Attendance: 24 members 1 guest and 2 zoomers, namely David Payne and Virginia Cossid
President Graham's Announcements
Graham advised that the Purple House project in Alice Springs needs a further $100,000. Tax deductible donations can be made through RAWCS at the following address:
Changeover is next week and everyone who is attending needs to register with Jerry and pay the $40pp into our bank account ASAP.
The lease on the Thrift Shop has been extended for 2 years - annual rental of $35,000
Update on the Solomons project
John Peacham - the process to gain a Rotary Foundation Global Grant
There is booklet to guide GG aspirants. Our club has been down this path on a number of occasions which helped in the formulation of the application. A grant can be sought by a club (s) from outside the beneficiary country and in partnership with an in-country Rotary club. The project must meet be worthy, sustainable, involve the local community who have to take ownership of it, contain training components and have measures of success against which outcomes can be judged. Successful applications are matched $1:$1 by the Foundation.
The process is very time consuming to develop a plan with achievable time frames, allocation of tasks, continuity framework, task allocations, obtaining of expert GG advice, financial planning, budgeting and fundraising.
For this project the groundwork took 2 years to complete the plan and receive approval. Considerable attention is paid to accountability through tracking of events and thorough documentation/receipting of all expenditures. Monitoring and evaluation play key roles. And a final report is produced detailing what has been achieved and how well the project has performed.
Fay Reid - project update
The project centre is Dalousu Village on the island of Malaita 6 hours by ferry from the Solomons' capital of Honiara. Peter Koti is our 'go-to-man' there. He is a government official and a member of the Rotary Club of Honiara.
A long and tedious path has been followed to reach this point. The project was ambitious and well thought through. At 1am this morning it was expected that the container would have landed at Dalousu. When it was packed, all the materials required for the project filled 2/3 of the container; further useful equipment like hospital beds, wheelchairs, and mattresses were added for compaction. Stationery bought from the Unley Primary School fundraising will be a big hit. The container has 267 boxes, with one weighing 250 kilos. Materials will be stored under huts until the storage sheds are erected.
Much effort has been made to prepare for the shed erections. Gravel for the cement and rocks for the bases of the storage sheds have been collected. Garden planting took off in April with Lilian in charge using seeds and equipment purchased through the project. The soil around the village is of poor quality so raised garden beds are being developed and arrangements made with other villages where the soil is much better. Good cash crops of slippery cabbage, tomatoes and egg plants are emerging to break the poverty cycle. Women are being taught small business management and how to budget.
All equipment bought for the project will be engraved with Rotary insignia. Training of locals will be provided for some of the equipment to ensure safe use. Fay has donated a solar freezer to store fish. There is an aim to build toilets and buy a fishing boat for the village as fishing is its major occupation.
Fay intends to visit Dalousu at an opportune time to view progress and reengage with the community. Total project cost is A$88,687 funded through RC Honiara of US $13,100, our Rotary clubs of A$32,000, a matching GG of US$28,000 plus sundry donations. Unley led the Rotary donations and was joined by Largs Bay, Regency Park, St Peters, Kidman Park, Stirling, Mitcham, Victor Harbor, Henley Beach and Pt Lincoln. There are 27 budget lines and to date about half of the fund has been spent, with major items like water catchment and storage yet to be contracted. Peter Koti runs a roster board to ensure all the villagers play a role.
John and Fay were congratulated for their addresses.
Spots
Jerry Caburn promised to send out the club questionnaire as soon as he has successfully navigated Survey Monkey. He urged members to sign up for the Renmark Rose Festival and accommodation at Calperum by early July.
Trevor McGuirk has been reading a book ( a step in the right direction) entitled 75 years of Rotary Service which describes achievements in Australia, PNG and the Solomons where the Honiara club was established in 1984. The Covid tragedy in Peru continues with 2m infected and 189,000 deaths. Most of the country is locked down, impacting badly on the Cusco villages we have been assisting.
Finale
Chris Davis is happy that he and his wife have received the Astra jab and that today he is celebrating a minor birthday....3 and 23 are the lucky numbers.
Jerry stepped up a gear to win the filthy lucre (destined for club funds) after snaring the chockies last week, while Fay was rewarded with the fruchocs.
President Graham, about to become a pastie (PP) :
is convening a short Board meeting after this,
advised that a Concordia College student Oliver Manning was requesting NYSF sponsorship,
reminded that there will be a Bunnings BBQ next Monday.
extolled the virtues of kindness and happiness.....perhaps we need a sensory meter to rate everyone on meeting entry
By Abdullah Al Fahad, Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchid, Bangladesh
Rotaract and Rotary clubs in Dhaka distributed 25,000 masks in April.
In Bangladesh, the infection rate from COVID-19 had been increasing daily earlier this year. The death rate was also frighteningly high. It’s a threat to our country’s health and economy. Our population density is simply too high. The best way to decrease the spread of COVID-19 is by using facemasks. Therefore, we felt we needed to work hard as a Rotaract club to remind people of the importance of wearing face masks.
Together with our four sister clubs, we distributed 25,000 facemasks to people in the public areas of Dhaka in April, where people go to work to earn their livelihood. They are vital to our economy and it’s important for us to protect them.
For weeks, we listened as medical experts warned that not enough tests were being conducted. News reports and social media forecasted additional deaths. While some received treatment at COVID-19 isolations centers, others were turned away without even testing for the virus. For a long time, testing was centralized and conducted exclusively by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research in the capital Dhaka, despite the fact that patients with symptoms were reported all over the country. Finally, on 22 March, Bangladesh declared a 10-day shut down effective from 26 March to 4 April, and later extended to 30 May.
Our Rotaract club with our sister clubs have been doing whatever we can to try and protect people from the virus and stop the spread. We encourage other Rotaract clubs to help their communities, by spreading information, encouraging mask usage where it is necessary, and working for the distribution of vaccines.
We can stop this virus just as we have been working to eradicate polio from the world. We are the people with the experience, determination, and dedication to do this. Thank you, Rotary world.
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Pam Trimmer & Vera Holt
Week 4: 26 June 2021
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Jason Booth & Vera-Ann Stacy
Week 5: None
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Jerry Casburn & Reno Elms
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Pam Trimmer (T) 8293 2612; (M) 0415 238 333; e-mail: pamela.trimmer@bigpond.com
Bunnings Mile End and Mitre 10 Barbeques
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
Next one is Monday June 28........Ken is looking to expand his BBQing talent pool and would be delighted with more volunteers.
The Mitre 10 BBQs are the first and third Saturdays of each month (commencing 9am).....next one Saturday 3 July
The Tale End.....
Tax auditing at its optimum
At the end of the tax year, the HMRC sent a tax inspector to audit the books of a local hospital.
While the taxman was checking the books, he turned to the executive of the hospital and said: "I notice you buy a lot of bandages. I imagine there is a lot of wastage there. What do you do with the end of the roll when there is too little left to be of any use."
"Good question," noted the executive. "We save them up and send them back to the bandage company and every once in a while, they send us a free roll."
"Oh", replied the taxman, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. However, he was now well mounted on his favourite hobby horse and ready to be critical. What about all these plaster purchases? What do you do with what's left over after setting a cast on a patient?
"Ah, yes," replied the executive, who hadn't a clue, but rising to the challenge. "We save that too and send it back to the manufacturer and every so often they send us a free bag of plaster."
"My, my, an answer for everything!" responded the auditor, who also fancied himself a bit of a wit. "What do you do with all the remains from the circumcision surgeries?"
"Here, too, we do not waste," answered the executive. What we do is save all the little foreskins and send them to the tax office and once a year they send us a complete prick."
The only mystery in life is why the kamikaze pilots wore helmets.” – Al McGuire
There is booklet to guide GG aspirants. Our club has been down this path on a number of occasions which helped in the formulation of the application. A grant can be sought by a club (s) from outside the beneficiary country and in partnership with an in-country Rotary club. The project must meet be worthy, sustainable, involve the local community who have to take ownership of it, contain training components and have measures of success against which outcomes can be judged. Successful applications are matched $1:$1 by the Foundation.
The project centre is Dalousu Village on the island of Malaita 6 hours by ferry from the Solomons' capital of Honiara. Peter Koti is our 'go-to-man' there. He is a government official and a member of the Rotary Club of Honiara.
