Hello Fellow members, Isn’t it wonderful that it is Spring! Everything is flowering, growing and warming up. In this nurturing season Rotary’s flagship world polio service program celebration day, 24th October I trust some of you were able to “ride the train” on that day.
On a personal note I joined the Central Blue mountains “Push ups for Polio”challenge and completed my target of 60 push ups a day.
Together we have navigated the first three months of 2023/2022
Over the past month I have been in contact with a number of members:-|
Resolving document availability issues that assist with fundraising;
Discussing new RAWCS projects;
Identifying RYLA candidates and approaching my local high school regarding Summer RYPEN candidates;
Council on legislation and what type of regionalisation community group our club believes we could align.
In the next couple of months our DG’s Say No to Domestic violence (DV) campaign will see a number of our members joining various activities in support. I encourage you to be a part of this community action.
A couple of reminders-
Why not be a part of the Rotary Foundation Dinner on the 6th November, Please contact Haran and;
Our online community Raffle is with YOU to sell tickets. I reckon they would make a great Christmas present We have raised $160 thus far. I will send out reminders by text, on Face book and email. Our Goal is $1000;
Why not contact a fellow member, have a chat and maybe ask why they are not attending meetings. I understand we are busy but I am sure we could find time to attend at lease half the meetings in any year. You told us in the membership satisfaction survey that the meetings are great, with variety and interesting speaker...please join us again.
This weeks meeting is our Annual General Meeting. The meeting starts at 7:30 pm Eastern Australian Daylight Saving Time and is online using Zoom. The link will open at 7:15pm for members to chat beforehand.
If the link doesn't work, copy and paste it into your browser.
Meeting ID: 925 396 915
Passcode: 957043 Phone: +61 2 8015 6011 Australia
After the AGM we will be having our ordinary meeting with Penny Vos being our speaker. She will be speaking on 'Building Sustainability into the Mamma Wimbi-School Kit Project'.
This is the way Penny describes herself:
I was conceived in Kenya, born in England and grew up in WA.
I've been all kinds of teacher for about 35 years, including Science, Art, Esperanto, Music and Maths.
I have a partner called Laurie, three daughters, 2 stepsons and a little grand-daughter.
I've been supporting Congolese children since 2012, when I was asked to build a website for a local charity in Goma.
I was invited to join Rotary club after giving a talk about that work in 2017, and moved to the E-club a few years later.
I'm really passionate about sustainable development and intercultural communication.
To find out more about Penny's RAWCS project click on the following link: http://www.bonvolo.net
And the Trivia Champion is: Gavin Ralston. Congratulations Gavin on your wonderful General Knowledge. A fun night was had by all those participating. Thank you to Lucy for being the scorer. And thank you to Gavin for donating his prize back to the club. We will let you know that amount raised after Treasurer Roy receives the money from Sticky Tickets and from those who donated directly.
Online Raffle
The money from all tickets sold by this club comes back to the club. Please support this raffle.
Barbara Parkins - Returned to Kenya after a brief holiday back in Australia. Barbara writes:
I arrived back in Kenya after 33 hours of travel with swollen feet and legs which persisted for a week on and off, but still hit the ground running with a horrid 7 hour drive home, which contributed even more to my predicament, and the following day our Kindy graduation of 69 children. We had to spend the evening unpacking to find all the gifts for children and teachers!
My children (and my dog) were very happy to have mum home and I couldn't get out of the car until I had hugged 45 of my babies.
We already have 30+ booked into next year for our pre-kindy class and expect to have to cut it off at 60 to have 2 streams. This shows the high esteem our school is held but is creating headaches for facilities as we urgently need to finish our classrooms and build new toilets.
Already we have also had requests to help sponsor children to secondary school next year, however because of the lack of sponsors we are not able to expand our program.
We have a number of children doing their final year in Secondary so praying for good results and sponsors to ensure they can continue to university next year.
With all the pressure we are still doing well and changing lives.
We had a Rotary information night in Katoomba, where the
Rotary club of Springwood,
the Rotary Club of Center Blue,
the Rotary club of Upper Mt Sunrise,
the Rotary club of Katoomba and the
Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney E-Club
worked together a great evening at Katoomba RSL. We had 17 attendees
4 amazing speakers outlining what Rotary does and their own experiences in Rotary.
Marilyn Mercer
For many years Marilyn has been on the Judging Panel of the Rotary Clubs of NSW Police Officer of the Year Awards, and this year was no exception. On Friday night, November 3rd, Marilyn and I attended this awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sussex St, Sydney. Marilyn presented the award to the winner of the Police Volunteer of the Year, which was won by an 84 year old lady, Margaret Kerr, from the Byron Bay Police District.
On arrival we were greeted at the door by some very smartly dressed policemen.
The evening was very well attended with the Grand Award of Police Officer of the Year going to Detective Inspector Hassan El-Khansa from the Incident and Emergency Management Command. The food and wine were plentiful, and I do believe our PDG and PP enjoyed the evening as can be seen from the before and after photos of her wine glasses.
All are invited to participate in a zoom meeting on Wednesday, November 8 from 8-9 AM AEST with Rotarians for Bees, discussing a range of initiatives underway. The Australians involved in Rotarians for Bees are joining the International Bee Rotary Fellowship. If you are interested in pollinators and how Rotarians are making a difference around the world, join us! Contact Lucy Hobgood-Brown on lucy@claypartners.com for the zoom link.
Microforest march from Sydney Town Hall on 16 November
District 9685’s environment chair Melanie Lewis invites all to attend the official launch of Barlow St urban microforest on Thursday, November 16 at 5:30 pm.
This is an initiative of Dirt Witches X Rotary collaboration, and aims to build a blueprint for microforest installations.
The Witches (a lovely group of creatives that are ecoactivists) will be donning their cloaks and walking from Town Hall to Barlow Street (down closer to Central Station) to the launch event. They plan to get some attention by walking with tree stock tubes as symbols of future planting.
RSVP’s to Melanie asap (and please share with others who may be interested):
MELANIE LEWIS | President, Rotary Social Impact Network
District 9685 Environment Chair | Foundation Committee | RYPEN Chair
HEWRAG invites Rotarians to partner with WHO for Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Projects!
BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER PREVENTION PROJECTS - AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ROTARIANS TO MAKE AN IMPACT!
HEWRAG has been approached by the WHO Regional Office in Congo-Brazzaville to explore potential Rotarian interest in partnering with them and their sponsors for Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention projects in Kenya, Zimbabwe and
Cote d'Ivoire
The project plan is deemed well-suited for Rotarian participation based on initial conversations. Although the inquiry was specifically for Rotarians in the mentioned countries, international partners are also welcomed to participate.
We encourage Rotarians to seize this opportunity and contribute towards a noble cause. Interested clubs, districts, or individual Rotarians can contact
HEWRAG Director Karl Diekman at ccp.HEWRAG@gmail.com
ow members,
This is the way Penny describes herself:
I arrived back in Kenya after 33 hours of travel with swollen feet and legs which persisted for a week on and off, but still hit the ground running with a horrid 7 hour drive home, which contributed even more to my predicament, and the following day our Kindy graduation of 69 children. We had to spend the evening unpacking to find all the gifts for children and teachers! 
from the Incident and Emergency Management Command. The food and wine were plentiful, and I do believe our PDG and PP enjoyed the evening as can be seen from the before and after photos of her wine glasses.
