The Rotary Club of Northbridge gratefully acknowledges the generous sponsorship of Northbridge Plaza
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Valda Andrews
October 1
Fay Petrou
October 4
John Weingarth
October 17
Ian Burnet
October 19
Masa Ohtani
October 19
Paul Sullivan
October 19
Liz Grey
October 25
Amy Brittain
October 31
Spouse Birthdays
Maree Rennie
October 2
Christine Altmeier
October 25
Join Date
Angie Fernandes
October 11, 2016
4 years
Liz Grey
October 29, 2002
18 years
Club Meeting News
Welcome
President Kevin welcomed members, and in particular welcomed back Karin Eurell who has been away for a few months.
Toast
PP Peter Grinter proposed a toast to the RC of Alice Springs-Mbantua, one of three Rotary Clubs in Alice Springs. Meaning ‘meeting place’, the club was formed in 1985 and since then has always conducted its meetings in the morning, with a cocktail party held on the last Friday of each month for their members, visitors and others interested in learning about Rotary. One of the club’s major projects is its fight against trachoma. Australia is the only first world country where trachoma is endemic. The club’s focus during the National 100 years of Rotary in 2021 is to end trachoma.
Announcements
Sally O’Neill spoke about the upcoming Bunnings BBQ on 11 October. The BBQ will be run under Covid rules, and she still needs some volunteers. Please contact Sally if you can help.
Eleanor Chevor thanked everyone who helped make the Food Drive on 26 September such a success – those who helped distribute flyers beforehand and those who helped out on the day. The massive effort by the 39 volunteers who received and packaged up the mass of donations from the community enabled over 100 boxes and bags of groceries to be donated to OzHarvest, Taldumunde and StreetWorks who were all very grateful for what they received. OzHarvest said the donation they received weighed 380 kg! All up, it was estimated that the donations together would have provided 2400 meals. Eleanor particularly thanked David Robertson and Ranald Stewart for their efforts with the slight hiccup experienced with the OzHarvest donations, and Peter Russell for his PR efforts.
Guest Speaker - Peter Russell - Intelligence & Secrets
Malcolm Lye introduced guest speaker, our own Peter Russell, who spoke to us on the topic of Intelligence and Secrets.
Peter talked about the life and activities of FBI agent Robert Hanssen, a US double agent who spied for the Soviet intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. His espionage activities were described by the Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history." During his long career as an enemy double-agent he used the codenames of Ramon Garcia, Jim Baker, G. Robertson, Graysuit and "B".
Born in 1944 in Chicago, Hanssen was the son of a police officer. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry but also studied Russian, after which he studied dentistry, before switching to business, earning an MBA in accounting and information Systems. After this varied education, he joined the Chicago Police force in 1972 where he became a member of a unit that investigated corrupt police. At this time he began to exhibit personal behaviours that he carried the rest of his professional life - conservative dress and grooming, dour demeanour, awkward personal interaction, and fervent anti-communist political beliefs. He adhered to a strict Roman Catholicism espoused by his wife, Bernadette, who was a member of the ultra conservative organisation Opus Dei, of which he also became a member.
Beginning of Spying Activities
Hanssen joined the FBI in 1976. After two years as a criminal investigator he transferred to New York City where he worked in the bureau’s Soviet counter intelligence unit.
In 1979 Hanssen delivered an anonymous package to a Soviet trade office which was a front for the GRU, a Soviet military intelligence agency. The information revealed the name of an FBI mole in the GRU, and for the next two years Hanssen sold similar information to the Soviets, earning about $20,000. After his wife discovered what he was up to in about 1980, he told her he had been in contact with his Soviet intelligence counterparts only as a “ploy” to trick them with disinformation. He also confessed his activities to an Opus Dei priest, promised to stop spying, and donated money to a Catholic charity. His wife believed his explanation and it bought the KGB and its Russian successor agency (SVR) another 20+ years of invaluable intelligence - courtesy of Hanssen’s treachery.
In 1999 he renewed contact with the SVR (the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, which succeeded the KGB after the collapse of the Soviet Union), delivering information on U.S. intelligence activities in Russia and counter intelligence activities in the US. Meanwhile, the FBI continued its search for a mole, at first mistakenly investigating a CIA officer but finally settling on Hanssen (possibly using information provided by a Russian defector).
Arrest and Imprisonment
Following a long investigation into his suspicious activities, Hansen was arrested in Feb 2001 while placing a garbage bag containing secret information at a pre-arranged “dead drop” for pickup by his Russian handlers. In July he pleaded guilty to having spied for Moscow since 1979 and as part of a plea deal, he avoided the death penalty by agreeing to participate in an extensive debriefing with government agents. In 2002 Hanssen was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
After several questions from the audience, Malcolm Lye thanked Peter for his interesting talk.
DID YOU KNOW
In April 2018 then PE Ranald Stewart and Masanori Ohtani lead a delegation of our members and some wives, including Momoe Ohtani, to Japan to join with our sister Club, the Rotary Club of Tokyo-Suginami, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the chartering of that Club. The members of our delegation were hosted to a special lunch by their hosts at the Hilton Hotel in Tokyo and also attended the formal celebratory dinner at which some 300 guests were present. Whilst in Tokyo our members attended a joint meeting of the Tokyo-Suginami and Minami Soma Clubs. Our delegates also presented the Tokyo-Suginami Club with a formal present marking the occasion - a book of Australian Artists and Art. Then in the company of several members of the Tokyo-Suginami Club the delegation had a tour of a number of cultural cities and sites which had been arranged by Masanori and Momoe, including an attendance at the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Kyoto.
If anyone has any jokes or funny stories, feel free to send them to me for the humour section of the Bulletin! We certainly need a little humour in our lives at the moment!!! Email them to helen.gulson@ozemail.com.au
The World Health Organization (WHO) on 25 August announced that transmission of the wild poliovirus has officially been stopped in all 47 countries of its African region. This is a historic and vital step toward global eradication of polio, which is Rotary’s top priority.
After decades of hard won gains in the region, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) — WHO, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the vaccine alliance — are proclaiming the milestone an achievement in public health. They offer it as proof that strong commitment, coordination, and perseverance can rid the world of polio.
The certification that the African region is free of wild poliovirus comes after the independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) conducted thorough field verifications that confirmed no new cases and analyzed documentation of polio surveillance, immunization, and laboratory capacity by Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, and South Sudan. The commission had already accepted the documentation of the other 43 countries in the region.
The last cases of polio caused by the wild virus in the African region were recorded in Nigeria’s northern state of Borno in August 2016, after two years with no cases. Conflict, along with challenges in reaching mobile populations, had hampered efforts to immunize children there.
Now that the African region is free of wild poliovirus, five of WHO’s six regions, representing more than 90 percent of the world’s population, are now free of the disease. Polio caused by the wild virus is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region.
The African region’s wild polio-free certification was celebrated during a livestream event. Speakers included Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Bill Gates, Rotary International President Holger Knaack, Nigeria PolioPlus chair Dr. Tunji Funsho, and representatives of other GPEI partners. The celebration was followed by a press conference.
In the program, Knaack spoke about people needing good news during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “The challenges ahead are formidable,” Knaack said. “That’s why we must recognize this great achievement and commend all the people who played important roles in reaching this milestone. It took tremendous effort over many years.”
An achievement decades in the making
Not detecting any wild poliovirus in Africa is in stark contrast to the situation in 1996, when 75,000 children there were paralyzed by the disease. That year, at a meeting of the Organization of African Unity in Cameroon, African heads of state committed to eradicating the disease from the continent.
To bolster the effort, also in 1996, Rotary, its GPEI partners, and South African President Nelson Mandela launched the Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign. Using soccer matches and celebrity endorsements, the campaign raised awareness of polio and helped more than 30 African countries to hold their first National Immunization Days. Mandela’s call to action helped mobilize leaders across the continent to increase their efforts to reach every child with polio vaccine.
Children in Cote d’Ivoire receive oral polio vaccines during an immunization campaign.
Since 1996, countless Rotary members from across Africa and around the world have raised funds, immunized children, and promoted vaccinations, enabling the GPEI to respond to and stop polio outbreaks. More than 9 billion doses of oral polio vaccine have been provided throughout the region, preventing an estimated 1.8 million cases of paralysis. Each year, about 2 million volunteers help vaccinate 220 million children against polio multiple times in the African region.
Rotary members have contributed nearly $890 million toward polio eradication efforts in the African region. The funds have allowed Rotary to issue PolioPlus grants to fund polio surveillance, transportation, awareness campaigns, and National Immunization Days.
Dr. Tunji Funsho, chair of Rotary’s Nigeria PolioPlus committee, noted Rotarians’ tremendous contributions to polio eradication efforts in Africa: “From raising funds and immunizing children, to providing ‘polio plusses,’ such as soap and health kits, Rotary members have shown resilience and steadfast dedication to our top priority of ending polio.”
Rotary members have helped build extensive polio infrastructure that has been used to respond to COVID-19 and, in 2014, the Ebola crisis, as well as to protect communities from yellow fever and bird flu.
Challenges still ahead
The GPEI’s challenge now is to eradicate wild poliovirus in the two countries where the disease has never been stopped: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Additionally, routine immunization in Africa must also be strengthened to keep the wild poliovirus from returning and to protect children against circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, which is rare but continues to infect people in parts of the African region.
To eradicate polio, multiple high-quality immunization campaigns must continue to be given priority. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s necessary to keep children vaccinated against polio while also protecting health workers from COVID-19 and making sure they don’t contribute to its transmission.
Global health officials and experts say that sustained fundraising and advocacy are still crucial, not only to protect gains in Africa, but to reach the ultimate goal of a world without polio. Rotary members still have a critical role to play in keeping the African region free of wild poliovirus and eliminating the virus in the two countries where polio remains endemic.
As Knaack said, “This is a big step in our journey to a polio-free world, but the fight is not over yet. We still need the support of our Rotary members, donors, and heroic effort of health care workers to finish the job.”
Local and international humanitarian disasters have become the new norm and the Rotary Club of Northbridge has been involved in assisting wherever possible. Recently COVID-19 has received the bulk of media attention. Before that it was the eastern seaboard drought and bushfires. Then, in April, Cyclone Harold devastated parts of Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga.
COVID-19 has considerably reduced Northbridge Rotary’s 2020 fundraising capability, including cancellation of its major fundraiser, the annual fireworks. Prior to this, the Club had raised $29,580 to aid those areas in NSW affected by the bushfires and drought.
With some of its remaining funds, the Club has committed $22,500 towards building a Community Pavilion at Kiah on the NSW south coast and repairing gardens around the Boomerang Centre in severely fire-damaged Mogo near Batemans Bay.
The Kiah Pavilion was completed 25th July and an official opening is planned for 8 August and we hope some members of Northbridge will be able to attend.
There is a story on the Rotary Club of Merimbula website if you would like to take a look please click on the link below.
Internationally, the Club has been asked to assist in the fight against COVID-19 by the Rotary Club of Kathmandu in Nepal.
Covid-19 cases have increased significantly in Nepal since late May with tens of thousands of migrant workers returning home from India and Nepal commencing a phased reopening in mid-June.
With the assistance of other local Rotary Clubs, Northbridge Rotary has been able to donate $10,000 to help with the purchase of PPE equipment for medical staff, installing hand washing stations in strategic locations and supplying food for orphanages and others in need, as the photo(s)on this page illustrate.
3 weeks ago Sally, Valda and I along with 2 friends took a 5 day road trip down the south coast to support local communities and at the same time checked out the two projects that our Rotary Club has supported, namely at Mogo and Kiah.
The Mogo project near Batemans Bay Sally, Valda and I met with representatives from the Batemans Bay Rotary Club and visited the Boomerang Indigenous Centre where our Club had agreed to partially fund to the tune of $5,100 a landscaping project, which involved the tidying up of a landscaped area and replanting.
Mogo had been devastated by the fires with several buildings lost and it was interesting that the Batemans Bay RC were very involved with restoration by operating a Hub in Mogo, where counselling services are available as well as computers available for use by the local community.
The Kiah Pavillion project Whilst our group was in Bega I drove south to Merimbula to meet up with representatives of the Merimbula RC who drove me south past Eden to the little village of Kiah to see the pavilion project where our Club has contributed $22,500 in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Bega, Merimbula and Pambula.
The concrete slab has now been poured and the structural steel is now being manufactured.
After the inspection I returned to Merimbula and participated in their face to face Changeover Dinner where our contribution to the Kiah project was gratefully acknowledged, knowing that Rotary Clubs working together can make a difference.
Thank you to everyone in our community who contributed generously towards our Northbridge Shopping Centre bucket appeals, BBQs' fund raising and other activities.
Our traditional Rotary Club fund raising activities have been halted in recent months by the social isolation restrictions to prevent the spread of the COVID19 virus.
Members of the club have come up with a few innovative ideas to raise funds to help the needy in our community.
On the 4th July the club ran “Dine-in for a Cause” fund raising event.
The Dine-in for a Cause event was attended by 32, mainly Rotarians, over 4 Host homes. It included a Quiz and a Silent Auction, raising $1,425 all up, with the funds going to Phoenix House, a charity located at Crows Nest over the last 30 years, providing early intervention and support services to the most vulnerable and challenged young people living in Northern Sydney.
In total $2,000 was raised from our recent Dine-in for a Cause fundraiser - to Phoenix House and has been gratefully received.
During the COVID19 public and social gathering restrictions Northbridge Rotary Club continued meeting using Zoom remote online meeting tool.
The photo shows members participating at a meeting only a few weeks ago – at hopefully our last Zoom meeting.
On Tuesday 14 July we transitioned back into our regular club meeting at the Northbridge Golf Club, with all the necessary social distancing rules being implemented. We can only hope this is a time of renewal not just for ourselves but for everyone who has had to manage their life in social isolation in recent months.
