Monday 8 April was a very special Club meeting as there were fantastic speakers, an international guest from Zurich in Erwin Carigiet, and the Club was very pleased to host guests from the Salvation Army's Building Bridges Programs.
Erwin very kindly exchanged a memento from his Rotary Club with Steve Wylie and gave an outline of his Club's program relating to immigration. It is great that rotarians from around the world feel comfortable as Erwin did, after seeing details about our Club on the website, to book to come along and join us at our meeting. We hope many more international rotarians and friends come along to our meetings.
Norman Gale from the Salvation Army and Sue Davis, who leads the pronunciation classes as part of the Building Bridges program, spoke enthusiastically about the the benefits of the program in assisting many people who are new to Australia and developing their language skills. They also referred to the assistance members of the Club have provided with mock job interviews for the language class participants. It was a thrill for the Club to be able host members of the program who have arrived in Australia from all across the globe.
Stephanie Cantrill and Gary Newton were our speakers on Monday 8 April and spoke about supporting polio survivors.
With a background in Occupational Therapy, Stephanie had many years’ experience working in rehabilitation settings in clinical roles, and completed a Masters of Public Health in 2010. Steph spent four years in India following this, working in a volunteer role with a community development project, then started her new role as Community Officer with Polio Australia in May 2018
Steph outlined the history and effects of polio, and also rotary's involvement in the project to eradicate polio. She referred to the establishment of Polio Australia in 2008 to assist survivors of polio in particular through education programs for health professionals and the community, presentations and web resources.
She was also most informative as to how Polio attacks the body, and the fact that some people with Polio can be infected, with not knowing, and only finding out years later when they develop symptoms of the Late Effects of Polio as many as 40 years after the infection
Gary Newton then gave an inspiring presentation of his own journey and experiences as a person who contacted polio as a very young child and now is a member of Polio Australia. He shared a video of how a rotarian, Sir Clem Renouf's idea about rotary assisting with a world wide health issue led to the development of the eradication of polio project in the 1970's. Gary also outlined his experience of polio and being handed over to a hospital in 1954 as a polio patient and referred to the challenges he faced as a patient, including the pain, sadness and surgeries.
However he considers himself as one of the lucky polio survivors mainly due to the available medical facilities in Australia. He spoke about how he concentrates on what polio has done for him and the gratitude he has for life. Gary has four children and six grandchildren and is thankful that they’re all protected against polio.
Polio survivors are the largest single group of individuals with a disability in Australia. If the world does not continue with the polio eradication program it will re-surface partly due to the anti-vaccine movement and hesitancy.
Gary works as a volunteer for Polio Australia who are working to encourage polio survivors to join the polio register https://www.australianpolioregister.org.au , and to ensure that they have access to the support and resources they need
Gary concluded the presentation by requesting continuing assistance and support for the eradication of polio program and support for polio survivors.
When visiting a school during a business trip to India some years ago, Rotarian Mark Balla noticed that there were primary school age children of both sexes, and young teenage males, but no teenage female students at all. When asked why, students explained that it was because there were no toilets for them.
In India, over 100 million students go to schools that do not have toilets. Lack of toilets prevents girls from attending school. Lack of education of girls perpetuates poverty.
Up to 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to proper toilets. 4000 children die every day due to diseases caused by poor sanitation, that's one child every 2 and a half minutes.
'We Can't Wait' founder Mark Balla will explain to the club meeting on 15 April how this realisation changed his life, and how addressing this basic need for people in the developing world became his life's mission.
Natasha Facci and Anne Josefsberg have been organising the participation of two students from Emmaus College whom the Rotary Club of Canterbury will sponsor at the forthcoming event to be held at Swinburne.
This international youth program simulates the workings of the United Nations Assembly by having two senior students from a number of schools represent a particular UN country. The students debate on matters of world political and social concern. The assembly is about building bridges of goodwill for world peace and understanding through a personal involvement in the acceptance of situations that reflect the opinion of ‘adopted’ countries which may be completely contrary to their own views.
Students are challenged by the opportunities of extended research, debating and public speaking skills by addressing a wide range of contemporary and world-focussed issues. The program extends over a weekend and it is chaired and judged by Rotarians.
District 9800 MUNA will be held at Swinburne University on the weekend 27th and 26th of April. All Rotarians and guests are encouraged to drop in, even for half an hour to witness the amazing and talented student selected for this event. Please refer to the flier below for more details.
I am participating in two fundraising walks in April and May. Most of us know someone who has suffered from melanoma or pancreatic cancer. I would love it if you could spare a few dollars for either cause.
On Easter Sunday I will be walking a section of Jay’s Longest Melanoma March. Jay Allen is walking from Adelaide to Sydney (2000 kms in 50 days) to raise funds for Melanoma Institute Australia. I am walking 24 kms of the 2000! Jay’s target is to raise $1 million for research to find a cure of melanoma. Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world. On average, 30 Australians will be diagnosed with melanoma every day and more than 1,200 will die from the disease each year. Did you know that it is the most common cancer in 15 – 39 year olds? (MIA website).
On Sunday May 5th I will be walking with friends as part of the Put your Foot Down annual Avner Pancreatic Cancer Foundation walk. Team ‘Walking for Wendy’ are raising funds for research whilst celebrating the life of our dear friend Wendy. Currently the 5 year survival rate for this disease is 9.8%. Despite being a top 5 cancer, Pancreatic Cancer receives a fraction of the funding of other top 5 cancers.
The Canterbury Rotary Club lunch usually meets bi-weeky 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.
SPECIALIZING IN ALL MUSCULO SKELETAL NEEDS INCLUDING SMALL SUPERVISED CLINICAL GROUPS
Visit our website surreyhillsphysio.com.au for more details of the treatment and services offered.
1/109 Union Rd, Surrey Hills VIC, 3127. We are located just south of the Surrey Hills railway station, with parking available in Peppercorn Lane, Union Road or Windsor Crescent.
With a background in Occupational Therapy, Stephanie had many years’ experience working in rehabilitation settings in clinical roles, and completed a Masters of Public Health in 2010. Steph spent four years in India following this, working in a volunteer role with a community development project, then started her new role as Community Officer with Polio Australia in May 2018
When visiting a school during a business trip to India some years ago, Rotarian Mark Balla noticed that there were primary school age children of both sexes, and young teenage males, but no teenage female students at all. When asked why, students explained that it was because there were no toilets for them.
Hi Rotary friends
