Supporting elite athletes to become international stars

The World and Olympic single sculls Champion Mahe Drysdale and partner, bronze medallist Juliette Haigh, were guest speakers at  a large breakfast gathering recently. Rotary Browns Bay  along with North Harbour promoted Rotary at the function and Westlake Girls High School won the oar promoted on Trade Me with the proceeds going to Harbour Sport for assisting elite athletes on the verge of becoming international stars.


It wasn't so much about making dollars but promoting Rotary in the area and the 2 breakfast Clubs made sure of a capacity audience of over 160 at the Fairway Lodge.

The world’s their oyster

Maddie with the Brazilian exchange student, Alexandra Flores,

living in the same town in Germany at the language camp

organised by District 1860 for the exchange students

who arrived in August 2012.

Two International Youth Exchange students sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Plimmerton and Porirua Sundown in Wellington, NZ have just returned from their year overseas.

 

Madeleine White returned from Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.  Maddie had a wonderful time enjoying the many sights of Germany and further afield around Europe whilst studying at a German secondary school.  ‘While it is great to be home, I am hoping to get back to Germany soon and travel more abroad in the future’ she says. 

 

Learning to live with other families who speak a different language can be interesting and sometimes testing, but the chance to be immersed in the language helped Maddie to develop her German. She is now fluent in both the spoken and written language, and has grown to love Germany, the culture and people there.

 

Maddie is keen to stay in touch with the new friends she has made, not only those from Germany but also the other exchange students she met from around the world and also her host families.  ‘It was a special feeling to be an ambassador for New Zealand, which is the furthest country from Germany on earth’, said Maddie.

 



Georgina (centre) with Shaylin (Canada) a
nd Renwick (America),

two other Exchange students,

 trying on kimonos at a textile store

Georgina Paskell also just returned from a year in Aichi in Japan. She spent her year living with several different host families in Nagoya, Japan whilst she attended Aichi High School, a private Buddhist school. ‘I really enjoyed making many friends, both at school and through Rotary’, said Georgina. ‘My highlights were my school trip to Hokkaido, taking part in my school festival and attending a popular fireworks festival with the other Rotary exchange students’.

‘It will be hard to find a better experience than this exchange’, she Georgina.  She wants Japan to be a part of her future. Whether she lives in New Zealand or Japan, she expects the Japanese language to be an important part of her career.

 

And one student sponsored by the Rotary Club of Plimmerton just left for her year abroad.

 

Mihi Gardiner-Parata left Wellington to make her way to Doullens (two hours north of Paris) where she’ll spend the next twelve months. The area where Mihi will be living is in the heart of the cemeteries around the Somme where so many battles took place during the First World War.

 




Mihi, centre, being farewelled by her mother,

Hekia and sister, Rakai.

At the airport, Mihi said, ‘I am very excited but haven’t thought much yet past the two days I’ll be spending in Los Angeles with the other exchange students’. Mihi’s sister, Rakai was at the airport to farewell her sister and to give her some last-minute tips. She came back to New Zealand in January 2012 after spending a year in Araraquara in Brazil.

 

-      By Wendy Betteridge, Rotary Club of Plimmerton, Wellington, NZ

Science programs encourage budding scientists

There are two Rotary supported Science programmes for secondary school pupils. These are:

Rotary National Science and Technology Forum is for Year 12 students with as passion for science and technology and is held at the beginning of their year 13 school year (ie 2 full weeks live in AU's O'Rorke Hall during January) 

This fully residential programme is conducted by Rotary and the Tertiary Institutions of Auckland. By the end of the Forum students should have a better understanding of the tertiary courses they wish to follow and a fuller appreciation of the place of science and technology in the wider community. It also provides an opportunity for high achieving students to spent time with similar minded people and the experiences gained invariably result in overall personal growth and renewed motivation to succeed.

Opening session, January 2013

Each District has been allocated 25 places at the Forum. All Secondary Schools and Clubs in the District will be sent copies of the application forms and guidelines.  The application process is highly competitive (reflecting it value and popularity)  and all applications from students MUST be lodged with Rotary Clubs, who will interview & endorse them before forwarding to the District Coordinator who will then make the final District selections.

At BOTH Club and District level, selection is based on positive personal qualities and proven scholastic achievement. Successful students should be advised by the District Coordinator by end September. Selected applicants have the opportunity to win a place at either the Canberra (1 per District) or the London International Youth Science Forum (2 Forum places).

For contacts go to the District Rotary National Science and Technology Forum Committee in the appropriate district.

Sci-tech Experience for Year 11 students and NCEA Level 1 of any science discipline with some interest in science as a career.

This is held over three days in first week of July school holidays and operates only in the 9910 and 9920 districts, effectively the greater Auckland area, with some North Auckland schools' participation. It is a day attendance programme coordinated from AUT with programme participation from Unitech and MIT (Manukau).

2013 dates: 16, 17 and 18 July 2013

The aims of the programme are:

1. To increase the awareness of, and develop enthusiasm for the "sciences” and their applications.

2. To understand that the sciences are crucial contributors to contemporary life.

3. To encourage a continuing commitment to further study which could lead to related employment.

Numbers are restricted to 200 and it is common to have more applicants than places. There is an initial allocation maximum of 10 students per school, with any remaining places by selection.

Fee $95 (covers meals and bus transport) - sponsorship may be available.

Sci-Tech is managed by a Trust comprised of Rotary Districts 9910 and 9920 together with representatives from the participating tertiary institutions.

Programme details and application: www.sci-tech.org.nz

 

For contacts go to www.scitech9920.rotarysouthpacific.org

 

Rotary Associates Program - one club's approach to appealing to youth

During early 2011 as President Elect of the Rotary Club of Papanui I decided to introduce the club to a full visioning exercise to give us a clear picture of who we were and where we wanted to go as a club and a clear mandate for my year and beyond.

From this exercise it was concluded that we were an aging club and in much need of younger blood to revitalise us and take us in the direction that we identified as an essential for survival of our club.

The problem appeared that we had no direct appeal or access to youth, and youth in general were motivated to causes not clubs.

At this time Lane Perry an Ambassadorial Scholar was attached to both the University of Canterbury and our Rotary club so we sat down together and conceived a program that we felt would meet both the needs and expectations of young people and provide our club with the results that we were seeking.

We named our project the "ROTARY ASSOCIATES PROGRAM"

The resource pool from which to draw our proposed candidates from was to be the "Emerging Leaders Program" at the University and the test target was to be the Papanui greater community.

It had been clearly demonstrated after the Christchurch earthquakes that there was a desire to contribute to the community by young people and the example of this was the well documented performance of the UC Volunteer Student Army.

Our concept was as follows:

    1)    our pilot program initially would select only four students from the University Emerging Leaders Program
    2)    They would commit to the program for the University year
    3)    they would attend a full Rotary meeting as our guests at least once every term - minimum
    4)    During the year they each would contribute a minimum of 20+ hours of community work under the direction and banner             of our club
    5)    During the year each candidate would have a fire-side meeting (an informal meal) at the home of a senior Rotarian to             discuss the principals of Rotary, our community, and their views on the development and effectiveness of the program
    6)    At the end of the period each candidate would address our full Rotary meeting and give a full presentation of their involvement and experiences during their association with Rotary at work

In return we supported the candidates when ever possible and this included

    1)    Discussions and general mentoring
    2)    We sent two of our candidates to "The Aspiring Leaders Forum" which is held annually in Wellington
    3)    We nominated two students to represent us at RYLA in January 2013
    4)    each candidate was formally presented at a full Rotary Meeting with a certificate jointly signed by the current University  Coordinator and myself to recognise their contribution and achievement

We had a lot of fun working with the students over the year and the results and benefits of this association far exceeded our initial expectations for this program. Together we worked as a team on projects such as - Packing Emergency Boxes, Maintenance and gardening for a widow of a Rotarian, Fund raising projects, Christmas Gift Wrapping at Northlands, Business directory survey, Beautification program trees for Christchurch, and two of our students developed, coordinated and produced a "Big Day Out" family day and picnic for disadvantaged families which was a great success

From this experience we have identified the strengths of our program and areas which we felt could be improved. Using the original four candidates as coordinators and mentors for next year we intend to expand and take this concept to the next level prior to presenting it to the wider Rotary Community as a successful working scheme that they can individually adopt and benefit from as we have

I am confident that at sometime in the future all our candidates will become active and very productive Rotarians and New Zealand's future Leaders

Tony Taylor
Rotary Club of Papanui
Director Youth & Community

Young Totara Award

Young Totara Award
by the Rotary Club of Papanui, Christchurch, NZ


It is many years since the club has presented this award and it was therefore, with much pleasure that Arie Geerlofs (our President Elect) introduced Ollie Norman and outlined his fight to overcome serious medical problems to achieve good things in the community.

Ollie is now working in a part-time capacity as his health permits and in addition to this is dedicated to assisting his mother operate a soup kitchen and drop-in area for the disadvantaged folk of Christchurch.

He has established a good rapport with a number of young people using the soup kitchen and is committed to helping the less fortunate.

Well done Ollie! You certainly deserve this award.

ADG Richard Green congratulated Ollie and presented him with his Young Totara on behalf of the Rotary Club of Papanui

ROTARY AND CURE KIDS’ OVER 40-YEAR PARTNERSHIP

Rotary New Zealand is the founding partner of Cure Kids.  This special partnership has made a significant difference to so many lives by turning research into hope.  Cure Kids thank Rotary for their commitment to assisting Cure Kids by funding vital medical research into life-threatening childhood illnesses.

KEY MILESTONES TIMELINE

1971.
The Child Health Research Foundation was established by Rotary to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Rotary in New Zealand.  The late Dr. Ronald Caughey, who was a leading Paediatrician and a member of the Rotary Club of Auckland, had concerns about New Zealand’s worsening infant mortality rate.  New Zealand previously led the world with the lowest rate, however by 1970 had slipped into sixth place.  He sought the support of Rotary to help reverse this trend. Under the leadership of District 292* Governor, the late Bob Yarnton, Rotarians took on the challenge to establish the Foundation as their Golden Jubilee project to encourage funding for research into child health.  Less than six months later, the Child Health Research Foundation was formed with $250,000 raised and presented to Foundation Chairman, Sir James Doig.  The first Child Health Capital Fund Chair at the University of Auckland was also set up in perpetuity, with Professor David Lines.

1975.
The Foundation’s support base was extended to Rotary throughout New Zealand. 

1987.
Over $1million was raised in the Great Investment Race.  Five investment companies were each loaned $200,000 for six months to invest in the share-market and raise as much money as they could for Cure Kids.  These companies paid back their $200,000 each, and the total profit was $1.2million for Cure Kids. 

1996.
Rotarians again showed their support with another determined fundraising effort which raised a further $870,000 for the Foundation.

2008.
The Child Health Research Foundation was renamed Cure Kids.  Some world first breakthroughs have been achieved, and over $29million has been directed into research in the past 40 years, including $3.2million contributed from Rotary in New Zealand to date. 

2009-2010
In recognition of the connection with and the support by Rotary over the years, Cure Kids partnered with Rotary in New Zealand in support of Rotary's fundraising towards Rotary International's PolioPlus campaign with a contribution of $200,000 to help Rotary achieve a Polio-free world.  After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease.  As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk.

2011.
Cure Kids staff were invited to promote Cure Kids at the Rotary Zones Institute showcase in Brisbane, Australia. 

MANY CLUB AND ROTARIANS ENTER TEAMS IN CURE KIDS EVENTS: 

 ‘Rotary Woolly Wonderers’ Graham Peters and Andy McCarrison hitch-hiking on the 2011 Accor Hotels $10 Queenstown Challenge.

• Since 2006, there have been Rotary teams in every $10 Queenstown Challenge.  The champion fundraising team in 2006 was Rotary-Rotaract Beryl Robinson and Sam Gordon who raised $32,495.  Three years later, Rotarians Beryl and Colin Robinson raised another $20,217 for Cure Kids. 

• Since 2010, Rotary in New Zealand has been the community partner for Red Nose Day, with clubs and Rotarians up and down the country working closely with Cure Kids and other Red Nose Day partners to support community fundraising while being silly for a serious cause. 

• Rotarians assisted with 2010 and 2011 Walk on the Wild Side by helping on the day, and Rotarian families enjoyed these Walk on the Wild Side events. 


St Johns Rotarians Kevin Kevany, Isabella Tedcastle and Beryl Robinson assisting with Red Nose Day in Auckland.

ROTARIANS CURRENTLY INVOLVED WITH CURE KIDS GOVERNANCE:

• Past District Governors Beryl Robinson, Tony Fortune and Charles Wilson are Cure Kids Members representing Rotary in New Zealand (since 2006)
• Roy Austin, Cure Kids Board Chair (since 1998)
• Professor Bob Elliott and Don Jaine, Cure Kids Board Members
• Professor Ed Mitchell, Cure Kids Board Advisor

Quote – “Cure Kids is an amazing organisation with an innovative approach to fundraising and supporting the research it funds.   Rotary in New Zealand is the Founding Partner of Cure Kids and values its special relationship in a partnership that makes a significant difference to so many lives.   I have personally been involved in three Cure Kids fundraising events, and have never before had so much fun raising money for such a worthwhile cause!”   
- PDG Beryl Robinson, Cure Kids Member Representing Rotary in New Zealand

PDG Beryl Robinson ready to bungy jump on the 2006 $10 Queenstown Challenge.

* Footnote: Rotary District 292 was subsequently split into Rotary Districts 9910 and 9920.

RotoArt High School Student Art Contest

Ten years ago, a member of the Rotary Club of Otorohanga, in North Island, New Zealand suggested to Rotarian Barry Marx that the club could organise an Art Exhibition and incorporate a competition for local high school students.



Waremu's Winning Art

Barry extended the contest to a 100km radius of Otorohanga, so students of nearby rural township high schools were invited.  High schools in the nearby city of Hamilton were excluded to encourage students from smaller rural high schools to get involved.
The strategy was that family members would attend the exhibition to support their youngsters and be exposed to a variety of art objects seldom seen outside main centre galleries and national art shows.

Following the success of the show, a Rotarian recommended to Barry, “This is far too good to be local, so we should make the student contest a nationwide project.” Barry replied, “Why not go international?”

Having recently retired, Barry thought he may have the time to be the Curator/Organiser because communicating with eight nearby high schools had been pretty straight forward.  But contacting every school throughout New Zealand and beyond was a different story.

There was only one viable solution to accepting entries from anywhere in the world – the internet.  The club commissioned a software company to design a program whereby students could upload digital images of their art.  After the closing date, five judges could individually access the images on their own computers anywhere in the world to grade each artwork on a scale of 1 to 10.  The Curator and Chief Judge then selected the best 50 works and called the most highly ranked ten in each section to be couriered for final hands-on judging.

With a year set aside to arrange the project, Barry set to chasing up Rotary clubs across the globe using the internet as the main way of communication.  Barry also searched for high schools with websites, and if those had email addresses, he sent off invitations. 

Having spent something like 3,000 hours in just 12 months working on the project, Barry was now working through nights chatting to schools, students and supportive Rotarians across the globe via Skype.  Wonderful relationships were developing with Rotarians around the world.  Newly formed Rotary clubs in Eastern Europe came on board in a refreshing manner.  At last the competition was coming together. 

Entries were uploaded on line to the special website.  Rotarians in New Zealand pledged the entry fees for students who could not afford the $10 cost.  Two young artists in Rwanda were sponsored when it was learned that their families’ monthly income was less than the entry fee.  A group of children in Israel were sponsored, as were the Lotus Centre Mongolian orphans.

When the contest closed there were entries from 23 countries.  The whole thing had grown to such an extent that it was now beyond being a small rural Rotary club project.  Arrangements were made for the awards ceremony to be held in conjunction with the Royal Easter Show in Auckland where there is a huge art exhibition and the official awards night is held in front of 2,500 invited guests.  

In a first for the century old show, Barry arranged three channel TV coverage of the Rotary section of the awards.  Diplomats from the main nations represented were invited to attend and receive the awards on behalf of the overseas students.  The winning pieces of art and a selection of the very best entries were all on sale, with the proceeds being remitted back to the young artists.

The winning international entry was from 15 year old Sandrin Mofo in Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA who was originally from Cameroon, Africa.  His self-portrait was of professional quality.

The outstanding New Zealand winner was Wiremu Kawiti.  His prize was a 21 day trip to the USA as a guest of Rotary Clubs in California, New York, New Jersey and Alabama.

The competition has been extremely successful, so a Charitable Trust was formed to run the competition every two years, with the current round closing on 31 December 2012.  Further details are at www.rotoart.org

Radios for safety

The Rotary Club of East Coast Bays has had a long association with The Sir Peter Blake MERC at Long Bay on Auckland’s North Shore. Opened in 1990, The Sir Peter Blake MERC is the country’s leading provider of marine education, recreation and conservation programs for schools and corporate groups. They offer a range of instructional programmes designed to hone skills in outdoor, marine, environmental, team building, leadership, sports and cultural education whilst also supporting disadvantaged and special needs students. They cater for over 12,000 visitors each year.  

Last year the Club funded the re-equipment of fifteen hand-held marine VHF radios vital to the safe running of programmes. This year the Club funded the purchase of high-tech ActiView Document cameras to support The Sir Peter Blake MERC education programs

Young Totara Award 2012

Reuben McCartney (aged 19 years) was selected for this year’s Rotary Club of Belfast-Kaiapoi Young Totara Award.

 

Since 2007, when Reuben joined the Sea Cadet Force at T.S. Steadfast, he has continuously won awards for being the best cadet in the country in different categories. Reuben was selected to represent New Zealand in a joint exercise of international sea cadet held in Singapore during 2011. Having recently left school, he is now applying for full-time employment with the Royal New Zealand Navy.

At the Belfast-Kaiapoi Rotary Club’s weekly meeting, at which Ruben and his mother were guests, he received his award certificate and pin. Reuben thanked the club for selecting him to be the recipient of the award.

The Belfast-Kaiapoi Club has been making Young Totara Awards annually since 1992 to recognise significant contributions to the life and wellbeing of the community. In selecting awardees, consideration is given to choosing a person who would be sound role models for others to emulate, particularly those who show the qualities of innovative thinking, good leadership, and planning. Maori culture likens its leaders to the mighty Totara tree. Hence each year, the chosen recipient plants a Totara tree in a special dedicated area in the Styx Mill Reserve in Husseys Road.

Diverse student speakers make an impact

The Rotary Club of Auckland Harbourside recently sponsored and judged the annual speech competition at Southern Cross Campus in Mangere, NZ. This is a great opportunity for college students from years 9 to 13 to gain confidence and express their views across a variety of interesting topics.

The young group presented speeches ranging from “Social media - does it destroy human connection?” and “Bucket list - the three things you must do before you leave school” to “The Rugby World Cup - was it worth it?”.

To judge such a talented and diverse group of speakers was challenging, but Past President David Wong said: “It was inspiring to see young kids from South Auckland passionate about their subjects. Obviously they spent a lot of quality time researching their topics and rehearsing in front of the mirror. It’s great to support a good college in this way.” 

e-Volunteerism

Students vs. The Machine: Lessons Learned in the Student Community following the Christchurch Earthquakes

By Sam Johnson

When massive earthquakes hit Christchurch, New Zealand in  February 2011,  university students wanted to help in the clean-up.  But established first response agencies were wary of these young volunteers and too harried to work with them, so they turned them away.  Sam Johnson, a student leader, would not take no for an answer.  He turned to Facebook and put out a call to his friends.  Within hours he had recruited both a team of workers and enough loaned equipment to go out and simply start “mucking out.”   Over the next several days, his social network spread the word and hundreds, then thousands of students stepped forward. 

They called themselves the Student Volunteer Army (SVA) and eventually fielded 9,000 volunteers, earning the respect and support of the local authorities along the way.  SVA continues its work today, as the Christchurch area experiences aftershocks and further quakes even now.  Because of the media attention SVA received, they were invited to Japan after the tsunami to work with a like-minded team of students and Johnson recently returned from presenting on the role of Youth in Disaster at the World Summit for Youth Volunteering in Colombia, South America. 

 In this article, Johnson shares his experience of being at the centre of the growing emergency response momentum and how he had to learn “volunteer management” instantly.  He describes how he used the tools of social media and how others can connect to young people through online networks.   He explains his strong vision for “the positive change that can occur if technology at our fingertips is harnessed by Gen-Y to build stronger community relationships.”

Introduction to Our Team

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards - done differently and well

RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award Programme) makes a huge difference in the lives of young people. Graduates aspire to become future leaders in Rotary clubs and communities.

Following the District 9940 Programme in February 2012, Gemma said, ‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have already taken steps to achieve my goals.’

The 9940 Programme caters for young people between the ages of 18 and 24 and will be coordinated by The Rotary Club of Plimmerton in 2013. Their job is to produce a budget, book the venue and transport, seek applications from Clubs and organisations and organise the speakers.

Former graduates, Rylarians, plan and manage the activities which are organised to challenge individual ability to lead and work with a team. Visiting speakers generously donate their time and talents.

Participants are challenged indoors and outdoors in many different ways.  They meet interesting people  and visit interesting places.

Zach said, ‘An enormous thank you. The inspiration that you provided and the leadership you gave will have a lasting impact on every single person who attended.’

Rachel Townsend said, ‘The Programme was absolutely amazing and so inspirational. Everything about it was perfect. Fantastic speakers and activities and all the crew were great.’

The venue was The Silverstream Retreat in Upper Hutt. The venue may change from time to time but the philosophy doesn’t. Its aim is to emphasise leadership and personal growth. It demonstrates Rotary’s respect and willingness to enable youth to excel. It encourages leadership of youth by youth and provides an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders. The 2013 Programme will run from 23-27 January.

By the last day the candidates are inseparable.