José Aroeste (La Jolla Sunrise RC)
Janet White (Downtown San Diego RC)
Although not the winners of the Rose Parade Essay Contest, we'd like to two additional stories that were very inspiring and represent the power of Rotary. The first essay will be from José Aroeste followed by Janet White's essay.
Talk about not missing the bus! We first had to build the bus, and now we are starting our ride in it, inviting a whole lot of friends on both sides of the US/Mexico border along for the ride.
Through the collaboration of the members of our beloved La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club, we have decided to heal little hearts for free in Tijuana, Mexico. I feel very honored to have been selected to act as a bridge between our club in La Jolla, and an American foundation, a Mexican Foundation, a hospital, both US and Mexican doctors, hospital staff, the local government, and a local Tijuana Rotary Club to achieve our goal.
I am still in a daze and in awe about the events we experienced on 9/11/2025.
With a group of dedicated pediatric cardiologists, nurses, an anesthesiologist, medical equipment technicians and volunteer administrators, we were able to successfully repair the holes in the hearts of 5 lucky children in New City Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, free of charge to the patient's families!
The local non-profit that organized the 11-hour long event is called Bebé Cardio, A.C. Under the leadership of Cristal Jiménez and of Dr. Adrián Sánchez, the group was able to locate the patients, organize their travel plans from as far as Villahermosa, Tabasco in the South of Mexico, and perform the interventions. They were assisted by Dr. Abe Rothman, from San Diego, who is a semi-retired and very experienced pediatric cardiologist who is a partner in a medical practice in Las Vegas, NV.
The local government of the City of Tijuana is already supporting Bebé Cardio's cause with facility and equipment loans, as well as with financial support, for which we are very grateful.
The state of the art OR, equipment and personnel of New City Hospital worked flawlessly. This was very important, because now our goal is to develop the necessary conditions to perform open heart surgeries on children whose hearts cannot be repaired using catheterizations. The ICU's are in place, but we need to figure out all of the necessary conditions for these much more complicated procedures to take place.
This is where Gift of Life International (GOLI) comes in (https://lnkd.in/gfPNebEN). This amazing organization has been around for 50 years, since 1975, and operates in 84 countries around the world.
Currently, Mexico is not one of them, but our goal is to change that. GOLI is able to do its work through philanthropic donations and with financial support of organizations such as Rotary International. We have established firm relationships with both San Diego, CA and Tijuana, BC based Rotary Club chapters. These service-minded people are able to help families with local transportation, lodging, and with general support for our mission: to heal as many little hearts as we can in the San Diego/Tijuana binational region.
As Cristal Jiménez from Bebé Cardio, A.C. aptly put it, "May God help our efforts”.
José Aroeste
My Rotary journey began in May 2022, at the TGV train station in Valence, Rhône-Alpes in the south of France. After a couple of anxious texts, I located Bernd and Christel, a German couple to whom I’d offered a ride to the string quartet workshop that we were all attending at the Ancient Monastery in Die, France. I didn’t want to be late for my first rehearsal at 4pm, and there was no time to spare. Bernd and Christel had traveled by train all the way from their home in the south of Portugal, and as we hugged, Christel exclaimed “We’re starving! There was no food on the train.” My heart sank. We were going to have to stop for a late lunch and there was no way I would make my rehearsal. The first two restaurants we found along the way were closed for the siesta, but the third one we found, not far from Die, rustled up some charcuterie and coffee to revive us.
I called one of the other musicians in my group to let her know I’d be late, and she laughed and said “But you’re on holiday! No need to rush!” I learned an important lesson that day – there are some things that are more important than being on time. It was OK to miss the rehearsal!
Bernd, Christel and I spent the week studying Dvorak’s string quartet no. 34. I play the cello, and the second violin part was played by a Frenchman, Alain. It’s a beautiful piece filled with traditional Czech dances and melodies, and whenever I play it, I am immediately transported back to Die, and I remember the unique sounds of Bernd’s violin and Christel’s’ viola.
Toward the end of the week, Bernd said to me “Janet, you should look into Rotary. I think it would be a good fit for you.” I was touched – Bernd is a lifelong Rotarian and has been President several times of the Rotary Club of Praia de Rocha, Portimão, Portugal, where he has organized and played in orchestral concerts on behalf of Rotary that raised funds to purchase equipment for the local hospital, as well as bringing to that community a rare opportunity to hear classical music.
When I returned to San Diego, I lost no time in looking up Rotary and Bernd was right, it was a great fit for me! I joined the Rotary Club of Downtown San Diego in June 2022, and my musical Rotary journey has led me to being this year’s District 5340 Youth Instrumental Music Competition Chair. In Feb 2023 I attended a conference in Lisbon, Portugal, and I took the bus down to the Algarve to visit Bernd and Christel and to play string quartets with them again. I wasn’t going to miss that bus or that opportunity! Bernd took me to visit his Rotary Club’s office, and we exchanged flags. A wonderful musical coda to my Rotary story!
Janet White