A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy early Wednesday, killing more than 120 people and trapping an unknown number beneath rubble. Tremors were felt as far away as Rome, 100 km (65 miles) southwest of the quake's epicenter.
International disaster relief agency and Rotary International project partner ShelterBox is sending a response team from its headquarters in the United Kingdom to the remote mountainous area of Italy where the destruction is most severe. The response team will arrive Friday, 26 August, to assess the area's needs.
Luca Della Volta, president of ShelterBox Italia,...
Legendary singer and polio survivor Donovan Leitch, better known simply as Donovan, has joined Rotary in its fight to eradicate the paralyzing disease that afflicted him during much of his childhood.
Donovan contracted polio at age three in Glasgow, Scotland. The disease weakened his right leg and left it thinner and shorter than the other. Confined to his bed for much of his childhood, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer said his father would read him poetry.
In a recent interview with the Daily Express, Donovan said that listening to poetry piqued his interest in creative writing. “If I...
Rotary's fourth World Polio Day celebration, on 24 October, will highlight extraordinary progress in the eradication campaign and emphasize the work that remains before we wipe out the virus for good. With the number of new cases worldwide nearly halved from this time last year, we have the opportunity to rally our resources and see the last case of polio this year.
Health officials and Rotary's celebrity polio ambassadors will head to Atlanta, Georgia, USA, for the event, the first to be held at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It will be streamed live and then will...
The way Rotary member Todd Jenkins puts it, he's the first generation in his family "to do everything": first to go to college, first to fly on a plane, first to visit another country, and the first to live across state lines.
Jenkins, 28, grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. His family worked hard just to make ends meet. So travel and college seemed out of reach.
The eldest of ten children, Jenkins says his goal was to break out of the family status quo and set a positive example for his siblings. He credits his mother with helping him avoid falling into the...
The World Health Organization has confirmed two cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Nigeria, the first cases in the country since July 2014. After passing a year without a case of the wild poliovirus, Nigeria was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in September 2015. These cases – from two local government areas of Borno state – occurred in July 2016.
The Government of Nigeria – in partnership with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – will take immediate steps to respond quickly to the outbreak to prevent further spread of the disease. This response will include...
Tonight the meeting was privileged to meet our NYSF Candidate Lachlan Bevan from Berwick College. Lachlan is currently in year 11 and has a pilots license. Oh and he loves science. Lachlan was head hunted with the help of our old mate Roger Hall (RC Narre Warren) and Assistant Principal Mark Woodbridge (Berwick College). Mark did a great job making sure that Lachlan got his paperwork done on time!
I had worded Lachlan up on how our Club are full of encouraging members and he should just take it as it comes. He was not disappointed. Lachlan gave a short speech followed by some ground breaking questions from the floor. I was impressed by the many members who came up to Lachlan afterwards and gave him some great words of encouragement.
A year or two ago PP Gus Dominguez organized a pickup of some desks to go to Rotary Donations in Kind (DIK) from a local school. Since then, our club has been involved with several more pickups with another coming up in September (if you are available).
Last year with the prodding from David Dippie from DIK and ditto from District 9820 DIK Chair Roger Thorton (RC Pakenham), our Club became involved with the Balibo Dental Clinic. The combine efforts of the Rotary Clubs of Keilor, Port Melbourne , Pakenham, Carlton and Berwick as well as Rotary International have brought this project into reality. The Trust has also received support from Peter and Ruth McMullin and Ellerston Capital.
On the 24th of August the Clinic was opened with Dr David Bladen ready to start work. It will be a slow process to get going as the clinic will rely on volunteer dentist from Australia in the short term. There has been no dentists in this area ever, so this is a great start. More info: http://balibohouse.com/dental-clinic-nearly-ready/
Our Club works very hard throughout the year to earn money for charity. It is always great to receive a thank you for donations made as they are recognition of the hard work done by YOU.
This week St John of God and Life Education sent letters of thankyou for donations made. PP Jim Wilson also spoke on behalf of the 4C’s of which he is the current Chair to thank the Club for their donation.
The Board of the Rotary Club of Berwick faces a challenging task each year to allocate funds to the many charities it has on its list. There is never enough to go around but thanks to the members of the Rotary Club of Berwick, we have been able to make a few people very happy.
Over the few weeks, Rotary Exchange student Lisa has been giving us “German Word of the Week”. Lisa has gone out of her way to find obscure words with no clear translations into English. You have to admire Lisa’s dedication to stretching our old and tiring minds around such conceptual words.
Now Sergeant Darius has felt the need to extend our range of understanding into Polish. Needless to say we probably learnt more than we needed to, but I do admire his need to enter into completion with Lisa! We are in for a fun year with the Sergeant I am sure….
August is Membership Month, which means it’s time to celebrate your Rotary club, your members, and the good you do in your community and around the world.
There are many ways to join in the celebration, but here are a few activities to get you started:
Say it loud, say it proud! Let everyone in your social network know that you are a proud member by changing your Twitter and Facebook profile to the I’m a Proud Member graphic Copy and save the graphic as your profile picture for August. Go on, give it a go.
Watch and share. Download RI President Gary C.K. Huang’s video on membership from Rotary’s Vimeo page. Watch it at your next meeting or club event to highlight the vital role membership plays in maintaining a strong and active club.
Exchange ideas. Do you have successful membership strategies that have worked well in your community? Share them on the Membership Best Practices Discussion Group. You will need to log into MyRotary to join this group.
We Are Rotary. Using the hashtag #WeAreRotary, post photos to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram of your club members at work in your community or abroad to show how Rotary makes a positive impact in the world.
Making a difference. Rotary clubs are known for the high-impact service projects they undertake locally and globally. Share stories about your service projects and how they improve lives on Rotary Showcase. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see what Rotary members around the world are doing to celebrate Membership Month.
What does Rotary mean to you? Rotary members have pushed polio to the brink of eradication, delivered clean water to those in need, improved their local communities, provided scholarships to the next generation of peacemakers, and continued to do good in the world.
Well a new kid is on the block as the Guest Bulletin Editor this week.
I have been pondering whether I should be doing a bad job so I will never have to do it again, a sort of alright job, just to leave my options open or a great job just so I can say no thanks later on.
Only you, my encaptured audience can be the judge!
So you are a new member to Rotary looking to get started or maybe even an old member of Rotary stuck in a pigeon hole. What can you do to get a buzz out of being a Rotarian?
Rotary is full of opportunities to learn new skills and explore new ideas and ways of thinking. Your own established skills are tools to help you contribute to towards a Rotary objective but they can also be skills that might be useful to fellow Rotarians. Sharing is caring as they say so get involved.
Rotary is more than just doing good in the world. It is about building better people as well as better communities. We can give to ourselves with skills, friendship, belonging and respect while we give to the wider community and beyond.
So, you want to get more out of your Rotary Club of Berwick experience? Easy. Find the Rotarian that interests you the most and go and talk to them. Put the word out where your interest lies, what skills you have, what you want to achieve what you can contribute. Talk to someone else the next week and so on. Sooner or later things will happen for you. Sitting in the corner waiting for something to happen won’t make your time in Rotary very happy or productive. Almost all Rotarians are great people once you get to know them, but you have to make that little bit of effort. Next stop: THE WORLD.
Let’s all support Australian Rotary Health and be committed to their project ‘Lift the lid on Mental Illness’.
Sadly mental illness is a huge problem in all of our communities. All Rotary Clubs in District 9820 should have received a package containing promotional brochures and stickers which we hope will get out into your communities. Many clubs already support this wonderful project by having an evening for ‘Wear a Hat’ which is celebrated on Friday, 7th October. Whatever night your club meets near that date, would be a great time to ask all Rotarians and friends to ‘wear a hat’. It would be great if all clubs in the District would participate.
Please support ‘Wear a Hat’ and lift the lid on Mental Illness by having a special night at your club.
For more information, please contact John Renowden at jamaren@bigpond.net.au or head over to http://hatday.com.au/
Tonight the meeting was privileged to meet our NYSF Candidate Lachlan Bevan from Berwick College. Lachlan is currently in year 11 and has a pilots license. Oh and he loves science. Lachlan was head hunted with the help of our old mate Roger Hall (RC Narre Warren) and Assistant Principal Mark Woodbridge (Berwick College). Mark did a great job making sure that Lachlan got his paperwork done on time!
A year or two ago PP Gus Dominguez organized a pickup of some desks to go to Rotary Donations in Kind (DIK) from a local school. Since then, our club has been involved with several more pickups with another coming up in September (if you are available).
Our Club works very hard throughout the year to earn money for charity. It is always great to receive a thank you for donations made as they are recognition of the hard work done by YOU.
Over the few weeks, Rotary Exchange student Lisa has been giving us “German Word of the Week”. Lisa has gone out of her way to find obscure words with no clear translations into English. You have to admire Lisa’s dedication to stretching our old and tiring minds around such conceptual words.
August is Membership Month, which means it’s time to celebrate your Rotary club, your members, and the good you do in your community and around the world.
Well a new kid is on the block as the Guest Bulletin Editor this week.
So you are a new member to Rotary looking to get started or maybe even an old member of Rotary stuck in a pigeon hole. What can you do to get a buzz out of being a Rotarian?
Let’s all support Australian Rotary Health and be committed to their project ‘Lift the lid on Mental Illness’..jpg)
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