By the time you receive this message, we will be into the final month of this Rotary year.
As they say, time flys when you’re having fun.
For us, the last eleven months have passed by just so fast with the journey being a real pleasure and honour as governor of this great Rotary District.
As in past months, many things happen and you can only comment on a cross section of them.
When our Interplast volunteer surgical team met baby Andrew in Tonga earlier this year, his life was in the balance.
A severe cleft lip and palate meant that the seven-month-old could not feed properly.
“The milk goes in and comes straight back out,” said Anaesthetist Dr Lian Pfitzner.
Andrew was malnourished, and his immune system was terribly weak. He was dehydrated and had suffered repeated bouts of gastroenteritis, with multiple trips to intensive care fighting life-threatening infections.
9930 PDG Geoff Mathis (2008-2009) adopted the project as a special emphasis on Literacy and it was enthusiastically taken up by all the clubs of the district.
The original project was aimed at providing year 4 students in low decile schools in our district with their own dictionary.
The dictionary is seen as a gift to each child.
The success of the project is proven with over 25,000 dictionaries presented to students in D9930 schools to date.
Thank you to Rotary Whakatane for the following item which appeared in the bulletin covering this week’s Rotary meeting:
Not the usual Three Minute Talk – however, DG Keith Owens spoke about the appeal fund that had been set up by the District at the time of the Kaikoura earthquake but which, not being needed at that time, had been redirected to assist with the Edgecumbe flood recovery.
Graeme Kitto continues his good work with the Enviro Awards in our local schools.
The photo is from a presentation at Rototuna Junior High School last week.
The Club’s contribution this year is supporting the Planteer Module, a science technology project which includes planting thousands of trees to create a positive ecological environment within the school grounds.
“A good example, I suggested, of thinking globally, acting locally.
Want to make your service projects more sustainable and align with Rotary’s areas of focus?
Learn how some exemplary Rotary clubs around the world approach their global grant projects and make the most of Rotary Foundation funds. Learn more.
The Rotary Foundation is recognizing 20 global grants that exemplify what a project should be: a sustainable endeavor that aligns with one of Rotary’s areas of focus and that is designed in cooperation with the community to address a real need.
The guest speakers this week, at Otumoetai Rotary, were three students from Otumoetai College - Gemma Tims, Bella Cartman, and Hannah O‘Neill.
They had attended the Summer Science Forum – and the first all-girl team selected by the club.
Gemma lead off their presentation in which they each talked about the academic modules they had attended. Gemma spoke about microbiology, chemistry and sports science.
Well, that’s about all there is for this issue. As you can see it only one page long and that is at the request of DG Keith, who wants it short and sharp. Don’t forget that the new District website is now fully operational and you will find a plethora of information about Rotary, D9930 clubs, and all activities. Please take a good stroll through the site by clicking HERE.