It was a pleasure to return to the Club meeting this week after Dymphna’s and my trip to France and Italy. In France we explored the beautiful Dordogne region and were lucky to be amongst only 80 people a day who were allowed into the Font de Gaume cave complex to view magnificent 15,000 year old original paintings. In Italy we walked from Assisi to Rome, via the scenic route, and were immensely impressed by the scenery and the engineering, building and art which was only between a few thousand and a few hundred years old. In both countries the food, the people, the hospitality and the family culture further enhanced our desire to return.
I must express my gratitude to Keith Watts and the others who filled in the gaps left by my absence. I am very grateful to Cameron Gibson and Phil Gresham who took over organising the Club Drought Appeal in the Macarthur Centre. The appeal is in progress as I write and Cameron, John Smerdon, Jillanne Myers, Robyn Burridge, Michael Stephens , Jaqui DeLacy, Luke Marshall and Denise Schellbach have all volunteered to work the site on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Our Club will doubly match all donations to the appeal.
Our PNG Chicken Project in association with the Kyeema Foundation has been boosted by a letter of support from the President of the Rotary Club of Port Moresby which it is hoped will also allow us to access a district grant for the project. Kyeema are currently running the first training programme in PNG and Donna Harvey Hall has already begun preparing her farm to house the pilot project which will help her feed the 28 orphans, whose parents have died of HIV Aids, that she is caring for. I congratulate past President Daniel Vankov on his excellent article concerning the Club strategic plan, which he initiated, in the September edition of “Rotary Down Under” and commend it to all Rotarians and Friends of Rotary. I also remind all members that the Club Melbourne Cup Trifecta sweepstake is under way and you are requested to sell as many tickets as possible . At only $2.00 each they are generally very easy to dispose of.
I look forward to formally inducting Paul Choy and Dymphna Muir to membership of the Club and the world wide fellowship of Rotary in the near future.
This will be a very short bulletin, necessitated by my being in China dealing with a full schedule, dodgy internet connections, flight chaos and my own stupidity in running out the door without my notes from the last meeting. My apologies for this, and I will be doing a bumper issue when I get back.
Editor’s Note: This summer, Rotary International hosted two fellows from the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders program, who worked with our Rotary Peace Centers and Global Communications staff. Veracruz Ebong, a corporate finance professional and civic leader from Equatorial Guinea, wrote the following account of her experience.
By Veracruz Ebong
Had it not been for my friends Pablo Edu Nkene and Rosa Reyes Salomon Ehopi, I would have missed the opportunity to witness the important role education plays in people’s lives – people like myself. Pablo is a very good friend of mine who attended last’s year Mandela Washington Fellowship. One of the first things he did upon his return was talk to me about how amazing the program was and most importantly how it has changed his perspective of life.
By participating in this program, I have been able to realize how important the power of choice is. I saw how even people being helped at food banks and shelters here are given the opportunity to choose from among a limited selection of options. Many times, we expect those who are in need to accept anything we give them, because we just assume they are not entitled to make a choice. But by giving them the opportunity to choose, we empower them to have some control in their lives.
Cultural differences
Something else that really caught my attention is the support children receive in order to carry out their dreams. Children from a very young age in the United States can enroll in specialized schools depending on what they hope to become in the future. They know the path they must follow in order to achieve their dreams, and in many cases they are able to achieve them.
Up until a few months ago, I had no idea that Rotary had clubs all over the world including in my country of Equatorial Guinea. It is strange because I am a young professional in the business world who is passionate about serving and giving back to my community. I have been volunteering for the past seven years. In 2017, I finally decided to start a club with my friends called Nosotros. We volunteer almost every weekend by spending time with kids in an orphanage or patients at a hospital in the capital Malabo, and also organize projects to clean public spaces.
When I arrived in the United States, I spent my first six weeks at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and was invited to attend a meeting of a Rotary club in the area. Even though the club did not have a lot of young people, I felt very welcomed, and the members were very curious about my country, what I do, and the fellowship.
Changing impression of Rotary
Before I came here, my impression of Rotary had been very different. I thought of it as an organization for a few elite elderly people in society. But now I know Rotary is for everyone who wants to make a change, no matter what size that change. It includes people of all ages and genders who are dedicated to impacting people’s lives in a positive way.
I would love to share all I have learned and seen here in the United States, because I now see that the change we want is within our power to bring about. I know I cannot speak to everyone in Equatorial Guinea, but at least I can share with those I come in contact with. And hopefully someday, my beautiful country can also be called a developed country.
By Katherine Kirkpatrick-Wahl, Rotaract Club of Toronto, Canada
We are our own greatest networking asset. I realized that early on when I assumed the role of professional development director for my Rotaract club. It amazed me every time I spoke with one of our members how accomplished they were and how they were almost afraid to talk about what they had achieved in their relatively short careers. It became my mission to help members connect with each other. I did this in two ways, peer-workshops and members connect.
Peer workshops allow Rotaract members to learn skills from each other over coffee and doughnuts.
Peer workshops
Peer workshops allow our members who might not be willing to talk about their skills in a general meeting to share them with the club. So far, we have learned about LinkedIn strategies, interview skills, and how to get organized (to name a few). These workshops have taken place over coffee and doughnuts with ten or more of our members gathered together apart from our regular meeting. Club members learn new things and the presenter has a chance to go deeper on their topic.
These workshops have taken place over coffee and doughnuts
Caitlin Goodmurphy, for example, was job searching and therefore had researched cover letters and resumes. Preparing for her Peer Workshop gave her direction on her own job search and putting together her resume and cover letter. The info helped several other members also in the job hunt. Some learned for the first time that there are different types of resumes and they should be tailored for a particular job.
Members Connect
The second idea came from conversations I had with other Rotaract clubs. Our club has been around for almost 40 years and we currently have more than 60 members. We are fortunate to find speakers from the community to talk about a variety of topics. However, speaking with other Rotaractors from around the world, I realized that many other Rotaract clubs had their own members speak at meetings. This allows members to learn about each other and gives members a chance to practice their speaking and presentation skills.
It could be there first meeting or their hundredth.
I knew that I really wanted to do something similar and so we created Members Connect. Two volunteers from the club meet and find a topic they are mutually interested in, and then prepare a five-to-ten-minute presentation for our club’s general meeting. It could be there first meeting or their hundredth. I try to connect people who aren’t close friends, this way they get to know someone new.
Over the last year and a half since Members Connect started, we have learned about:
the history of waffles
how children’s outdoor engagement is critical to their eye development
underrated movie directors that we should know about
the culture shock of moving to Toronto.
Our members enjoy participating in Members Connect as well as learning about different topics that we wouldn’t otherwise find speakers to talk about. I find I am continually asked when the next one will take place.
These two simple activities have put professional development at the forefront of our club and focused us on member engagement. Members benefit by learning how to talk about themselves and promote what they are good at, an important skill in today’s economy. Our Rotaract club has always been focused on getting our hands dirty and helping the community (both local and international). But sometimes it’s important to remember that professional development is one of the pillar of Rotary/Rotaract as well.