It was wonderful to welcome Derarca O'Mahoney from Friends of Baguia (Timor Leste) at today’s meeting and get an update on our scholarship students.
I am delighted with the start to this Rotary year. There has been plenty of activity by members in recent weeks and many more activities and programs coming up. You can learn more about what is happening in your Club and our AGM & Committee update meeting on 19th September. Please come along and support your Club leaders.
Are you feeling involved in Rotary Hawthorn? If not, and you feel you could do more, please contact Noel Halford (Club Services Director), Charlotte England (CommunityServices Director) , or myself. The Club leaders have a lot planned for coming months and we can certainly do with your assistance and participation.
Have you got a current Working with Children check ? If not, could you please get on and get this task done ?
Have you noticed Rotary Hawthorn posts on social media? If you use social media can you “like” Rotary Hawthorn on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin & Twitter and share posts.
How nice it was to have our old friend Derarca O’Mahoney of “Friends of Baguia” as our guest speaker. She gave us an illuminating update on the progress of our ten sponsored students in Timor. The scholarships are allocated and managed by the Friends of Baguia with the co-operation of headmistress Leopoldina Guterres in Baguia.
The scholarships are distributed through primary, secondary and tertiary education, and Derarca described how much they are appreciated by this impoverished community.
St Joseph’s Junior High School – 5 students @ $100pa
Flaviano, Rosita, Lourenco, Patricio and Martinho.
Technical Trade Scholarships (1 Year) – 2 students @ $1,200pa
Vincente and Joao are studying air-conditioning mechanics at Don Bosco College in Dili. Both are 19 years old from Bubuha village.
(In 2016, Manuel and Bernado completed Civil Construction and Electrical training and are now working on construction sites in Dili)
University Scholarships – 3 students @ A$700
Albino Da Silva Barbosa – (24 yo) is studying 3rd year Forestry at UNTL, a 5 year course. Her father, a subsistence farmer, died suddenly two years ago. She has 3 siblings at University, 1 in Senior High, 1 at Satilos Junior High in Baguia, and the youngest is still in Primary school.
Marciana Barros – (25 yo) is studying studying English at UNTL, Dili. She wants to be a teacher and lives with an Uncle in Dili. Her family live in Hae Coni and are very poor.
Humberto d’Olivera dos Santos – (30 yo) is in his 4th year IT at Institute of Business (IOB), Both his parents died when he was young, so he was raised by grandmother, who gives all her old-age pension to pay for his university fees.
In the second part of her presentation, Derarca showed us how the school desks and chairs which we sent a few years ago are being used, along with a description of the scenery, economic situation and rural life in Timor Leste.
Questions galore from members showed that our club is enthusiastic to continue assisting the rural community of Baguia.
Derarca O’Mahony has been involved since 2004 as President of Friends of Baguia, and visits Baguia at least once a year to monitor projects and connect with the people. The generosity of spirit of so many of the rural Timorese continues to inspire her.
Derarca is also the National Convenor of the Australia Timor-Leste Friendship Network which provides links between the Timor-Leste government and the 40 Friendship Groups around Australia.
She has also twice worked as an Australian Business Volunteer in Timor, and had similar roles in Myanmar, Cambodia and the Solomon Islands. In October she will head to Papua New Guinea to work with a Children’s Literacy NGO.
Derarca’s other main passion is rescuing greyhounds that would otherwise be killed. She is on the committee of Greyhound Safety Net, a private rescue group, and she fosters greyhounds in her home and trains them for pet-life.
Peter Lugg's container has arrived back in Melbourne, and we expect to be able to load it on Saturday September 16th at DIK, Footscray.
Please let Ian Macfarlane know if you are able to join his happy band of volunteers.
No heavy lifting: that's what fork-lifts are for!
Let's get all that good stuff loaded and sent off to the hospital in Phnom Penh.
What fun we had last week at DIK: we made a significant dent in the backlog of medical supplies, and chalked up around 30 volunteering hours between ourselves.
Not only did we sort out three pallets of donated medical equipment, we expanded our vocabularies with some lovely words: endotracheal, oesophagoscopy and perineum. What on earth do they DO with all that “stuff”?
The goods we sorted will have some fine-tuning before being boxed up and sent somewhere where they can be used. Peter Lugg assures us that our efforts are greatly appreciated by the recipients at the other end.
Our team of Charlotte England, David Pisterman, Ian Macfarlane, Ian Hamilton, Geoff Wright, Henry Drury, Peter Lugg and myself was joined by Vijay Susaria of Chadstone/East Malvern, while Jenny Foster's Essendon contingent sorted away happily in the next aisle.
Well done, team, getting some space cleared in the shed: our next session may be loading Peter Lugg’s container, which is rumoured to be only a week away.
Mid-morning came, and we had to slip away for some secret men’s business.
But when the subject reverted to footy, I knew it was time to get them back to work. ;-)
In response to a number of enquiries from those who are unable to commit to Tuesday lunchtime there will be a meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Auburn Hotel Cnr Auburn Road and Victoria Road Hawthorn.
The first evening meeting will be conducted from 6.15 p.m. on the 21st September and the club invites all those interested in learning more about the largest voluntary community service organisation in the world to attend.
The first meeting will feature as guest speaker, David Sia who made his journey to Australia as a refugee is now General Manager of Techware, a business and I.T. solutions company based in Melbourne.
Light refreshments will be served following David’s address and there will be an opportunity to discuss the programs Rotary is undertaking and how interested parties can be involved.
There are limited places available for this event therefore it is recommended those interested contact me on to register.
The Shadow is on holiday, but his resident-in-training gnome is happy to publish any gossip: just whisper in the right ear. (alternatively, in the left ear)
Great news, that Mick Terrell has made a great recovery and is home from hospital. President Katrina tells us his heart still beats true.
Remember that The Shadow applauds the clubs response to the Warm Socks appeal.
Pa (Geoff Dumayne) of Maddie at Lauriston Girls, one of two drivers for the project to provide items for Melbourne's homeless, thanks all who contributed. Any more socks are still welcome.
President Katrina's appeal for us to use more social media may be responsible for replies like this:
There are special rates for first time attendees (& partners) which includes those that have not attended a District 9800 conference in 10 years and also a special rate for partners to attend the Friday/Saturday evening functions only
Make sure you register your interest with Noel Halford as he is organising the accommodation . There is the option of extending to Thursday and/or Sunday night at special rates.
Lawrence Reddaway always seeks to finalize numbers by Sunday 10pm by collating responses to attendance at the next meeting. So please try the electronic response (or phone) or even carrier pidgeon! Forewarn of any guests at the same time. This minimizes catering costs.
Geoff Wright collates the attendance information. He needs to know of "make up " events.
Taking Responsibility for Ourselves, Our Families and Our Society
We live in one of the freest and most prosperous societies in the history of mankind, in Melbourne the world’s most liveable city.
Yet there is a prevailing mood of unease, of dissatisfaction. I will examine how progress has been constrained by the errors of the dominant political ideologies of the twentieth century; how opportunities have been squandered.
For 35 years, Peter managed Fenwick Software, the consulting business he founded in 1976. Peter remains involved part-time as chairman. He has written two books: The Fragility of Freedom: Why Subsidiarity Matters and Liberty at Risk: Tackling Today’s Political Problems. . Chair: Dennis Shore