BOC RYDA CHAMPION AWARD 2012

BOC is one of the major sponsors of the RYDA, Rotary Youth Driver Awareness program in Australasia.   In New Zealand this program is also sponsored by NZ Steel.   RYDA has now been amalgamated with Road Safety Education Limited.

Every year, BOC has been presenting an Australian Rotarian with the BOC RYDA Champion Award.

This Award is given to a Rotarian who has championed the program through Rotary Clubs and schools.

On 10 December 2012 in Sydney the annual Award luncheon was held and it was at this function that

AG Jennie Herring was presented with this Award for her work over the past 5 years in District 9920.

This is the first time the Award was presented to a New Zealand Rotarian.   In 2012 two further awards were also given to Australian Rotarians.


Related Links: http://www.rse.org.au/  - note that Rotary organising committees are via this LINK 

Angel Flight NZ has taken off!

Angel Flight NZ co-ordinates non-emergency flights, assisting people who are financially disadvantaged with a medical condition and long distances to travel, by flying them to an airport near their medical treatment facility.

 



Angel Flight NZ Founder/Chairman and Rotarian Lance Weller
with his Cirrus SR20G3 aircraft.

Angel Flight NZ was founded on November 23, 2011 by retired businessman and pilot Lance Weller, who had already flown ten Angel Flight missions in Australia. “I saw firsthand on all of these ten flights, how appreciative our patients were by reducing their previously stressful travel time down to just a few hours. On returning to NZ after being away for 43 years, I asked about the possibility of flying Angel Flights, but was told the organisation didn’t exist in NZ”, emphasised Lance. So Lance would have his own aircraft in NZ to begin flying Angel Flights there, he flew his Cirrus SR20G3 aircraft from Brisbane to NZ via Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands in January 2012.

“Our goal is to improve lives, one flight at a time, by providing not just less stressful transportation, but also care and compassion” added Lance.

Rotary has been an important part in helping Lance Weller establish Angel Flight NZ. He is a Rotarian of 30 years who lives near Whangarei, and his two most senior coordinators are Roger Leadbeater (Rotary Club of Orewa) and John Pringle (Takapuna North). About 25% of Angel Flight NZ pilots are Rotarians. Lance and Roger are members of the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians who have been very helpful, and donated money raised at a 2012 IFFR Meeting. Other Flying Rotarian pilots include Phil Pacey (Drury) and Fred Bain (Pukekohe). The Rotary Club of Whangarei are their largest donor so far with NZ$10,000 donated. This charity is funded by Rotary, private and corporate donations. 

Flight and road transport are provided free of charge by our team of volunteers. Angel Flight NZ needs more Sky Angel pilots in cockpits in Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Paraparaumu and the South Island who can make the time to “improve lives one flight at a time”. More Earth Angel car drivers in Christchurch and Wellington/Paraparaumu to meet flights and drive passengers to their medical appointments are also needed.

Go to www.angelflightnz.co.nz to find out more about volunteering or to make a donation.

Angel Flight also operates in Australia (www.angelflight.org.au) and USA.



Pilot Alastair Leggat preparing the aircraft,
while Shannon and Magic Hoani wait patiently.

 

Angel Flight NZ situation as at December 4, 2012:
4,838 kilometres flown.
$5,982 of aircraft time donated by Pilots.
886 km driven by Earth Angels.
18 adults and 10 children flown.
40 registered Pilots and aircraft in Whangarei, North Shore, Whenuapai, Ardmore, Hamilton, Wellington, Nelson, Hastings, Whakatane and Christchurch.
Landing fees waived at all airports Angel Flight NZ flies to.
35 Earth Angels mainly in Auckland, but also in Whangarei, Wellington and Christchurch.
5 Mission Coordinators.
Total Volunteer Team of 80 people ready to help people in more distant towns of NZ.
Travel free by air and road to major hospitals for non-urgent medical appointments or care.

Related link: http://www.iffr.org.nz/

Rotary Pacific Water For Life Foundation Projects Benefited 53,000 Grateful Fijians

53,000 Fijians living in rural areas have benefited from Rotary Pacific Water For Life Foundation’s (RPW) support since 2007, and Roma villagers are some of these grateful recipients.

Water tank installed by RPW and Roma villagers

Roma is a beautiful village nested on the slope of a massive mountain on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. It overlooks a wide calm river flowing 200 meters below and faces a mountain range leading to the summit of Mount Victoria. From the capital city Suva, it takes about four hours by car to reach the end of the track which marks the beginning of a half an hour walk to the village, crossing the river a couple of times.

The 100 people in Roma live mainly in self-sufficiency with no electricity and without easy access to the rest of the island, understandably not having much income generated locally. Thus, when problems arose with their water supply, the villagers could not afford to fix it themselves, so they had to ask for RPW’s help.

Indeed, the water source used until then was located too low to cater by gravity for the whole population, forcing villagers living up the hill to carry buckets and drums for their basic needs (such as washing, cleaning and drinking etc). After finding and securing a new source of water higher up the hill, RPW provided the village with a water tank and new piping so that everyone can now enjoy safe drinking water.

At the official opening, the village representatives express their gratitude to RPW and asked the Manager Gaël Léopold to spread the word in Suva that they would also appreciate being connected to the main road, so that they can have access to the major markets.

Read more about RPW on www.rotarypacificwater.org.

 

- By Gaël Léopold, RPW Manager gael@rotarypacificwater.org +679-9056808

2013 will be another stunning year for Rotary - Welcome to it.

Rotary Club of Raitea Tahaa an example

The Rotary Club of Raiatea – Tahaa in French Polynesia (Rotary District 9920) celebrated its 8th anniversary in December 2012.  The club has 21 active members and two honorary members with the most recent inducted in December 2012.

They were the second Rotary Club of Polynesia with the first being the Rotary Club of Papeete in 1959. The club grows from year to year in both membership and service which is not just encouraging, but demonstrates its commitment to the community with their actions [projects] widely recognized. The secret of this success is the certain friendship uniting all members.

At the international level, since the club is part of Rotary International, they support global major projects, such as:

• The eradication of poliomyelitis in the world – now eradicated 99% thanks to Rotary,

• the access to drinking water in third world countries, the fight against illiteracy, etc.

The club also sponsors a young Filipino supporting costs from the high school study. Jared Orelland has just finished his upper studies and next will be attending college.

This success is extra motivation for the club.

Locally many projects have been accomplished: linguistic and cultural trips of high school students; material assistance to needy people, financial aid for young athletes and Christmas Child.

Last year 600 children from the town of Taputapuatea were able to attend a magic show. What’s more encouraging is to see these little ones laugh and dream. This led the club to extend this action and this year all children receiving schooling in the municipality of Tumaraa will be able to attend a big clown show in December next.

The club has committed to finance the acquisition last year of a small sailboat, fitted out to enable sailing for disabled or people with limited mobility. The sailing school of the Raiatea Yacht Club is the only one accommodating a handicapped children, and where they are welcomed.

DG Ron at the cheque presentation



To support this project the club presented the Yacht Club a cheque for a million francs [NZD13,500 approx] to realize this project. In acknowledging the sponsors who also supported this project, club President Patrick Leininger commented that “sometimes just a little boost, a helping hand, a moral presence, material help in a difficult time, to avoid many conflicts and promote peace.”
  

George Maybee chartered an expedition to hook the elusive bonefish on Kiritimati. But he’d soon take on a tougher task: providing the islanders with clean drinking water.

as told to Anne Ford

Source by permission:  The Rotarian, December 2012, pp.50-53

I got into fly-fishing in high school in California, USA. A good friend taught me how to tie flies and build fly rods, and we’d catch steelhead trout in the Russian River. Since then, I’ve gone as often as I can. With this sport, you’re not out relaxing on a dock; you’re hunting. You’re trying to fool the fish by imitating how their food moves in the water. It’s a physical and mental game, and it gets you out into some amazing places.
In 2004, my wife, Sharon, and I flew to Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, as it’s known, which is the world’s largest coral atoll. This is one of the few places where you can fly- fish in saltwater. We took a chartered turboprop plane out of Honolulu, a five-hour trip.

The island, which is part of the Republic of Kiribati, has coral flats that are about 2 feet under water. You take a boat way out into the Pacific Ocean and stand on a flat, and then you wait for the bonefish to come in from the deep water. They’re called “gray ghosts” because they blend in with their surroundings. Many times, you won’t see the fish; you’ll just see a shadow. This is a very strong fish – it can take 45 minutes to land one.

On Christmas Island, there are no minerals in the soil, no natural resources, so there aren’t many things the people can manufacture. The country’s only industry is copra, which is dried coconut meat. The government also licenses fishing rights to other nations. As much as a quarter of the country’s income comes from foreign aid, but most of that goes to the capital, Tarawa, which is 2,000 miles from Kiritimati. It was astonishing to see how little the islanders have.

Our fishing guide’s name was Biita Kairaoi. He was a joy to talk to. He was learning English from all the fishermen he met. My wife asked him, “How many children do you have?” He said, “Oh, I’ve got a lot. Would you like to meet them?” We went to his home, and those children – well, they just wanted to be close to you. He had six children then.  And they were very, very poor. When we left Kiritimati, we hugged Biita, his wife, and his children, and my wife said, “Biita, it’s like I’m leaving my family. If you ever need anything, please give us a call.” There were only five phones on the entire island.

We got on the plane, and we looked at each other. “What are we going to do?” Sharon said. “I don’t know,” I said, “but we have to do something.”

We consider ourselves “retired to Rotary.” We’re members of the Rotary Club of Commerce City, Colo., and we log about 40 to 50 hours of volunteer work every week. But at that moment, we had never done an international service project.

After we returned home from Christmas Island, we got a call, and it was Biita. He said, “George, my church has never had an Easter candle. Could you get me a candle?” I said, “Sure, no problem.” I picked one out, and we sent it off. When we went back the following January, we got a tap on our door, and it was the church’s priest. “A committee would like to meet with you,” he said. We thought we would see five or six people, but there were about 500, from four churches. “For months we prayed for a candle, and no candle arrived,” one of the oldest men said. “Many gave up, but we continued to pray, and then, from above, it was a miracle. You are our miracle.” And we were hooked.

We spent the next week talking to people in the government and going to the hospital and schools, getting an idea of their needs and what Rotarians might be able to do. We asked the nurses and doctors, “What could you use?” They said, “Maybe some aspirin and some Band-Aids.” I said, “No, what do you need?” The nurses actually took a step back. They didn’t know what to ask for. Finally, a doctor said, “Do you suppose you could get us some beds?” We said, “Oh, yeah.” They said, “Really?” Then we found out that the maternity area had no birthing tables. The operating room had no anesthesia.

ShelterBox NZ team members respond to Cyclone Evan in Samoa

A New Zealand ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) consisting of Bulls-based Lyndon Tamblyn and Walter van der Kley from Ashburton, who are both experienced SRTs, went to Apia on December 16 to assess the need of people affected by recent Cyclone Evan which ripped through Samoa.

Winds of up to 165 kilometres per hour lashed down, and waves of water exploded over river banks washing homes away, flinging cars into trees, cutting out power across the country and leaving the capital city Apia in ruins. The scene of destruction also included flattened homes, uprooted trees and flooded streets.


Once on the ground in Apia, the pair assessed the needs of cyclone victims and established how many people had lost their homes. Local Rotarians helped the team with information and transport.

ShelterBoxes are prepositioned in Auckland and ready for a rapid response to Pacific Island nations. Additional ShelterBoxes are located in Melbourne, with some already in Fiji, left over from flood relief earlier in 2012.

ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide. Since 2000 over 124,323 ShelterBoxes have been deployed worldwide.

NZ SRT, Owen Smith recently towed a ShelterBox in the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge to raise money for at least six ShelterBoxes.

Each ShelterBox costs NZ$1,500 and will support an extended family for up to six months.
Donations can be made through the Telecom Foundation “Givealittle” website where 100% of every donation is given to the charity.

DONATION HOTLINE:  

www.givealittle.co.nz/org/shelterbox

Can we do it?

"Yes we can!”

Never were the immortal words of Bob the Builder more appropriate as Past President Pat Taylor challenged members of the Rotary Club of Botany East Tamaki in Auckland, New Zealand to assist the Salvation Army with food parcels for the less fortunate over Christmas.
Three years ago the club collected 253 cans for the Salvation Army, so Pat set the club a challenging goal of collecting 300 cans by Christmas.

“The Salvation Army does a wonderful job in helping those less fortunate and  the extra demands at Christmas really place a strain on their stock of  emergency food items” explained Pat.

Over a period of ten weeks Pat coerced, threatened, begged and used a variety of devious means to extract as many cans as possible from Rotary members, visitors and friends of Rotary, resulting in a final tally of 641 cans.

Manager of the Salvation Army and fellow Rotarian Karl McInnes on receiving the cans said “ This is a truly magnificent achievement and will help put smiles on the faces of some of the most needy in our community. Once again Rotary has made a difference”.

When Santa doesn't come

What started off as the results of a particularly good Sheriff’s fine session last Christmas, has now become a planned activity for the Rotary Club of Botany East Tamaki in Auckland, New Zealand. "This is one of those rewarding cases where both our major fundraiser and the recipients of the proceeds come from the same local catchment", said President Mike Jaggs.

Santa’s Sack: Rotarian Karl McInnes and President Mike Jaggs with the goodies for Santa’s sack

The club has been partnering with the Local Council Board for some years, project managing the development of a pathway system in the relatively new Rongomai Park. It's a low socio economic demographic surrounding this park, and many families will be missing out on Christmas this year. The park provides a safe place for kids to play. Now at least fifty kids will have something this Christmas to play with.

The club has also worked closely for many years with the Salvation Army who have been engaged to identify the families most at need in the Rongomai catchment.

Concurrently the club is also targeting another group of kids who face a bleak Christmas.
It's an unfortunate fact that Kidz First Children’s Hospital will have many children filling their wards this Christmas whose families also can't afford Christmas. Middlemore Foundation Executive Director Pam Tregonning and her team expect an influx of kids through the Emergency Department in the Christmas holidays, as well as those who will be staying in hospital for longer periods.  Thanks to the club’s generosity, some kids at least will receive a surprise visit from Santa they didn’t expect.  Mike added, "We've boosted Santa's sack with another fifty $10 gifts for some of these kids.” 

Christmas Kidz First: Rotary Club of Botany East Tamaki President Mike Jaggs and Middlemore Foundation Executive Director Pam Tregonning with Santa’s sack gifts
 

This is a great example of many organisations working together to create a better community, and giving those less fortunate amongst us a reason to smile.  

Rotarian Dick Breukink performs life-saving action

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of unexpected death in the world, and it can happen to anyone anytime.  It is an abrupt disruption of the heart’s function, which causes a lack of blood flow to vital organs.  

Many of these people have no warning signs and showed no prior symptoms. The sad fact is that fewer than 5% survive unless they receive immediate treatment. The only definitive treatment for SCA is cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation. Time to defibrillation is key, with the chance of survival dropping 10% for each minute defibrillation is delayed. Having easily accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) has the potential to save thousands of lives. 

This is what Rotarian Dick Breukink of the Waikato Sunrise club in New Zealand found out in July.

Dick is General Manager of Novotel and Ibis Tainui Hamilton.  He attended the Rotary District 9930 Conference in Hamilton in May 2012, when he met AED Distributor Carl McIntyre, who discussed the need for AEDs in public places. Having had his own life saved with an AED, Carl and his company CGM Medical now work to ensure that public access defibrillation programs are rolled out across NZ to help increase survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest.

In a heart-felt move, Dick went to his Board of Directors armed with a quote for an AED for each of his hotels. His request was quickly approved. Dick said, “You don’t buy these devices with the intention of ever having to use them; you hope that they are merely a preventative measure”.

However less than three weeks after he’d taken delivery of his units, Dick had to use one of his new AEDs.  A driver had pulled up to the hotel in a panic because his father was having a heart attack in the back of his car. The driver quickly called for an ambulance and needed to confirm the address of the hotel so that the ambulance could respond.  Dick happened to be walking through the foyer with a member of staff and saw the commotion. By this time the man’s heart had stopped beating during a sudden cardiac arrest. Instinctively, Dick called for someone to fetch the AED, and he put his training into practise, assisted by his hotel Chief Engineer Keith Atkinson.

The AED was turned on and the electrodes attached to the man’s bare chest. The AED quickly analysed the man’s heart rhythm and prompted, “SHOCK ADVISED” as the ambulance arrived. The Paramedic quickly delivered the shock and started to perform CPR. The AED even aided his CPR, prompting the paramedic to “PUSH HARDER”. Dick said, “It was an amazing feeling to see the unit perform as expected, and it was a great outcome as the man was breathing when the Paramedics loaded him in to the ambulance, although we were both quite shaken after what we had just done”. 

For more information about the ZOLL AED Plus, the only Full-Rescue AED available today, please contact Carl McIntyre on +64 21 928 000 or email CGMConsultancy@xtra.co.nz.