Due to work commitments preventing President - elect Tom from attending the Perth District Assembly, he travelled to Kojonup on the weekend to attend the one being held there. Great effort from our incoming President who has also been very proactive recently running club forums in preparation for planning the year ahead.
Erin and Chris were busy last Thursday making a professional video for the Kenya program that will be used in our promotional booth at the Rotary International Convention, House of Friendship Exhibit Hall. The House of Friendship is the ultimate destination for attendees to gather, network and learn about Rotary programs and projects. Chris and Erin will be busy encouraging other Rotary Clubs to join our international collaboration to make a BIG impact through this program that has already delivered a Special Needs Unit and Ambulant Toilet Block in Kajiado County.
This plea led midwife Sara David to travel to a very isolated part of Papua New Guinea (PNG) south of the town of Wewak, the capital of the East Sepik province of PNG.
Most of the travel was via the Sepik River, one of the 10 largest rivers in the world. There are no roads.
What Sara saw was very confronting. High child and maternal mortality, and no access to any support.
Sara set up the charity Living Child Inc. in 2012 to provide support for communities through training midwives and other women who can diagnose potential difficult births, as well as help reduce the chances of infections occurring during and after giving birth.
Even with high infant mortality, some of the mothers surviving quite often complained that they had three babies to look after: “one in the belly, one on the hip, and one at my feet”.
Through the use of birth control implants, they are now able to choose when and how many children they have, they will be able to give birth safely and their children will have every opportunity to grow and thrive, all thanks to Living Child Inc.
Applecross Rotary has been a supporter of Living Child Inc. for a number of years, as has Melville Rotary. Our most recent grant has enabled a number of midwives to travel to a training workshop in Bali. Previous grants have provided clean water storage units and compostable toilets. Sara’s work has been recognised with a Paul Harris Fellowship, and the recent award of an Australian Honour, Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Sara David (left) with some other members of Living Child Inc. and some of the women it has trained.
About Living Child Inc.
The focus of its work is in the villages that make up the Keram River area of East Sepik Province. This area is some of the most remote and neglected by government services, in the country. It is renowned for it's wood carvings and the people are called the River People because they live on the many river systems that empty into the mighty Sepik River delta. The people are strong and resourceful, surviving on local produce of fish, wild pigs, cocoa, betelnut, coconuts and bananas. But, accessing basic services such as health, education, clean water and sanitation are severely impacted by poor infrastructure, a high-water table, no telecommunications and long travelling distances over difficult terrain.
Every year in June the Rotary Clubs of Melville and Applecross get together to put on an Art Show at the Westfield Booragoon Shopping Centre. The aim of the show is to:
"To encourage Artists and afford them the opportunity to exhibit their works to the public."
Our club once again will be hosting the Art Show at Garden City in conjunction with the Melville Rotary Club. This is a really important event and a major contributor to our club’s fund raising program. From memory this ranks third in income generation, behind the Jacaranda Festival and Perth Maker’s market.
The event is held over a full week (11th – 18th June) and our input is over 5 days.
It is an “ALL HANDS ON DECK” activity.
I have attached the roster and I would ask you to register the day / time you are in a position to attend. Timing is flexible in that this event spans days so one is not restricted to any specific time. There are mornings / afternoons / evening sessions and parts of each Also weekends.
Would appreciate you giving thought to times you can spare – complete and return this form.
I will be in attendance every day for most of each day.
One of the younger Assistant Governors from District 9455 apparently took his own life a fortnight ago … another of the never-ending statistics chalked up against fragile mental health issues. I gather that the family has strong community support to help them through this tragedy, but, as is so often the case, no-one was able to intervene in advance.
Please look out for those around us… small signs of disengagement from normal may be the only signal given.
Please take the time to check them out.
2. Meeting with Club Sponsors.
We held a very successful Club Sponsor meeting on Friday morning,and brought them up to date with plans for JF23, including that it will now be held on a Sunday. This will be the 6th year of our special relationship… Mont Realty, The Good Grocer, Pharmacy 777 and Ross North Homes… are all keen to stay with our community work and the JF in particular. In line with the very professional ‘project management’ style of event we run; it is essential to treat our relationships with key stakeholders in the same vein. Hence their continuity. The Sponsors are keen to have their contributions go towards local needy causes and we have suggested that they may like to propose some local ideas for us to consider.
3. Cluster Meeting with Melville, Attadale, Booragoon and Applecross.
Another successful get together of the 4 Zone 1 clubs, with a real spirit of working together for better community outcomes. Certainly, a quarterly combined clubs meeting with a strong theme or guest speaker is planned for 2023/4 with the first get-together a joint clubs DG visit on the 11th of Sept, as I recall. Attadale to arrange. Also, a willingness to support each other with projects and promoting the work that we do in our community. More to follow.
As another chapter closes for Rotary in Western Australia, District Governor Ric and the board of District 9465 invite all Rotarians to join them om June 17th at South of Perth Yacht club, to celebrate the achievements of the last 13 years as Rotary District 9465. Many Awards will be presented on the night, Applecross Rotary could be one so it will be really great if your club was there. The Charity Auction is aimed at raising funds of Australian Rotary Health, ROMAC and Clubs under the hammer of well-known Stock Auctioneer Chris Waddingham from Waddingham Rural Agencies.
The night will feature a two course sit down dinner with a cash bar , District Awards and Commendations and great dancing to the music of Darren Reid and the Soul City Band
The incoming chair of Australian Rotary Health will be there.
Tickets are priced at $120.00 per head or $1000 for a table of ten (Club Table) so book a table for your club and save $200.
So put on your dancing shoes and join us for a fun filled night of Rotary fun and fellowship as we celebrate and conduct one final service to Rotary in the true reflection of what has been an impressive era for clubs in the South West of our great state
we look forward to seeing you and your club on Saturday 17th June 2023
Applecross Rotary can also help by finding Auction items, a catalogue will be produces closer to the event. contact DG Ric with any ideas.
Wow! look at Kenn. Tipped 9 again this week and he is 12th overall in the MAIN COMPETITION. Can he keep it up?? Top tipper for the season will win $50,000.
Living Child Inc. is a charitable organisation that has developed out of a response to cries for help, and stories of suffering from the people in remote villages of the Keram River area in Angoram District, East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea. Applecross Rotary has supported this charity over a number of years and Sara will give us an update on how Living Child is 'making a difference' to providing health services for people in remote areas in New Guinea.
Erin and Chris were busy last Thursday making a professional video for the Kenya program that will be used in our promotional booth at the Rotary International Convention, House of Friendship Exhibit Hall. The House of Friendship is the ultimate destination for attendees to gather, network and learn about Rotary programs and projects. Chris and Erin will be busy encouraging other Rotary Clubs to join our international collaboration to make a BIG impact through this program that has already delivered a Special Needs Unit and Ambulant Toilet Block in Kajiado County.
