Roger Thornton, D9820 DIK Chair and David Dippie, DIK and ESRAG Projects Chair alongside dental equipment bound for Tonga.I (President David) have done a couple of trips to Donations in Kind (DIK) over the month. At my last visit, David Dippie, Roger Thornton and I discussed a Dental project that would cover four Tongan schools. This project has been in the wind for over a year, however COVID put it on hold. I would like to see the Rotary Club of Berwick be part of this project, as we have done similar projects in Balibo, Timor-Leste and Honiara, Solomon Islands. If travelling allows, this can be a hands-on project for adventurous club members. I hear the fishing is pretty good over there!
The clinic buildings are being built within the grounds of four private schools. DIK along with dentist Dr David Goldsmith (RC Ballarat West) is putting together the equipment for these clinics as we speak. These private schools are building rooms to house a dental clinic for the use of the people surrounding each school.
The equipment is hoped to be shipped to Tonga in July and installed shortly thereafter. I am currently waiting for the full details so that I can inform the club, but I wanted to put it out there that we are not done with helping people outside Australia. The project is a registered RAWCS project: https://directory.rawcs.com.au/144-2005-06.
Our Club was involved with a similar project in Balibo, Timor-Leste and started with a dental project in 2015. We went on to help with a small convention centre to help build an economy in the village to support local food producers and local employment. That then grew into the Balibo Trails project to build tourism. COVID has put a bit of a dampener on all that, but the people have embraced the concepts and I think that Rotary has done a mighty job in the area.
Rotary has also been very active in education with supplies and equipment (desks and chairs, etc), school construction and recently with disaster relief after major floods in Dili. RCB donated $1000 for food and shelter relief for people who lost their homes. RCB Members have also picked up some of the computers, desks and chairs that have been shipped over to schools in Balibo. I think our club has been actively involved with DIK and other supporting Rotary Clubs, to deliver real help to the people of Balibo. It is now time to make a difference in another part of the world, while still keeping in contact with our friends in Timor-Leste.
I am very proud of our involvement with DIK. What started as a casual pickup of some desks and chairs from a local school, has led to significant help in some local RCB projects, as well as projects overseas. Locally we have been able to equip the Hallam Rotary and Senior College's Allied Health Training Centre (Read about it HERE) with $50,000 worth of medical equipment for free, as well as supply beds and equipment to Berwick College Wellness Centre and clothes for the homeless through Casey North Community Information and Support Services.
By promoting our work through social media, website and word of mouth, we have also created an opportunity to accept donations from the community, including $120,000 worth of medical mannequins used in training hospitals. We have barely scratched the surface of what our Club can achieve because we are too shy to talk about it, don't see a need to learn how to tell it, not confident to grow ways to deliver it and too nervous to go out and sell it.
The Rotary Club of Berwick is doing amazing work. Be a proud member and let your friends, family and business associates know that you are part of doing good in the world.
