I'm finding that the life of a Rotary president is very busy. There is a significant amount of behind-the-scenes work, but it leads to positive interaction with Rotary Club members from many clubs, as well as the general community. Last week I attended a Citizenship Ceremony, photos from which are below, as well as food packing for FORaMEAL, answered numerous emails and am trying to study up on Rotary bureaucracy. I congratulate every one of you who has fulfilled the President’s role in the past, especially those who have done it more than once. Hopefully I'm not deterring others from accepting the position.
FORaMEAL has been very active, with packing at Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College, in collaboration with Camberwell Rotary last week. Tuesday we took a trip to Emerald in the Dandenong Ranges, and this was an interesting one. I have occasionally been helping Nora with her background work for FORaMEAL. Nora is to really be congratulated again for her work behind the scenes. There are approximately 24 boxes filled with “things” and every one of those boxes must be washed and dried after use. There's also a lot of organisation required in setting up the schools and Rotary clubs etc. that we aren't privy to so, we need to be very grateful to Nora, and Doug, of course, for this project.
The big discussion points this week is whether we host an exchange student. Last week I became aware of an exchange student who is in limbo at the moment, after one club had offered to help, but weren't able to find a host family because most club members people felt they were too old! Alan has very generously offered to host him, and Michael Stillwell and I will probably do it as well, but if there is anyone in the club who could think about it or even do more than that by offering to host this boy, or even help with holidays or weekends, we would be very grateful. This kid apparently is an elite athlete of Olympic standard.
The next item of course is our New Members Night on 25th May. This is going to be a special night. We will have special speakers, have drinks and cheese on arrival, Pam's fantastic grazing platter for dinner with salad, and then sweets afterwards. Wine will be supplied by the club! Hopefully your partners and friends of Rotary can attend!
The next discussion point is changeover on Monday 29th June. You should all have received your invitations. There is a RSVP date for the bookings, so please follow the instructions, thank you
And then in a month from now we will be having our birthing kits packing. I will discuss this in greater detail closer to the date and I'm really hoping that you will take part. This is an extremely valuable project, which helps reduce the maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality in third world countries. It will also be a time for fellowship, chatting while you fold up gloves. No babies involved!
We were enlightened last Monday by the presentation by Amanda Donohoe, CEO of Servants Housing and also Jordon Hansen, the recently appointed engagement manager.
Amanda indicated that many of the residents do not easily fit anywhere but they require accommodation. The residents may have mental health, depression, alcohol or drug issues, have been recently released from prison or are disengaged from their family. Some members of the community in these circumstances end up in privately run rooming houses which have a varied history and some fortunately find their way to Servants Housing.
Amanda has over a period of 20 years worked, with breaks in between, in various roles at Servants Housing having been appointed CEO in 2017. She has observed the nature of the services and residents change significantly over that period particularly with the closure of a number of mental health facilities. With the support of many organisations Servants Housing has been able to open a house only for women - this has been a great step forward.
Servants are endeavouring to expand with an additional purpose-built facility. Getting the appropriate land is a challenge as to is securing the funding.
Jordan spoke about events that are held to reach out to community and business organisations to encourage them to become involved with Servants.
Many thanks to Amanda and Jordan for joining us to provide an insight into the great work that is done to assist members of the community.
Presentation title: Black holes and spacetime and gravity, oh my!
Black holes are one of the most extreme kinds of objects in the universe. They create regions where gravity is so powerful that not even light can escape! They are windows into the true nature of gravity itself, and have revealed a cosmos far stranger than Newton, or even Einstein, ever imagined. Lurking in the centre of our very own Milky Way galaxy is a supermassive black hole, 4 million times the mass of the Sun, and we only really saw it for the first time in 2022. So, how much do we really understand about the darkest corners of our universe?
Mallika Sinha is a PhD student studying astrophysics at Monash University, where they research gravitational waves and the black hole collisions that produce them. They completed a double degree with Honours in mathematics and physics at the Australian National University, and have worked at Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre, communicating complex science to public audiences. Mallika is a member of Ozgrav and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration.
On Wednesday, 6 May we had an event with the RC Camberwell members and friends at the Canterbury Girls’ Hall. It was sure a different scene this time. The truck was visible and parked right near the entrance. The only down sides were the rain, that persisted through out the night and the smaller number of packers than expected. Our team was not to be deterred and were soon into the swing of the packing action. 11,130 meals were packed. Sparkey Clarkey was in his element taking pics and adding laughter.
Thanks Alan, David, Rob, Karin, Ant, Helen, Pat, Kylie, Steve, Jill and Elizabeth for your contributions and efforts on the night. Thanks, are also extended to the RC Camberwell team for the lovely nibbles and light meal that was shared by all.
On Tuesday 12 May a small team travelled to Clematis with all the action being at the Paradise Valley Hotel with the RC Emerald & District members and friends. The group of 52 packed 11,600 meals.
A lovely dinner was served prior to the event. It appears that hotels maybe the best for these events!
Thanks to Doug for the usual gathering of all the requirements and bringing it all and President Jill, Kyle, Paul, Craig and Nora for your contributions and efforts. A big thank you to Craig for responding to the grovel email. We just could not have done it without such a fantastic team. Hope you have all recovered.
P.S for the RMIT saga – The parking access requiring the dropping of the bollards was due to miscommunication between the security staff of RMIT and the external contractors. I’m still receiving request from students to put their names on a list for next year – again maybe…..
The District 9800 Governor has provided advice about Rotary's Epic Day of Service.
On Saturday 16 May Rotary world-wide is undertaking the Epic Day of Service to be visible in our local communities by either running an event or supporting a local event. It is a chance to be seen by our local community and show what we do.
The Canterbury Rotary Club lunch group usually meets bi-weekly at 12.30 for a meal and some fun.
David Zrna looks after the reservations for the lunch group. Please contact David at david.zrna@canterburyrotary.org or on 0467033092 to advise that you will be coming to a lunch.
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