Venue:                      Damien on Fisher

 

 

Guest:                      Bob Craig

 

Attendance:            29 members 2  guests 

 

Valerie Bonython called the meeting to order and President Ken welcomed the guests. Lucy Davies is away sick.

Valerie Bonython introduced  James who describes himself as a 'messy Jesus follower, passionate disciple maker and mentor of young people.' He graduated with first class honours in a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice in 2012 and Bachelor of International Studies at Flinders Uni in 2014, followed by Masters of Divinity at Tabor College in 2014. He has been admitted to the Supreme Court bar, is an interim Minister for Today's Church, a senior first aid worker, and is a trainer for responding to abuse and neglect. He has won numerous awards including the Prime Minister's Australia Asia Scholarship in 2013.

 

James decided to tell us 3 stories about international law from the macro to the micro.

Story 1. International Law changes come from specialist UN assemblies which then flow down to individual countries depending on their appetite/acceptance. In 2011 he attended a UN assembly with the AusAID team. At that time there had been major earthquake disasters in Pakistan and Haiti (220,000 died). How do you apply humanitarian law to 'natural disasters? These disasters impact heavily on the poor because they are often housed in slums on the fault lines and, with respect to floods, in the most prone areas. Australia's approach is to put effort into  disaster risk reduction. Building refuges where all the contingencies are taken into account makes sense for post disaster recovery and is cost effective......the problems of the past keep recurring without corrective action. There was an anxious time at the  assembly when the UN's women's budget was nearly derailed.

 

Story 2 In 2013 James was part of a team that went to Indonesia to undertake research into disability rights. His advocacy group examined accessibility of polling booths for people with disability. In Indonesia 90% of those suffering from disability receive no formal education, only 1% hold jobs and many of those suffering with mental impairment remain shackled. In discussion with electoral officials the group managed to have the electoral material improved, the polling booths made more accessible, and the government even introduced a braille template to help blind people to vote....a significant breakthrough.

 

Story 3 Slavery exist across the globe....there are an estimated 40 million slaves in the world, mostly in SE Asia with women in the sex trade. Prior to international law changes it was estimated that 50% of tuna produced by John West came from slave labour sources but this has now diminished to below 20%.

James is involved with Ping-Pong-a-thon, a local table tennis fundraising entity, which donates to organisations at the forefront of combatting slavery. There have been breakthroughs with women released and traffickers jailed. It is estimated that 50% of Australian men who get off the plane in Thailand and Cambodia are there for sex with young girls. 

 

James was warmly applauded for his address.

 

Bottom Line. International Law continues to improve and impacts positively on the lives of many......but just maybe there should be an audit by the UN of its member countries, which have approved the changes, as to their degree of compliance.....now that would be really something! 

President Ken advised that Virginia is sick. The Bunnings BBQ grossed over $2500 last Sunday and the zoo barbeque is scheduled for 27 September.

 

Valerie Bonython has information available on the Peace Poles being erected by RC Adelaide.

 

Heather Kilsby reminded that the coffee chat for September will be 10.30am at Impressa this coming Friday...all welcome!

The winners of the McGuirk raffle were Greg, Christine, Dennis and Ken

Judy Barton was delighted when her house guest of long standing presented her on his departure with an Ipod containing 407 tunes plus a number of other goodies. Maybe Judy can share the Ipod around at each meeting....with a speaker we can have a rock and roll night!

Paul has discovered another copy of David Middleton's book.....price has increased from 50c to $3 ....more and more cost of living pressures.

Stephen reflected that South Australia was in mourning at Sturt's loss last Sunday.

Valerie told a quality handyman true story to end proceedings.

 

Meeting closed at   7.51 pm

 

Simple ideas for creating international connections

Posted on August 23, 2022

 

By Randy Bretz, Rotary Club of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

 

                          

 

If you think there’s not much your local Rotary club can do to foster international relations, think again. I have some ideas for you that are relatively simple and can help establish positive relations not just among individuals but entire countries.

My club is located in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, home of the University of Nebraska. In fact, we have four universities and colleges in Lincoln. Each semester and often during the summer, these institutions host international scholars and students. Typically, people visiting or studying at a local institution are very interested in connecting with people in the community.

Our club is involved in “incidental international relations” in several ways. For example, each fall after the academic year begins, we work with representatives at the campuses in our area and invite international students to participate in a picnic. We cook hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans and corn on the cob, organize a few activities and games and just enjoy a fun Sunday afternoon at a local park in Lincoln.

 

One activity is to give each student an ear of corn still in the husk and ask them to prepare it to be boiled for the meal. After all, we ARE known as the “Cornhusker” state. Our members often make friends with some of the students and those friendships last even after the international students have returned home. We’ve shared some videos of picnics on our Youtube channel.

Another activity has been to invite international students to visit our club meetings. Recently, the University of Nebraska has hosted a number of African leaders as part of the U.S. State Department’s Mandela Washington Fellows project. Each year, our club invites the 25 Mandela Fellows to join us for a meeting, and we spread them out at different tables to mingle with our members. Without a doubt, lasting friendships are made which result in ongoing communications between young African leaders and Rotarians willing to offer an idea or suggestion.

 

Like clubs around the world, our club and District 5650 participate in Rotary Youth Exchange programs. These exchanges have resulted in life-long family like relationships not only for the visiting students, but for the host families on both ends. It’s not at all unusual for us to have visitors to our club from young men and women who were exchange students, returning to visit their Rotary families.

Bob Rauner, who helps coordinate District 5650 Rotary Youth Exchange noted, “One of the best ways to world peace is building international relationships, and Rotary Youth Exchange builds lifelong relationships between countries. It’s amazing how connected former Rotary Youth Exchange students become. The Rotary Youth Exchange students develop an extensive network of connections with students from around the world during their exchanges.”

 

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