Our Last Meeting
Venue: Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: Ron Parker
Guests: Virginia Cossid, Brendon Kenny, David Short, Christina Way
Attendance: 19 members and 5 guests
President Trevor's Announcement
Trevor spoke about the importance and meaning of the 100 year anniversary of Armistice Day.....see short article later in bulletin.
He extolled everyone to attend next week's meeting with the DG which will be preceded by a Board meeting at 5pm. Christina Way and John Kikkert will be inducted.
Induction of Virginia Cossid
Jerry Casburn introduced Virginia for induction:
Virginia was born in Davao, Mindanao, the 10th of the 11 children in the family. She was sponsored by sister Rose Howland (known to many in the club) to migrate to Australia in Feb 1988. Before Virginia came to Australia she graduated Bachelor of Chemistry and worked in 3 different laboratories in the Philippines. Her first job here was on the Olympic Dam Project at Roxby Downs where she worked for a year and then moved to Adelaide and worked at Hamilton Laboratories. When the company was sold to Valiant pharmaceuticals, an American multinational company she was made redundant.
Virginia began volunteering in Filipino aged care, taking clients shopping and to church... many have no relatives here in Australia. While looking for a job she volunteered at Meals on Wheels and the op shop at Aggies Unley. Virginia was an angel of the day at the Hutt Street Centre, together with her husband David Short. They have a 21-year-old daughter. She recently retired as a Quality Control Chemist at Sherwin Williams.
Virginia has been assigned to the Community Services Committee, will be mentored by Wendy Andrews and bear the classification of Quality Control Chemist.
Virginia was welcomed enthusiastically into the club; husband David, also welcomed, was invited to participate in club activities.
.
Guest Speaker: Ron Parker - Youth Space....Subs in Schools
Bob Mills introduced Ron who had received a grant from our club to advance a skills project for his students. Ron explained that when working for the Department of Family and Youth Services he noted almost all the young offenders whom he was supervising were school drop outs by year 8/9. He decided to set up Youth Space.....from which he retired 8 weeks ago.....to keep vulnerable youths in a learning environment and off the streets.
The Subs in Schools allows students to explore the complex challenges of maritime engineering and hydrodynamics using coding and electronics as they design and build operational submarines. It is run nationwide from NSW and costs each school $1300 to participate. For this price an instructions manual and a heap of raw material is issued. A participating team must then construct a sub to a design of their own choice that can function. There is a larger number of private than government schools participating and some of the more advanced teams submit their contraptions for national judging.
His team of 6 comprised 2 Year 12, 3 Year 11 and 1 Year 10 students. Ron explained how the body of their sub had been produced using a 3D printer. Much fun was had bending brass and soldering components.....some of the instructions were difficult to interpret and occasionally dated. Ron displayed
the final product which had taken one lesson of 4-5 hours each week over 3 school terms to produce. Every 6 weeks there would be a critical analysis of progress and stringent time lines imposed when targets were falling short. And the team succeeded!
Good news is that the engine and propeller functioned well but the sub is yet to take to water. Next year it is intended to run the program again and get it damp. What was so good about this program is that it gave the kids a sense of achievement through team work. Further good news - one of the year 12 students who suffers from autism has got a job and the other is going on to further study. Youth Space is moving from Port Adelaide to the city.
Stephen Bone gave the vote of thanks and Ron was applauded.
.
Twas money well spent! Stephen is looking perplexed.....still trying to work out which bit fits where!
Spots.....the Jerry Casburn show.....he was on fire:
- A Group Study Exchange team of 5 from Kansas City Missouri (District 6040) is visiting SA from 12 March to 9 April 2019. The team comprises a social worker, software provider, bio dentist (good chance to get the teeth fixed) and 2 real estaters. Our club is responsible for accommodating, arranging vocational visits, and entertaining them from 12 -16 April. This is to reciprocate for Rose Linh Le who is our club's GSE rep to Kansas City. To date we have 3 volunteers, namely Trevor, Rhonda and Sorel, and need two more.
- A select few (very sophisticated) are attending the Independent Theatre production of Look Homeward Angel this Saturday.
- The next batch of Rotary shirts (ordered 5 at a time) is being assembled
- We are due to label the fabulous Langmeil wines in Tanunda at 10.30 am on Saturday.....a number of members offered to assist. There will be a BBQ afterwards. Club membership funds will benefit by $2000.
- RC Seaford is selling the highly edible Christmas cakes and puddings.....orders to Jerry
Pam Trimmer is desperate to get extra help from Rotarians for the Thrift Shop. Currently 4 volunteers are out of action with sickness/operations and some are away. One volunteer is doing 15 shifts a month to cover and Pam herself is filling in too much. If assistance cannot be found to get through to Christmas the shop may need to be shut 1 day each week.
The Finale
The cards were outstandingly chosen.....no one had the 3 of diamonds or the 4 of clubs...…the house wins again as it should.....please gamble responsibly and win occasionally. David M was happy that he had seen first hand (and counted) the 270,000 poppies in Canberra, but less happy at cracking a rib. Anniversaries abounded with Bob Laws and Valerie each one year younger on the 10th and 11th respectively, John Russell celebrating 56 years and Bob Mullins 57 years of marital bliss on the 17th and 18th respectively.
And the meeting finished LATE at 8.03 pm.
Remembrance Day by Trevor McGuirk
We are fortunate to be citizens of this country. Last Sunday was Remembrance Day and 100 years ago the armistice to end the World War 1 was signed. No doubt you saw some of the moving tributes and the ceremonies which were held not only in Australia but in other countries and in especially France.Over 60,000 young Australian men died in the first World War.
The Sunday Mail honored the 5522 of those who did not return home to South Australia by printing a collage of all their names as a cover to Sunday’s edition.
On Sunday I went to work at the Newton Recycling Depot and mentioned to the young workers that it was Remembrance Day and reflected on the bravery of those who volunteered to go to war. Men as young as my co-workers.
We have the radio on at work and at 11 AM, the Last Post was broadcast. There were 4 customers being served at the time and I said I think we should stop and be silent while the bugler sounded. It was special – 9 people standing, the fell silent - no bottles smashing or aluminum cans rattling. And most surprising was that no customers drove in at that time.
That was my Remembrance Day – I wonder what you did.
NOTICE BOARD
Annual General Meeting call for nominations......get excited
The Annual General Meeting of the Rotary Club of Unley Inc. will be held Tuesday 4 December 2018 at Damien on Fisher, 123 Fisher Street, Fullarton. The business of the meeting will include the election of the following officers to fill vacancies on the Board for the 2018-19 year:
- President (2020-2021)
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
|
- Director (International)
- Director (Community)
- Director (Vocational and Youth)
- Director (Membership)
|
Christmas celebrations at La Tombola - Partners event 
Tuesday 18 December 2018
Rotary News
Painting the way to peace
By Yesenia Uribe, Rotaract Club of Juárez Integra, Cuidad Juárez, Mexico
Members of the Rotaract Club of Juárez Integra in Cuidad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, by one of the 10 murals they painted in public spaces.
I have always been concerned about the situation in my city. Cuidad Juarez is sadly known for a high crime rate and violence related to drug trafficking which creates an atmosphere of insecurity.
I wanted to learn more about how I could implement peace in my community, so I applied to participate in a workshop called A Stronger Mexico: Pillars of Positive Peace organized by the Institute for Economics and Peace. I learned that peace starts in small communities and that we cannot think about global peace if we do not work on it from the roots.
Art for peace
I live in a city with many abandoned and vandalized parks. My Rotaract club decided to create peace murals in each park to unite communities through art and rehabilitate these common spaces. We needed to recover public spaces so the community has a place to gather in a healthy environment and coexist in parks that are in good condition.
At first, we were afraid to make a single mural. We thought it was going to be expensive. And our neighbors were apathetic. Many people didn’t want to help because they didn’t get something in return. But we were determined. We secured sponsors and some club members also contributed. After we painted one mural, we saw how easy it was – nobody could stop us.
Little by little, more participants joined us. First, it was our neighbors, and then other organizations and even local artists offered to paint murals. They saw the results of what we were achieving and wanted to be a part of it.
It took us practically a year to paint 10 murals. Each park’s mural has a different design, but they all focus on peace and leave a positive message.
What it takes to create lasting change
The project has had a huge impact on our community. Places that looked totally abandoned and vandalized have become meeting spaces for the community. We continue to rehabilitate parks and leave peace murals in each of them.
When I joined Rotaract I had a desire to do something concrete for the world. Thanks to the Positive Peace workshop, I learned a lot about how to use the tools at my disposal to achieve my goals. I learned that carrying out projects with lasting change doesn’t take much, only a firm conviction, clear objectives, and a good team.
I invite all young people to get involved in social projects, to be agents of change in your communities, and leave the world a better place than how we found it .Rotaract provides us with an impressive platform to bring our ideas to reality and to start generating innovative projects with great impact.
Yesenia Uribe is a member of the Rotaract Club of Juárez Integra in Cuidad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She is a social entrepreneur, concerned about the current situation in her country and her city.
