The Rotary International Women's Day Breakfast is now open for bookings. To make sure members and RCoB friends get their tickets, we are having a soft launch now before wider publicity starting in November.
Wal Bishop chaired the meeting and began with Rotary Grace and Toasts to the Queen and Rotary International.
President Chris was an apology along with Jaqui De Lacey and Warren Walker.
Keith Watts welcomed the 15 members and 2 guest speakers Stuart Mason and Rae Smart. Keith noted that
A big thank you to Mark for hosting Friday night barbecue
The World Polio Day dinner is on Wednesday, 24 October at the Pine Rivers club at a cost of $35 where Tony Pilkington is one of the speakers
Many thanks to Cameron for organising the drought appeal and members were encouraged to give donations through the Rotary bank account
Next week would be a club assembly followed by a board meeting
Spots
Denise
This is mental health week and Wednesday, 10 October is Rotary Mental Health Day
Eddies Van will begin again soon and Denise will require helpers
The next social evening is Friday 9 November at USC
Mark - an Italian scholar is looking to study at UQ and the deadline to arrange the Rotary application is 30 October. The student will need a counsellor. Gerald Holtman has offered to be the academic counsellor.
Daniel - the International Womens Day breakfast at USC is on 6 March and tickets are being now offered to members. It starts at 7 AM and there will be two speakers
Stuart and Rae gave a talk on the RAWCS project 111 of 2017-8 entitled End Hygiene Poverty. This project is built around the fact that
2.4 billion people are without tapwater
One in nine people do not have clean water
900 million children have no hygiene services in their school. For these children their is on average one tap for every 1000 children.
Stuart invented the SPATAP which is a simple silicone plastic product costing $10 that can be used to wash hands, brush teeth or shower. It goes together with a simple sunlight water purification system. It is essential to create a hand washing habit for good health. A 1.5 L water bottle using this system can wash 67 hands. It can be used to dispense saline solution as well.
Stuart and Rae with a SPATAP device attached to a 20-litre water container. Account for donations is on the screen.
The system roll out starts with PNG where the target is one SPATAP per class, which basically means 6000.
RAWCS has applied for an AusAid grant for this project in PNG but to achieve this they first need to raise donations in the order of $12,000 and so all assistance would be appreciated.
Graham Whitmore acted as Sgt and Cameron won the raffle. The Joker is still (unfortunately for Cameron) in the pack.
Among her many accomplishments, "Our" Peace Fellow, Morgan Marks is a writer and poet. We'll be featuring some of her poems in this and upcoming issues of the bulletin. Here's the first - enjoy!
By Marie Tornquist, former Rotary Youth Exchange student from Minnesota, USA, to Brazil
On the first day of my Rotary Youth Exchangeorientation in a Minneapolis suburb, I remember being confused about the nationality of my country officer. She kept referring to herself as Brazilian, saying things like, “In Brazil we eat a lot of rice and beans,” and, “We (Brazilians) are very open people.” She also referred to her Brazilian host families as “my brother, Eduardo,” “my nieces and nephews,” etc. I wondered if she had somehow been placed with a host family that was a distant relative. After a while I realized that ever since her exchange, she has continued to identify with the Brazilian culture while at the same time living in the U.S. and maintaining her identity as an American.
Marie Tornquist and her Brazilian classmates during her Rotary Youth Exchange
A few months before my exchange, I received my host family and city assignment. I discovered I would be going to the state of Mato Grosso, to the small town of Rondonopolis, right in the center of South America, as far as you can get from Brazil’s beaches and samba rhythms. The closest other exchange student would be in another town six hours away by bus.
During the first three months of my exchange, I focused intensely on learning the language and everything I could about the culture of my new home. At the six-month mark, I was already beginning to dream in Portuguese. I had also gained a solid group of friends with whom I shared common interests and felt that I could talk to openly without being seen as “the American.” Having limited access to my native language and culture forced me to integrate into local society and rely on the people around me for support.
Us versus them
While traveling as a tourist or even as a student on a traditional study abroad program, people tend to gravitate towards others of similar backgrounds or hold on to their habits and way of thinking. Unless you are fully immersed in your host culture with little contact with your native culture, you will always maintain an “us vs. them” mentality. I believe you can only become a global citizen when you start identifying yourself as one of “them.” Going on an exchange lends the perfect opportunity to break through nationalist barriers and truly walk in the shoes of someone from a culture you may have once thought foreign.
Since my year in Brazil, I have continued to study different languages and cultures. Being able to relate to the people around me is what has helped me to be successful and thrive in many places around the world. My greatest challenge has been living and working in China, where being Caucasian I’ll never truly blend in. At times this can be frustrating and mentally exhausting but there are still plenty of days when I feel more connected to Chinese culture than to the U.S.
I’ve gotten used to cultural expectations quite different from what I grew up with. The ability I gained as an exchange student to adapt to different worlds has served me well, and for the most part I have come to enjoy the challenges of cross-cultural communication and forced change. In a world that increasingly pits “us vs. them,” I believe that developing an understanding and appreciation of what once seemed strange and unfamiliar is the key to global citizenship, world peace, and progress. I feel very fortunate to have embarked on this journey while on a Rotary Youth Exchange.
By Celia Giay, past RI vice president and a member of the Rotary Club of Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The idea for our firefighter exchange was born when my club received a visit from local volunteer firefighters. Club members listened attentively as our guests explained their dream of continuing to learn better ways to protect their community, and on that very night we set a goal to organize an international exchange to make that possible.
Firefighters from Argentina and Florida, USA, share techniques during an exchange sponsored by Rotarians in both countries.
The next day, I talked with our district governor, Osvaldo Lazzati, who immediately liked the idea, but we needed another district and country. So he got on the phone with Alan Cohn, the governor of District 6990 (Grand Bahamas, Florida, USA), who enthusiastically accepted the challenge. And the rest is history.
Firefighter swap
At Left: Firefighters in the US explain their equipment to their Argentinian counterparts.
District 4895, Buenos Aires, Argentina, sent six firefighters and a team leader to south Florida on 23 April. For two weeks, they were hosted by firefighters and Rotarians and ended their adventure by attending the District 6990 Conference in Key West, Florida. Since District 4895 was holding their district conference at the same time in Argentina, the two districts were able through teleconferencing to present at each other’s conferences.
Then on 14 May, six firefighters from Florida and a team leader visited Buenos Aires, Argentina, for two weeks, hosted by firefighters and Rotarians in our district.
The purpose of both exchanges was to share best practices in firefighting. Firefighters in Argentina are volunteers while firefighters in South Florida are paid professionals. The firefighters got to participate in each other’s training techniques and learn about use of fire equipment.
We had plenty of assistance planning this exchange from Governor Lazzati and our service project district committee chair Judith Figueroa. In Florida, Governor Cohn, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator Lee Phares and Rotarians Jesus Sanchez and Elihu Phares were instrumental in seeing this idea through.
Best of both models
We used a hybrid model drawing from both the Group Study Exchange concept and that of vocational training teams. The result was an intensive firefighting training and a social/cultural experience for all. The friendships that were developed between firefighters and Rotarians will last a lifetime.
Everyone involved believed we had truly met the firefighter’s initial dream. By allowing them to share their expertise, challenges, strengths, limitations, and find better solutions for safeguarding their communities, they were able to “Be the Inspiration” and “Make a Difference.”
