What a great night we had on Thursday, great speaker, great company and recognition of contribution to the club.
It is important to recognise the achievements of our club and it is with great pleasure we recognise what Don (and June) had bought to our club and 3 other rotary clubs, as mentioned over 5 decades. Its people like Don and others which are at the core of all clubs which make us so successful. It was indeed a great pleasure on behalf of the club to recognise Don’s contribution. It was also a delight to see the dedication that June and Don had for each other, truly inspirational. I have no doubt that we will see Don and June on the odd occasion in the future and they will always be welcome.
What a great speaker we had in Alan (thanks to the Ros and Brenton), to tell us the about such an iconic building for Geelong. Its looks like more than a traditional library but a meeting place for the community with a recognition of heritage and the also the more modern forms of communication. I think it made us all look forward to the opening. Let’s hope we might be able to make a club visit sometime in the future
Next week of course we have CQ, thanks to Jim for his professionalism in running this major fund raiser for the Club. Despite earnings being down this year it is still our most significant income earner, which enables us to complete the programmes we are keen to support. I urge everyone to give it their support.
On Monday next week I’ll be attending Geelong Presidents (Groups 9 and 10), if any member has a concern or issue they wish to be raised in this forum please let me or Darcy know.
Please all be aware that subs have been approved by the board at $225, this rise is unfortunate but as mentioned 75% of the fees are fixed and at the whim of the $Aus. Please let me know of any concerns.
Whilst next week is CQ let’s not forget District Governor – Jan Cox visit on the 13th we hope to see as many people as possible with partners of course.
24 July marked one year since a child was last paralyzed by wild poliovirus in Nigeria. Final laboratory results on all specimens for the full 12 month period are expected by September 2015, which, if clear for poliovirus, may lead to Nigeria being removed from the list of polio-endemic countries. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative commends the hard work of the Nigerian government, partners, religious and community leaders, and health workers for such strong progress towards stopping polio. Yet the job is not yet finished, and it is crucial that commitment from all stakeholders is maintained.
Despite the deteriorating security situation in Yemen, a humanitarian pause enabled 50 000 children to be reached with the oral polio vaccine during the final week of Ramadan.
Wild poliovirus type 1 and Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus cases
POLIO THIS WEEK
Total cases
Year-to-date 2015
Year-to-date 2014
Total in 2014
WPV
cVDPV
WPV
cVDPV
WPV
cVDPV
Globally
34
9
130
30
359
55
- in endemic countries
34
1
115
30
340
52
- in non-endemic countries
0
8
15
0
19
3
- See more at: http://www.polioeradication.org/dataandmonitoring/poliothisweek.aspx#sthash.mukI6TmU.dpuf
In December 1995, my husband, Luis, and I visited Bombay (now Mumbai), India, during his year as president-elect of Rotary International. We were there to participate in a national polio immunization day and were very impressed by the social mobilization that went into it. It was the largest immunization day to that point.
When the day arrived, more than 10,000 volunteers were distributed throughout the country, easily identifiable in their yellow jackets and caps imprinted with the Rotary wheel.
Volunteers immunize a child against polio in India during a National Immunization Day in 2008. Alyce Henson/Rotary International
The district governor picked us up early and took us to inaugurate a 10-kilometer long banner that announced the immunization activities and publicized polio eradication. They were hoping to make the Guinness World Records with the size of the banner!!
The governor next took us to a vaccination post located in a slum of Mumbai, where 5 million people live in extreme poverty and homelessness. We got out of the car and walked under a burning sun, the intense heat beating down on us.
The first thing I remember seeing was a long line of children accompanied by their mothers waiting to be vaccinated. We met the members of a Rotaract Club in Mumbai who were responsible for administering the immunizations. Like many volunteers, they were aware of the importance of their mission. But unlike most volunteers, they were all young people with special needs. In their wheelchairs, or with assistance of canes, these 31 Rotaractors helped each other put the saving drops into the mouths of children.
Seeing the joy on their faces as they overcame limitations to perform their tasks made me feel very small next to the greatness of their gesture. I saw for the first time the human face of Rotary, and what it is capable of inspiring in individuals such as these. It was a moment I never forgot – it is my Rotary moment.
On that day, more than 120 million children under 5 were vaccinated throughout India – that’s about 6,000 children a second!
Seventeen years have passes since that day, but still the memory of those Rotaractors is fresh in my mind and my heart. They and others helped achieve a milestone when India was declared polio-free in 2012.
That experience made me feel so proud to be a Rotarian, and made me understand how much you grow when you give more than you receive; when you help others. Thanks to the magic of Rotary, you get the chance to build a better world.
The St. Johns College Music Group from Zimbabwe will be arriving on August 15th and will spend 2 weeks touring around Geelong and other towns meeting up with other students and giving performances.
The RC Bayside Geelong has a connection with the group through a young man, Taona Nyasha Muchochomi, whom they sponsored to attend RYLA back in 2011. Since that time Nyasha has been very involved with Bayside as a New Gen Friend, until having to return to Zimbabwe in 2013.
It was Nyasha's dream to set up a cultural link between students in Geelong and Students in Zimbabwe.
His dream has now come to fruition with the Hakuna Matata Experience with the St. Johns College Music Group being the first school to take up the invitation to travel to Australia.
The RC Bayside will welcome the group on Sunday 15th August with an Aussie BBQ and then they will put on a farewell party on the 30th August. The club hopes that the other District 9780 clubs will get behind the group by attending one of the performances in either Ballarat, Geelong or Bendigo.
I am sure the boys will put on a very entertaining african style performance.
COMMUNITY SERVICE NEWS
In response to members' interest in "more hand on" projects, the committee is looking for ways to do this. Ian Campbell spoke with Doug Thomson at UnitingCare, and this is Dougs' response:
"After consideration, there would be two areas where we could be assisted practically.
The first is that we need a driver and assistant for our van to collect food and clothing and to distribute it between our centres and Op shops. It would be about half a day per week and could be in the afternoons Monday to Thursday or some time all day Friday.
We expect to take delivery of our new van on the 31st July. It will be an automatic Toyota and a standard driver's licence is all that is needed.
The second which is probably more in Brenton's area is that we are going to have a barbeque at Bunnings Waurn Ponds on Saturday the 15th August. All of the proceeds will go to us. We would appreciate some assistance in cooking the food and purchasing the food, noting that we would pay for the food. We would envisage two shifts of four persons say 8am to 12noon and 12noon to 4 pm. We will have some of our volunteers assisting too."
Brenton mentioned the BBQ in announcements last week. If anyone can assist UnitingCare as a driver or assistant, please contact Doug.
Thanks,
Barb
Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.
Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?
The reason women don't play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.
Best way to get rid of kitchen odours: Eat out.
I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them.
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling them to sit down and shut up.
By Celia Elena Cruz de Giay, RI director
.jpg)
