At this time of year there is always a lot of pressure on the club to assist in the collection of funds for many worthwhile causes. This includes, Cancer Awareness, MS Street Appeal, Arthritis Appeal, Breast Cancer street appeal just to name a few. All of these are worthy of our attention but unfortunately our manpower seems to have run out of grunt. Donald is still looking for help with the MS Street appeal and then shortly Sue (my wife) will also be looking for help with the collection for Breast Cancer.
There is no I in team and as a team we seem to rise to the occasion and assist where we can. I ask all members if at all possible please put up your hand to donate some valuable time to these events. 3 hours on the weekend can be a lot of fun.
Don’t forget that RSVP the 2 evening meetings for this week and then our club visit to Harbourside on Wednesday 12th. Send Peter Walsh your response please to assist in catering numbers.
It was with much sadness that we heard of the passing of Alex Gatt's wife last night. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with Alex and his family at this difficult time.
President Allan welcomed 26 members and two guests to what was one of our usual happy, fun and memorable mmetings.
Our guests, Pagutharivan Manimaran, was introduced by Roger Goodman, and our other guest was David James currently Director of Sport and Careers Advisor at Glendowie College making his second visit. David had been a member of our Club some years ago and last Thursday he wasn't a guest for long, as he was inducted back into the Club by President Allan. Welcome back David - great to maintain that very important connection with Glendowie College. President Allan then welcomed newish member Gavin Gilmer to address the members. Gavin shared his journey and what a life he has led! Looking very colourful in his yellow attire, keenly supporting Daffodil Day and the Cancer Society.
Brought up in South Africa, Gavin attended a primary school run by Nuns, followed by Military Service in the Navy where he became involved in clearing roads of mines, engineering aspects of road maintenance, and bridge repairs and design. While in the Navy he learnt to, “sleep with his eyes open” and became very aware that violence was part of the fabric within the towns and cities of South Africa.
Professionally he has held management positions in automotive component design and production, as well as shoe design and manufacture. More latterly he has developed skills in Emergency Response teams within local body communities in both land and sea areas. He was involved in the coordination of the sea rescue of the crew and passengers of the passenger ship “Oceanos” which foundered of the South African coast in August 1991, 571 passengers and crew rescued with no loss of life!
In his earlier life he was known as “STRETCH” recognising his sporting abilities in basketball. Gavin is a keen yachtsman and has sailed extensively up and down the East African Coast.
Married with two daughters, he and his wife followed their daughters and emigrated to New Zealand where he has been inspired by the beauty of the landscape in contrast to the dry dusty conditions in much of South Africa. Gavin proudly showed members a walking stick with the birth dates of his 3 grandchildren captured in silver bands around the stick.
Next Meeting - Dinner Meeting - September 6th with Special Guest Speaker, Desley Simpson - Orakei Local Board Chairperson at Auckland Council - OUR COUNCILLOR!:
To all who have RSVP'd - Many thanks. If you have yet to RSVP, please do so no later than 10 am Tuesday morning to walshp@xtra.co.nz.
Other important dates to diary.....please "Read More".
As you can see from the Roster below, there are still a couple of openings for "Collectors" to assist. If you can assist please contact Donald asap. Many thanks.
Beryl Robinson was born into a Rotary family, as her father Les Kirkham was a member of Rotary Club of Penrose for 40 years, and her mother Shirley has been a member of Probus for 20 years (including being President when aged 80!) Beryl joined the family of Rotary, firstly as a member of Howick Rotaract 1975-1978, and then stepped up to Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) 1977.
She joined Rotary to make a difference. Just before starting as Business Manager at Avondale College, she was invited to join neighbouring District 9910 Rotary Club of Avondale in May 1993, then quickly became Rotary Bulletin Editor.
Beryl’s next nine year work role was General Manager of the Arts Faculty at Auckland University of Technology, so she was invited to transfer to local Rotary Club of St Johns in January 1995, where Colin had been a Charter Director in 1989. Her various club positions included being a Rotary Board Director for several Rotary years, and President 1999-2000.
Our Rotary Club of St Johns nominated Beryl to be Centennial District Governor (2004-2005) of Rotary International District 9920 Inc (includes Central, East and South Auckland, NZ plus American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Samoa and Tonga) which Beryl and Colin thoroughly enjoyed!
For the next 11.5 years until March 2017, Beryl and Colin job-shared working for Rotary Down Under regional magazine (for 38,000 Rotarians throughout Australia, NZ and South-West Pacific) that culminated in being Associate Editor. It was good use of their Executive Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees. Club-wise, Beryl was responsible for the Rotary Membership portfolio for five years, as well as a Trustee of Rotary Club of St Johns Charitable Trust, then became its Chair.
In the wider world of Rotary, Beryl’s current positions still include:
Rotary Districts 9910-9980 South Pacific Presidents Elect Training Seminar Trainer (since 2014) www.rotaryoceania.zone
Rotary District 9920 Inc Training and Leadership Development Chair (since 2015) www.rotarydistrict9920.org
Rotary International Council on Legislation Alternate Representative (since 2018) www.rotary.org
Colin and Beryl were married in 1984, and they have two sons: Scott (aged 32) is a Project Engineer for Chem Waste Branch of EnviroNZ; and Craig (aged 29), who was one of the top two Masters in Marketing degree students, is looking for another marketing role after his temporary marketing contract ends early September.
Beryl and Colin both enjoy travelling locally and internationally, including spending more than half their time in the Bay of Islands, where they have a new Stabicraft boat named “Andiamo”, which in Italian means “Let’s go!” They’re off to Hobart, Tasmania mid-September for Rotary Australia NZ Conference and associated Learning and Development plus Public Image seminars.
They also look forward to more club social activities, and joining with other Rotary clubs when outstanding project and event opportunities arise.
This is a three-monthly update for Rotarians involved or interested in our ONJA project, created to scale education and careers to talent-rich, opportunity-poor students in the world's poorest communities.
Key Progress
Global Grant
On Wednesday the 11th of July Simon Jones woke me up with a early morning call to deliver some much anticipated news: our grant application had been approved! After months and months of preparation it's difficult to describe just how good it was to hear this. A huge thank you to all of you who have been involved. Especially to Simon who led the grant application, and never let his foot of the pedal to bring this project to life. I would also like to give special thanks to Willard Martin, District Foundation Chair, and to Kevin Kevany and Gary Key who form the international committee for the project.
The Rotary Club of St Johns contributed $7,900 USD, Rotary Club of New Market $1000 and District Foundation Chairs Willard Martin (D9920), Simon Manning (D9940), Trish Boyle (D9980) and John Rickard (D9970) each confirmed a contributions of $5000 each. The amount received from Rotary International is $40335 USD. Along with existing funds, this gives about $100,000 USD to cover 15 months of operations and bring 30 students to English fluency. The following 12 months students will study coding (computer programming) and later begin working, earning a life-changing income, and pay forward their opportunity for the next wave of talented students.
This grant is a huge deal and is the key enabler of our project. I wish to thank everyone involved again.
Team
I would like to introduce you to our beautiful, focused team based in Mahanoro (a small beach town on the East Coast of Madagascar). From left: me, Rina, Mitantsoa and Marcelline catching a tractor ride to check out a potential camp site.
Rina has recently joined us as a full-time volunteer. She has been developing our 10-day camp curriculum for the past month (Due to begin on the 10th of Sep), and has been using her legal knowledge to make sure we are meting our legal obligations. Coming from very demanding career in consultancy, her ability to get things done quickly and to the highest standard is difficult to match! As small gesture to show appreciation to Rina, We provide accommodation and food for her. Having volunteers, especially Malagasy, I view as a real health check to an organisation -there are few organisations in Madagascar that could attract the likes of Rina. I think we should be equally grateful and proud. Grateful to have Rina's caring and kind personality on our team, and proud that our mission and work is strong enough to attract the likes of her.
Mitantsoa, our English teacher has been with us, full time, since the beginning of the year. Once the school begins in December her main objective will be to bring students to English fluency however in the meantime she has been crucial to our recruitment process: Co-coordinating the arrival and assessment of many of brilliant students at our test sessions in 10 different locations. Mitantsoa is trained as an English teacher in one of Madagascar's most respected English universities and has years of volunteering experience. We could not be more fortunate to benefit from her commitment, integrity and positive spirit.
Marcelline, our no-nonsense assistant has been with us since late last year. She's already completed some big some big tasks: Conducting preliminary phone interviews for over 300 students and assisting me in interviewing those those selected to attend an exam session. Marcelline was not able to complete high school but watching her apply herself to new challenges is captivating. The effort she puts is very impressive, already she has become useful on a computer and is picking up some English from Myself, Mitantsoa and Rina.
Claire. Although not in Mahanoro I need to mention Claire. A fully qualified accountant working for KPMG in Auckland, Claire manages our finance and accounting, along with the many other tasks that need to be done from New Zealand. She was in Madagascar earlier this year, and aims to come over each year. Having volunteered for years, I don't know where we would be without her loyal assistance.
This example is about one of our members facilitating the donation of a range of sport uniforms from Sacred Heart College (SHC) in Glendowie to a sister school, Holy Cross College (HCC), on the island of Taveuni in Fiji.
Tricia Gerard, RCoSJ member, was in a meeting at SHC at which the future of sports uniforms with out-of-date colours & livery was discussed. When it was suggested they be disposed off Tricia offered to find them a new home. The uniforms included, rugby shirts, sports shorts, socks & rowing "zoot suits" - Tricia decided to include the latter as while HCC don't have a rowing team the suits could be cut up into two pieces of sports wear.
St Johns Rotary then contacted Geoffrey Amos of RC Taveuni who welcomed the donation of any sporting apparel & equipment and said the Catholic sister school of HCC would welcome such a donation.
Working quickly, ahead of her impending overseas vacation, Tricia had the uniforms boxed and delivered to Jenner Freight Worldwide (jenners.co.nz) for dispatch in the next container heading for Taveuni.
Subsequently a further two dozen pairs of shorts surfaced and Roger Goodman, RCoSJ member, has offered to take them with him when he flies to Taveuni, to redeem his Waiyevo raffle prize, in late September.
Interesting how the Rotary network works to everyone's benefit.
Donald Bowie submitted the above story as a good example of how Rotary can work. Do you have a story like this where a member of our Club is in the community doing good? If so don't hesitate to forward to the Bulletin Editor for inclusion in a future edition of the Bulletin. (email to Peter Walsh; walshp@xtra.co.nz
THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE: Most Rotarians have never attended a Rotary district conference. They have not experienced one of the most enjoyable and rewarding privileges of Rotary membership.
A district conference is for all club members and their spouses, not just for club officers and committee members. The purpose of a district conference is for fellowship, good fun, inspirational speakers and discussion of matters which make one's Rotary membership more meaningful. Every person who attends a district conference finds that being a Rotarian becomes even more rewarding because of the new experiences, insights and acquaintances developed at the conference. Those who attend a conference enjoy going back, year after year.
Every one of Rotary's more than 500 districts has a conference annually. These meetings are considered so important that the Rotary International president selects a knowledgeable Rotarian as his personal representative to attend and address each conference. The program always includes several outstanding entertainment features, interesting discussions and inspirational programs. One of the unexpected benefits of attending a district conference is the opportunity to become better acquainted with members of one's own club in an informal setting. Lasting friendships grow from the fellowship hours at the district conference.
An Englishman, a Scotsman, an Irishman, a Welshman, a Latvian, a Turk, a German, an Indian, several Americans (including a Hawaiian and an Alaskan), an Argentinean, a Dane, an Australian, a Slovak, an Egyptian, a Japanese, a Moroccan, a Frenchman, a New Zealander, a Spaniard, a Russian, a Guatemalan, a Colombian, a Pakistani, a Malaysian, a Croatian, a Uzbek, a Cypriot, a Pole, a Lithuanian, a Chinese, a Sri Lankan, a Lebanese, a Cayman Islander, a Ugandan, a Vietnamese, a Korean, a Uruguayan, a Czech, an Icelander, a Mexican, a Finn, a Honduran, a Panamanian, an Andorran, an Israeli, a Venezuelan, an Iranian, a Fijian, a Peruvian, an Estonian, a Syrian, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, a Liechtensteiner, a Mongolian, a Hungarian, a Canadian, a Moldovan, a Haitian, a Norfolk Islander, a Macedonian, a Bolivian, a Cook Islander, a Tajikistani, a Samoan, an Armenian, an Aruban, an Albanian, a Greenlander, a Micronesian, a Virgin Islander, a Georgian, a Bahaman, a Belarusian, a Cuban, a Tongan, a Cambodian, a Canadian, a Qatari, an Azerbaijani, a Romanian, a Chilean, a Jamaican, a Filipino, a Ukrainian, a Dutchman, a Ecuadorian, a Costa Rican, a Swede, a Bulgarian, a Serb, a Swiss, a Greek, a Belgian, a Singaporean, an Italian, a Norwegian and 2 Africans walk into a "fine dining" restaurant.
"I'm sorry" says the maître d', after scrutinizing the group. "But you can't come in here without a Thai".
...and a Pun or two contributed by our PE Robyn:
“I can’t believe I ate that whole pineapple!” Tom said dolefully. “That’s the last time I pet a lion” Tom said offhandedly. “I keep shocking myself” said Tom, revolted. “I’ve lost a lot of weight” Tom expounded. “I can’t get down from the mountain” Tom alleged. “Let’s lay a C, E, and G” said Tom’s band, in accord. “You call this a musical?” asked Les miserably.
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 then welcomed newish member Gavin Gilmer to address the members. Gavin shared his journey and what a life he has led! Looking very colourful in his yellow attire, keenly supporting Daffodil Day and the Cancer Society.
Next Meeting - Dinner Meeting - September 6th with Special Guest Speaker, Desley Simpson - Orakei Local Board Chairperson at Auckland Council - OUR COUNCILLOR!:
Beryl Robinson was born into a Rotary family, as her father Les Kirkham was a member of Rotary Club of Penrose for 40 years, and her mother Shirley has been a member of Probus for 20 years (including being President when aged 80!) Beryl joined the family of Rotary, firstly as a member of Howick Rotaract 1975-1978, and then stepped up to Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) 1977. 
Team
