This was my university college’s motto - it means, Both the New and the Old.

 

And that’s what the capacity attendance at our recent meeting was treated to.

 

One of our older projects is called Wheatbelt and Beyond Youth Mentoring (WBYM) and its Club Champion is John Kelly.  It was originally named True Blue Dreaming and managed from Perth, but the decision was taken to transfer its management to the people who operated and benefitted from the project, and it has grown quite quickly ever since.  It is based in Bruce Rock and for many years Applecross Rotary has provided some of the funds necessary to link up country junior high school students with university student mentors.  These mentors provide advice and guidance to year 10 rural students at 6 local Junior High Schools regarding continuing their schooling to year 12, and maybe on to TAFE or university.  Janine Dayman, Deputy Principal at Bruce Rock Junior High School visited our recent meeting to express the sincere thanks of WBYM for our club’s support.

 

We were also treated to a return visit from two former Applecross Rotary Presidents, Melodie and John Kevan, both of whom also served a term as District Governor.

 

John spoke to us about his current club Mandurah Districts’s project in Sumba, an Indonesian island between Bali and the NW Coast of WA.  Its western half is famous for its surfing and luxury resorts, but the eastern part of the island is home to hundreds of quite poor villages which have virtually no facilities like clean running water and toilets.