Speakers were Sophie Empson, one of our new NYSF Students, & Cathy Booth, who set up, and runs the Umoja Orphanage in Kenya.
The meeting was chaired by Bernie, shown here giving the toast to Australia
Gerry, seen here making a good point, gave the International Toast to the Rotary Clubs of China
President Chris welcomed our guests and proceeded with the President's Report
Thanks to the members who worked the BBQ at Baringa last Sunday - patronage was poor but we were paid $500 to be there
There is a very happy sausage eating dog out there somewhere
The board meeting was attended by eleven
James has come forward to be President Elect. We are very thankful to James, and the rumors about his arm being very sore are, of course, completely untrue
Thanks also to Kath for stepping forward as our new Youth Director
We will be having a Club Assembly soon to discuss operational issues for next Rotary year.
Sophie Empson - Pacific Lutheran College gave the "Why I wanted to attend NYSF" talk
The National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) has been operating for over 30 years and its aim is to encourage young Australians to be the next generation of leading scientists, engineers and mathematics experts supporting a sustainable future for our nation. Students moving into Year 12 who wish to follow careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are introduced to research and researchers and encouraged to achieve excellence in their undertakings by helping to develop their communication and interpersonal skills
Sophie is about to start Year 12, and her dream career is to be a doctor. As she said, we are still far away from fully understanding how the body works. We will be interested to see what she can discover when she sets her mind to finding out more. She is already discovering the networking opportunities around NYSF after being met at USC with last years students, attending a function at Government House, and making new friends. She is already feeling "part of a family". We look forward to her report after attending the forum.
Cathy Booth was our second speaker, and spoke about the Umoja Orphanage, Kenya
(I've copied and pasted the promotional information, so you may skip the next couple of paras if you have already read it)
Cathy Booth’s passion for helping to give vulnerable children a second chance at life is inspirational. As a school teacher, mother of four, and grandmother of four, Cathy has always been an advocate for helping children to reach their full potential. After a short visit to Kenya in 2010, Cathy returned to Australia determined to start her own charity to combat child abandonment and orphaned children. In 2016, after five long years of fundraising in Australia and creating the required infrastructure in Kenya, her dream of opening a self-sustainable children’s village in Ukunda, Kenya was finally a reality. Hear the difficulties of running the Umoja Project in a poverty stricken area of Kenya.
Cathy will speak about how Umoja is so much more than just a children’s home. Umoja is a project which also helps the community, and how the support of Rotary and Rotarian Volunteers, has helped her team truly achieve the extraordinary while Cathy has continued to work full time up until the end of June this year in her profession, whilst overseeing the project from Australia. Cathy returns to Kenya twice a year to take Rotary Volunteers and other volunteers to the project. We hope that you will see how determination, persistence, and passion have made this project what it is today. Cathy hopes she can be your inspiration
Cathy is a shearer's daughter from Charleville, and she has known hard times, but a visit to Kenya in 2011 changed her perspective of what a "hard time" was, and her life changed forever when she decided to do something about it. She helped out at existing institutions at first, but it was not enough, and she decided to work towards her own answer. She has seen things she can't unsee.
On behalf of her newly minted charity, she brought 15 acres of land in a rural Muslim community. From the beginning she wanted to involve the community and share knowledge. It took five years to build the first house, and she still owes $25,000. So far she has been helped by 130 volunteers, mostly Rotarians. Impressive statistics include 2500 people given first aid at their clinic; 38 locals trained in agriculture; six acres under cultivation; 800 chickens; and a safari business. There are 12 children housed, eleven in school.
Bernie and Chris thanked Carol
For photos of some of the slide show and the rest of the meeting click here.
(The photos of some of the children they have helped will bring a tear to your eye.)
Directors
Judy reported on the lunch for Rotary's exchange students;
Presentations of Burseries - If you have connections at any of the schools, let the Youth Director know.
Deb has chased up what became of our long lost tranquility garden at the Caloundra Hospital
Sgt Merv cut loose in his normal fashion.
Roger - I had my next door neighbor banging on my front door at 3:00am last night - What a cheek!
... Luckily I was still up playing my bagpipes.
And the Christmas party ... "Can I just turn up?" (Answer = No)
Don't forget to bring a cheap gift next week. Let's see how cheap you guys really are!