Posted by Heather Culverwell

ROTARIAN MAKES SOLO FLIGHT

On July 4th,   Buffalo Rotarian Ravinder K. Bansal set out from Buffalo on a solo flight around the world in this single-engine Cessna 400 to raise money for a hospital in his hometown of Ambala, India.
 
You can follow his trip on http://raviworldflight.com/ where he will write on his blog and include photos. He estimates the trip will take about 6 weeks. His hometown and the hospital are unaware of his mission, the mission being to bring awareness for cancer and raise $750,000 to buy an urgently needed MRI machine for 'Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital' in Ambala Cantt.,India.
 
It began when his older brother Subhash's, wife, Sneh, died from breast cancer shortly after being diagnosed in 2005 because there were no diagnostics available in that town and by the time they found it she had stage 2 cancer.  There was also no treatment in that town so they had to take Sneh to a town 40 miles away every few days. Forty miles is a long trip in India, not having cars. It took three to four-hours, one way.Founded in 2005, with the goal of bringing free healthcare to a very poor and under-served community, the Rotary Ambala Cancer and General Hospital had a very humble beginning with a nurse, its only employee, going from home to home bringing awareness of cancer to the poor.
 
Subhash was the president of his local Rotary club and with the help of Rotary International, and a Rotarian in India who donated $3 million of his own money, the city of Ambala was able to establish a 100-bed hospital in what is still a very poor town.  In the past few months, with the help of a matching grant from the Rotary Club of Chicago and the Rotary Club of Buffalo, and the help and incredible generosity of the Rotarians and citizens of Ambala,  the hospital was also able to get a CT scanner.
 
Ravi is hoping there are thousands who will give small amounts to help the hospital and he has also been reaching out nationally to fellow Rotarians.   
 
Learn more about the hospital at:  http://rotaryambalahospital.com/
 
Pictured (left to right) are Ravi Bansal, Rotary Club of Buffalo, Adele Harrington, AG Area 16 and past President of Rotary Club of Westfield/Mayville, and Ravi’s brother, Subhash after presenting his flight as a guest speaker at Adele's club.
 
Photo and excerpts used with permission from Ravi’s blog page.