The last two newsletters have carried reports from the Club Visioning survey which members completed in May.
There’s enough in the survey findings, and in the comments from members, to warrant discussion about some possible changes to the way we do things in the club.
Accordingly, I have arranged for a Club Forum on Thursday 14 September to get the views of members. The speaker scheduled for that day, Peter Franks, will come in October.
The issues members raised either in the survey or in the comments revolve around:
The sergeant’s session. Many feel that it is not always well conducted, is an embarrassment and should be dropped. Others aren’t so critical, and it is an important source of revenue.
Breakfast. A full cooked breakfast is one of our distinguishing features as a club and is enjoyed by many. But are tastes changing, and is there a middle ground here?
Refining the speaker programme. There was strong support for hearing from more speakers about Wellington and community issues. Some wanted more politicians, while others wanted fewer people pushing their own causes.
Engaging more with young people. Would a reduced meeting fee (perhaps $10) for students and those under 19 help?
Increasing membership and the diversity within the club. Both goals were well supported, but ideas to achieve them were less numerous.
On Monday night, the board will be discussing the Visioning Survey report, and considering some ideas arising from it as well as a report on ways to increase membership.
I will report back next week on our discussion, but in the meantime please put Club Forum in your diary for Thursday 14 September. Please be sure to come to the meeting; read the visioning report material in the last to club bulletins and come prepared to discuss the issues.
We were lucky this week to have not one but two fantastic speakers who both delivered interesting and amusing presentations about their time is Australia and New Zealand respectively. May spoke first and dove straight in to telling us all about her time over the last three months.
This started with a road trip, which made all of in the audience jealous, it consisted of some very cool locations including Cristal Castle and May’s favorite stop, Movie World. While May has visited Movie World before she remarked that the main difference this time was that her old, wiser and most importantly taller self was able to go on the rollercoasters.
May also spoke to us about her experience in her host school which as a religious school seemed to her a bit different but where she had fun and made friends nevertheless. Her most memorable class was agriculture where she learnt to use a brand new skill set and spent a week taking care of a steer with a classmate. However we were all taken aback to know at the end of the week they had to lead their steers to the abattoir to be butchered.
Throughout her talk May spoke about the great friends she had made during her time and thanked the club and the programme for helping her to have such a great experience.
We then heard from Sam, the Australian student who May stayed with who will now spend three months in Wellington. Sam shared her passion for music with the club. Currently she takes singing and music lessons while also having most recently played a part in her schools production of Hairspray. After finishing school Sam would like to study music at university and become a music teacher.
Her passion for music has lead to a project where she will be recording a song with a refugee from Sierra Leone. The song will be sold as a fundraiser with all of the money raised going to an organization the supports refugees when they resettle in New South Wales.
While Sam is missing her family she is thoroughly enjoying her exchange that so far has included a trip around New Zealand with other Australian exchange students where she went bungee jumping.
It was a fantastic experience for our club to engage with our youth exchange students and hear first hand why these programmes are so important.
Paediatric Surgeon Brendon Bowkett spoke to our club about the work he and his colleagues have been achieving in Timor with the Rotary Oceanic Medical Aid for Children program. ROMAC’s aim is to provide specialist treatment for children from developing countries, in the form of life saving and/or dignity restoring surgery not accessible to them in their home country, providing hope and restoring dignity.
While Dr Brendon is based at Wellington Hospital, he has travelled to Timor a number of times, transforming the lives of many families who otherwise would be suffering from the emotional and mental stress of having a child with major medical complications. He described his work and the impacts it has, allowing children to return to or start school. The team perform six to eight weeks worth of surgeries in a week, in conditions and with equipment of a much lower calibre than they are used to in New Zealand.
He was incredibly humble, telling us “we’re just doing our jobs, the miracle is that we get support from Rotary to do this”. He praised and honoured his colleagues for their contribution to the success in Timor.
Nurse Grace supported staff who don’t usually work with children to better understand and work with young patients in an adult ward. Dr Brendon showed us a picture of Grace blowing bubbles in an outpatient clinic, and talked about the importance of play therapy when working with children.
Nurse Fiona supported the surgeons in theatre. Her efforts in ensuring the swab count was correct at the end of surgery was very challenging, but getting this right can be life saving. If the swab count is wrong, the surgery itself is a waste of time. Fiona likely saved a child’s life when she informed surgeons there was a swab missing. She managed this without the usual methods she would be able to employ in NZ. Without X-ray abilities and the streamlining of processes, Fiona had to manually account for all swabs, with the added challenge of them being used by others in theatre, including the anaesthetist!
Not only are the ROMAC team helping the children, they are also passing valuable knowledge and skills on to the Timorese medical staff. With the support of ROMAC, standards of hospital cleanliness and care are improving with every visit, and the Timorese staff are empowered to take charge of patient treatment plans and outcomes.
Dr Brendon told us that the connections between communities is one of the most important outcomes of his work. He shared stories of the Timorese people; their humour, their strength, and their resourcefulness. He repeatedly highlighted the support of Rotary in his being able to contribute to peoples’ lives in Timor. When David thanked Dr Brendon and his team, he said it is an honour and a privilege for our club to be able to support their team in their work. And he’s right. What incredible and life changing work to support!
Community service opportunities for club members this year
The club's Community Service Committee is developing a number of opportunities for club members to participate in this year, and here is few of the opportunities coming up in the near future:
Wellington Waterfront
Background: For many years the Wellington City Council have operated an outdoor fruit and vegetable market at Chaffers Marina every Sunday morning and a more general bric-a-brac market in the car park under Franks Kitts Park every Saturday morning. The markets have become an integral part of the fabric of Wellington and add to the vibrancy of the City. The WCC encourages entertainment from buskers who just pop up to the more organised entertainment that Dawn arranges once a month at both markets.
Arrangements: Our involvement is not onerous and generally involves being there from 11 am - 1pm supporting the performers to set and close up although they are a diverse group and some need a lot of help while others don’t. While the performers are performing we are generally not required to assist so it is a good opportunity to look around. We also provide a great profile for Rotary being involved with the community. Many club members have helped out and there is always room for others to help out and share the load.
Contact: Rick Hughes & Dawn Sanders
Zealandia volunteering Background: Paula and Julian have agreed to lead the Club’s Zealandia volunteering and will be developing programmes for club members to help out at Zealandia in the Spring.
Arrangements: Club members form a ‘Working Bee’ up at Zealandia. Zealandia provide the tools and we go up to the Discovery Area and spend 1-1½ hours working, then go down and have a coffee in the Zealandia Café, then those who wish to can depart and those who are keen to stretch their legs more will go for a walk up through the sanctuary for a further hour or so.
Contact: Paula McKnight & Julian Bateson
Kahurangi School
Background: Rotary Club of Port Nicholson club members volunteer to go in to read to, and play chess with, the pupils on Thursday afternoons.
Background: The supermarket provides a location where we can set up along with a table and several chairs. St John or Wgtn Free arranges for a suitably qualified medic to attend and take peoples blood pressure. For those who present an irregular blood pressure, the medic will chat with them and more often than not, advise them to see a doctor. Our job is to make sure the medics are kept busy and fill the seats by offering the blood pressure check to passers-by. Sometimes we help with a little bit of paperwork but it’s mostly about drawing in the punters and managing the queue. At the end of the day, we assist with packing up.
Arrangements: We roster 2 people on and have 1-2 hour shifts. It only runs from about 10-2pm so not a long stretch if multiple people.
Background: Helping collections for their end of September street appeal. Our normal spot is outside Reading Cinema from about 9am to 5pm.
Contact: Brent Gerrard
We are also looking to see if we can support a community event around the waterfront/CBD and will let you know about opportunities as they are developed.
If you would like to take part in any of these community service activities, either let me know or contact the activity contacts above.
Rotarians will be aware of the recent untimely death of Rotary International President-elect Sam Owori. Sam was an attendee representing the RI President at the 9940 District Conference in Foxton during PDG Deb Gimblett's year in 2013-14. Those who attended will remember a remarkable Rotarian. A tribute may be found in the latest Issue of Rotary Down Under.
Rotary International has announced the opening of a memorial fund in his name with the donations to be used in the fight against Polio.
All funds given by clubs will accrue Foundation points (the same as Polio+ giving, and the Annual Programme Fund).
Donations should be forwarded to the 9940 District Foundation Giving Administrator, using the updated District Foundation Giving form avaiable from Christopher.
CHRISTOPHER J R ROBERTSON, QSM, Hon DSc (Well), FOSNZ, FIOU
Every year, each Rotary International Director convenes a meeting of senior leaders in their Zone. This event, known as an Institute, provides an opportunity for past, present and incoming Rotary officers to share information, ideas and resources, build new connections and reacquaint with old friends, and exchange ideas about Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.
A more recently added event, the Future Leaders Seminar, open to any Rotarian wanting to learn more about Rotary from a leadership perspective, also takes place in conjunction with Institute.
The combined New Zealand event in 2017 will be known as the Rotary Symposium and this year it’s doors will open to all Rotarians.”
There is a Leader’s Symposium as well.
Open to all to attend.
RI General Secretary John Hewko will be attending.
At our recent session John Bishop, our incoming President, encouraged us as member of Port Nicholson to be proud of our association with Rotary. We have a strong Club but can always improve by attracting new members and with that they comes new ideas and new commitment. ‘Rotary on the Move’ is circulated widely amongst Australian and New Zealand Rotarians. It is a monthly circular that has excellent articles.
One article states:
Clubs who are well organised attract members
Clubs who communicate well attract members
Clubs who develop strategic partnerships attract members
Clubs who understand that their 'clients' are their community attract members
Clubs who know their demographics attract members
Clubs who listen to their members and respond to their interests attract members
Clubs who have a great Public Relations /Marketing team attract members
Clubs who have effective programs attract members.
New ideas increase our desire to do more for our community through the time we give to serving others.
Please click HERE to view - download the ‘Rotary On The Move’ Newsletter for June 2017.
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