Another sneaky Rotary Moment!

Roberta McIvor-Wright

It was February and the time was fast approaching for our Rotary South Pacific Presidents Elect Training Seminar at Waipuna Lodge in Auckland. Our incoming delegates from around the Pacific were bringing their new enthusiasm and fresh ideas to share with others; the whole 400 of them!

Naturally, we needed a traditional NZ welcome for the group. Sounds easy, after all, we Rotarians have great networks and well versed in putting on a good show right?   Not so easy. The date clashed with the Te Matatini competition in Christchurch and Polyfest rehearsals around the country. Not a group could be found. Then, through a Rotary colleague at a secondary college in a low socio economic area, bingo, a small group of more junior children agreed to perform for us.  In just two weeks they put together their show. (Their costumes were made by themselves, right from the cutting and dyeing of the flax.) Their teacher gathered them up early on Saturday morning 7 March as some families have no transport, gave them breakfast at the school and got them to the venue by 8 am. What a show it was with shining faces, strong but beautiful items, finishing with the powerful obligatory haka! The energy was palpable!

The conference was told about the fundraising the group were beginning, to travel to Waitangi, to study NZ history and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. At recess, generous Rotarians willingly popped notes and coins into a Maori “kite” or flax basket, and on the Monday morning, myself, DGE Jennie Herring and Conference Chair Trish Boyle went to the school to present the money (koha) to the group.   

The rest, as they say, is history; read the thank you response from a fourteen year old below, addressed to all the Rotarians in the South Pacific. Rotary Moments, I am once again gently reminded, can sneak up and catch us by surprise.

 Sylvie Wilkinson

R/C Pakuranga

D9920

 

To The Rotarians of The South Pacific.

Kia Ora,.

My name is Roberta, I am a student at Otahuhu College, and I am also a member of the Kapa Haka group.

Last Saturday we had the privilege of performing for you at the Waipuna Lodge during your leadership conference.  We had a fantastic time and we enjoyed seeing your smiling faces looking up at us.

On Monday, the group and Whaea Darlene (teacher) and I were surprised when we were gifted a cheque for a thousand dollars from the conference people.   We were so emotional we all cried including Whaea. I am deeply grateful for your generosity. It means a lot, not only to me, but every member of our Kapa Haka group.

This year we are planning a trip to visit the Treaty of Waitangi and to experience the Far North.  This koha has made a significant start to our fundraising ventures and pushed us closer to our goal.  I was overwhelmed at the amount of kindness you showed us and the smile is still plastered upon my face. Performing for you has made me more confident about presenting in public.  You have definitely enhanced my life in a most positive way.

When I’m sitting on the bus to Waitangi, I will be thinking of all you Rotarians and your generosity, and how much you’ve contributed to our experience.

Kia Tamatane,

Roberta McIvor-Wright

Year 11 Student.

Otahuhu College, Auckland, NZ

RLI Down Under

The inspirational Rotary Leadership Institute breakfast in Wellington, NZ, on December 6 during Rotary Zones 7B and 8 Institute and the combined District 9940 Conference was a sell out for 140 delegates from the 27 NZ and Australian-based districts.

Past Rotary International President Bill Boyd’s thought-provoking presentation was from the perspective of a new Rotarian who had been sent along to RLI discussion-based training by his President without knowing much about it, wondering if the RLI trainers would be like Boxer dogs whose expressions don’t change much, yapping Terriers, or preferred one year-old house trained Labradors! 
 

Rotary International Director Guiller Tumangan,
The Rotary Foundation Trustee Jackson Hsieh and
fellow TRF Trustee Ian Riseley

Mr Boyd then joined the International RLI panel that also included The Rotary Foundation Trustee PRIT Ian Riseley from Australia, TRF Trustee Jackson Hsieh from Taiwan, RI Director Guiller Tumangan from the Philippines, RLI Faculty Trainer Rob Crabtree from NZ, and International RLI Vice-Chair Australia, NZ and Oceania Cathy Roth from Australia who answered questions about RLI in their parts of the Rotary world. 
  

RLI, NZ and Pacific Islands Division Chair Beryl Robinson gave an update about the state of RLI in that region where all six NZ-based districts frequently run RLI Part 1, 2 and 3 courses. District 9920 was the first district in Australasia to facilitate the popular RLI Graduate program that has been offered annually for the past three years. NZ-based Districts 9910 and 9920 are now rolling out RLI into their Pacific Islands, including Norfolk Island, Fiji and French Polynesia. 
 

19 of the 21 districts in Australia hold RLI courses and hopefully the remaining two districts will join RLI by the end of this Rotary year. 
 

Following on from Mrs Robinson’s involvement on the International RLI Online Courses Committee, it is planned to trial distance learning in conjunction with Mrs Roth and an Australian e-club in 2015, which will also open up opportunities to get RLI into remote areas and the South West Pacific where it is difficult to get to RLI courses in a main centre. 
 

RLI breakfasts are highlights of Rotary Institutes down under, so they will be continued at November’s Rotary Zone 7B Institute in Nelson, NZ, and an RLI lunch will be held before Rotary Zone 8 Institute in Melbourne, Australia. 

Web:  www.rli.rotarysouthpacific.org