FISH & CHIP JUMPERS

When Sue Mees, President of Rotary Browns Bay, visited her family in Guernsey for Christmas, her suitcase and that of her husband Paul (also a member of Rotary Browns Bay), did not contain the usual winter holiday gear.  That’s because Sue had 140 tiny jumpers, many with matching beanies,  to deliver to her friend Dr Susan Wilson of the Tumaini Fund, which provides support to the Kagera district in Nigeria.  

Fortunately, all of Sue and Paul’s winter clothes had been left behind in Guernsey after their last trip.  This was when Sue first met Dr Susan, who told her of the Fish and Chip babies in Africa.  These are the ‘AIDS babies’ who are sent home after birth, wrapped in newspaper.  Women in Guernsey have been knitting baby jumpers for some time, and Sue brought the pattern back to New Zealand with her.  

This project has captured the hearts of the Rotary community and local women from Probus, the 60s Up group, Rotarians and their family members are knitting with enthusiasm.  There are already another 150 jumpers ready to go.  Dr Wilson packs up crates and sends them to Nigeria in containers.  Her charity assists the whole community by providing clean drinking water, medical care and essential supplies.  She visits the country frequently to work amongst the people.

To find out more about this amazing charity, go to http://www.tumainifund.org.uk/contact/

Children return to class “buzzing”: Reading Assistance Programme

Youth Director Corin Schick is among the Dargaville Rotarians who regularly help the children with their reading

Most of us have read to youngsters - children, grandchildren or even great grandchildren - perched on a knee or sitting at our feet.

 

But the Rotary Club of Dargaville, NZ is reversing the traditional role and each Wednesday up to a dozen members go to Selwyn Park School where the children read to them.

 

Students at this lowest Decile 1 primary school, who have been identified as would benefit from extra reading practice, pair off with the Rotarians in the school library and spend 45 minutes reading to them from journals and books matched to their abilities.

 

The project was the brainchild of Rotarian Colin Patterson who has since moved to Kaikohe where the local Rotary club is benefiting from his enthusiasm.

 

It began at the start of the last school year and the children's enthusiasm as they wait for their Rotarian, and during reading, indicates they are really enjoying it.

 

Also, both Rotarians and teachers report a boost in the youngsters' reading ability and confidence, and test at half-year showed that all had improved - some by 1.5 years of reading ability.  As a result the programme is likely to be ongoing.

 

Dargaville Rotary President Brian Burnett has no doubts about the value of this programme. "The pleasure we have seen in their faces as they read - and understand what they're reading - has been our greatest reward," Brian said. 

 

Selwyn Park School Principal Vern Stevens agrees. "It has made a huge difference to the kids who really look forward to Wednesday's reading," he commented, "and so do the teachers because the children come back to class buzzing."

 

Dargaville Rotary has always placed strong emphasis on youth, participating in both year-long International Youth Exchanges and the shorter Rotary Australia-New Zealand Exchanges, hosting the annual Northern Wairoa Primary School’s Speech Contest, providing tertiary scholarships to deserving students and offering local young people a variety of opportunities, like Road Safety Education (formerly Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) to further their life experience and education.

 

The Rotary Club of Dargaville was also the major sponsor for the Careers Expos organised by Kaipara Employment For Youth which aim to match school leavers with work in their own district.

 Words: Viv Trounson, Rotary Club of Dargaville, NZ

Wheels for Max

Max on “the beast” 

As part of the Rotary Club of East Coast Bays’ business plan, the club set an objective to encourage a style of membership that is open, communicative and with strong fellowship and Rotary family involvement.

With guidance and great leadership from our District 9910 Governor Peter Garnett who is a member of our club, the club President Caroline Campbell has developed a culture that encourages and values the input of all club members and supports and enables new ideas.

One of our new and younger members suggested in his three minute talk, that the club look at some different and more innovative ways we could raise funds for our various projects. The “Give a Little” website was one vehicle he suggested we should explore.

The Give a Little concept is already a well-established system for giving, but it had not been used as a platform by our club before. Once we had the green light from the Board of Directors, there were several steps in the process we had to undertake to ensure our page was set up properly as a registered charity, but once completed, we were good to go.

Before long we had our first fundraising project and the “Wheels for Max” campaign began.

Max, a 12 year-old with a form of cerebral palsy that affects all four of his limbs, had his heart set on a 4x4 all-terrain wheelchair, known as “the beast” that would enable him to enjoy a more active and participative life. 

With our club’s own push via social media and the help of the local newspaper, the Give a Little campaign was very successful and more importantly, over just five weeks, proved a fast and efficient way to raise the $15,000 that was needed for this life-changing piece equipment for Max.

This project highlighted what is great about of the Rotary Club of East Coast Bays.

A collaboration between some of our newest members with their fresh perspective and ideas, in partnership with longer term members who knew how to best leverage the funds we had raised by applying for a Matching Grant. Combine this with the support and encouragement for this new thinking from everyone else in the club and the outcome was a fantastic result which culminated in the donation of the “The Beast” to Max on February 23 on Rotary’s 111^th birthday.

Words: Amanda Chambers, Member and PR Director, Rotary Club of East Coast Bays, NZ

Fish and chip babies get help

Sue Mees centre with the team.  

‘Fish and chip babies’ are children born with nothing and often sent home wrapped in newspaper for warmth.

The Tumaini Fund was established by Susan Wilson to provide some support for the babies in Kagera, Tanzania, many of whom are orphans, born with AIDS or raised by single mothers.  Susan Wilson said “All these mothers and babies had to hang onto was hope.”

Sue Mees, President of Browns Bay Rotary turned what started as a pastime into a project of hope and gathered up about 20 women from the Browns Bay Rotary and Torbay Probus Club and got them all behind the cause. “It’s 100 babies that are going to have an item of clothing.  It’s just a drop in the ocean but it makes a difference” Mees says.

The women knit jumpers all using the same pattern and made up of bright colours.

Photo courtesy of Zizi Sparks/Fairfax Media

Hope and education restored

Destroyed.

Ambrym Island in Vanuatu lost its school in Cyclone Pam. The students and teachers of Embossung Primary School have been reduced to coping with school classes for 6 to 8 year olds are under tarpaulins and bamboo framing at present.  Add to that the destruction of the sanitation and water supply facilities and one starts to get some idea of the magnitude of the need, especially as the rainy season approached.

In steps Rotary to help. 

Rotarians from Browns Bay, Nelson and Birkenhead alongside Rotarians from Australia and a few builders.  As Past Governor for 9910 David Oliver put it, "It's a pretty major project being done fairly remotely and the work falls, to a large extent on a small number of people".  

The school will be rebuilt at a cost of $150,000 funded by Rotary clubs, the Ministry of Affairs and Trade and fundraising projects including Givealittle.  The structure pictured has been closed in before the rains came and the plumbing and sanitation will be installed mid-2016.  There is no electricity on the island and all water comes from the collection of rainwater.
 

Tarzan sighted at Sama Sama Rainbow School

Chris Kernot who was mistaken for Tarzan is spreading top soil while club Treasurer Mark McKenzie and President Roly Mortimer complete the plumbing

The Rotary Club of Port Vila held a working bee at the Sama Sama Rainbow School at Ernas, Vanuatu. “Sama sama” means happiness and rainbows signify a bright and colourful new beginning, hence the name for the school. The school was founded in 2009 by Ruth Carlot who is the Headmistress and it is situated on her family’s land. The school has 55 pupils from ages 3 to 10 plus another student aged 13. 

 

Before Cyclone Pam on March 13, the school had two teachers to assist Ruth, but because of the hardship caused by the cyclone, parents have not been able to pay school fees as before, so the teachers have had to be put off until funding can be secured again. If they are not teaching, the teachers become home gardeners working full-time to grow enough vegetables to be able to feed themselves and their family. The cyclone has destroyed all of the local gardens and stripped all the fruit trees, so subsistence farming is very desperate. Papaya, bananas and coconuts which are usually abundant are still scarce, as are most other staple produce the ni-Vanuatu rely on for their existence.

 

The school which has been constructed to a very high standard was built by Ruth’s son, who is a professional builder, and her husband. Students have also helped decorate the classrooms. A group of Rotarians from Victoria, Australia, travelled to Vanuatu to play cricket in an over 60’s competition in June and tiled one of the school rooms, painted desks and did lots of improvements while they were here.  Rotary Club of Warragul Chairman of Avenues of Service, Sally Jones, was among them and she followed up offering more assistance for the school. The next goal is to tile another classroom and to provide some resources, such as a projector and library books. Currently all the resources of the school reside on just two shelves 2.4 metres long in the headmistress’ office.

 

While enjoying Rotary Club of Port Vila’s lunchtime meeting, Sally’s crew challenged Rotarian Morgan Brag to raise a team for next year’s Over 60’s Cricket Tournament. Morgan quickly put up his money with a bet that he could do it and he was very enthusiastic, but now he has to find enough members who will admit to being over 60 and capable of batting and bowling. Our French club members describe cricket as, “that game where you don’t do anything,” so he could rope some of them in if any of them are over 60.   

 

The Port Vila Rotary club, under the guidance of Rotarian Bruce Larkin, undertook to install toilets and washing facilities for the school. Rotary concentrates on projects concerned with either health, education or water and sanitation issues, and this project included all three.  The plumbing design was put together by Rotarian Steve Roberts of South Pacific Plumbing.

 

On the last weekend in September, the club worked on the finishing touches: members covered the septic tank with topsoil to hide it and make the area safe for children to play; completed the upstream sewerage vent; and did minor repairs to toilets and shower. A small team of enthusiastic Rotarians assembled accompanied by Sarah Kernot. Chris Kernot was quick to take off his shirt to display his rippling muscles and get into it, so shovels and dirt were flying everywhere. He looked like Tarzan in action!  

 

It was a good end result; the job got done with all the usual Rotary working bee good humour and banter.

ProMedical Survivor Games

Zorbing was amazing, so let’s do it again!

The Rotary Club of Port Vila likes to support is ProMedical, Vanuatu’s Emergency Services Association, because of the good work that they do. Vanuatu is fortunate in having such a well-trained pre-hospital emergency service which provides 24-hour international standard intensive care paramedic ambulance services on the islands of Efate and Santo who can respond to emergencies on other islands as the need arises. Core values of the ambulance service include adhering to international standards for equipment and patient care, the professionalism of staff, responding to all calls for assistance on a 24-hour basis, and accessibility for all.

Port Vila Rotary is proud to have ProMedical’s Operations Manager Michael Benjamin as an active member. Michael’s knowledge and experience enables the Rotary club to apply its resources effectively where most needed.

After making a late decision to enter a Rotary team into the ProMedical Survivor Games competition at Benjor Beach Club Resort, the club was flooded with applicants who were keen to represent the club. The applicants are all top quality, so it was difficult for the selectors to decide on a team.  The selection trials and fitness tests did not make their job any easier. The Rotary club put together a team to shake the confidence of the winners of the last two contests, the Irafira Warriors. Although the competition Sheriff, Judge and Jury are all Port Vila Rotarians or friends of Rotary, the club felt confident of winning on its own merits.  If there was a prize for the best cheer squad and support staff, Rotary could win that too.

On September 20 , after a heart felt opening ceremony culminating with President Baldwin Lonsdale launching the Survivor Games, 18 teams tried their best to beat each other. Port Vila Rotary competed credibly in this competition for the first time, but their lack of experience was a telling factor. However, when it came to having fun and enjoyment, no team did better. ProMedical are congratulated on such a concept initiative , where all day, hundreds of people were subjected to laughter and screams of excitement.

They’re not budging! 

The Rotary Wheels team started slowly, but pitched against experienced campaigners in the Zorbing heats, they did not qualify for the race off. The tug of war would have been a good event for the Rotary Wheels, but once again, inexperience let them down and they were caught off guard. Determined to make amends, they came good on the zip line, showing great courage and athleticism.  Then in the heats of the Dress the Dummy relay, a true test of skill and speed, they streeted the opposition. However, due to misbehaviour by some renegades, the final became a battle zone which was won by the Judo Team who were more experienced in that sort of contest. The ominous warning of the Rotary Wheels was, “We’ll be back!”

Matakana wine event a hit

Well Foundation team and the balloon arch created by Katrina Matich from Waitemata District Health Board.

(L-R): Andrew Young, Angela Vircavs, Carol Painter and Laura Stenberg.

Over 150 wine enthusiasts flocked to the stunning Ascension Wine Estate in Matakana, NZ on May 9 for the Rotary Club of Warkworth’s Raise A Glass Wine Tasting and Charity Auction.

The wine tasting gave attendees the opportunity to sample wines from more than 12 local wine growers before the exciting auction. 

Over 27 wine and non-wine action items went under the hammer on the night, giving bidders the chance to battle it out for “one of a kind” or “last ever” bottles of wine and special experiences. 

Top selling items on the night included a catered excursion on the Mahurangi River for up to 50 people which went for $2,650 and three bottles of 2010 Larose from Stonyridge Vineyard that sold for $1,050.

Warkworth Rotary Club then president Robin Dixon says the team was thrilled with the event which would not have been possible without the support of the local community. 

“From our generous sponsors, Withers & Co, Webster Malcolm Law and New World Warkworth, to all of the wineries and organisations that donated fantastic auction items or came to sample wine at the event, we are incredibly grateful,” says Robin. “We were so pleased to have so many people get behind the event and help make it a success with great money raised for our charity recipient.”

The event raised a much appreciated $10,000 for the Well Foundation, which is the official fundraising body of Waitemata District Health Board which operates North Shore and Waitakere hospitals and health services for Auckland’s North, West and Rodney communities. 

The foundation will put the money towards a new $195,000 mobile health clinic which will visit early childhood centres, schools, community events, and many other communal areas within the Waitemata district right out to Kaukapakapa and Helensville. 

The mobile clinic is focused on doing ear checks, general health check-ups, throat swabbing as part of the Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme, and providing instant treatment where possible. Without this mobile service, many would miss out on getting the health care they need, often only ending up in hospital when their problem develops into something more serious.

Raise A Glass will return next year in May, and with the organising committee already focused on planning, it promises to be bigger and better in 2016.

To be the first to know when tickets go on sale and keep up with new announcements, like the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RaiseAGlassMatakana.

A Rotarian in all but name? Becoming a Rotarian did make a difference.

When I am ask how I joined Rotary I answer: ”unwillingly!”. I was told by a friend to assist him in doing a slide show presentation on the project of the Beautification of Luganville (Espiritu Santo). I came to assist my friend by passing the slides in his old slide projector, he was doing his talk presentation to Santo Rotary Club. 

I was amazed when I realised that all the members of what I took for a semi-clandestine society were good friends of mine or people I knew for years and who never mentioned to me they were Rotarians. At the end of the presentation I was proposed to stay and assist to the meeting, few weeks later I was inducted.

Nothing was new to me as I had been doing Rotary work unknowingly when I was assisting communities in setting up rain catchments or repairing Aid posts or classrooms using funding from French Embassy. 

My connection with Aid Donors and Volunteers networks became an asset when few years later I was told at 11.30am to prepare a project worth Euros 40,000 by 1.30pm. I used my lunch time giving some phone calls and getting quotes to prepare a draft project of providing rainwater catchment to remote communities. I started with a list of 80 tanks mainly needed for communities in the Shefa Province. 

The project was approved and while I turned the draft into a formal application I recalled David Hutchinson, Director of Communities Services, telling me through RAM (Rotary Against malaria) I can get you 50cents to one dollar. By Magic the €40,000 where joined by NZ$40,000 as at that time the rate was 1€ to 2NZ$. 

Finally the 80 tanks became 131 tanks and the Islands of Malekula, Epi, Malo, Santo, Ambae were added to the Shefa Islands. In five months, with help of Volunteers based is all these islands we gave more water tanks than in the ten previous Rotary years. 

All it took, few hours of my time and few dedicated friends to make a better world for hundreds of people.

Are we really good Samaritans?



The Rotary Club of New Lynn multi-cultural collection brigade.

Each year Rotary Club of New Lynn, NZ members and friends wave charity boxes at passing motorists next to a busy set of traffic lights, asking for funds to help local disadvantaged youth. The collectors are a multi-cultural mixture of all colours and genders. But it’s interesting that the most generous people, those most willing to part with their loose change, are inevitably our Pacific Islanders. Few cars driven by these folk pass without giving, yet disappointingly, the least likely to part with money are, like myself, our more mature Caucasian male elders, many not even happy to acknowledge the presence of the collector. 

It’s certainly hard to fathom why our island born neighbours, many on the minimum wage and trying to support large families both here and abroad, should be so generous, and equally hard to reason why those of us, who are purportedly more educated, certainly with a larger share of disposable funds, should be among those who are the most close fisted. 

Why is it that we in the more mature brigade don’t reciprocate our neighbours generosity. Perhaps we haven’t suffered enough hardships, endured unemployment or incurable illness and poverty. Maybe in our daily lives we only see light-hearted, bright, well fed kids and when we travel to their shores, only blue lagoons, swaying palm trees and sun. Perhaps we have become too insulated from the huge imbalances and growing inequalities in our own society and with our neighbours.

Certainly, every day we read stories of children living in our Pacific Islands without adequate health or educational needs. Tales of children suffering from floods, endemics or tsunamis, without doctors or teaching provisions; children enduring unbearable ailments leading to early deaths. Our own Rotary service activity, Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) for example, receives many more requests for help from island children needing surgery to prevent an early death or a vestige of dignity than they could possibly satisfy. Yet this same Rotary charity seriously struggles to secure adequate funding, especially from our own kindred sources. 

But when those same Pacific people settle in NZ, they are our most generous and certainly when asked, top the group who will give the highest portion of their income to our local kids. When we flash our charity boxes at them and ask them to help our youth in need, we invariably report more social connection and spontaneous generosity than with any other group. Perhaps as mature Caucasians we need to likewise reciprocate our neighbours generosity and when similarly faced with a donor box at the traffic lights or pay-pal request for funds on ROMAC’s webpages www.romac.org.nz and www.romac.org.au, we too need to be more altruistic.

Because this philanthropic magnanimity is essential, especially if we are to have a prosperous future in our part of the world, irrespective of colour, creed, religion or race; and if we are to truly fulfill our own Rotary Objectives of being part of an organisation united in the ideal of service and providing service above self.

 - Words: PDG Geoff Dainty, Past ROMAC Chairman