Last Week’s Meeting Minutes: Scribe – Noel Watt
Sergeant Pat started the meeting asking President Phil who to welcome everyone to the 7th meeting of the year, he thanked Kate for volunteering to be our last-minute guest Speaker.
Ros' International Toast informed us about the history of Rotary in Palestine. There are 3 Rotary Clubs in the West Bank; Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Ramallah. Palestine is located in district 2452. This district is more than 90 years old, spanning 9 countries over 3 continents, making it the 2nd largest in the world. In comparison our district of 9675 covers Sydney, Illawarra, MacArthur, Campbelltown, Wollondilly and Camden.
The district 2452 conference gathers Rotarians from all 9 countries; Armenia, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan and UAE. There were originally 10 countries until the Syrian Government closed the Syrian Club, part of the prohibition of all international organisations in Syria.
At the Rotary Convention in 2010 the first ever Rotary Club, Ramallah, was formed in Palestine. Interestingly the sponsoring clubs were Israel and Jordan. A recent statement from Rotary International on the conflict in Israel and Gaza recognized the protracted suffering in Gaza, due to the long history of conflict. The statement condemned the attack by Hamas on Israel and remains deeply concerned about the loss of life and humanitarian crisis that is occurring in Gaza. Ros then proposed a toast to the Rotary Clubs in Palestine at this difficult time.
Noel's Reflection was about Doomsday Predictions over the years, for example:1960’s
- Oil gone in 10 year 1970’s Another Ice Age in 10 years
- 1980’s Acid Rain will destroy all crops in 10 years
- 1990’s The Ozone layer will be gone in 10 years
- 2000’s Ice Caps will be gone in 10 years
- And the Y2K bug could down all electronic equipment
None of these happened, but we are predicting major Climate Change problems by 2050 telling children there will be no future for them.
Rose, standing in for Anne who is unwell, gave us the welfare report:
- Arthur Booth is in Wollongong Hospital and would welcome visitors.
- Barry is progressing well with his treatment.
- Rita is concerned about her sister who is unwell.
Rose spoke about the City to Surf: Rose, Annette and Narelle volunteered to marshal for the City to Surf earning $330 for the club. They had a very early start and long day; they were lucky to have shelter on a very wet day.
Dennis announced the result from the Charles Hotel, great results and the Joker is still alive.
Ken announced that we have RYPEN candidate from St Joseph's school. He also thanked all those who assisted in running RYDA on Tuesday & Wednesday.
President Phil announced:
- The 1st District Presidents' meeting will be next Thursday. If any members are interested in going, please contact Phil.
- Our Next BBQ is on the 25th of August, members can volunteer via Clubrunner.
- The Kembla Grange race day is on the 13th of September. Currently we have 232 attending but require 275, the number we are committed to.
- We currently don’t have a nomination for a President for 2026-2027. If you are interested, please contact President Phil. It could be a shared role if we don’t have a member to be President.
Guest Speaker Kate
While Kate was recently in South Africa she was invited by a friend to visit a project:
Malamulele Onward. Kate's friend is a Volunteer with Australian Volunteers International, a foreign aid programme that is part of the Commonwealth Government.
Cerebral Palsy (CP)is a permanent disability where damage to a child’s brain causes
problems with movement and posture. In South Africa, CP rates are 10 in 1,000 (highest in the world) whereas in Australia 1.2 in 1,000. South Africa’s government has been affected by corruption and in recent years MO’s staff has been cut from 11 to 4.
Malamulele Onwards is an organisation that trains parents who have children with cerebral palsy to work with them to support the optimum development of the children and for their health and safety. These trained parents, called Parent Facilitators, also teach and support other parents of CP children; they receive a small allowance for their work.
MO began (2005) with a South African Paediatrician who realised there were no support services for rural children with cerebral palsy after they had been diagnosed. He supported a group of therapists who volunteered 5 days of their time to work with 30 parents to teach them about CP children. The results were beyond expectations; now Malamulele Onward (MO) supports the Parent Facilitators and continues to train them. Then they return to their communities and teach other parents to care for their children with cerebral palsy.
It has become impossible for MO staff to visit PF’s in their regional communities to provide updates, review children in their care, or solve problems (this was the original model for the project). It is also too dangerous for most of the PF’s to travel into Johannesburg to attend further training on their own – and too costly. But the Parent Facilitators require updates, ongoing education, and most importantly, support in what is a challenging and draining role.
So, a “conference” was held. Under the AVI programme, funding was accessed for PF’s to be provided safe travel and accommodation for a week together. This conference was a transformative experience for the newer PF's and Kate was able to visit for a day as an observer.
The achievements of MO so far:
- Over 2000 children receiving trained input, care and safety
- Families with CP children no longer feel hopeless and have knowledge to help their child and themselves.
- Quality of care and integrity of the organisation has allowed Australian Volunteers to participate twice in MO projects.
- Reduced demand on limited health resources.
Research validates MO’s results, published in The Lancet and BMJ, among others. The MO model of care has been replicated in the Pacific Islands and in Asia so far.
Kate was thanked and given one of Ken's Pens by President Phil.
President Phil presented the Revenue and Donation process. This is managed by a committee with Noel being the chairman. The committee requires suggestions of potential recipients (organisations, charities or activities) for donations. This will allow the committee to prioritise and plan for club donations in the current Rotary year.
- Our wine raffle winners were Pat and John, who kindly donated his wine to speaker, Kate.
