St Johns Rotary actively connects with communities locally and globally. Our members are men and women ranging from young professionals to the more experienced and are a group diverse across backgrounds and cultures joined together with a passion for community service and friendship. The achievements of the club members, often joined by family, are significant and appreciated by the community at large. Members are encouraged to include family and friends in club activities.
Its a short week and like most of us, I am looking forward to a decent break over Easter.
Glendowie College Interact Club first fundraising project is well underway. If you are thinking of buying Easter Bunny chocolates or Easter eggs, please consider buying from the Interact Club as all proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards their first project - Oxfam water project.
Our Club’s next event will be the ANZAC Day Breakfast on 25 April 2017. It will be at Remuera Golf Club, 9am and proceeds from the morning’s breakfast will be going to RSA Auckland.
Please remember too, that there will be NO MEETING on 27 April 2017.
This Thursday, we will hear from Zac Colborne. He may have enough time to show us the film "On the Backs of Women" to highlight the poverty in Myanmar. http://backawoman.com
We had 2 teams at the recent Cure Kids $10 Queenstown Challenge. David with Emma (Super Mario Brothers) and Frances with Michelle (Orange is the new black). We are so proud of our 2 teams raising in excess of $280,000 plus along the way.
A former RYLA participant and current member of Newmarket Rotary, Loren spoke about her involvement with Neustros Pequeños Hermanos New Zealand (NPHNZ). Neustros Pequeños Hermanos is Spanish for ‘Our Little Brothers & Sisters’. NPHNZ is an organisation which helps over 3000 children in Latin American who have been orphaned, abused or abandoned. It was started in the 1960s by a Priest in Mexico. NPHNZ supports nine orphanages through fundraising initiatives here.
Loren grew up on the North Shore and had qualified as a secondary school teacher, teaching French at Sacred Heart. Her volunteer stint with NPHNZ found her choosing a posting to Honduras, news of which she broke to her shocked parents merely weeks before she was due to leave! Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world and Loren reported that many people living there were attempting to leave. There is no social security which means many families and especially children have a very difficult time surviving without work. Particularly for young men, work options are very narrow and mostly involve carrying guns, for example entering the drug trade, joining a gang, becoming a security guard, or joining the police or army.
NPHNZ takes children who have a very difficult life and gives them completely different options. Loren explained the organisation in Honduras provides for approximately 400 children and had around 10,000 km of land utilised for a farm, orchid, school, trade school and medical clinic. They grow produce and provide education for children who would otherwise fall through the gaps and end up on the streets. They support children into University and she spoke of two doctors currently working at their Honduras clinic who had been supported by the organisation and then returned to work for them.
Loren extended her time in Honduras into two years, teaching English at the middle school level. She was able to show us a video and photographs of some of her favourite students, whose progress she is still fondly following. On her return to NZ Loren resumed teaching but realised her time in Honduras had helped her to understand that happiness comes through helping others, which led her to become the director for NPHNZ.
This week was a nice and a busy week. I went to a RYE Information evening in Papakura, did few Athletic and Hockey trainings. At the weekend I had a trial championship with the First eleven School Hockey team, I played two of the three games, which where Saturday and Sunday early in the morning.I was so happy to play after a while again Hockey and I played also pretty well. We lost all games but improved in the team gameplay.
Sunday after my last game were my muscles really saw and at lunch time some relatives of my hostfamily came around to celebrate Zach's (Allan and Sue's grandson) 6th Birthday. And we went to the Warrior game against the Eels. They WON after a while again!!!
Henning's Fact for the week:
Germany is one of the world's leading book nations – publishing around 94,000 titles every year. It's also where you'll find international book publishing's most import event, the International Frankfurt Book Fair. The facts are perhaps not suprising, seeing the Gutenberg press – a revolution in the printing world using movable type – was invented in Germany. Also, the earliest known magazine to have been published was the Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen, which was started by German poet and theologian Johann Rist.
Henning's phrase for the week:
“You only live once. But if you play Hockey, once is enough....!”
Starring: Larry Morris, Fiona McDonald, Shane Cortese, Mike Chunn, Peter Urlich, Jordan Luck and many more will be taking the stage, to celebrate difference and recognize talent and courage with songs like - I Feel Good, Why Does Love Do This To Me,Let’s Think Of Something, Stuff And Nonsense, Blackbird, Rust In My Car.
We aim to, not only raise community awareness for Autism but, to also provide funds for Autism NZ’s Employment Program a program that assists people with autism to find suitable, paid employment in mainstream settings.
Venue:Sacred Heart College Auditorium, 250 West Tamaki Rd, Glendowie
Date: Saturday 13 May 2017
Time: 6pm for festive family food and refreshments (cash)
7pm Doors for show (with intermission concludes by 10pm)
We are the greatest! People are flocking to our membership because of this but there is more to our club than that. We WANT people just to know more about us because, yes we like new members, but also YES we like people to support our projects by taking part, to be sponsors and to refer others to us.
You can help very easily! Really, it is so easy.
First you 'Like' our club Facebook page - even if you have Facebook and don't use it much / at all. To do this click on the big blue " f " to the left.
Second, as you see posts from the club - and they will be interesting - you can 'Share' these (the 'Share' is at the bottom of each post) and, this is important, if you can just add your own personal 'take' or thoughts about the post to the top - all will be obvious when you do this.
In Sharing you are telling a whole new bunch of people about our club and because the Share comes from you, they will read it because the trust YOU.
President Elect Peter Buchanan presented the Club's objectives and plan for 2017/18 titled ' Looking Ahead To: 1 July 2017 – 30 June 2018. Peter provided some background to the establishment of a new committee - the 'Environment and Science Committee'. Peter referred to Ian Riseley, Rotary International President-Elect and the 2017/18 presidential theme of Rotary: Making a Difference stating that ''the time is long past when environmental sustainability can be dismissed as not Rotary’s concern. It is, and must be, everyone’s''.
The new vision includes a new committee setup "Environment & Science" which amongst other projects will be:
Environment - Acting Locally
Restore Motutapu Island - weeding, planting, renovation and painting
Restore Waiatarua Reserve - annual planting
Clean up Tamaki beaches
School involvement in Trees for Survival Program
Environment - Acting Globally
Our club is also one of the first few clubs to be inducted into The Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG). http://esrag.org/
Sciences
National Science & Technology Forum - D9920 coordination
Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka Awards - Auckland Region coordination
The Board of Directors for 2017/2018 are as follows:
The Club meets Thursday for breakfast at 7am for 7.15am start except for the first Thursday of the month, when the Club meets in the evening at 6pm for dinner
Venue is the Remuera Golf Club, 120 Abbotts Way, Remuera, Auckland, 1072, New Zealand.
All Rotarians are welcomed including Rotarian family members.
Others wanting to visit are most welcome to contact Peter Walsh walshp@xtra.co.nz to arrange an invitation.
Be an active participant in our vibrant club
Did you join Rotary to do good things in the community?
Below are some of the opportunities you can take part in. You do not have to be a member of the committee organising these to go to the director and / or project team leader and offer to take on a role. In most cases you can include family and friends. Enjoy you Rotary: Be an active Rotarian.
Meetings are an enjoyable time for socialising/networking, planning and some learning
Partners, family and friends are always welcome but if possible please let Club Service Director know for numbers (don't want to run out of the great food). Of course, evening meetings with the high-profile speakers are an especially ideal time to invite people.
If you are rostered for any duty, but unable to undertake the duty due to absence, it is your responsibility to arrange for another member to step in and undertake your duty in your absence. This cannot be the individual rostered as “On the Day Standby”. Everyone’s cooperation in this regard will be much appreciated.
We had 2 teams at the recent Cure Kids $10 Queenstown Challenge. David with Emma (Super Mario Brothers) and Frances with Michelle (Orange is the new black). We are so proud of our 2 teams raising in excess of $280,000 plus along the way.
A former RYLA participant and current member of Newmarket Rotary, Loren spoke about her involvement with Neustros Pequeños Hermanos New Zealand (NPHNZ). Neustros Pequeños Hermanos is Spanish for ‘Our Little Brothers & Sisters’. NPHNZ is an organisation which helps over 3000 children in Latin American who have been orphaned, abused or abandoned. It was started in the 1960s by a Priest in Mexico. NPHNZ supports nine orphanages through fundraising initiatives here.
This week was a nice and a busy week. I went to a RYE Information evening in Papakura, did few Athletic and Hockey trainings. At the weekend I had a trial championship with the First eleven School Hockey team, I played two of the three games, which where Saturday and Sunday early in the morning.I was so happy to play after a while again Hockey and I played also pretty well. We lost all games but improved in the team gameplay.
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