Adventures for young South Pacific and New Zealand leaders

ROTA Pacific awardees enjoy a day’s site seeing in Auckland with Ellerslie Sunrise Rotarian David Broadhead.

(L-R): Ravi Changanlal, Sarah Narayan, Sera Raisulu, David Broadhead, Jemima Lanyon and Daniel Fisher.

It was smiles all round for five South Pacific visitors recently hosted by the Rotary Club of Ellerslie Sunrise, NZ for the annual ROTA Pacific programme over three weeks that combines both vocational and leadership training.

District 9920 Rotary clubs in New Zealand take turns in organising the international visit and join forces with Rotary clubs in the Pacific Islands to invite young adults with leadership potential to apply to come to NZ for a unique experience not otherwise available to them.

Jemima Lanyon and Ravi Changanlal from Savusavu, Fiji, Sarah Narayan and Sera Raisulu from Suva, Fiji joined Daniel Fisher from Rarotonga, Cook Islands and first enjoyed a wonderful week of friendship and opportunities with their Rotary hosts. This included visits to the Tip Top ice-cream factory, Hunter Creative graphic design studio, ANZ Bank’s Auckland Head Office and Jenner International Cargo as well as local site seeing as far south as Hobbiton in Matamata and some retail therapy at Sylvia Park shopping centre.

Coming from the warmer Pacific climate to NZ’s winter, the ROTA Pacific group gratefully stocked up on thermal clothing before the start of their second week which was spent at the annual Rotary Young-person Leadership Awards (RYLA).  This is a comprehensive week-long, live-in programme sponsored by District 9920 Rotary clubs for up to 120 awardees (aged between 20 and 28 years) based at Willow Park Camp at Eastern Beach, Auckland. 

 

The outdoor adventure!

RYLA helps young people develop their team work and communication skills and fulfil their potential as leaders.  The impressive line-up of leadership, team building, skill development and motivational speakers and activities quickly become life-changing as the participants’ perception of themselves and others changed.  RYLA is highly experiential as it includes fitness, survival, problem solving and business promotional exercises, culminating with an outdoor experience that has a surprise component which comes from left field and challenges the awardees far more than most have experienced before. 

 

Like ROTA Pacific, each year a different club in District 9920 is responsible for organising the RYLA experience and the Rotary Club of St Johns ran this year’s June 27 to July 4 programme that organising committee chairman Miles Cain said, “required over 7,000 volunteer hours over 18 months to stage, but the effort is more than repaid by the positive changes those involved can see in the awardees over the week”. 

 

This is also illustrated by the participants’ feedback.  “This is my first time to New Zealand”, said ROTA Pacific awardee Jemima, “And I’m so grateful to Ellerslie Rotary for giving me this opportunity. I’ve made so many new friends and it has opened my eyes to what I can achieve personally and what I can when I return to Savusavu”. 

 

Liam Flack, who was sponsored by the Rotary Club of St Johns said, “RYLA has changed my perspective on life and what I value”.  Paul Farquhar, who was also sponsored to RYLA by St Johns commented, “We started as strangers but left as mates” … a friendship that continues as the awardees continue to meet up socially and stay in touch via the Facebook page for RYLA 2015. 

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RYLA is run every year with applications being sought from around March.  The organising Rotary club in 2016 is Howick Rotary.  

The website is www.ryla.co.nz (will update closer to the application date).  

In other districts in NZ there is a similar programme - refer to their website via www.rotarysouthpacific.org 

CLEAN CLEAR WATER SAVES LIVES

A family have clean water at their house for the first time ever.

The need for clean, bacteria free water to keep villagers and children healthy in villages and schools in Fiji’s Savuasavu region is significant, particularly as an El Nino drought is forecast .  So the Fiji clean water project by the Rotary Club of Savusavu was born, sponsored by a matching Global Grant with the Rotary Club of Point Loma and the Rotary Club of San Diego (also called Club 33), San Diego, CA.

It took Savusavu Rotary member and project leader Jeff Mather a year to design and perfect the Safe Water Stations that will allow individual households to filter water drawn from a variety of sources that are often a source of acute and chronic illnesses The units use small Sawyer water filters commonly used for backpacking and these, with the buckets and other hardware are imported from the US.  It is then a monumental task to paint, stack, label, drill, nail, assemble and carry the water stations back & forth until fully assembled, thankfully helped by a dedicated group of Rotarians and community members.

The project will be initially building 240 stations and deployment includes delivery, installation and assurance of sustainability through “Train the Trainer” days where people from each deployment location are trained in the use and maintenance of the unit and who will then on-train others.

When the first batch of 40 units were ready, members of the Fiji Home Water Filter Project and Ministry of Health officers met with the Savusavu Hospital nursing staff in charge of the community health workers at the Vunivesi Village Community Hall to show them how the units worked and explain the project which will be deployed in the areas visited by them. They were very impressed and enthusiastic about the project. Once everyone got their stations dispensing beautiful, clean water, there were many villagers who continually brought in large bottles, bowls and various shaped buckets to fill up with the clean water to take back to their homes!  The need is clear.

The first village deployment of 36 Safe Water Stations was Vunivesi Village on 31 July with the whole village excitedly gathered at the Community Hall for a welcome ceremony and a briefing, community leadership signing an agreement of commitment, and a training session before the units were installed into individual homes. Levuka village received the second deployment of 25 units and Nabalebale village with 65 households was the largest deployment for this project.

In usual island style, these deployments were highlighted by ceremonial welcomes including dance, food and the ever-present smiles of gratitude. 

Special thanks goes to committee members including Barbara L’Ami (current President), Susan Stone (current Sec), Point Loma committee member Debra Gookin & Club 33 member Mike Conner for the outstanding success of this on-going project.

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Do you want to support this project in some way?  Email:  tropicsplendor@hotmail.com

Do you want to find out and support projects of this type in the Pacific?  Email:  don@bendall.net.nz 

Concert at Karaka features International Youth Exchange Student Paula Busse from Germany

The Rotary Club of Papakura, NZ held their 17^th annual Concert at Karaka on May 23 and 24. The Concert at Karaka was initially organised to showcase local and youth talent and to give experience to young emerging musicians.  It has achieved this aim magnificently over the years. 

This year was no exception, with the star of the show being inbound Rotary International Youth Exchange Student and violinist Paula Busse from Witten, Germany who was accompanied by Jonathon Dunlop on the piano.  Paula had already demonstrated her talents by arranging a musical evening at one of our member’s homes to raise funds to purchase an Emergency Response Kit which was immensely successful. Paula began violin lessons when she was eight and music has developed into a real passion for her. From the age of twelve, she has participated in national young musicians’ competitions with excellent results in both solo and chamber categories. Due to her outstanding results, she was given grants for international master classes for string instruments as well as for piano trios. Prior to her Rotary exchange Paula was first violinist and principal Concert Master of a youth orchestra in Dortmund, Germany.  Truly Paula was the star of the show!

Joining Paula were baritone Benson Wilson who was born in New Zealand of Samoan descent and had just completed his BMus (Hons); Maia Vegar, soprano, who has recently completed four years at the University of Auckland studying Classical Performance Voice; the Aorere College Front Row junior boys choir; Juan Kim who has played the piano since the age of six and who has recently completed a Batchelor of Music in Piano Performance; and our annual favourite the Dalewool Auckland Brass Band conducted by Nigel Weeks who have appeared at all of the 17 concerts.

The concert is held at the New Zealand Bloodstock sales centre where the artists perform in the sales ring where a few days before hand yearling horses traded for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.  New Zealand Bloodstock Ltd provide the venue each year at no cost, but reap the reward of a thorough clean of the centre and a polish of the brass railings which surround the sales ring.  The acoustics in the centre are magnificent with many of the professional artists who have performed over the years declaring them to be the equal of or better than many concert halls in which they have appeared.

This weekend is important to the club as a fellowship opportunity and many stories are shared over the polishing rag while shinning the brass rail or manoeuvring the vacuum cleaner or broom.  Partners of the members turn out in force to provide refreshments to the audience at half time and the after show party.  The Papakura Floral Art Group fill the premises with floral arrangements and many of the patrons look forward to seeing these every year. 

Success on a guitar string

21-year-old Jake Church is “one of the most exciting young classical guitarists in the country” (The Gisborne Herald, 13 July 2015). Jake is studying a post-graduate Honours degree in Music at the Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, under the tuition of Dr Jane Curry. He has been sponsored by the Rotary Club of New Plymouth, NZ for the past three years, and has also received annual funding from the Dame Malvina Major Foundation and the Mt Egmont Masonic Lodge.

Jake’s success at the inaugural New Zealand Classical Guitar Competition in 2014, when he gained second place overall and the Audience Choice Award in the Open Division, has led to great performance opportunities around New Zealand. By achieving the highest grade in the guitar program’s mid-year recital, he won the Jack C Richards Music Award, which entailed a guest solo performance at the Gisborne Tairawhiti Museum Concert Series. Alongside his solo commitments, he is a founding member of Duo Kitā. The classical guitar duo gained the Freemasons Lankhuyzen/Whetu-Kairangi Music Award which supported their debut tour of New Zealand this year. Besides performing around the country, Jake tutors as part of Massey University’s Young Musician Program and privately teaches when he returns to New Plymouth during his study breaks.

Having the support of New Plymouth Rotary has enabled Jake to accomplish these endeavours, with a main goal to pursue a Masters in Classical Performance in an overseas program. Assistance from the Rotary club and the encouragement of his family and friends has always driven Jake to expand his limitations in turn, “leading him to have honed a variety of intriguing repertoire” (The Gisborne Herald, 9 July 2015). Jake is extremely appreciative for the work and support of the Charitable Trust of the New Plymouth Rotary Club, and also over the years presidents Walter Garrett, Jan Dempsey and Bob Maxwell, along with the generous guidance of the club’s members.