What a wonderful presentation by Dr. Rich Godfrey on September 10, 2015. His dedication and love for the people in Africa is unmatched.

During the heart of the Ebola break out, he flew into the middle of the storm to save others lives. With the longer term project of helping Walter Adero be trained and receive his doctor credentials, we Rotarians are supporting local people helping local people. Walter has become trained as the only orthopedic surgeon located in his area in West Kenya serving a population of approximately 2 million. He has plenty of clients to serve and thanks to Rotary’s efforts has received his education and agreed to stay in Kenya serving his people. The new project that Dr. Rich Godfrey is working on is funding supplies for the recently built hospital. He shared with us it’s like going to the dentist to have you teeth worked on and then you see the dentist walk into the room with a pair of rusty pliers. The hospital has staff and doctors that can prevent death, disfigurement and disability. They simply need the supplies and tools to accomplish these life changing procedures. Through the organization MedShare.org, Rotarians can supply this hospital with what typically would cost a hospital $300,000 for a mere $26,000. This is a project that is within the reach of our club and definitely within the reach of our district.

While known throughout the land for his Charlie Chaplin impersonations, Dr. Godfrey’s professional background is in surgical oncology. He recently retired after 21 years with Kaiser Permanente, and now works part-time with the Alameda County Medical Center as a volunteer and as Executive Director of the East Bay Foundation for Graduate Medical Education, representing the UCSF – East Bay Surgical Residency Program. He is currently active in many nonprofits, including Rotary, Local Ecology and Agriculture Fremont (LEAF), Tri-City Ecology, East Bay Regional Parks Advisory Committee, Healing Muses and Hospital Familia, and leads international work in Kenya and Central America. We are lucky to cal Dr. Rich Godfrey one of our own at Niles Rotary Club of Fremont, California.