Attendance:             28  members  8 guests 

 

Jerry Casburn introduced Jurgen who was born and studied medicine in Germany, and came to Melbourne to pursue medical science studies. He returned to Germany to complete his medical degree and came back to Australia on a scholarship. He pursued a PhD on molecular cancer biology at The Walter and Eliza Institute of Medical Research until 1991 and then trained in anatomical pathology in Adelaide until 1996. Ten years as a consultant and senior lecturer at Flinders Medical Centre followed, as did a partnership with Adelaide Pathology Partners until 2016.  Jurgen continues as a consultant pathologist with Clinpath. Happily married to Carolyn (country girl from Naracoorte) with 3 adult/near adult children who are inclined to rib him about his accent...we didn't notice. Relaxation is strumming a guitar (badly) and creative writing which includes short stories and medical mystery.

President Nathan proceeded with the induction ceremony. Jurgen is joining Valerie's Environmental Committee and will have Jerry as his mentor.

Jurgen was enthusiastically welcomed into the Club.

 

Trevor McGurk introduced Ed who is a researcher and journalist from Adelaide [Trevor met Ed's mother at the Thrift Shop and tuned in when she revealed her son was working on a Solomons' project]. He is the Director of Policy at the McKell Institute (a public policy think tank) and has written for the Washington Post, The Australian, the ABC, The Sydney Morning Herald and others on economics, energy poverty and climate. He is also a PhD candidate researching Solomon Islands, where he has been leading research into energy poverty. 

Ed was born in Myrtle Bank and studied journalism. He took a trip to Pentecost Island in Vanuatu in 2017 to learn more about a chieftain leading the charge for independence. Ed began to understand the degree of poverty prevailing plus the precarious conditions....like the burning down of a neighbouring village for little reason. One of the contributing factor to the malaise is energy poverty.....too little access and very high priced electricity. Adequate energy supplies for schools and enterprises is crucial for economic development. 

In 2018 travelling overland to London (through 36 countries) heightened his awareness of energy poverty. Countries like Timor Leste face difficult futures. Many are falling further and further behind the rest of the world. Electricity in towns is often, at best, spasmodic and in many rural settings, non existent. Australia needs to take greater responsibility to help its neighbours.

Of all the Pacific Islands the Melanesians (PNG, Solomons, Vanuatu) are the most disadvantaged. For example, only 45,000 out of 9 million people in PNG have been vaccinated for Covid due to lack of refrigeration throughout most of the country

In 2019 he started an energy policy project in the Solomons. In the capital Honiara only 25% are connected to the erratic grid. Donor governments and multilateral agencies tend to concentrate on large projects like the hydro scheme for the Solomons and electrification in PNG. But this will not help the rural dwellers. His approach is to concentrate on modest energy developments (solar and battery storage with diesel back-up) as is planned for Savo on the island of Saba. These projects can be economically viable in their own right and can be 'bulked up' to attract larger scale investment. Using a solar advisory team from the University of NSW, Tindo solar panels from Australia, and a donation from Solar Charity in the US the project is proceeding at a cost of $50,000 for the 300 people it will serve, This capital expenditure compares very favourably with the $15,000 spent each year on diesel fuel.

Ed believes that each of these impoverished nations need Energy Facilitation Hubs which can deal with the technical aspects beyond the capacity of small communities and manage project delivery.

Trevor provided a vote of thanks and Ed was warmly applauded.

Editor's comment...Spot on Ed!

Spots

Heather Kilsby reminded of the coffee chat at Impressa Cafe, Unley Shopping Center, 10.30am this Friday.....a good turnout would be great.

Chris Davis reported that the SA Police Officer of the Year award will be held in the Rundle Mall at 10.30am on Thursday 14 October.....all members encourage to attend. And there will be special celebrations here on the following Tuesday 19th. On a sweet note Chris provided a bucket full of lemons for those in need.

Jerry Casburn reported the sudden sad passing of Kevin Lamb from RC McLaren Vale who had been a big help at Calperum. Next week for the quiz we will be eating early so menus are being distributed with a request that members pre-order.

Patsy Beckett guaranteed our inductees that life will take on new meaning through participation in the Car Trial on 31 October. Graham B expressed some concern about the mapping.

Rhonda Hoare reflected on the success of our club's involvement in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and the Rotary Youth Sailing Challenge on the One and All ...see stories below.

Finale ....   

 

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

Our club had the pleasure of sponsoring two recently arrived Afghan students Latifa and Abdullah for RYLA. These photos were taken at the awards ceremony on 23 September attended by Rhonda, Jerry, and Patsy, Graham and Simon Beckett.              

One and All

ROTARY NEWS

John Peacham -     Our Solomons Project

Rotary Project update September 2021 - Global Grant GG2012043 Location: Dalousu Village Langalanga Lagoon on the Island of Malaita, Solomon Islands

Dear Rotary members of Henley Beach, Honiara, Kidman Park, Largs Bay, Mitcham, Port Lincoln, Regency Park, Stirling, St Peters and Victor Harbor.

We wish to again thank your club for the generous donation towards this project sponsored by Unley Rotary Club. We are incredibly pleased to announce that finally the shipping container has been unloaded at the village and work has begun. With no wharf facilities at the village the container needed to be unloaded while on the barge and the goods carried to higher ground for temporary storage, identification and sorting. Some of the items were quite heavy and too wide for the narrow path to the jetty . Only solution was to carry through the water.              While waiting for the container to arrive the villager were busy laying the rock and concrete base on which to erect the storage sheds that came flat packed in the container. The first of the sheds is now erected and the work has commenced to gather rocks from the reef to form the base for the second shed. With the sheds completed there will be ample lockable shelved storage for most of the items that were in the container. With no construction assistance available the men had to work from a 44-page construction plan.

 Work has also continued with the male and female toilet blocks, Similarly, large amounts of stone needed to be gathered to build the base for the toilet blocks and the pathways to them. Plumbing and fixtures, some of which were in the container, are being installed. While the men have been busy gathering rocks, assembling sheds and building toilet blocks the village women have making use of the garden tools, wheelbarrows and seeds provided to plant and maintain a very good crop of local vegetables. Hopefully work will begin soon on building raised garden beds closer to the village where the soil is too saline for in ground planting.

Due to Covid restrictions Rotarians Fay Reid, Trevor McGuirk and possibly others from Unley RC, could not visit Solomon Islands at this stage to oversee and assist with the work being carried out. The community members are continuing to move forward with project activities, greatly assisted by the tools and equipment and materials provided in the container. The next activity, once the sheds and toilet blocks are completed, is to build the water catchment roof and install 4 water tanks that will provide fresh clean water for the village

Coffee Chat at Impressa, Unley Shopping Centre

Upcoming Meetings

Mitre 10 and Bunnings Barbeques 

The Tale End.....