Maternal and child care is one of Rotary’s main causes. Rotary makes health care available to vulnerable mothers and children so they can live longer and grow stronger.
At Café Voca, Nathan Kim and three other autistic youths have been learning to handle the responsibilities and developing the social skills that they’ll need for other jobs.
A team of 13 Rotarians and friends successfully conducted Mock Interviews of approximately 200 Year-11 students at Nossal High School (NHS), on Thursday 31 March and Friday 1st April.
Friday's Interview Team
The team consisted of 11 Rotarians from the Berwick and Narre Warren Clubs, together with friends Trevor Watson and Kay Spencer.
The purpose was to provide students with experience in an interview, in preparation for real life situations. The Interviewers provided constructive advice on application letters and resumes submitted by each student for a fictitious job and on their performance in answering questions in the interview, in support of their application.
Science Teacher at NHS and Coordinator of the interviews, Marion Campagna, expressed her deep appreciation of the time and expertise that the team provided, adding that the students benefited greatly from the experience.
This is a very worthy community project that should be conducted annually. It also provides an opportunity to work in collaboration with neighbouring Rotary Clubs.
In appreciation of their support, Marion provided each member of the team with a NHS branded coffee mug and a personalised 'Thank you' card written by one of the students.
On Wednesday 30th April, twenty Rotarians and guests arrived at Disaster Aid Australia (DAA) at 92 Doveton Avenue in Eumemmerring, for an informative vocational visit. The guests included visiting Rotarian, Mahendra Bulsara, from the Rotary Club of Valsad in District 3060 in India.
DAA is a project of the Rotary Club of Greater Dandenong and Endeavour Hills. It is registered as an Australian charity and its' mission is to provide and assist in delivering sustainable humanitarian aid relevant to people affected by natural and other disasters, in developing countries.
The visitors were hosted by CEO, Brian Ashworth, and Cherie Ramsay. Cherie provided a guided tour of the facility and explained the structure and international activities of the organisation, as well as answering questions. Her role is managing the accounting software and she also assists with policy development and general administration tasks.
Brian provided information on the design and operation of Sky Hydrants, which are used in disaster areas to convert local contaminated water to clean, bacteria-free drinking water at a cost of $1 per day. He proved the efficiency of the process by drinking a glass of the clean water produced by the demonstration model from a small tank of contaminated water.
One benefit of the Sky Hydrant as a means of producing clean drinkable water, is that it requires no electrical power, but depends solely on gravity for the water movement. Therefore, it can be installed and used effectively in remote areas with no power source.
Following the tour, we enjoyed a meal before Brian treated us to a PowerPoint presentation of the DAA operations, their achievements and their sources of funding. Their main role in disaster situations is to provide clean drinking water to the affected communities and to assist them in purchasing suitable materials to enable them to construct new homes. The idea is to make the community self-sufficient, rather than DAA constructing the homes on their behalf.
The statistics showed that in many cases, the drinking water used by the community was contaminated even before the disaster and the sickness and mortality levels among children were high. Once clean drinking water became available using Sky Hydrants, the levels dropped very significantly.
The visit proved to be very interesting and informative.
Ok, I guess you might have been busy on the day and missed Roslyn's amazing presentation. That's all good because I was at work myself. So for those that are interested, please find the link to the recording,
It is an awesome and well-constructed presentation and will help YOU to build awareness of Rotary. Whatever Rotary means to us, to the world it will be only known by the results it achieves. This video shows how we can tell our Rotary story, increase public awareness and advocate support or involvement in our work to make a difference in the world.
The D9820 Club Development Summit (District Assembly) will be a face to face event on Sunday 1st May at Warragul Country Club, Warragul.
This is a great opportunity for Rotarians from across our District to come together, catch up with old friends, make new ones and take on board lots of information to ensure the success of your Club in 2022 – 2023.
There will be sessions for Presidents-Elect, Secretaries, Treasurers and Presidents Nominee, together with informative and interactive sessions around Membership, Social Media, Foundation & Grants, Youth, and combined sessions for International, Vocational and Community plus Strategic Planning which also includes Club Visioning.
Newer members of Rotary are also catered for with specific sessions for them to learn more about Rotary and to encourage them to get involved in the activities and leadership of their Clubs.
A full program will be out soon, but please consider registering. It is free. Catering is provided and it is time well spent. Please registerHERE
If you were at the recent District Conference in Traralgon, you would have heard about the importance of planting mangroves from the inspirational Vic Grosjean - mangroves prevent coastal erosion and protect marine ecosystems.
A Rotary boat trip has been organised to view projects by a Rotary working group and the Western Port Seagrass Partnership along the Western Port Lang Lang coastline.
When: Saturday, 14th May 2022, 8:45am to 2pm Where: Tooradin Jetty (Foreshore Road) Cost: $30 per person To register contact Dick Cox rjwcox@bigpond.net.au Catering and tea & coffee will be provided
There used to be a thick mattress of seagrass on the eastern banks of Western Port Bay which calmed the waves reducing coastal erosion. But the seagrass in this area had all but disappeared by 1970, caused by an increase in sedimentation and urban/farming run off. Koo Wee Rup and Lang Lang wetlands were drained to produce highly fertile farmland, farmers used excessive fertilizer, and livestock accessed stream banks - all causing sedimentation smothering and cutting off required sunlight for the seagrass. There are now better farming practices and Melbourne Water do great work operating sedimentation traps, however, work is still needed to re-establish a protective line of mangroves along the coast.
A Rotary working group has been established (with members from Berwick, Mornington, Casey, Rosebud-Rye, Warragul, and Somerville-Tyabb Clubs) to plant mangroves in support of Rotary's seventh Area of Focus! To be involved contact Dick Cox rjwcox@bigpond.net.au
NOTE: Do you recognise anyone in this story? Jen Marshall perhaps? What a legend!
Brian provided information on the design and operation of Sky Hydrants, which are used in disaster areas to convert local contaminated water to clean, bacteria-free drinking water at a cost of $1 per day. He proved the efficiency of the process by drinking a glass of the clean water produced by the demonstration model from a small tank of contaminated water.
