Stories

So since my last update we've received contributions from the following Clubs:
The Rotary Clubs of Beaumaris, Boronia, Oakleigh Clayton Huntingdale, Warrandyte Donvale, Waverley, Maroondah, Hampton, Monash and Surry Hills, and Manningham City. Just a reminder that club contributions to Helen's project are till included as part of a Club's total annual contribution.

A reminder that if you would like to make a personal, tax deductible donation, please go here. Your donation will be credited against you, as a Rotarian and your Club. Just make sure that the email address you use, matches the address in MyRotary.
Donations from non-Rotarians are, of course, also welcome and can also be made through this portal.

If you are representing a club, please make the contribution by the normal channels but flag it as DG Project and drop DG Ian or Helen an email. Banking details for Clubs can be found here.

As of mid September, her project has received from Rotary members, Rotary Clubs and some non Rotarians a total of AUS$15,260.

Thank you.

Welcome to the ROTARY AT COP28

COP28 is the 28th Conference of the Parties, a crucial global climate summit that will take place in the United Arab Emirates from 30th November to 12th December 2023. This summit gathers representatives from nearly 200 countries to address pressing climate-related challenges and foster international collaboration for a sustainable future. 

Rotary International is proud to actively participate in COP28, contributing its expertise and commitment to environmental stewardship and community welfare. We are looking to engage a small group of young Rotarians and Rotaractors from around the world at COP28.

Here’s a chance for District 9810 Rotarians to help one of our Clubs win a grant of $20,000 to help further develop a fantastic community project.

Mark Smith of the Rotary Club of Boronia has developed the “Knox Rocks” music program for a group of young people from the local area.

Westfield are running a “Local Heroes” program where they are awarding grants to further foster successful community projects.

Mark is one of the three finalists, thus already guaranteeing a grant of $5,000.

Rotary Nunawading was invited by the Whitehorse Business Group to co-host a Community Safety Breakfast in support of Neighbourhood Watch Whitehorse, on 25 August 2023, held at the Canterbury International Hotel Forest Hill.

 

The guest speakers were senior Sergeant Ronald Sinclair and Senior Constable Brendan Gogarty, Whitehorse Crime Prevention Officer both from Box Hill Police Station were introduced by Kay Evans, President Neighbourhood Watch Whitehorse.

The Club promoted the event to cluster clubs ranging from Mont Albert - Surrey Hills [MASH] to Maroondah and to Whitehorse Rotaract.
 

Establishing a Rotary Borehole Project in Meru County, Kenya East Africa. 

The Borehole will be Powered by Solar Energy and located at Kithima, Maili Saba. This site is equatorial but considered semi-arid.  However but the area is known for the availability of aquifers.  In Meru County, the Rotary Club of Meru recently oversaw the construction of a borehole in the vicinity (Pictured).
 

D9810 will again match the first 10 Club contributions to PolioPlus of US$1,000 with US$1,000 District Designated Funds (DDF). TRF will provide a 50% match to DDF.

So:

A Club donation of USD$1,000 matched by our District with US1,000 DDF attracts a further USD$500 (50%) from The Rotary Foundation. 

So for the first 10 Clubs contributing to Polio, your initial contribution of USD$1,000 becomes USD $2,500, which receives the Gates Foundation 2:1 match of an additional USD$5,000, giving a total contribution of USD$7,500 to End Polio Now.

Clubs are invited to join an International Project to provide a Borehole

The project is a partnership arrangement between the Rotary Clubs of Bayswater and Healesville and the project overseen by the Rotary Club of Meru D9212 Kenya

The partners are seeking funding support for the Borehole Project sited at Kithima/Maili Saba in Meru County Kenya.  The object is to provide a reliable source of water for farming and domestic purposes.  The borehole will be Solar Powered and the water to grow crops to feed farm animals and provide vegetable and fruit crops for 250 needy school children. 

Contacts: PP Barrie Vickers Bayswater  m: 0407 544555

and/or PP Wilma Best Healesville m: 0476 289583

 

For a more detailed story, click here.

Rotary International Project – Screening the Hearing of Year 1 and 2 Primary School Students in Tonga

 On 17th January 2023, after a frustrating 3 years of planning and preparation which had been delayed by a pandemic and natural disaster, Rotary Club of Hampton (RCH) in partnership with the Rotary Club of Nuku’alofa (RCN) we were informed by The Rotary Foundation that our application for Global Grant for the project had been approved.

Rotary is no stranger to the weekend BBQ outside their local butcher or Bunnings; however, the Rotary Club of Emerald & District has taken this fundraiser to new heights by a collaborative initiative with Puffing Billy Railway for the spectacular event “The Train of Lights.”

When Puffing Billy Railway approached Emerald Rotary with the proposition of running a BBQ on each night of the "Train of Lights" extravaganza, the Club eagerly presented the idea to its members.

Welcome to the new Rotaract year!
I recognise many of you have probably never heard of me, so I’ll start with an introduction to myself. I’m Jess, short for Jessalyn, and I’m the District Rotaract Representative (DRR) of District 9810 for 2023-24.

Maroondah Hospital and the Rotary Club of Maroondah celebrated raising $27,000 for the hospital's gender-sensitive care in inpatient settings on Tuesday 23 May, after a successful gala night hosted by the Rotary Club.

More than 200 Guests enjoyed the night with professionals from Eastern Health, auctions, raffles and entertainment of live music.

Beaumaris Rotary Supports The Highlands Foundation

 

A chance meeting between the founder of The Highlands Foundation (HF), Kylie Stanley, and Beaumaris Rotarian PP Heather Chisholm led to Beaumaris Rotary making a commitment to support maternal and child health in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Throughout the course of the last Rotary year, the Rotary Clubs of Manningham (RCM) and Templestowe (RCT) embarked upon and followed a detailed, deliberate, considered, and engaging process of assessment of the merger of both Clubs.

Then we have a great opportunity for you to do just that:

“Rotary Beyond the Club”

Next steps for Regionalisation pilot

 

Since the Zone 8 Regionalisation Pilot project received financial support from the Rotary International Board in April 2023 a large amount of work has been happening behind the scenes.

 

1.Club member Bob Williams receiving the Deakin Community Award from Michael Sukkar MP.

2. DG Ian Ballantine about to pin on PHF 4 Sapphire to Gabby Knaepple

3. Gabby Knaepple respond after DG Ian had pinned on the PHF 4 Sapphire, me, and Ian Armstrong, who read the citation.

Please follow link to see the pics.

 

Follow-up medical checks and scans found that Lucilia required dental work (4 extractions and 2 caps), a chest infection requiring hospitalisation, and a neck brace fitted as the tumour had infiltrated and weakened two of her neck vertebrae. Finally, on 13th March, Lucilia commenced her radiotherapy at PMCC for 6 weeks, Mon-Fri. Interspersed, she had weekly appointments with Dr Sullivan, Dr Wheeler and Dr Michael Johnson, her RCH Orthopaedic specialist. 

 

Outside of her hospital visits, Lucilia continued to thrive under the love and care of Robyn and Ken and had many interesting experiences with their family and friends, their church (where she joined the choir), the beach, a farm, the Ballarat Wildlife Park, the Aquarium and the Melbourne Zoo. Robyn also included her into an ESL class she gives for refugees and Lucilia proved to be a quick learner. Also, as the Dustings had some previously arranged family commitments which took them out of Melbourne, she spent time with other host families Yulitta and Tref Owen, Margaret and John Mason (RC of Bentleigh Moorabbin) and Dianne and Bill Sides (RC of Clayton). To say the least, Lucilia was well cared for by her extended D9810 ROMAC family.

 

In late March, it became evident that Santina had family matters that were worrying her so ROMAC arranged for her to return to Dili and Lucilia’s mother, Carlota (now medically fit to travel), to come to Melbourne. Lucilia’s treatment continued and all was going well until 17th April when the expected side effects of the radiotherapy kicked in with extreme soreness of the throat and significant burns to the skin on her neck. She was hospitalised for treatment and released 4 days later after one last radiotherapy session. After subsequent scans, Dr Sullivan determined that she was disease free and, when her radiation burns healed, she would be cleared to return home.

 

On 7th May, Lucilia had her final medical appointments at RCH and was given clearance to return home. She will, however, have two more chemotherapy treatments in Dili and, to ensure that her vertebrae heal properly, her Orthopaedic specialist, Dr Johnson, requires her to wear her neck brace until December when she will return to RCH for scans to determine if the vertebrae have healed, or if surgery to fuse them is required. Continued on Page 5 ROMAC - Lucilia’s Story 5 Continued from Page 4 On 13th May, Lucilia and Carlota flew home. After 12 weeks with us, Lucilia returned home disease free and with a good prognosis for the ultimate repair of her neck vertebrae. She is an intelligent young girl and through ROMAC’s help she now has the prospect of a long and bright future. During the 2018/19 Rotary year, the D9810 ROMAC Team hosted three patients from Timor Leste (Patricio, Joana and Lucilia) for a total of 25 weeks. All returned home happy and well, due in no small way to the 24/7 commitment of our wonderful ROMAC volunteers and the dedicated medical staff of our Melbourne hospitals.