Last week’s speaker was Dr. Siraj Ul Haq presenting on his project, the Kalu Kotha Craft and Vocational Centre in a village not far from Islamabad in Pakistan.
Dr. Ul Haq described how he grew up in a village in Pakistan and how his father, an engineer, expected his sons to gain their professional qualifications overseas and then use them on their return to Pakistan to assist the local community. Later when Dr. Ul Haq’s father died, he inherited the family home, which he decided to gift to the local community as a facility for teaching the village girls and women Art and Craft skills, to increase their sense of self worth and self confidence. The centre is managed by a local woman with dressmaking and management skills and has been operating successfully for four years now.
“The village folk have accepted, even realized, the value of such a centre amongst them and that in itself is a big achievement in present day Pakistani society.” (A quote from the Centre’s Winter brochure edition July 2015)
Dr. Ul Haq has used his own money plus donations from friends in Australia to upgrade the facilities in the home and provided sewing machines, tables and chairs for the women to use. The next stage is to provide them with a more reliable electricity supply by installing solar panels on the roof and, to install a water tank to provide potable drinking water as the well on-site accesses water that has been tainted.
Although now a citizen of Australia, Dr. Ul Haq has maintained his connection with Pakistan and visits the village and the centre each year to make sure that it being well managed and maintained.
Our Club is looking to identify a Rotary Club in Pakistan close to the village and work with them to provide and install the solar panels and the water tank.
President’s thought for the week: “Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health. Occupation. And freedom in all just pursuits.” Thomas Jefferson
The Rotary International Convention will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on 10-14 June 2017. It will be a celebration of The Rotary Foundation's 100th Anniversary.
Register before 15 December for extra savings.
2. District Conference - 2017
Registrations for the District Conference can be made on the Conference Website:-
The District AGM will be held at the District Conference in Geelong next March.
Clubs are asked to submit any motions for discussion at this AGM to the District Secretary, Jeff Cluse,
by Friday 16 December 2016.
3. End Polio Now
District Governors Sam Camporeale and John Pohl invite you to attend a special pre-release of the movie "Hidden Figures" at the Piccadilly Cinema, O'Connell Street, North Adelaide on 5 February 2017 at 4pm.
Tickets - $20 per person
Movie trailer and booking details are in this weeks Rotiac
4. Long Table Lunch
The International Committee of the Gawler Rotary Club are organising a "Long Table Lunch" to be held on Saturday 11 March 2017.
All monies raised will be going to our Rotary partners, Interplast Australia & New Zealand, to assist with the cost for procuring some much needed medical equipment and/or training of local nursing staff in the Asia Pacific region, depending on how much money we raise.
Tickets are limited and are available for $80.00 which includes a glass of wine on arrival, 3 course long lunch and entry into our lucky ticket draw.
Held at Seppeltsfield Winery in conjunction with Owen Andrews Catering the scene will be set for an entertaining afternoon of food and friendship with a touch of cheeky auctioneering thrown in. All for a great cause, one of Rotaries best kept secrets - Interplast Australia & New Zealand.
For information or ticket sales please contact Rebecca Rigano on 0402 371315 or email rrigano01@bigpond.com
For the benefit of members, we will aim to give the Duty Roster a few weeks ahead - see below.
Responsibility
19 January 2017
26 January 2017
2 February 2017
Chairperson
Andrew Black
Di Lane
Attendance
Richard Jarrett
No Meeting
John Wotherspoon
Attendance
David Riggall
Di Lane
Hosting
John Campbell
Deborah Wotherspoon
Furniture
Phil Harding
Barry Grear
Furniture
David Rowe
John Karran
Invocation
Di Lane
Katrina Ball
Bottles/cans
Fred Field
Rob McLennan
Rotaract roster
Not required
TBA
Bread roster
TBA
TBA
Member's Corner
Chairman: Meet/greet speaker for the meeting; introduce and thank speaker. Preparation:- find details about the speaker prior to the meeting. Attendance: Set up reception table (attendance sheet; members list – re -payments; guest welcome sheet; money; wine raffle sheet); register member payments/ apologies/ guests. Hosting: Set up name badges display; welcome all at the door; ensure speaker and guests are introduced to appropriatepersons. Furniture: Flags; banner display; raffle balls; collection boxes; Rotary theme banner; gong and hammer; lectern position before and returned after the meeting. Computerset up – Connect to projector. Switch on. Hold function key & press F5 twice. Invocation: Recite Rotary or other invocation relating to Rotary and fellowship. Bottles/cans: Collect bags of bottles/cans at meeting and take to recycle centre for refund, pass refund and empty bags to David Rowe at next meeting. Members’ Corner: write for the Newsletter on a topic of your choice, particularly during the 3 weeks you appear here on the roster, but also anytime you have something to say. Rotaract, Church, Bread roster: Roster is for the Sunday/Monday after the meeting date. Rotaract: Meets alternate Mondays at 6pm (for a 630pm start) at the General HavelockHotel in Hutt Street. Bread: Sundays, meet outside Romeo's, North Adelaide at 4:55pm
Members rostered for Thursday morning duty are asked to be in attendance by 6.45am
For good food, for good fellowship and the opportunity to serve through Rotary, we give thanks
Rotary Club of Adelaide Light Mission Statement
To be recognised as the Service Club of Choice in the Eastern Precinct of Adelaide because we are a Friendly Breakfast Club that appeals to a broad range of busy people who want to make a difference to local and international communities.
