The best is yet to come…

We had an unforgettable Christmas in July meeting last Friday which filled us with a rich variety of emotions. The rainy weather, the Christmas carols the decoration and the number of special guests that we had, kept us in the room in a warm and “homely” atmosphere of fellowship even after the end of the meeting and for more than half an hour!

Our meeting started with the re-induction of Darren Perera to our Club, past President and past Secretary of the Rotary Club of Joondalup. Darren was welcomed with warmth and enthusiasm as he is already “on duty” having been appointed Secretary of Perth Rotary.

 

What someone would expect to hear from Steve and Dorene Caroll would be a presentation about malaria, a well-known but also forgotten disease for most of us. Instead, Steve and Dorene offered us an exciting journey. A journey of life!

 

They started from the bombing of Laos  where from 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos during 580,000 bombing missions—equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years – making Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history… Many organisations joined forces after the war either to clean the mines or to provide basic welfare to the suffering population of the country, and Steve was actively participating in this effort till the loss of his daughter to malaria in 1999 in one of his trips with her in SE Asia. After that family tragedy, Steve and Dorene committed themselves to the fighting of this terrible disease which kills every year 4 times the number of Hiroshima victims. In 2013 only the deaths from malaria were between 500,000 and 726,000.

 

The presentation left us with a smile of hope for the future when Steve and Dorene told us that the Malaria Vaccine Project “PlasProtecT” is in progress with the malaria vaccine being currently clinically tested. The further trial in malaria endemic countries requires funding though and while Rotary has been a great supporter and contributor of this endeavour, more funds are needed. Project details for your donations can be found at malariavaccineproject.com 

 

A much awaited “Meet the Members” session unfolded the Rotary history of past President Ray Della-Polina. Past President Ray travelled us back in time to the year he joined Rotary and to the year of his Presidency in Perth Rotary. He spoke to us about the reason that connects him with Bali and he invited our Club to visit Bali again as we had done a few years ago for the “Bali project” with the sister Rotary Club of Seminyak.

 

Wendy Campbell continued with the District’s Global Citizen project, a very important Rotary endeavour reflecting to youth and aiming to engage international students in Perth in the local community, while assisting with their personal and professional development through the linking of appropriate career mentors. 

 

Last Friday, I was very pleased to hear from some members that they really enjoyed our Christmas in July meeting.  It was a very special meeting indeed, however our plans for this year show that the best is yet to come for our Club!