President Peter welcomed guest speaker Stephanie Heighes, Jacqui Jones, Stephanie Villaneuva and her friend Melanie.
Toast
PP Ranald Stewart proposed a toast to the Rotary Club of Salamander Bay.
Announcements
David Robertson will leave on 8 August for 3 weeks in Fiji. He will be taking with him medical supplies to Lautoka Hospital on behalf of RCN and thanked Derek & Karin for their generosity in providing these supplies.
President Peter advised us that Don Landers is back in hospital and wished him well on behalf of all club members.
Jacqui Jones, who spoke to us in June about her “Greatfulness Program” which aims to improve youth mental health, asked club members to vote in support of her program through the NSW government’s initiative www.mycommunityproject.service.nsw.gov.au . This initiative funds projects in each NSW electorate to help improve the wellbeing of people and communities. Successful projects will be determined through a public vote and the projects receiving the most support will receive funding. Up to $260,000 is available for each electorate. You can vote for 3-5 projects and Jacqui’s “Greatfulness Program”, in conjunction with North Sydney Rotary, has applied for $25k of the funding. Jacqui invited everyone to jump online and put in their vote. Each resident is allowed one vote and voting closes on 15 August.
Luke Keighery advised us of Chatswood Sunrise’s Trivia Night for Mary’s House to be held at the Dougherty Centre, Chatswood on 31 August at 7.00pm. Last year’s Trivia Night was great fun and he encouraged members to come along to support the event. He has already reserved two tables so please contact Luke if you would like to come or for more information. The cost is $25.
Jon Gidney updated the meeting on the plans for the visit to the ABC studios for the recording of Q & A on 19 August. A bus will pick us up in the golf club car park and bring us back after the program. Further details about the pickup time and proposed program details will be advised as soon as Jon receives that information. Please let Jon know if you are planning on attending what should be a very interesting evening. Currently there are about 12 people who have signified their attendance.
John Turner advised that the guest speaker on 20 August is Vanessa Hayes, Professor of Genetics/Genomics at the Garvan Institute whose presentation is sure to be very interesting and informative.
Kim Wilkins is asking for donations of children’s books. He would appreciate if they could be dropped off at the Rotary Bookstall at the Plaza on 18 August.
President's Message
Last Tuesday we had Stephanie Heighes from Nusa Tengarra East Indonesia visit us. Her presentation is covered elsewhere in this bulletin but what stood out for me is the remarkable improvement in third world programs over the years.
Rotary has always been generous but now we do not simply send money. We look for organisations with serious programs and clear plans and oversight of their works. Even more important is the follow up initiatives to make sure that hospital equipment, school rooms or water wells etc. are maintained and kept in service and do not waste away. There is also a lot more travel by capable Rotarians and friends from doctors to builders who not only do the works in hand but put in place training programs so there is a legacy for the future.
Rotary membership is shrinking in first world countries but apparently it is growing in the third world. I look forward to our ultimate success with ‘End Polio Now’ so that funds are freed up for even more good works.
Peter Antaw
August is Club Membership Month
Rotary has designated August as Membership and New Club Development Month. Re-published below is RI President Mark Daniel Maloney speaking about growing Rotary and I have taken an extract from an RI Membership minute – April 2019 – well worth watching the YouTube clip.
Attracting younger leaders to Rotary
How can Rotary clubs reach more young people? What role should young leaders play in a club’s recruitment strategy? LaShonda Delivuk, the 29-year-old president of the Rotary Club of Lynchburg-Morning, Virginia, USA, definitely knows something about younger leaders and attracting young people to Rotary.
When club leaders were asked recently about their biggest membership challenges, 31 percent said they struggle to motivate members to participate in club activities, volunteer for service projects, and serve in leadership roles. “There is this perception that you have to be perfect to be impactful in Rotary,” LaShonda says. “But perfection doesn’t exist. And we certainly don’t need any ‘perfect’ Rotarians. What we need is a group of service-minded leaders who are willing to stand up as they are and simply be present.” She has modeled this in her own life by being transparent about how she leads her club while keeping her Rotary responsibilities manageable.
At this year’s International Assembly, LaShonda took the stage to inspire the next class of district governors to think in new ways about Rotary and the balance members are searching for. The key, she says, is “showing them you find their time to be valuable. If you can make Rotary worth someone’s time, not only will we change Rotary, but we will change the world.”
I encourage new members to go through the online Rotary Basics on the Rotary Learning Centre. The online course covers all things Rotary in an interactive, multimedia format. The course was designed for new members, but it’s also good as a refresher.
One topic we’ll be reviewing is the addition of ‘Corporate Membership’ to encourage local businesses, non-profits and government groups to become involved in Rotary by offering corporate memberships. Rotary has published this innovative membership model in the Guide to Corporate Membership. We’ll review this in committee to discuss at a future meeting.
John Turner
Membership Director
Guest Speaker - Stephanie Heighes - Nusa Tengarra Association (NTA)
Luke Keighery introduced guest speaker Stephanie Heighes, a Swiss-born social anthropologist who lived and worked in Indonesia from 2005 to 2017 for a number of international aid organisations before relocating to Sydney with her husband and 2 young children. For the past 2 years she has been employed by NTA as part-time operations officer.
NTA was established 30 years ago by Dr Colin Barlow and wife Ria Gondowarito with a goal of reducing poverty among rural farmer-communities in Nusa Tenggara Timor (NTT) – one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia. Focus areas are agriculture, water & sanitation, and education.
NTA is based in Canberra employing 40 volunteers and 2 part-timers. It is DFAT accredited. In Indonesia, the NTA office is in Kupang and utilises the services of more than 70 employees and volunteers.
Stephanie provided many examples of the projects completed by NTA and thanked Northbridge Rotary for its financial support of these projects over a number of years, including this year’s donation to build 8 water tanks on Flores Island and 9 barbwire fenced farm areas (living fences) on Semau Island in West Timor (total project cost of A$6,211).
This year NTA are organising a visit for Rotarians from donor clubs to inspect projects and to learn more about the situation and needs of the inhabitants of NTT. Participants will be accompanied by the NTA exec utive officer and local partner organisations. They will visit schools, farmer groups, weaving co-ops, pig farms and nurseries. They will meet beneficiaries and hear their stories. They will participate in a music and dance festival, and more. Dates are 14 to 22 November 2019 and interested members should seek further information from Luke Keighery.
After a number of questions from the audience, Peter McNair thanked Stephanie for her interesting and informative presentation.
Luke Keighery
Joke of the Week - A Love Story
I will seek and find you.
I shall take you to bed, and have my way with you.
I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.
I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.
I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.
And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.
All my love,
The Flu
P.S. Now, stop thinking about sex, all you senior citizens, and go get your flu shot!
DID YOU KNOW
Did you know that whilst our Club was officially chartered on 5 December 1983, a formal gala evening was held at the main auditorium of the North Sydney Leagues Club on 3 February 1984 for the Club to be presented with the charter. Hosted by our Mother Club, Crows Nest, the guests included DGE Don Keighan, Rotary District Extension Officer Harry Fieldhouse and the Mayors of North Sydney and Willoughby. All other Clubs in the District were invited to send representatives and many did come bearing gifts of the paraphernalia necessary to equip our Club.
The Northbridge Rotary Club held its Changeover Dinner recently at the Gunners Barracks in Mosman. The Presidential chains of office were handed over to Peter Antaw who will serve as President for the next 4 months. This is an unusual year where the presidential role will be shared by three people.
Peter Antaw was President of the Club in 2002-3 and, at that time, there were just 2 females amongst the 58 members. In the article below titled ‘Peter takes over’, he expressed the need for more women in the Club. This has certainly been achieved. There are now 13 female members and they were captured on film relaxing and having fun at the dinner.
Later in the evening, Paul Harris Awards were presented to Rob Coote, Kevin Tattrie and Liz Grey for their exceptional contribution to the Club over the past 3+ years.
The Rotary Club of Northbridge is one of the largest and most dynamic Clubs and new members and guests are always welcome. For more details, please contact email: secretary@northbridgerotary.com.au
