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Rotary District 9640 - Governor’s NewsletterIn this issue:January 2018Darrell’s DiscourseDG Darrell BrownPage 1Impressions of a YE StudentLuca MüllerPage 2Making a difference: Kimbe (PNG) WaterAllan BarnettPage 3From YE Student to Quantum PhysicistEdPage 4Want to participate in a Golfing Trip?Charles WarrellPage 5Malaria Project breaking new groundPDG Graham JonesPage 5Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed gets AwardDiana TraversiPage 6Rotary takes ordinary people: Jamie Dorrington Jennifer DryerPage 7Where does all the linen come from?Col LaurensenPage 8RYTS: A report from a participantName withheldPage 9DG Darrell with hisgrandson Campbell, the eldestof 5 grandchildrenDarrell’s Discourse:Happy New Year Everyone.Culture, Digital Disruptor, Social Entrepreneur andInfluencer (what are they?) were some of thecategories as well as the traditional ones ofFashion, Marketing and PR, Retail and ProfessionalServices. We targeted an audience of 270 peoplefilled with classifications that didn’t even existwhen I was growing up. Most of this audience willchange their classification many times in theirlives, unlike me. I am still an architect afterdeciding to become one at the age of nine.Perhaps boring. Maybe.Don’t look back with regret. Look forward. AsAlbert Einstein said “Learn from yesterday, live fortoday, hope for tomorrow”. Let’s be positive andlook forward to the New Year and another chanceto get it right. And to quote a ‘millennial’ I know:“I hope you make mistakes (yes, you read thatright!) because if you are making mistakes youare making new things, learning, living pushingyourself, changing the world and that is what itis all about”. I like thesemillennials. They have a We might like to think that Rotaryrefreshing perspective onlife. They are differentwas based on noble ideals ofand will keep us young.humanitarian service, goodwill andThe millennials will be andare different. And so mustRotary adapt, learn,change and look at howwe encourage and includeunderstanding but it wasn’t .As January ismillennials? Yes, we haveVocational Serviceto look forward and don’t regret changing theMonth, I would like to talk about what we areways of the past. It is time for all clubs to examinedoing for Vocational Service in the district andthemselves. Look at their classification systemhopefully appealing to the millennials. In my(and I bet that it is out of date). Approach the nonopinion we have to look at things differently. Wetraditional professions. Hold events in vocationalmight like to think that Rotary was based on nobleservice in a different way. Get back to Rotary’sideals of humanitarian service, goodwill androots but with new eyes. It is the New Year. Haveunderstanding but it wasn’t. It was based ona happy one and look forward.fellowship and (the word of the month) ’vocation’.Darrell BrownAs part of a PR exercise, Rotary sponsored theDistrict Governor 2017-18'Startup’ category at the Young EntrepreneurAwards in November. Categories such as Arts and
Sorry, we don’t do business with Accountants.“Nah, not interested. We don’t really need anymore customers, the current number ofaccounts we have is just about right.! Nah, wedon’t really do business with Accountants.” (orfor that matter Lawyers, Stockbrokers, CarDealers, Headmasters. Or people younger than50, new arrivals )Imagine: You just overheard one of your staffutter these words to a potential new client.Shortly after, you hear him saying to a guy whojust put down a deposit, on the premise thatwe would find him something suitable: “Well,now we’ve got your money, its up to you tofind your way around what our company offers.Serve yourself, I’m sure you will find somethingyou like ” Outrageous! Alarm bells! You’dtake the salesperson quietly aside. You wouldhave Monday morning sessions, seminars.Well, if you have read this far, you probably getthe drift. You can now put this newsletteraside for a moment, write down the name ofthe person you had in mind to invite to yourclub, put the paper into the same pocket youkeep your car keys in (so you won’t forget) andas soon as you have two minutes, at an hourwhere it’s polite to call someone, ring up andextend an invitation to join you at the next clubmeeting.Christmas might be past and gone, but thismight just be the best present you’ll give toanyone this year! And it doesn’t even cost youanything!Did you just now ignore this call to action?Come on! Do it now. You are part of thatorganization who are ‘People of Action’, aren’tyou?Ed.Impressions of a YE Student: Luca Müller, Burleigh HeadsMy first months werethe sausages. The school is also different to my oldfilled with exiting events one in Germany. Half of my school time here I amand challenging tasks.doing sport, what I really like. In Germany I didn’tThe Bronze Course was have the chance to do that. Australian Rulesa tiring week, with early Football or Netball are some really interesting sportsmorning swims and long I never heard of before.theory afternoonsessions, but in the endit feels good to hold thebronze medallion inhands and to be moreaware of dangers allaround the coast andhow to act if somethinghappens. Sitting on thetower or walking alongthe beach while patrol isa lot of responsibility,but feels very important. Doing the swimmingtraining at 5:30 in the morning is also a great wayto start the day.The weekly Rotary meetings in the morning arealways interesting because of the variety of guestspeakers: about how a man swims from England toFrance or how a teacher, here from Australia, buildsa school in a third world country. Also inspirationalspeeches for example from a 10 year old and hisfight against cancer or really eyes-opening speechesabout the fight against child-slavery. I also gotengaged in other programs that Rotary supports.One weekend, I went up from the Gold Coast toBrisbane in a big truck. On the way we werecollecting donations like outdoor wheelchairsfrom the Surfers Sunrise wheelchair project orclinic supplies from other Rotarians. We unloadedthe whole truck into a container headed to EastSchool claims a lot of time but is also a great way to Timor. Naturally I was also involved in the Rotaryget engaged in many programs the school offers. I Barbecues, which are always a good opportunity tohelp out, without any experience needed.am part of the school rugby team, which meanstraining before school and sometimes gamesUntil now, my exchange was the most enrichingagainst other teams in the evening. It is mentallyexperience I have ever had and I am thankful forand physically exhausting but doing all the hardthis great opportunity. I will try to get the most ofwork, always pushing yourself and others to thethe rest of my exchange and go home with newlimit, gets rewarded with great brotherhood in theskills and many new friends all overBack toteam. With the rugby team I was also helping out at the world.Top Pageseveral barbecues, where I was responsible for all
Making a Difference: Kimbe (PNG) Water ProjectDuring the second half of September this year, the RotaryClub of Burleigh Heads, in conjunction with theircounterpart in Kimbe, PNG, completed a project to providerunning water to the Kimbe community. Did you say‘Running Water’? Yes, what we have taken for grantedfor generations is a major step forward in Kimbe.“It is a great disadvantage not having close running waterand having to expend a lot of time and energy fetchingwater. They now have a reliable source of water at all timesat two convenient locations in their village. It willsubstantially improve thehygiene and health of all the people, particularly the women andchildren of this community.” So reads the somewhat dry and factualGrant report of Burleigh Heads to RAWCS (Rotary Australia WorldCommunity Service), which contributed a grant of 2,500.00 towardsthe total cost of 11,931.00 of this project.For sustainability, the aim was for the water supply system to berelatively maintenance free, by installing long lasting polythene watertanks and polythene piping, and the pipe being installedunderground. The local RotaryClub in Kimbe will look aftermaintenance of the pump andsolar system, so it is expectedthe entire system will last formany years. With solar power itwill also be cost free to run thepump.Three members from Burleigh Heads volunteered to got tosite to complete this project: Ross Smith (above right),Trevor Taylor (below right) and Viviane Mueller. Asis the norm with Rotary projects, they paid their ownairfares, accommodation and other travel expenses.The projectundertaken:Two 5000 litretanks wereinstalled, one nearthe pump and onenear the local Kindergarten which is a focal point of thevillage.A solar powered pump was installed to replace theexisting hand pump at the water source ( old bore) topump water via poly pipe work, installed under ground.Two 250W Solar Panels were installed on top of theclosest tank and wiring run underground to the pump,where 3 x 200AH Deep Cycle Batteries and Electricalcontrols were installed adjacent to the in a steel lockablecage for security.Back toTop Page
Registrations for the District Conference 2018:Only the first 300 registrants get into the free Dolphin Show !You may not be aware of this: The free [ok, we ask for aGold Coin Donation, all for a good cause Ed.] DolphinShow on Sunday morning is only open to the first 300registrants. Yes, including partners and guests.Conference Chairman Jo Gorman and her team have beenbusy, beavering behind the scenes. Next March's DistrictConference at Seaworld is coming together nicely, thankyou.Click on this link to learn all about it, where you can alsoregister. You have already paid for attendance; it is part of your annual membership fee and itincludes attendance to all the keynote speakers. Only individual meals and the Saturday nightentertainment naturally attract a fee. And note: After a meeting with Seaworld, we are happy toannounce that the cancellation fees have been wiped (well, almost, just 10.00), as long as you notify usbefore 22nd February 2018 (two weeks before the conference).Just have a look at some of the Keynote speakers! Selecting just three of them at random: Allan Pease: He is the guy who wrote that famous book on Body Language, as well as ‘Why menlie and women cry’ Karen Phillips: Executive Director of the Australian Women's Institute and founder of the Womenin Business Awards of Australia Laurie Lawrence - who hasn’t heard of the famous swimming coach!click here to registerTime to start working on your District Award ApplicationsNote, this year’s District Conference (see above) is about 2 months earlierthan it was for the past couple of years.Who will get the inaugural Best Club Communications Award?Applications close at 12 noon, Friday 9th February 2018That is only 6 weeks away! For full details, click on this linkFrom Youth Exchange Student to Quantum Physics ScientistAn interesting article in theClub Bulletin of the BoonahRotary Club: Recently theywere visited by one of theirformer Youth ExchangeStudents, Fabian Zschocke.Fabian last visited Boonahas a German YE studentsome 15 years ago. Thistime he returned with hispartner Anna to “introduceher to the delights of meat pies and Vegemite ”After finishing his schooling in Germany he went toUniversity where he studied Quantum Physics. Hegot his Degree, then Masters and ultimately hisPhD. He worked for some time in Canada beforereturning to Germany where he works for Boschwhere he heads a team of researchers developingvarious levels of automatization for vehiclesincluding Mercedes Benz. By 2022 Mercedes hopeto have a fully automatic motor vehicle. Heattributes some of his self confidence to theStudent Exchange.That much for the notion of Youth Exchange beingjust a Gap Year For a cross reference, see lastmonths’ edition: Where will Annika Dornbusch bein 15 years’ time?“If you say you understand Quantum Theory,you don’t understand Quantum Theory.” Richard Feynman, Physics Nobel Prize WinnerBack toTop Page
Want to participate in a Golfing Trip? Charles is organizing one.Do you enjoy golf? Do you enjoy the company offellow Rotarians?Expressions of interest are being sought for agolfing trip for Rotarians and partners for up to 2weeks. Depending on responses it could be within Australia,such as the Murray Bridge tournament of the Australian Golfing Fellowship of Rotarians, or even overseas.Please contactCharles WarrellTweed Heads South Rotaryc.warrell@hotmail.com0407 130 449Malaria Project breaking new ground - PDG Graham JonesIt is just under a year since the Rotary Clubs ofSouthport, Broadbeach, Hope Island and theSatellite Club at Griffith University commencedthe Malaria Vaccine. I feel overwhelmed andhumbled by the support that the Project hasreceived during that time from Rotarians andClubs in our District and across Australia andPNG. I am delighted to announce that we havenow reached a target of 280,000 and havemade our first distribution of 200,000 to theInstitute for Glycomics at Griffith University.It is also a pleasure to welcome the generoussupport given by Kenton and RachelCampbell (of Zaraffa’s Coffee). Both ofthem truly understand the impact that amalaria vaccine will have in countries likeKenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea and I am thrilledthat they are intending to provide furthersponsorship. I also wish toacknowledge the wonderfulgifts to the project fromformer NSW District CourtJudge John Nicholson andPatsy in conjunction with theRotary Club of Murwillumbah. This has led tothe establishment of the Brian HamillMemorial Malaria Research ExcellenceAward at the Institute for Glycomics. BrianHamill OAM was a very special Rotarian in theMurwillumbah club and the photo shows hiswidow Betty presenting the first award to DrDanielle Stanisic - truly a most deservingwinner.We are also excited to welcome our threepatrons: Past Rotary International PresidentGlen Kinross AO, Hon LawrenceSpringborg, former Qld MP and OppositionLeader, and Rotary International Director forAustralia and New Zealand, Noel TrevaskisOAM. Their support is greatly appreciated.Our first distribution to the Institute forGlycomics has enabled preliminary work on theClinical Trials to begin. Early in the New Year asample of 12-15 people will be selected andthe actual testing and assessment will begin inearly April. In essence this will test the efficacyof the vaccine to control the malaria parasite.Let us to press forward to our target of 500,000 and open the doors for this vaccineto save lives all over the world.Graham Jones, Chair,Malaria Vaccine Project CommitteeBack toTop Page
Next Thursday to Sunday:Rotary Antiques, Collectables and Books FairOpens Thursday 04/01/2018 at 5:00 pmCloses Sunday 07/01/18 at 3:00 pmThe Star Gold Coast (formerly Jupiters Casino),1 Casino Drive, Broadbeach.Plenty of parking on site or take the Tram or BusFor full details, click on this link: eed recognized at Access & Inclusion AwardsThe Rotary Club of Currumbin-Coolangatta-TweedInc. is very proud to have been nominated for anexcellence award at the Tweed Shire Council’s5th annual ACCESS & INCLUSION AWARDSheld at The Stars’ Lounge, Twin Towns ServicesClub & Resort on 29 November. There were manycommunity groups in attendance and our Clubwas delighted to have been nominated. Seeingthe various groups, some with wheelchairs, otherswith guide dogs or carer/companions, made us allaware of the great need for access and inclusionfor the various groups of disabled people in ourarea. One of the speakers has dementia, andspoke of how his life has been enriched by thestrategies he uses to deal with his dementia. Another speaker, who has Parkinson’s disease, usedhumour to describe how he deals with his disability. Two young men with disabilities had made ashort film showing how various businesses inKingscliff were helping clients and employees withdisabilities.D9640 is the fastest growingDistrict in AustraliaAs of 30/11/17, a netincrease of 37 members.Keep up the good work, but keep inmind: for every 10 new members added,we lose about 4.Our Club has been aproud supporter ofTweed Valley EarlyChildhood Intervention Services/Shaping Outcomesfor, I believe, 32years, which is agreat commitmentto this fine institution.Picture is of ClubPresident GlennRees, who acceptedthe award on behalfof our Club.Diana Traversi,Rotary Club of Currumbin-Coolangatta-Tweed Inc.Are you going to the RYLA Dinner?This year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Award is from20th - 25th January 2018. See more details athttp://www.ryla9640.orgOn Tuesday 23rd January, they will hold a dinner,cost is only 25.00 a head - cash only. It is always a bitof a riot But places are strictly limited, due to thecapacity of the venue. You MUST pre-book:email to rotaryrelations@ryla9640.orgHow are we progressing with Kerrie Brown’s ROMAC appeal ?Back toTop PageAnd what about DG Darrell’s goal to raise funds for an Australian Rotary HealthScholarship? We are still dragging the chain: Only 5,505 of 33,000 so farBack toTop Page
Rotary takes ordinary people.This regular section features Rotarians from our District who has attained extraordinaryachievements, in the spirit of the first Australian to become Rotary International President,Sir Clem Renouf, who said“Rotary takes ordinary men and gives them extraordinary opportunitiesto do more with their lives than they ever dreamed possible”Jamie Dorrington et al - Monastic School Project - Coomera River Rotary ClubTo an outsider, the veryname ‘Monastic’ andschool project conjuresimages of monks withshaved heads, singingtheir hauntingmeditative prayers Well, have a quick squizat the photo below rightof four teachers fromMyanmar (formerly Burma), you may want toreassess your mind picture.Jamie Dorrington (above left), the principalof Saint Stephen’sCollege in UpperCoomera, was the initiatorof this project. He hasvisited the school inMyanmar, along with otherteachers, students &parents of SaintStephen’s. He alsoarranges the visits and allassociated with their stayin Australia. PamRoberts, (picture right)has been the main provider of accommodationfor the teachers. Pam doesn’t just “house” theteachers, but she opens her house for theentire period, making them feel right at homeand comfortable, taking them to school eachday, shopping, not to mention taking them onexcursions etc. If it were not for Pam offeringstable living arrangements, the teacherswould be moving house every week. TheRotary Club of Coomera River commencedthis project in 2012, and have nowsuccessfully completed its sixth year, and inthat time have hosted 18 Burmese teachers.Each year the club sponsors either 2, 4 or 6teachers from Myanmar, covering airfares,visas and other related expenses. Theteachers are home stayed by club membersand stay in Australia for one month.For the first three years, the teachers spenttheir four school weeks at Saint Stephen’sCollege, Upper Coomera and for past threeyears have divided their time between SaintStephen’s & Emmanuel College Ashmore.The purpose of their visit is to extend theirpractical knowledge and ability to applyteaching and learning strategies. They get toexplore ideas in a new environment,considering how Myanmar and Australianclassrooms function.Each year, after their visit, they report back tothe club on what they have learnt and areBack toPageTeachers from Myanmar: Sanda, Thin Thin, KyeTop& Natalie
implementing back in Myanmar.The major applications they have adopted areclassroom design, preparing lesson plans,classroom management, promoting studentactivities, using teaching aids and improvingcommunication skills between teachers andstudents.On the weekends, club members had theopportunity to show our visitors around. Themost popular activities have been visitingwildlife sanctuaries, going to the beach andshopping. They also attended our Rotarymeetings, giving an update each time on theirexperiences.Whilst staying with club members, all ourvisiting teachers participate in most of thecooking. They love to cook and we haveenjoyed their Burmese dishes.The project is not just about what skills andideas the teachers take back to Myanmar, butalso strengthening relationships betweenAustralia and Myanmar. The students at SaintStephen’s and Emmanuel College’s, gained anunderstanding of life and school in Myanmaras well as cementing new friendships.The club plans to continue this project, with afuture goal to make it a reciprocalarrangement, where teachers from SaintStephen’s and Emmanuel Colleges may visitMyanmar and spend time in their classrooms,leaning and sharing teaching techniques.The official, rather dry title for this project isRAWCS (Rotary Australia World CommunityService) project No. 56-2012-13. But ofcourse, behind the dry reference number,there are always real people.Thanks to Jamie, the project has been asuccess. In his position as Headmaster of thecollege he can make it possible, but moreimportantly Jamie is an advocate ofprofessional development opportunities inteaching and leaning both nationally &internationally. The staff and pupils of SaintStephen’s College have whole heartedlywelcomed these teachers, including in-housecoaching, providing meals each day andsending them off with suitable resources totake back to their schools. And to themembers of the Rotary Club of CoomeraValley : give yourself a pat on the back!Anyone who has ever been involved inorganizing a project of this magnitude knowshow much paddling there is under thesurface.Does it make a difference? Does it ever!Where does all the linen come from? By Col Laurensen, Donations in KindFeel free to hum the melody of ‘Wherehave all the flowers gone?’ by PeteSeeger (of Peter, Paul & Mary - sorry,well before your time, I know Ed.)There is a story behind every donation whichcomes in to Donations In Kind (DIK)Brisbane.Like where does all the linen come from andwhere does it go? The majority of hospitalbed linen which we send overseas comes fromthe Northern Rivers region. This hospitallinen, after it is washed 3 to 6 times isscrapped and replaced. Then every monthtwo men, Richard Crandon from the Rotaryclub of Goonellabah and Merv Richens fromRotary club of Loganholme alternate incollecting this from Lismore, loading into atrailer and driving to deliver it to Brisbane.The team at DIK Brisbane sorting hospital laundry by the tonThe majority of Pacific Island hospitals aredependent on the good work these volunteersdo in provide good quality linen.People of Action? Sure are!Is YOUR club projecting the ‘People of Action’ theme?Back toTop Page
RYTS (Rotary Youth Transition Seminar) - a report from a participantWarning: part of the text below may cause you stressworth it.At the beginning of December, the annual RYTScamp was held at Tyalgum Ridge Retreat. TheI used to use drugs, steal, fight and break stuff but onweek long course is designed to assist studentscamp thinking about the impact on my family has madetransit from High School to Uni, Apprenticeship orme want to stay away from crime, bad people, drugswhatever career they have in mind. In total, aboutand fighting. If I can’t be there for my family it would50 participants from all over the District werekill me on the inside.there. The text below is from a participant’s letterI left school went to the GTT and finished a coursesent to an organizer. It is not anywhere near athere. I then got a job but I actually left that job after athousand words, but it is worth more thanmonth because I knew that there were still essentialany picture. We are deliberately withholding thethings I had to learn in school to get me ready for thenames. It is written from the heart:real world.The one thing I got out of this camp is that even thoughI was happy on the outside around people, butlife is hard it’s not worth giving up on.depressed and useless on the inside, when I saw thiscamp that Red Shirt Cody posted on social media, IThere is always going to be ups and downs & the campread about what it was & I thought that I might givemade me realise that team work is important, thethis a go.people around you are important, the more you expressyourself and the more people you meet means you’llSo that is exactly what I did. When I first got there I didalways have those friends to talk to when your at yournot like it at all, I was confused and didn’t know what Ilowest.was in for. I got to know everyone and began to talk topeople on camp.They made us crawl in cold“Iusedtousedrugs,steal,fightandmud as a team, we argued,I started to believe again.but at the end of it all webreak stuff but on camp thinking about I thought that I couldn’t doall realised that we need tothe impact on my family has made me this life anymore, but theylisten to each other’shelped me realise that it’sopinions.want to stay away ”possible. I now believe inAs the sun started to rise,myself as a different humanone of the leaders turned around after we reached ourbeing and believe in success and if it wasn’t for RYTSgoal of getting to the line and he said “You can all& Rotary I would still be so unhappy with myself.proudly say you did this as a team”.But now I know that I’m ready to put in the effort andI was very proud to watch our team grow as the sunno matter how many times I get knocked down thecame up on a new day.RYTS camp showed me you’ll always have friends andfamily to help you back up.There were sessions & Guest Speakers helping us to getcloser and it was amazing to hear personal stories ofLike they say if you put 100% in to your life you’ll getpeople that have been on RYTS like the Red Shirts who100% back out of it, so why live a small life it’s time forwere told that they can’t do anything they dreamed of,me to live a big one.but they showed us it’s not the opinion of others thatIs there still anyone out there who doubts thematter it’s your own, because only you can reach thatvalue of these annual Youth seminars? A heartygoal.Thank You! goes to the organizers, District ChairThere were guest speakers that made us think aboutSimon Brook, Host Mum Faye Wright (20 yearswhat path we want to take which was amazing.in a row !!), Host Dad Jamie Kennett and all theThe camp for me was a new start. Before this I was‘Red Shirt’ volunteers to keep it all running.bad, I went and got drunk a lot to forget about myDoes it make a difference?thoughts for a while, I was thinking why am I here, am IWhat do you think?No, it is not quite THAT long, but, geez, the campaign is BIG! The newcampaign with Surfside Bus Lines. By Andy Rajapakse, Chair of District PR.Back toTop Page
many years. With solar power it will also be cost free to run the pump. Three members from Burleigh Heads volunteered to got to site to complete this project: Ross Smith (above right), Trevor Taylor (below right) and Viviane Mueller. As is the norm with Rotary projects, they paid their own airfares, accommodation and other travel expenses.
