We had my final act on Monday night before I hand over to Lesley. A pleasant night, some real laughter and Rudi and Gaynor telling us of their experience in South Korea at the Rotary International Convention. What stood out was that although not entirely complete, the work of Rotary in the eradication of Polio is nearly done. Now the terrible spectre of slavery requires our attention. I am sure Gaynor will tell you more of this later in this bulletin, but it certainly disturbed my sense of justice, and we can do something about it. Lorraine and Rodney proved their skills yet again with a dessert from Master Chef, following up with an undertaking that although it wasn't perfect, she will get it right next time. (Well between you'N'me it got 10/10, but we won't complain if she tries to improve on an already delicious creation!)
In measuring your Blood Pressure this evening, we found that a few of you were hypertensive. No doubt because you were stressed, anxious, overworked etc, yeh, yeh, but get to your Doctor to have yourself duly checked out.
Thank you for being yourselves. Thank you for being good friends and thank you for being a member of the Rotary Club of Torquay.
Gaynor and Rudi Schols told us about their trip to South Korea and the 107th Rotary International Convention, in Seoul
The highlights of the Convention included:
The changeover of RI Presidents from KR Ravindran (Sri Lanka) to John F Germ (Chattanooga, Tennessee). President John's theme for 2016/17 will be "Rotary Serving Humanity".
The President Elect is Ian Risely, from the Rotary Club off Sandringham, Victoria, Australia.
The next International Convention will be in Atlanta, Georgia from 10-14 June 2017. To register click on http://www.rotaryconvention2017.org
Gaynor highlighted two of the convention talks in particular:
1. "Until All are Free: How to End Slavery in Our Lifetime", Gary Haugen, CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM) -
There are an estimated 46 million slaves in 167 countries. That's three times the number taken from Africa during 400 years of Atlantic slave trading.
4 Billion people live outside the protection of the law - police, courts and laws are broken, corrupt and dysfunctional so there is nothing to shield poor people from violence.
IJM partner with local authorities to rescue victims, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors and strengthen justice systems.
There is a ROTARY ACTION GROUP AGAINST CHILD SLAVERY (RACSRAG). For further information please go to www.racsrag.org or contact Gaynor for a newsletter.
2. "The End of Orphanages: Another Milestone in the making for Rotary International" - Mark Waddington, CEO, Hope and Home for Children -
The vision is a world in which children no longer suffer institutional care
It is a proven fact that every 3 months spent in an institution before the age of 3 stunts a child's growth by one month
In the last year Hope and Home have closed 18 orphanages, freeing 1,429 children
and placing them in families.
They have trained 3,576 volunteers and professionals to support 160,000 children in vulnerable families.
Rudi also updated us on Polio Eradication, for which Rotary has pledged another US$35 million:
Polio Type 2 has been eradicated from the world
There have only been 16 cases of Wild Polio Virus Type 1 in 2016
Only 2 countries remain endemic, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nigeria has not had a case since August 2014.
Videos of all the Convention presentations are available at the "My Rotary" website
Lois and Graham Gill have recently returned from Cebu in the Philippines, where they visited daughter Dr Melinda, husband Sam and grandchildren Benjamin and Grace.
The highlight – in addition to enjoying the family visit – was getting a firsthand visit to Sam’s business.
About two years ago Sam took part in a Government project where he heard about the problems women have in trying to escape prostitution and violence in the home. At times they were able to find employment, but if that finished, they inevitably returned to prostitution – the lifestyle they knew.
Sam was so moved by the presentation that he decided to investigate and plan a business model to try and help these people break out of the lifestyle. He resigned from his job with the Deutsch Bank, and moved from Manila to Cebu to start an IT business which could train these people and give them the prospect of meaningful work. Now, with the help of World Vision and other homes for young people he is able to source staff who would most benefit from the type of employment he offers.
The business model is teaching needy people to develop computer skills and now, 2 years from starting, he has developed a relationship with some large corporations who support this vision and provide contracts.
On their last night in Cebu, the Gills went out to dinner with all the staff – the first time in a restaurant for many of them. It was very touching to see the wonderful way Sam is helping these young people.
With much pleasure I advise that our spend for the Rotary Fitness park on the Torquay foreshore has been increased by a lovely donation of $3000 from the RACV bringing to $12,000 in donations so far. The Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) officials are being contacted with view to development of a construction progamme.
The RYDA program is a road safety education program for 17 – 18 year old students.
This Rotary program was initiated 14 years ago by members in the northern suburbs of Sydney. Since then over 400,000 students across Australia and NZ have had the opportunity to attend this outstanding program for young people.
The RYDA program aims to reduce the number of teenagers killed and injured on our roads each year and is a one day school excursion which involves six interactive sessions presented by professional facilitators. The program is designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will contribute to their safe and responsible behaviour as drivers and passengers.
The RYDA program content is provided by not-for-profit organisation Road Safety Education and is funded by Rotary Clubs, a small student fee, and support from Local Government grants and local business sponsorship.
Earlier this year the Rotary Clubs in the Geelong area were contacted by Wayne Pecar, President of the Rotary Club of Queenscliff seeking pledges of funding from Rotary Clubs to assist in the launching of a RYDA Pilot Program in the Geelong area. As a result the Board of the Rotary Club of Torquay agreed to a pledge of $200.00.
We have now been advised that RYDA is happening on Thursday 11th August at Beckley Park! The day is scheduled to commence at 8.30am and to go through until 2.30pm
At the moment three schools are participating , three Rotarians have expressed interest in being trained as facilitators for the program in the future, and a further three have offered to be on the RYDA organising committee . The program still needs more committee members and facilitators with experience as driving instructors or with working with young people. On 11th August the RYDA committee will need volunteers to guide student groups around the venue.
If you are able to attend on the 11th August and assist in any capacity it would be most appreciated if you could contact me as soon as possible.
If you cannot meet one of your assigned duties, Please contact Maggie Isom to advise.
The duty team should arrive no later than 6:00 p.m. Besides the below duties, the assigned team is responsible for Room Setup, Greeting Members and Guests, and Room Tidy at the end of our meeting - see checklist in storeroom or click here .
Date
Duty Team
Program
Chair
GREETING
INVOCATION
Event details
Sun 3 July
Amanda Hough
Lesley Shedden
John McDonald
Maggie Isom
Mayor Rose Hodge
Welcome
SURF COAST HOTEL
THE ESPLANADE
TORQUAY
Mon 4 July
No meeting
Following Changeover
Mon 11 July
Lesley Shedden
Gerard McNamara
Linda Neale
New Rotary Year Committees
Mon 18 July
Lesley Shedden
Trevor Pickles
Amanda Hough
TBD
Mon 25 July
Lesley Shedden
Alan Anderson
PDG Chris Sims
District Governor Stephen Lamont Visit
Mon Aug 1
Lesley Shedden
Maggie Isom
Gail Chrisfield
Mayor Surf Coast Shire
Rose Hodge
Please note: The assigned Chairperson for the evening is responsible for writing a short review on the topic presented by the guest speaker of the night and for emailing the review to the Bulletin editor by noon of the following Wednesday
Notifying someone about changes to your meeting attendance is your responsibility!
Our meetings have catered dinners, so if you are unable to attend a meeting, or if your partner is unable to attend a designated Partner's Night, YOU MUST ADVISE us of your or your partner’s absence. This also applies if you are attending the meeting but not dining.
There are two ways to do this, either record the information in advance in the "Apology Book" that is available at the book in table at each meeting or telephone 03-5222-2022. An answering service operates out of hours.
All apologies must be made no later than 9.00AM on the Monday of the meeting (unless other arrangements were addressed in the Bulletin).
If no apology is recorded by that time, the absentee member will be issued with an invoice to pay the Club the dinner fee of $25 for your non-attendance, and/or that of your partner if it is an official Partner's Night.
On "Partners Nights" it is a different arrangement as it will be assumed that your partner WILL BE attending unless you apologise for them!
Remember if you are bringing guests or your partner (to a non-partner night) you need to notify us of the extra number of persons who will be attending.
Absence when away on travel is not an excuse. It is your reasonability to lodge your apology and it is recommended that this be recorded beforehand in the “Apology Book” to save you remembering each week whilst you are away.
We had my final act on Monday night before I hand over to Lesley. A pleasant night, some real laughter and Rudi and Gaynor telling us of their experience in South Korea at the Rotary International Convention. What stood out was that although not entirely complete, the work of Rotary in the eradication of Polio is nearly done. Now the terrible spectre of slavery requires our attention. I am sure Gaynor will tell you more of this later in this bulletin, but it certainly disturbed my sense of justice, and we can do something about it. Lorraine and Rodney proved their skills yet again with a dessert from Master Chef, following up with an undertaking that although it wasn't perfect, she will get it right next time. (Well between you'N'me it got 10/10, but we won't complain if she tries to improve on an already delicious creation!)
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