Dear Everyone,
Well the Great Debate did not take place last Tuesday, it has been postponed until our next Club Assembly on the 13th of October. This decision was made to allow more time for questions from the audience after the presentation of arguments.
Instead, Membership Chair Roy presented the findings of the Member Satisfaction Survey in a beautiful PowerPoint put together by our talented Sparkle editor Kris. And Roy did a great job talking us through the slides and the responses to the various topics raised. When it meets later next month, the Board’s Strategic Plan Sub-committee has a lot of material to work with thanks to the Survey.
It was good that many of our members then joined the Rotary Club of Diamond Creek’s meeting to hear their Guest speaker Richard Hooper talk about the TenderFoot School in Nairobi Kenya. Richard was a very interesting speaker and talked about the impact COVID has had on the school. It was delightful and heart-warming to see the happy smiling faces of the schoolchildren singing their song of thanks to their sponsors in Australia. Thank you to Lorna who very kindly forwarded the following email she received from Greg Adams, son of our former member, the late great PDG, PP, PHF Ray Adams, under whose watch our sponsorship of TenderFoot began.
“Thank you John and Lorna! Great to see so many members there. Richard emailed me he was truly moved by the support on the other side of the world for the school. Please thank everybody for me. Stay safe up there! Kind regards Greg Adams”.
Wednesday morning, I joined President Mark Balla and the Rotary Club of Box Hill Central who meet over breakfast every Wednesday at 7:30 am., at the Box Hill Golf Club prior to COVID. Five of their members each spoke about a different project they are involved with. Then their Membership Director Gary Lee, better known as Gus and currently unemployed, gave a cooking demonstration on breadmaking from his kitchen. I would like to put some of our capable cooks on notice for a Zoom cooking class.
But my real motive for attending was not for the bread recipe but to hear Celeste Mergens, the Founder and CEO of the non-profit organisation Days For Girls, from Seattle. Celeste started Days for Girls after visiting an orphanage in Nairobi, in Kenya in 2008. She developed the idea of creating washable, reusable pads for menstruation, and of providing the girls with a personal kit of all they would need to continue their schooling with hygiene and dignity.
Now a global movement, Days for Girls prepares and distributes the kits (designed to last from two to five years) and health education programs, and has reached more than 1.8 million girls and women in over 140 countries. Previously schoolgirls were subject to sexual exploitation if they asked for a single disposable pad, leading to high rates of pregnancy. The education programs have helped to break myths of menstruation being something to be ashamed of, and during which girls have to be isolated in menstrual sheds, as they are considered untouchable. Although this dangerous practice is now illegal, it still goes on.
Thank you to the many members who attended AG Brian Hodgson’s forum with our Cluster - the Rotary Clubs of Belgrave and Monbulk and Yarra Ranges Rotaractors - last Wednesday night. Your presence showed that our Club is really committed to the advent of a Youth Drop-In Centre in the Emerald Hub. Attendees could not fail to be impressed by the panel of articulate speakers, and the subject being discussed - supporting youth health in our community and raising funds for this - is of the utmost importance now more than ever. To see AG Brian’s
Summary of speaker comments – Forum 23 September 2020 please click
HERE.
The District International and Foundation Seminar on Friday night was informative. The international aspect of the seminar detailed a Water Project, specifically a Water Supply System in Papua New Guinea, which was conceived and completed by two Rotary Clubs in District 9600, a club in Brisbane and the Rotary Club of Goroka. Of PNG’s population of 8 million people, 60% do not have access to safe water. This leads to diarrhoea and a high infant mortality rate. The Project Manager Osivu Ombuano thanked Wes Nicholls and Ian Cameron for all of the assistance received. It showed what can be achieved by working together.
The second part of the seminar dealt with The Rotary Foundation, our charity of choice. Unfortunately, donations have been steadily declining over the years. 50% of contributions in 2020-21 will be returned to D9810 in 2023-24 to be used in District Designated Funds (DDFs) to fund projects. So, if donations are declining now, there will be a lot less money available in three years’ time. Maybe more of our members are in a position to become members of the Centurion Club, also known as “Every Rotarian Every Year” Program (EREY). District’s aim is for 50% of Club members to be Centurions. Rotarians (and non-Rotarian supporters) are encouraged to donate $100 USD or AUD every year, and hence become Centurions. Tax deductible donations can be made via the Australian Rotary Foundation Trust. Please consider becoming Centurions if you are able, and support the ongoing humanitarian work of the Rotary Foundation. Contact our Foundation Chair Russell Marnock to find out more.
Finally, this morning Ian Ash gave a most engaging, informative and polished presentation on Managing Projects for the Rotary-Rotaract Mentoring Program. It is wonderful to have such highly-skilled members who willingly give so generously of their expertise and time to help others. And members in the audience thought that a simplified version of Ian’s model could be very useful when we are again able to conduct out events. Ian was very amenable to the idea.
If you have a topic for a future speaker, kindly email Russell Marnock or me.
Next week: the Wine and Cheese Soiree organised by our magnificent Fundraising Committee. *Could you please dress smartly for the occasion? (discard those old trackie dacks and slippers you’ve been wearing out of sight of the Zoom screen - or is that just me? 😆)
The following week: On the 6th of October, we have Guest Speaker David Brown from Australian Rotary Health speaking about “Ride for Research” and “Hat Day” – Lift the Lid on Mental Illness.
Stay safe, stay home, - and stay Rotary Proud!
Remember we make a real difference in the world!
Yours in Rotary,
Vicki.
