Dear Partners in the Gjakova Mammography Project,

Last Tuesday, July 19th, about four months after we received funds from the Global Grant we started and completed  implementation of the Breast Cancer Screening Center for Gjakova, Kosovo.  During this four month period renovation work was completed on the Mammography Center, the Uninterrupted Power Supply was install, Siemens Corporation equipment arrived and was install and the medical staff received extensive training and the Center is now operational. 

 In the first week the Family Medical Center staff completed 42 screenings and over 300 women are registering for an examination.  The project got off to a terrific start and will surely save lives.  The idea of this project  started with an optimistic  District Governor Ruzhdi Bakalli  able to convince me that together  we could implement this badly needed service.  After the war with Serbia, essentially none of the older mammography equipments left behind  was operational. Two or three years ago the EU and USAID funded new mammography machine for the Capital, Pristina.  But one machine cannot serve the large  number of women in a country of about 2,000,000 people that needs breast cancer screening services.  DG Bakalli turned out to be a very good sales person who convinced me that the Edwards Rotary Club with only $3,000 would be able to sponsor, along with the Rotary Club of Gjakova, a $300,000 health care project.   This project proves that when Rotarians work together we can make a big difference in this world.

The social value, the smoothness of implementation and the support from the community was sufficient of an incentive for Ms. Jennifer Jones, Rotary International Vice-President to fly from Canada to Kosovo to joint the Mayor of Gjakova and PDG Bakalli in cutting the ribbon.  This event was attended by my members of the Gjakova Rotary Club and many visitors from the community and nearby.   Furthermore the event received outstanding media coverage.   Through TV, radio and newspapers the people of Gjakova and all of Kosovo are aware that now they can get screened for breast cancer for free. 

 Please note on an outdoor photo that their is a plaque on the wall listing all of the partners for this project.  Also notice that a new handicap ramp was installed to meet ADA regulations.

In the near future we will provide more details and other photos.  In the meantime the citizens of Gjakova thank all of you as partners in this project. Thanks very much for your support of this active  fully sustainable Rotarian project.

In Rotary Service, 

Richard

Edwards Rotary Club