Thursday meeting was certainly a members day with some great presentations. Simon sharing the success of ONJA gaining the required funding from RI. Congratulations to the team who made this happen. Then there was the surprise visit by Oscar Lyons who was visiting family. Oscar is a Rhodes scholar at Oxford and currently is leading a “Leadership” programme with junior doctors within the UK. It was clear that another member of Rotary St Johns is making an impact internationally. Then our guest speaker, new member Cheri Jolliffe, shared the journey that she along with her family took to immigrate to NZ. I have always admired those who make these type of decisions into the unknown and yet make such a difference and contribution to our culture and society.
This week we have a committee meeting morning. This as an important part of our programme and enables you to put forward ideas and projects you would like to see take place over the next 12 months. Your Directors will be in touch soon with you and look forward to your contributions.
President Allan Smith opened the meeting with a warm welcome to all attending - 32 members including our Oxford University member at large, Oscar Lyons. Great to see you again Oscar and many thanks for the update.
President Allan read out a letter from our sponsored school St Judes. A copy of this letter is attached under "Read More"
Simon also updated the members with the great news that the grant application to Rotary International to further support our sponsored Onja Project has been approved. See full story below.
Snap Chat.
This week we also had the pleasure of hearing from a new member, Cheri Jolliffe. A South African by birth, Cheri came to New Zealand 24 years ago as part of a family group, including her brother, and husband.
Cheri had seen a poster advertising the possibility of emigrating to NZ, which was followed up by attending a seminar addressed by staff of the NZ Embassy. Her husband, a keen surfer and surf skier, could see the benefits of coming to NZ.
A special experience she shared, was a visit to her home by Nelson Mandella, who was interested in their plans and why they had decided to emigrate to New Zealand. There are now 32 family members living in NZ spread over Wellington, New Plymouth and Taupo.
Cheri is a Receptionist at The Sir Edmund Hilary Retirement Village, has a son aged 16 who plays guitar and paints, and is very happy with her life in Auckland. Cheri closed her Snap Chat by saying: “There is no greater gift than being able to help others”.
The Club continued to be involved with District Activities with another large contingent helping to pack the ERK's this past Saturday July 14th. See picture below.
Motutapu Tree Planing:
August 5th. A great Member / Family activity. If you haven't already registered go to our Web Site for full details and link to register. Available spaces are limited.
Beach Clean-up:
More pictures have surfaced - see below. (Apologies for layout of pictures, Editor experiencing IT Challenges)
I joined the Rotary Club of St Johns Inc, after investigating a number of Rotary Clubs in the Central / Eastern part of Auckland. St John’s stood out as a Club which was active in it’s community while creating a special vibrancy within the Club and it’s members.
I was introduced to the Club by Christie Rutherford, a long time friend and Old Boy of Waitaki Boys High School in Oamaru, and inducted into the Club by the then President, Brian Gibbs, who along with Gary Key, Peter Boshier, and John Hackett provided strong leadership and direction to the Club and it’s members. After joining the Club in early 2004,
I spent time assisting in the setting up and progress of the Tamaki Pathways Trust and the setting up of the On You Foundation Trust aimed at reducing Obesity and Diabetes in at risk communities.
I value my membership of the Club through attending regular weekly meetings, which provides a wide range of excellent speakers on matters effecting both our local and national communities. Also my membership enables me to build trusting relationships with other members of the Club.
I have been a member of St John’s Rotary for close on 11 years having been introduced to the Club by our good friends, Nigel & Janet Robinson. Since joining I have been Director Youth and twice Director Club Services. In the years when not on the Board I have remained an active member. I am currently a Trustee of St John’s Rotary Inc. and co-editor, (along with Alan Mayne), of the weekly Club Bulletin.
Outside Rotary my interests revolve very much around family, including six delightful Grand-kids, walking, gardening and an array of sports although most of these are normally watched comfortably in front of Sky Sports, apart from the very occasional game of golf which is in need of lots of improvement!
This year I will remain an active member and Trustee and would very much like to see the readership of the Bulletin well above the level of around 50% where it currently sits.
Over the past 12 months, St Johns Rotary has led a "Global Grant Application" assisting club member Sam Lucas, a highly qualified engineer who has lived in Madagascar for two years, persuading five of the six NZ Rotary Districts to support Onja, a social enterprise in Madagascar and earn a RI Global Grant.
You will recall Sam presented the project to the Club as a guest speaker in early 2017 and became a member of the club shortly after.
Team leader, Simon Jones called Sam in the middle of his night on Wednesday last week, to tell him a Global Grant of US$101,006 had been approved by Rotary International to cover project costs for an entire year and bring 30 students to English fluency, prior to their specialising in computer programming languages the following year. (We now have to raise the equivalent amount to earn the necessary follow-up grant.)
Said an elated Sam, whose partner recently gave birth to their first child: “The application was a huge amount of work and required considerable thought, planning, and persistence. In the end it paid off, drawing substantial US$5,000 commitments from an amazing support base of 5 of 6 Rotary districts, surely an exceptional achievement, as well as our own club – NZ$5,000 and a further $5,000 through the Brian Gibbes Memorial Trust -- plus Newmarket Rotary Club with US$1,000.
“The swift approval from Rotary International was a further vote of confidence in the process which has seen us work with the Madagascar Education Ministry to refine a starting group of some 250,000 students down to the 30 most suitable to undergo English language and computer programming training.
“The real significance of the Onja project is that higher education in Madagascar is a privilege reserved for 5-percent of people who can afford it. Without opportunity, most top students dropout to work low-paying jobs, their talent wasted. The project presents a unique approach to utilise this untapped human talent.
“Onja assesses the very brightest students who can’t afford high school or university and identifies those with aptitude, motivation and potential to become great coders (computer programmers). Selected students will receive two years of English and coding instruction and later earn a life-changing salary developing software at a sustainable outsourcing enterprise. All profits generated by Onja will be used to upskill the next wave of students -- making the project swiftly self-funding, through each graduate funding an estimated 7 future students.
Onja with some adaptations and enhancements has the potential to spread large-scale opportunity in the world’s poorest countries and inside regenerate programmes in NZ.
Simon Jones CA has led the application along with Gary Key and Kevin Kevany, who form the international committee for the project. The Rotary Club of Antananarivo will host Onja.
Sam also wanted to thank Ainie Kwok, Peter Buchanan and Allan Smith as well as the wider club for their support.
'Onja' literately means 'waves' in Malagasy.
• After one wave, another wave follows, just like at Onja where each student 'pays forward' the same opportunity for others in their community, making the project self-sustaining.
• Waves start small and grow over time, like Onja's gifted students who despite their disadvantaged backgrounds will receive a complete opportunity through education and employment to grow to their full potential.
• Like waves of the ocean Onja's model will connect continents, with graduates developing software for overseas clients.
• Waves are also important in technology and communications - essential for outsourcing and for Onja's model.
Naulette, a high achieving student, sits Onja’s exam which tests computer programming aptitude.
Remember the big pallet of toys donated by Voodle at the Taveunie Trivia Night on 1 March 2018? Well, the very generous donation from the kind people at Voodle and Timber Barron for organising the freight have arrived!! Much to the delight of the Rotary Club of Taveuni.
This week being school holidays in Fiji, the pallet will not be unpacked until next week when students return to school. The container with the kitchen utensils have arrived at the same time and will be unpacked. The hospital refurbishing is almost complete with the electrician doing the final touches and some plumbing and 2 doors to be fitted.
Thank you all for the kind donation and our current Taveuni $100 raffle will be going towards filling up the Hospital with necessary equipment and household lots to make it comfortable and home away from home for the expectant mothers.
Please support our Taveuni $100 Raffle ticket. There are only 100 tickets and the odds of winning the holiday for 2 in Taveuni and staying at Aroha Taveuni Bures, awarded the Certificate of Excellence 3 years in row by TripAdvisor (https://arohataveuni.com/).
Tickets are selling out fast, please contact PP Miles Cain or Gary Key to purchase your winning ticket.
Building at the start of the year and building almost finished.
Once, years ago, there was a Mensa Convention. Mensa, as you probably know, is an international organization for people who have an IQ of 140 or higher. Several of the Mensa members went out for lunch at a local café. When they sat down, one of them discovered that the salt shaker contained pepper and the pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the 2 bottles without spilling any and using only the implements at hand? Clearly this was a job for Mensa minds. The group debated the problem at length, presented ideas & finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw & an empty saucer. They called the waitress over, ready to dazzle her with their solution. "Miss", they said," We couldn't help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker contains ……"
But before they could finish, the waitress interrupted them. "Oh! Sorry about that, " she said, leaned over the table, unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them. There was dead silence at the Mensa table.
Did you join Rotary to do good things in the community?
You can help or join in all projects (whatever the committee), just contact the committee director and/or project team leader. In most cases, you can include family and friends.
President Allan read out a letter from our sponsored school St Judes. A copy of this letter is attached under "Read More"
This week we also had the pleasure of hearing from a new member, Cheri Jolliffe. A South African by birth, Cheri came to New Zealand 24 years ago as part of a family group, including her brother, and husband. 
I joined the Rotary Club of St Johns Inc, after investigating a number of Rotary Clubs in the Central / Eastern part of Auckland. St John’s stood out as a Club which was active in it’s community while creating a special vibrancy within the Club and it’s members.
I have been a member of St John’s Rotary for close on 11 years having been introduced to the Club by our good friends, Nigel & Janet Robinson. Since joining I have been Director Youth and twice Director Club Services. In the years when not on the Board I have remained an active member. I am currently a Trustee of St John’s Rotary Inc. and co-editor, (along with Alan Mayne), of the weekly Club Bulletin. 
