Our meeting of 20 February
Tony Alsop was acting President while David is on leave and we welcomed:
· past member PP Graham Hare;
· three Honorary Members: Joan Beretta, Lyn Fleet and Dorothy Sinclair;
· Chris Beretta, husband of Sue;
· prospective members Mark and Michelle Grant; and
· Wayne Waterhouse, guest of Stan Deans.
Report on the Cambodian visit:
Janine Koch and Bryan Humphrey gave a joint report on their recent trip to Cambodia.
Twelve Rotarians from D9780, led by PP Bryan, spent two weeks in Cambodia, visiting the 18 sites where water projects funded by a Global Grant have been installed: 12 water wells, 5 tanks and one filtration system. Janine was most impressed by the rigorous oversight of the projects and assured members that our money was in safe hands.
The group were guests at the Rotary Club if Phnom Penh which coordinates many international Rotary projects from across the world, including our own.
The group also contributed to the purchase of dental hygiene kits and raised funds of USD1200 for the education of the daughter of the guide who escorted the group for the entire trip. In addition, the group brought 120 ‘Days for Girls’ kits and distributed them to women’s crisis centres in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
Janine plans to give a detailed presentation, with lots of photos, to a Rotary meeting in the near future.
The Ghan Experience:
The meeting was treated to a presentation by four of our members on their experience of The Ghan: Peter Funston, Graeme Fleet, Michael Carroll and Stan Deans.
Peter led off the presentation and gave us the history of The Ghan and his memories of a trip he made as a school boy back in 1965. The purpose of his trip was to reach Alice Springs where he and fellow school mates were to carry out volunteer work at St Philip’s College, a private boarding and day school established by the Inland Mission. The boys were charged with building a fence around the school grounds and installing irrigation on the oval. Through the experience, Peter made life-long friends, including with the daughter of the then-matron of the school. It was the very early days of The Ghan and was certainly not the luxurious trip it is today. Violent sand storms, heat and poor food were just some of the challenges Peter faced.
Graeme Fleet and his wife Lyn travelled on The Ghan in August 2017 and didn’t have to cope with the deprivations experienced by Peter fifty years earlier. Graeme spoke highly of the impressive Adelaide railway station, the gleaming train, welcoming drinks, great food, efficient staff dressed in outback colours and superb service for the entire journey from Adelaide to Darwin. At Katherine, they chose an optional tour, the Outback Experience. It was terrific!
Michael Carrol and his wife Glenda boarded The Overland train at the unmanned North Shore station, Geelong and arrived in Adelaide after a journey of 7-8 hours. They boarded The Ghan next day and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Outback including sunrise at Marla, the Katherine Gorge, a boat trip on Darwin Harbour and the Defence of Darwin museum, an interactive display about the bombing of Darwin during WW2. Michael’s slides gave members a great feel for the country.
Stan Deans rounded out the presentation with an impressive sound and light show. Stan and Carol enjoyed the comforts of The Ghan and took the opportunity to see various aspects of the Northern Territory. They visited the Hermannsburg Mission, saw Henley on Todd in Alice Springs, saw wonderful bark paintings, visited Palm Valley and Kakadu and was impressed by the 2,000 miles of the MacDonnell Ranges. Stan also took time to reflect on the ‘dark and troubled history’ of our relationship with the Indigenous people. Stan’s passion for social justice was clearly evident in his report.
Our meeting of 27 February
Past President Ross was our chair for the evening with lots of guests and a bevy of visiting Rotarians.
Past Future President Alsop presided over the induction of our new members and friends Adam Koch, Heather Campbell and Maxine Leske.
We welcome Adam, whose admission to membership marks 3 generations of the one family (Pratt and Koch) as current active members of our Rotary club, Heather (who has been a regular attendee at our Club functions and supporter of our fundraising activities over recent years) and Maxine to the world of friendship and service in Rotary which we all enjoy.
Focus on Foundation
Past District Governor Eddie Loughnan and Past President and Assistant Governor Ross Taylor told us of the history of the Rotary Foundation, its programs and how members can assist in its vital works.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) began in 1917 when Arch Klumph launched a "Charitable Organisation" for the purposes of "doing good in the world."
Now known as TRF, its stated object is described as supporting the efforts of Rotary International in achieving world understanding and peace with the following mission:
"Together we see a world where people work and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves"
TRF funds programs which support the following six areas of focus through District Grants ($26m in 2017) and Global Grants ($73m).
1. Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution - including 95 post graduate Peace Fellows studying at one of six universities around the world (at a cost of $4.6 m) `
2. Disease Prevention and Treatment - the best known program being PolioPlus with TRF committing $1.6 b. since 1985.
3. Water and Sanitation - our current project in Cambodia supported by 20 surrounding clubs is valued at just on $80,000.
4. Maternal and Child Health - utilises aspects of the above programs.
5 Basic education and literacy - to assist access to employment and income, especially for girls and women
6. Economic and Community Development - providing training and low cost loans to develop self sufficiency and income generation.
Funding comes through money donated by Rotarians, Rotary Clubs, Governments and Friends of Rotary/philanthropists like Dick Smith in Australia and Bill and Melinda Gate in America.
Last year, TRF received in excess of $305 m in donations which were directed to two main funds - The Annual Programs Fund or Polio Plus.
The former are invested for three years at which time 50% is returned to the contributing district for expenditure on their programs while the remaining 50% is used by TRF to launch programs and match funds raised to implement programs developed by clubs and districts while the latter is held at call to develop polio programs and respond whenever an outbreak is identified
The interest from 3 years of investment goes towards the administration of TRF projects.
The different ways of supporting and/or assisting our Rotary Foundation:
- join a Foundation Committee at club or district level;
- visit and deliver/assist a program;
- contribute financially to TRF - as a Centurion with AU $100 per year or Sustaining Member with US$100 (which has recently improved from an exchange rate of 1.35 at the end of 2017 to 1.24 this month.)
There are many ways of donating to TRF include having a jar on the bedside table into which loose change from your pocket is emptied each night then handed to our treasurer for banking; rounding your dinner fee, and supporting special Foundation programs like Ride the Bellarine.
What particularly makes TRF special and deserving of our support are that donations made to The Australian Rotary Foundation Trust (TARFT) are tax deductible for both local and international programs plus the Trust enjoys a special position in the world of charity.
Charity Navigator (the independent evaluator of charities in the US) has just awarded TRF the maximum 100 points (4 star rating) for the 10th year in succession, for the way it uses donations, sustains its programs and services and practices good governance and transparency.
These features are the result of TRF money not being handled by third parties but only by Rotarians.
Rotary - a global force for the improvement of life for all the world's people.
It is through the strength of the Rotary organisation and its ideals of friendship and service that we have the Rotary Foundation.
On the 23rd February, 1905 Paul Harris, a business man and 3 colleagues met in an office in Chicago to seek friendship, connections and a place to feel at home.
By today standards, it would have failed the usual benchmarks of a productive Rotary meeting; there was no agenda, no announcements, reports or speakers, no name tags and no minutes kept and the club did not begin to focus on the needs of the community for another few years.
It was of course the most productive Rotary meeting ever held.
Today, Rotary International has 1.2 million members in 35,000 plus Clubs across the world. It is probably the world’s oldest and biggest service organization. Most importantly, Rotary is both an international organisation and a local community leader.
The Mission of Rotary International:
- Provide service to others, hence its motto SERVICE ABOVE SELF
- Promote integrity
- Advance world understanding, goodwill and peace. This has always been a big part of RI’s mission. Rotary was active in the formation of the United Nations in 1945 & the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It also works closely with the World Health Organisation.
The Objects of Rotary:
1 To encourage & foster the ideals of service as a basis of a worthy enterprise.
2 The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service
o It transforms gifts and donations from Clubs and individuals into service projects that changes lives both close to home and around the world.
o During the past 100 years, TRF has spent $3 Billion on life changing, sustainable projects.
o RI is first and foremost a reputable world-wide service organization as well as local community leader.
o The engine room of RI is The Rotary Foundation.
o The signature program of TRF is End Polio Now
o Every time a Club recognizes a member with a Paul Harris Fellow or a a Multiple PHF or a member donates US$1,000 to The Rotary Foundation to receive a Paul Harris Fellow or Multiple PHF, US$1,000 is being paid to The Rotary Foundation. A PHF is a RECOGNITION OF US$1,000 being paid to TRF. It is not an award.
Ross and Eddie reminded us that our Club motto is Doing good in the world and have fun doing it.
We thank Eddie and Ross for an excellent presentation.
