FROM
WHERE I SIT
by Bob Aitken
Managing Editor
Rotary Down Under |
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On
February 23, 2005, the world's oldest
service organisation – our Rotary
International – will celebrate its Centenary.
Founded in Chicago in 1905 by a young lawyer, Paul P. Harris,
Rotary has an
amazing history of achievement and service to humanity, culminating,
of course, in recent years with the lifesaving Polio Eradication
Program.
Around
the world, Rotary boasts 1.2 million members in more than 30,000
Rotary clubs in 165 countries. In this ANZO region, we have approximately
45,000 Rotarians in 1,400 Rotary clubs spread throughout the islands
of Oceania, New Zealand and Australia.
The
excitement and expectation of Rotary's Centenary celebrations
is slowly building, but the moment of final decision has arrived
. . . What is your Rotary club doing to celebrate 100 years of
Rotary’s Service Above Self? Has your club board really examined
its Centenary plans? Is the planned celebrations and activity
adequate?
Rotary
Down Under's Centenary Celebration Feature is growing in size
each month. Many great projects and functions have already been
announced, but we must have total and appropriate planning right
across the region. A picnic in the local park is not enough!
Our Rotary clubs will never have a better opportunity to promote
the impact of Polio Eradication. The World Health
Organisation is confident our world will report the last historic
case of polio between now and 2006. In 1985, there were 350,000
reported cases of severe poliomyelitis around the world.
Rotary's
service to the world community does not begin and end with Polio
Eradication. Consider the impact of our total Health, Hunger and
Humanity programs – Literacy, Avoidable Blindness, food production,
low-cost housing, Rotary Against Malaria, Rotary programs to combat
AIDS, and the many programs that provide fresh water and sanitation.
Then,
of course, the popular mainstream programs such as Group Study
Exchange, Youth Exchange, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, the
Australian Rotary Health Research Program, Rotary Overseas Medical
Aid for Children, Trees for Survival, Cyclone Boxes and the wide
range of Vocational Service and Peace Programs.
In
February, 2005, every Rotary club in our region has a responsibility
to tell its community about Rotary making a difference in our
world.
Celebrate
Rotary!
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| Governor-General
for Royce Abbey Oration: The Governor General of Australia, Major
General Michael Jeffery, will deliver The Royce Abbey Oration, on
April 22, 2004. A highlight of the Rotary year in District 9800,
the oration is presented by an eminent person as a tribute to R.I.
Past President Royce Abbey and his wife Jean for almost 50 years
of outstanding service to Rotary International and the general community.
Rotary District 9800 will sponsor the function and District Governor
Don Jago has invited Past Governor John King to serve as Chairman
of the Oration Committee. The Rotary Club of Brighton, Vic., will
host the evening at The International of Brighton, 81 Bay Street,
Brighton, Melbourne, at 7.00p.m. for 7.30pm. Master of Ceremonies
will be Tony Charlton AM. Tickets at $A60 are available from Roger
Fairlam on 0418 363 077 or fax (03) 9763 6104, or via email at jwking@bigpond.net.au |
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District
9750 exchange students are aware of snakes in Australia following
a Youth Exchange Program briefing day. |
Four Aussies
in Brazil: Four Australian Rotaractors are enjoying the experience of
a lifetime taking Aussie culture to students in Brazil. Peter Thompson,
Beck Glover, Daniel Holdsworth and Janine de Barse are ending a month
of supporting a
project aimed at improving the life skills and education (English, theatre,
arts, health) of students. These skills will help students break from
a lifecycle in one of the poorest areas of Joinville, Brazil. Members
of the Rotaract Club of Gunargarang in District 9690, N.S.W., the young
Australians worked hard to raise funds for the trip and their special
work. They have three classes two or three times a week and concentrate
on studying the English language. Apart from their work with the students,
they have been to a local council meeting, featured on local television
and taught the young people some vital Australian skills, such as cricket
and playing the didgeridoo!
Not
the usual YEP briefing: Youth Exchange Program Briefing Days in
District 9750, N.S.W., usually offer something out of the ordinary.
Recently, a briefing day for outgoing and incoming students and the
highlight was a visit from the local snake man! Governor Elaine Lytle
said the visit was aimed at ensuring incoming students became aware
of snake dangers in Australia. It was a special experience as students
were able to handle a friendly python, and learn about some of Australia’s
deadliest serpents – from a safe distance!
Stratford
saves the day: Quick thinking by members of the Rotary Club of Stratford,
N.Z., provided a windfall for schools in Cambodia and the Solomon Islands
recently. Vocational Service Director Jim Taylor advised that a large
quantity of excellent reading and textbooks seemed destined for the
rubbish dump following closure of a country school in the Stratford
area (District 9940). The books were being stored in a bookshop owned
by Stratford Rotarian Raymond Perera. The club arranged for some to
be shipped to a girls’ school in Cambodia via Voluntary Service
Abroad, and the balance went to Honiara in the Solomon Islands, with
the help of Rhyce Richards, a former New Zealand High Commissioner to
the Solomon Islands. The books, which filled nine large cartons, were
aimed at Levels One to Eight students in general education and English
language.
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