Hi All,

We had a great social meeting last Wednesday with four members attending.

The next meeting will be held on:

 Tuesday 3^rd October, 7.00pm – Eastern Summer Time – 6.00pm Queensland time. 

Our guest speaker will be Evan Burrell who is a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Turramurra, D9685 who began his Rotary life as a Rotaractor. Evan is an amazing fellow who is passionate about Rotary and puts an amazing amount of effort into Public Image. I am sure you will find his enthusiasm contagious. Please join us and it would be nice if you could invite a guest. It is a great opportunity for them to understand Rotary and hear Evan speak of the value of Rotary and the humanitarian work that Rotary does.

Please note the different day, which was changed to suit Evan.

If you have a friend who wants to attend please let me know and I will ensure that they receive the email with the link to the meeting.

If you have a friend who wants to attend please let me know and I will ensure that they receive the email with the link to the meeting.

5 things you might not know about ending polio 

The road to eradicating polio has been a long and difficult one, with Rotary leading the fight since 1985. Going from nearly 350,000 cases in 1988 to just 10 so far this year has required time, money, dedication, and innovation from thousands of people who are working to end the disease. 

Here are five things you may not know about the fight to end polio:

1. Ice cream factories in Syria are helping by freezing the ice packs that health workers use to keep the polio vaccine cold during immunization campaigns.

2. Celebrities have become ambassadors in our fight to end the disease. 

They include WWE wrestling superstar John Cena, actress Kristen Bell, action-movie star Jackie Chan, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, Grammy Award-winning singers Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates, and world-renowned violinist and polio survivor Itzhak Perlman.

3. Health workers and Rotary volunteers have climbed mountains, crossed deserts, and sailed to remote islands, risking their lives to vaccinate children against this disease. Rotary has funded more than 1,500 motorbikes and 6,700 other vehicles, as well as 17 boats, to make those journeys. Vaccinators have even traveled on the backs of elephants, donkeys, and camels to immunize children in remote areas.

4. In Pakistan, the polio program emphasizes hiring local female vaccinators and monitors. More than 21,000 vaccinators, 83 percent of whom are women, are achieving the highest immunization coverage rates in the country’s history.

5. Thanks to the efforts of Rotary and its partners, more than 16 million people who otherwise might have been paralyzed are walking today. In all, more than 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated since 1988.

 

Watch World Polio Day on 24 October

Learn more

Reminder of Zoom Meeting to be held next Wednesday, 6th September at 7.30pm

Dr Luc, the Director of the Mission in Health Care and Development, Democratic Republic of Congo will be speaking about his work in the Congo regarding women, children, and medial aid.

I am sure your guests will find Dr Luc inspirational, and I look forward to you hearing about his work in the DRC. It is a great opportunity to introduce interested people to Rotary and particularly the e-club movement.  

if you have any guest who wishes to attend please email me with their email address so that I can send the email with the link to the meeting. –  johnroberson@bigpond.com 

Australian Rotary Health

Australian Rotary Health has established a new programme that will run alongside Hat Day.  Lift the Lid on Mental Illness Celebrating Hat Day  – October 10

For more information open this link: https://australianrotaryhealth.org.au/

Australian Rotary Health is one of the largest independent funders of mental health research within Australia.

We also provide funding into a broad range of general health areas, provide scholarships for rural medical and nursing students, as well as Indigenous health students. Australian Rotary Health provides funding into areas of health that do not readily attract funding, and promotes findings to the community.

Australian Rotary Health is a project of the Rotary Districts of Australia and is supported by Rotary Clubs.  We have a broad vision to improve the health and well being of all Australians.

Click here to 

Greetings from GeralDlton, Western Australia

Carolyn and I have been here to support Carolyn’s daughter, Katherine after the birth of her daughter last Monday 7th August. 

I took the opportunity to attend the Rotary Club of Geraldton meeting held Wednesday 9th. It just happened to be the District Governor’s visit  with a well attended meeting. It was good to meet up with DG Lindsay Dry, who I had previously at the RAWCS AGM at Penrith last year.

I also had a talk with PP Di Gilleland from the Geraldton Club, who is Deputy Project Manager of RAWCS Project 5 of 2011-12, Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania – Orkeeswa Secondary School (WR-006-2011). This is the project that is now sponsored by our E-Club with Sharon Daishe as project Manager.

The article below is an important message for our work in the world.

Why education changes the world

Posted on August 10, 2017

Isma Seetal, middle left of banner, as a team assistant during District 5320’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards event.

By Isma Seetal, Rotary Global Grant Scholar

“Education is the best way to change one’s standard of living.”

My mother would repeat this phrase over and over. I was lucky to have been brought up by a hard-working, single, mother, who empowered my brother and me to climb the socio-economic ladder by giving us the best education she possibly could. Other children from broken families like mine did not have the same fortune. My unwavering drive to give back and improve my community led me to join the Rotaract club of Port-Louis, Mauritius in July 2012. 

Isma Seetal, right, and Jerry Rekers, a past president of the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club, her host club.

“Driiiing! Driiing!”  My alarm rang out on a Saturday morning. My mind and body knew it was the weekend, and ganged up on me so that I had to crawl sluggishly out of bed. But the reason for my early wake-up soon dawned on me. It was the day of Lolo’s follow-up doctor’s appointment.

Lolo is an eight-year-old boy, living in a poverty-stricken area of the island, whom I had met during a health-related Rotaract project. His mother was convinced that he was suffering from cognitive disabilities, which she blamed for his poor grades, and for the fact that he was constantly bullied at school. However, the diagnosis the doctor gave us that day was different from what the mother had thought: hearing impairment. Lolo was not mentally challenged. He just couldn’t hear properly!

Many doctor appointments later, I visited Lolo. My heart filled up as he ran up to my friend and me, sporting the widest smile. Thanks to a hearing device, Lolo could now hear his teachers in class. He had changed from a sullen, withdrawn little boy, to a cheerful child with glowing and hopeful eyes. I discovered a passion: community service. I went on to become a Rotaract board member and then the president of the club in 2013-14.

Through this project and many others, it became increasingly clear to me that the reason there were so many children roaming the streets was much more complex than I had thought. Some are the dropouts of an archaic education system, others are the victims of poverty and abuse, yet others are caught in their parents’ web of drugs and alcoholism.

Back then, during one of the long discussions I had with my husband-to-be about the societal ills which continue to pervade our country, we came to one conclusion: we needed to build our skills and knowledge further to make a difference on an even larger scale. Though I am from a small island of 1.3  million, thanks to a Rotary global grant, I am now studying in California for a doctorate in Educational Leadership, gorging on new knowledge and making the best of the international exposure. I am delving more into educational reforms and the principles of leadership, and I am eager to return to my country to bring about positive changes in education.

I continue to volunteer here for the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club, my hosts. The ties with Rotary are life-long! Long live Rotary!

Last Week’s Zoom Meeting

We had a very productive and enjoyable meeting last Wednesday. We had PDG John Egan speak to us about how to utilise Facebook for our advantage. As a result it was decided to publish our first newsletter . It will be available to all on this website. Thank you to Marilyn for this great effort.

We have also decided to open our Facebook page to the public to promote and share our activities. We will have to manage this so that we display only desirable posts.

We need to each make an effort to invite and attract new members to our Club to make our fellowship more enjoyable and to develop more activities to support our projects and Rotary International.

Please listen to the message from RI President Ian Riseley below:

Membership and New Club Development Month

While membership development is the responsibility of all Rotary members all year long, August has been designated as a month to celebrate Rotary’s greatest asset — you.
    
Don’t miss out on the many valuable resources that are available for prospective and current members. Using these tools allows clubs to improve their members’ experience so that more prospective members join and more current members stay.

Watch this video of President Ian Riseley speaking about the importance of membership flexibility. Also, clubs can use the Discover Rotary presentation and the prospective member brochure to introduce Rotary to prospects. Clubs that want to promote their unique experience, including events and projects, can customize a club brochure available at the Brand Center. They can edit the content and upload their own photos. 

Rotary Basics is a guide to all things Rotary, from how Rotary began to how you can optimize your member experience. It’s now part of the New Member Welcome Kit, and is also sold separately on Shop. The revised Connect for Good guide suggests ways members can get involved in Rotary to make an impact in their community and globally. If you need ideas for giving new members a meaningful experience, look to Introducing New Members to Rotary: An Orientation Guide. These resources are available for free download and are sold on shop.rotary.org. 

If you want your club to remain relevant to its members and community, consider taking the Rotary Club Health Check. This exercise helps club leaders discover opportunities for growth. For other ways to evaluate your club, download the Membership Assessment Tools publication. Another guide, Strengthening Your Membership, helps club leaders create a membership development plan. 

Also, our Membership page features an array of resources to suit every need, whether you’re working with clubs and districts in your region to attract potential members, or exchanging tips on engagement.

This is my first post as Administration Director and I look forward to working in this area.

I have arranged for PDG John Egan to join us and show us how we can use Facebook to our advantage.  Our next meeting in August 2nd at 7pm.

I am also in the process of arranging a program for the club meetings and will publish the

list shortly.

I am hoping to apply for a Membership Sustainability Grant from the District for brochures and business cards for members to give to prospective members.

Will keep you up to date.

Marilyn