Events

Schedule of Club Meetings and Special Events

February to June 2023

Version 2, December 2022

Ahmed was awarded the Ambassador for Peace award in 2018 by the Universal Peace Federation and is a Member of Rotary Melbourne.

Ahmed Tohow is based in Australia from Somalia origin, he has completed a Master of Terrorism and Security Studies as well as Master and bachelor degree of International Development Studies from Charles Sturt, RMIT and Latrobe university respectively.

Ahmed is a founder and a Director of East Africa Security and Policy Forum EASPF which aims to promote the values of peace, stability and security in East Africa.

Ahmed Tohow is the Deputy Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Somali Diaspora gsd.org.uk

Prior to his professional career, Ahmed worked for several aid agencies, UNITAF and UNISOM’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 1990s. He also worked with UNISOM, Red Cross, UNHCR and IOM in Africa. He specialises in peace building, countering violent extremism, conflict resolution and community development. Ahmed has more than 15 years experience in the areas of civil war, particularly on Horn of Africa.

Rotary Melbourne awarded Ahmed the SENIORS AWARD in 2020-21:

Mr. Tohow has been actively engaging with the elders residing in City of Banyule and surrounding areas, leveraging local government and charitable programs to bridge the cultural divide and provide a positive outlook for the elders and their families. 

M.C. Dorothy Gilmour

Photo Credit: Supplied

The guest speaker at next week’s Club meeting at Kooyong is Ahmed Tohow, who will speak on the topic ‘African Australian Youth and Violence’. Ahmed was awarded the Ambassador for Peace award in 2018 by the Universal Peace Federation. 

Ahmed is a member of the Rotary Club of Melbourne and also a member of the Rotary SAFE Families ‘Inclusive Communities Initiative’ (ICI) leadership group. 

In 1916, two teams of Australian soldiers put on an exhibition match of football in London. Most of them were gifted athletes who had put their football on hold to enlist.

Six weeks after the match, the men were on the Western Front, some of them never to return home.

This is the story of the footballers who became soldiers, the game they played and the fate they met amid the carnage of World War I. ​

“In 1916 some of the country's finest Australian Rules footballers stepped onto the grounds of Queen's Club, in London, for an exhibition match. They were soldiers, and it was political football. Nick Richardson's engaging and extensively researched study puts the match in context, emphasising the convergence of sport and politics, and the extraordinary pressure put on elite players to enlist – to patriotically forsake the game for the greater game of war.’’   
The Age/Sydney Morning Herald. 

M.C. David Rush

Our next Club meeting is on Tuesday 18 April at Kooyong. It will have an Anzac theme and our guest speaker, Nick Richardson, will tell us the story of the Australian Rules footballers who became soldiers, the exhibition game they played in London in 1916, and the fate they met on the battlefields of World War I. 

In keeping with the Anzac theme, we will raffle a copy of The Art Of Sacrifice by renowned Melbourne artist George Petrou OAM. George is a successful graphic designer and acclaimed portrait artist; he assists in supporting the interests and welfare of ex-servicemen and women, their families and dependents. 

In June 2020 George was awarded an OAM for 'Services to the Visual Arts and to Veterans', and in the same year he released The Art Of Sacrifice – a haunting and poignant exploration of a spirit like no other: the Anzac Spirit.

George’s portraits proudly hang in museums in France, Government House Canberra, and a range of military institutions across Australia.

Peter is the owner and principal optometrist of Pezzimenti Nixon Optometrists.  Prior to joining Pezzimenti Nixon Optometrists in 2013, he was the Lead Optometrist of Children’s Services at the Australian College of Optometry. Peter has a strong interest in children’s vision, development and welfare.

He has managed projects working with disadvantaged primary school children as well as students from a specialised deaf school. He also has extensive experience in contact lens fitting, in particular, for keratoconus, corneal grafts and aphakic children.

Peter volunteers as an optometrist in Nepal with Rotary International every year, working in remote villages under the shadow of the Himalayan Mountains. He finds working with people of all ages to be a fun and enjoyable experience, with enormous satisfaction achieved when vision improvement is found. He strives for excellence and a holistic approach to optometry practice.

M.C.:  Pam Crockett

Photo: Courtesy of Pezzimenti Nixon Optometrists

Our next meeting at Kooyong will be on Tuesday 2 May when the guest speaker will be Optometrist and Rotary International volunteer, Peter Nixon.

Peter is the owner and principal optometrist of Pezzimenti Nixon Optometrists in Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn.  Peter has a strong interest in children’s vision, development and welfare and, prior to joining the Hawthorn practice in 2013, he was the Lead Optometrist of Children’s Services at the Australian College of Optometry.

Peter volunteers as an optometrist in Nepal with Rotary International every year, working in remote villages under the shadow of the Himalayan Mountains. 

I hope you will join us on 2 May and hear about Peter’s work in Nepal.

The team from Cambodia is very inspirational and will speak about their journey from poverty to empowerment and inspiration as they lead hands-on projects which now reach 20,000 (!!) beneficiaries annually.

Quite incredible for a group of university students and a real credit to the Rotary family.

Rotary Passport Melbourne are closely involved as mentors for the Rotaract Club of Siem Reap. We will have 5 young, inspirational speakers from this club, including the President, arriving prior to the International Conference. They are enthusiastic and motivated to serve. Also, they have extensive experience in project work on many levels.

Our next meeting will be at Kooyong on Tuesday 16 May. Join us for an inspiring meeting with 5 young speakers from the Rotaract Club of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Doeb, Lita, Phanich, Sokal and Tola will tell us about the work their club is doing to empower girls and women, improve water, sanitation and hygiene, support basic education, and promote a healthier environment.

Gemma is a fifth year PhD student working in the Pasricha Lab with Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha who heads the WHO Collaborating Centre for Anaemia Detection and Control at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute..

Before moving to Melbourne to join his laboratory, Gemma met Sant-Rayn during her time as a Research Assistant at Oxford University where her work contributed to the understanding of rare anaemias.

Nowadays, instead of studying how iron deficiency gives rise to anaemia, she is characterising a hormone that causes iron overload in anaemias.

Iron overload can lead to organ damage, particularly in the heart, liver and endocrine system, but current therapies are limited and poorly tolerated.

Gemma's work aims to contribute new insights into drug targets for iron-loading anaemias. 

Anaemia - a reduction in the blood's oxygen carrying capacity - affects up to 800 million women and children worldwide, with the majority of this burden falling in low income countries. However, anaemia also affects 4.5 per cent of Australians. Iron deficiency is one of the most common causes of anaemia. Our lab seeks to discover new therapies to prevent and treat anaemia by making fundamental discoveries into how the body regulates its iron stores. The Lab also undertakes field studies in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to test new solutions and influence policy to address anaemia in babies and pregnant mothers.
 

M.C. Tilak Dissanayake

Photo: Cameron Wells, one of the WEHI photographers 

VIA ZOOM 

IRON AND ANAEMIA: A CAREFUL BALANCING ACT BETWEEN HEALTH AND DISEASE

SPEAKER: GEMMA MOIR-MEYER     (RESEARCH SCIENTIST (PHD CANDIDATE) - WALTER AND ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE)

Gemma is a fifth year PhD student working in the Pasricha Lab with Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha who heads the WHO Collaborating Centre for Anaemia Detection and Control at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

Before moving to Melbourne to join his laboratory, Gemma met Sant-Rayn during her time as a Research Assistant at Oxford University where her work contributed to the understanding of rare anaemias.

Nowadays, instead of studying how iron deficiency gives rise to anaemia, she is characterising a hormone that causes iron overload in anaemias.

Iron overload can lead to organ damage, particularly in the heart, liver and endocrine system, but current therapies are limited and poorly tolerated.

Gemma's work aims to contribute new insights into drug targets for iron-loading anaemias. 

Anaemia - a reduction in the blood's oxygen carrying capacity - affects up to 800 million women and children worldwide, with the majority of this burden falling in low income countries. However, anaemia also affects 4.5 per cent of Australians. Iron deficiency is one of the most common causes of anaemia. Our lab seeks to discover new therapies to prevent and treat anaemia by making fundamental discoveries into how the body regulates its iron stores. The Lab also undertakes field studies in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to test new solutions and influence policy to address anaemia in babies and pregnant mothers.

A Crockett sugg...voice

or

?visit to M,Airport...tbc

A Crockett sugg...voice

From conducting top-secret missions to making history commanding the farthest deployment
of Australian submarine service, Commodore Peter Scott depicts what it takes to be a
Submariner.
Over a decorated 34-year career, Commodore Scott served in 10 submarines, passed the most
demanding military command course in the world and served as the Head of Profession of
the Submarine Arm of the Royal Australian Navy. During that time his character was forged
by the challenges of naval service, success and failure as a leader, catastrophic onboard
disasters while dived, and life-threatening traumas. Along the way, he also endured personal
battles with self-doubt, addiction, depression and anxiety.
In this honest and enlightening tale, he shares his quest for self-acceptance, and for the
courage, commitment and compassion to lead the warriors of Australia’s Silent Service.
Please join us on June 27 to hear about the extraordinary story of an Australia submariner,
Commodore Peter Scott.

Not to be missed!

Come and hear the very interesting story of President Doug, his background on growing up in Canada, his journey to Melbourne 

and much more!

M.C. TBA

30 minute guided tour of the Moorabbin Airport Aviation Museum.
Following a light BBQ lunch self-catered by our Rotary Club, those attending will be addressed by the General Manager who will cover the early history, present and the future of the airport that provides an extensive range of civil aviation services.

Moorabbin Airport is the second busiest airport in Australia, averaging 295,000 movements per year. There are approximately 3,300 people directly employed at the airport and 6,000 people indirectly employed. It is estimated that one third of all airport jobs are aviation-related. 1,200 student pilots are trained at the airport each year by a dozen flight schools, with 50% travelling from regional areas or overseas. The airport and its businesses provide $50+ million in exports through flight training services.

Cost: $25.00 per head will cover the guided tour, museum entrance and our lunch that the Vocational Service Committee will provide. '

On Tuesday 11^th July, your Vocational Service Committee warmly invites you, your partner and friends to visit the most interesting aviation museum in Moorabbin Airport.

After arrival 12:00 noon at the Administration Office, those attending will be welcome and addressed by the General Manager, Paul Ferguson who will cover the early history, present and the future of the airport that provides an extensive range of civil aviation services.

Then you will be provided a 30-minute guided tour of the aviation museum on site, followed by a light BBQ lunch self-catered by our Rotary Club.

I am sure you will find this a most interesting vocational visit.

More to come

M.C.:  TBA

Susan-Gaye Anderson worked as a tv presenter in the early pioneering days of television. She worked primarily on the children’s show with GTV9.

Susie later worked as a freelance writer and published feature articles for the Age and Home Beautiful magazine. 
She has had stage plays workshopped and performed at Theatre Works, the Malthouse, La Mama and the Griffin theatre in Sydney.

She recently published a collection of poetry 'On Roll The Days' and  a novel, 'A Red Hibiscus.'
Susie is currently working on a new play,

M.C. Terry Kitchen

M.C. Terry Kitchen

?M airport

M.C,: TBA