I needed a break. Even Céline’s father, Jean-‐Claude Meunier, who is here on holiday gave a helping hand. THANK YOU Our main event, the Pinky Ball was well attended although we had some unfortunate hiccups. Hopefully everyone will now realise with some hindsight that there are many more serious matters in life and that the support shown to the Association since 1991 will not falter. We will still count on your support as your attendance at our functions is very much needed and appreciated, not only because it generates valuable funds but it contributes to the atmosphere required to make the functions extra special. We will continue to look for the best entertainment as we have done so far for the enjoyment of everyone and if, sometimes, things do not work out perfectly it is because there are situations well beyond our control. Unfortunately we had to cancel a couple of functions but the International Food Festival was outstanding. I take this opportunity to thank all those who cooked, and held stalls. Jack, Josée and Danny with the help of Corinne and Delphine were busy in the kitchen trying to improvise due to electricity problems. They more or less kept their cool and we managed to feed everyone. We are so grateful to all those who donated the food, cooked and took care of the sale of food they had prepared. All on board gave their maximum, Céline, Natacha, Sylvie and Izabelle were everywhere. Mirella with her wellknown calmness made sure that everyone got the dessert of their choice. Our thanks go to Jacques Augustin and Jacques Hardy who helped with the set up. Others to thank are Dr Toussaint who was suitably dressed for the French table and Hlogged his rillettes at a very good price. Patricia had her hands full with the sale of rafHle tickets while her mum Lina helped wherever needed. Our thanks also go to Austral Fisheries which was well represented with some volunteers from the company holding a stall and providing delicious seafood. A donation of $1000 from Mr Theo Kailis was a very generous and welcome contribution. Last but not least, Jean-‐Jacques really came up trumps taking care of the entertainment side of things and doing a superb job as MC. Not only he wore the MC cap, he even passed it around with the help of one of the performers and collected nearly $300. This amount was used to take the children to the Zoo and Caversham Wildlife Park. A member paid for tickets for the Alexandrine and the Carver to visit AQWA. We also received some free tickets from AQWA after I wrote to them and they were used for Natacha, Angela and the kids. We have prepared an array of functions for you for 2015 and hope that you will be behind us as we get very busy with more children coming to Perth and your presence and contribution are very important to us. You will Hind details of the forthcoming activities in the enclosed calendar for 2015. The next function will be our main fundraising event, the Tropical Night which will be held on Saturday 21 March at Siciliani Association in Balcatta. It will be followed by the Bingo Night which will take place at the Bayswater Petanque Club on Saturday 11 April. The cost of tickets will be $15 and it will include 3 bingo cards and a roast beef roll. Additional cards can be purchased at $1 each, nice tasty snacks will be on sale and it is BYO drinks and glasses. Don’t forget to make a note of the Quiz Night on Saturday 16 May and the AGM on Sunday 26 July, it seems that we are getting fewer attendees despite all the yummy food prepared with such love by our supercooks. Please make an effort to attend. As many people have asked for two dances per year, we will put it on trial this year and will hold a second one on the 14th of November, the Great Gatsby Gala, so easy to dress up but dressing up is purely optional. www.commssa.org.au
One of the best ways to assist us in helping the children from Mauritius is to SUPPORT our events, share information with your family and friends and invite them to experience this wonderful feeling when involved in helping the Mauritian community. So many of different communities are helping us, your help would make us feel proud to be MAURITIAN. MEDICAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT In my opinion 2014 stands out as the busiest year in the history of COMMSSA-‐SACIM WA. I am quite sure that Mrs Monique Malie, our President and Mrs Céline Templin, our Secretary, will agree with me on that score. Monique, Céline and myself were involved throughout the year in an exchange of numerous letters with SACIM in Mauritius, with Air Mauritius, and with various hospitals and medical and surgical specialists to facilitate the treatment of no fewer than 5 children from Mauritius in Perth between September and December 2014. The Hirst of the children to arrive was Emmanuel Alexandrine a 13 year old who had a number of orthopaedic problems which included a right hip dislocation, spinal scoliosis and abnormalities of his lower limbs. Unfortunately the only problem that could be corrected at his age was the dislocated right hip. Mr Michael Holt, Orthopaedic Surgeon, operated on Emmanuel at St John of God Hospital in Subiaco on 18 September. Emmanuel and his mother, Marie-‐Ange spent 10 days in hospital. His postoperative recovery was rather slow but Mr Michael Holt is very happy with the result obtained. Unfortunately it will take ongoing physiotherapy in Mauritius for Emmanuel to beneHit fully from the surgery. We are very indebted to Mr Michael Holt, who performed the surgery for free, and to Mr Lachlan Henderson CEO of St John of God Health Care in Subiaco for the very substantial discount given to COMMSSA for Emmanuel’s hospital fees. We are also very grateful to Ms Emily Mckaway, Occupational Therapist from OT West who generously gave her time and professional advice in helping us obtain the right equipment for Emmanuel when he left St John of God Hospital. The second child to be treated in Perth this year was 7 year old Valencia Carver who was seen and operated on by Dr Steve Wiffen of The Lions Eye Institute. Valencia had suffered an injury to her left eye in 2012 and had had a corneal transplant and cataract surgery in Mauritius prior to coming to Perth. Unfortunately a scan of the eye conHirmed the presence of a large retinal detachment which could not be repaired and signs of rejection of the corneal graft. Sadly it is Dr Wiffen’s opinion that the condition of Valencia’s left eye will continue to deteriorate and she may have to return to Perth for further surgery at some stage in the not too distant future. The next child to arrive in mid November was Aeron Chan Show, a 2½ year old who had been referred to us by SACIM in 2013 for an assessment by a plastic surgeon with a view to corrective surgery to a number of congenital facial malformations. An appointment had been arranged for Aeron to be seen by Mr Anthony Willaims. Monique Malié and I accompanied Aeron and his mother, Angela, to the appointment with Mr Williams on 20 November. Mr Williams was of the opinion that corrective surgery should not be attempted until Aeron is at least 8 years old. What did transpire after Aeron’s arrival in Perth was that he had also developed epilepsy in September this year following a head injury as a result of a fall. It seemed rather imperative that he should be seen by a paediatric neurologist and Mr Anthony Williams recommended an assessment by Professor Nagarajan at Princess Margaret Hospital. On Wednesday 10 December Aeron underwent an EEG (Electroencephalogram) and was seen later that afternoon by Professor Nagarajan. Once again Monique Malié and I were present at the consultation. Professor Nagarajan made some suggestions regarding the management of Aeron’s epilepsy which included a change in Aeron’s medication. Unfortunately as the medication is not currently available in Mautitius and it is very expensive, we at COMMSSA have agreed to purchase it and forward it to Aeron’s mother via SACIM at regular intervals. Aeron will need to be followed up in Mauritius and will be referred back to Perth if the www.commssa.org.au
neurologist in Mauritius deems that it is necessary for him to be reviewed. Finally we were pleased once again to welcome Natacha Félicité and her 2 children, Marie-‐Shelly and Jean-‐France who are growing up rapidly. Both Marie-‐Shelly and Jean-‐France were reviewed by Dr Richard Gardner, the Ophthalmologist, who was satisHied with their progress. Marie-‐Shelly was seen by Dr Alexandra Taylor who had performed the evisceration of her right eye in 2012. She also attended an appointment with Paul and Jenny Geelen, Ocularists, who reviewed her eye prosthesis. We are once again very grateful to Dr Gardner, Dr Taylor and Paul and Jenny Geelen for providing their services for free. Both Marie-‐Shelly and Jean-‐France suffer from galactosaemia and were reviewed in the Metabolic Unit at Princess Margaret Hospital. Marie-‐Shelly was also seen at King Edward Hospital by Professor Roger Hart as she is likely to develop ovarian failure. A busy year indeed. In February 2015 we will welcome another child, Shawn Martin, who was born with a congenital anomaly of his eyes and will be assessed on 11 February by Dr Richard Gardner. I will no doubt have more news to share with you at the Annual General Meeting in July. In the meantime I wish you all a very good 2015 which, I hope, will be kind to you. Dr Serge Toussaint Medical Director COMMSSA-SACIM WA Inc. On this note we leave you with a special request to all those who have not sent their membership fees for the past year or the previous one as well. You will appreciate that the annual membership fee of $10 has not been increased for a few years now but cost of stamps has and it now costs 70 cents per letter. We send you two mail outs per year, a newsletter and the AGM papers, so we don’t need to be great accountants to realise the cost to the Association. This is why we try to forward your receipts with the mail outs to limit the expenses. If you want to know whether you are up to date, please with your membership contact the Treasurer, Ms Patricia Nicole on 0402 130 470 or give me a call on 0401 639 058 or by e-‐mail at [email protected] or alternatively at [email protected]. We will endeavour between the two of us to get back to you with the information as soon as possible. We know that a few members have suggested that we forward the newsletters etc by e-‐mail but we want to make sure that the all households get the information and furthermore it is a legal requirement that members receive the AGM papers and mailing them is one way of making sure that members do receive correspondence. However we will send Hlyers by e-‐mail prior to functions just as a reminder. I look forward to seeing you at the dance on the 21st of March and don’t forget to book your tickets early as it will help us get organised. Ciao for now. Monique www.commssa.org.au
Jean-‐France enjoying a hug
Valencia, Emmanuel and Mums Angela and Aaron at the Christmas Pageant
Puppy or goaty love?
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