The mission of Rotary Club of Estoi Palace International (RCEPI) has always been to help in the local community and last year they joined together with the Rotary Clubs of Faro and Tavira to fund the purchase of a much-needed AccuVein AV500 vein detector.
This was presented to Faro Hospital Paediatric Unit on Tuesday, November 19 by the Presidents of the Rotary Clubs of Estoi Palace International and Faro together with District 1960 District Governor Mara Duarte.
This equipment allows medical staff to visualise the veins by green lines, allowing needles to be inserted exactly at the right place at the first attempt, without any harm or distress to the baby or child.
The unit processes 39,000 children annually and multiple attempts at trying to insert needles in veins can not only result in distress to the child but infection which can lead to sepsis.
This delivery of much-needed equipment supports two of Rotary’s areas of focus in maternal and child health and prevention of disease.
The cost of the equipment, €6,000, was shared between the three Rotary Clubs and the Rotary Foundation.
End Polio Now bike ride
The Rotary Club of Estoi Palace International (RCEPI) organised a fundraising bike ride with Activity Algarve Bike Rides on Sunday, November 24.
The sunny weather saw two enthusiastic groups of cyclists assemble outside the Estoi Pousada at 9.30am. One group of riders cycled all the way up to the top of the 635-metre Cerro de São Miguel on a challenging 40km round trip, returning to a local Estoi café for a well-deserved coffee. The other group took a less uphill route, but still climbed up to 400 metres, covering 35kms between Estoi and Moncarapacho. Thanks to everyone who took part and contributed, donations and sponsorship raised a total of €560.
RCEPI was founded in 2008 and apart from helping the local community in numerous ways, the Club has also supported The Rotary Foundation’s key project of eradicating polio from the planet, contributing over €15,000 towards this.
For further information on RCEPI, email [email protected] or visit www.rotaryestoipalace.org
