It's so nice to see you . . . .

Back at Kooyong after such a long break.

Did you enjoy PDG Dennis Shore’s reminiscences last week?  

We omitted a press clipping from “The Leader” that Jill Weeks submitted: it relates to Dennis becoming Club President. Jill said it was “a Shore thing” we would include it, so here goes.

Doesn’t Dennis look young and enthusiastic? You bet!

Meanwhile, in Merry England:

As Russian troops pile into Ukraine, and Russian bombs fall on Ukrainian cities, what are the security services in the UK focusing on? White privilege. This is not a joke. As the Daily Mail reports today, ‘Britain’s spies are being urged to consider their “white privilege” and declare their pronouns as Europe descends into war’.

It also advises against using gendered terms like ‘manpower’ and even words like ‘strong’ and ‘grip’, which can ‘reinforce dominant cultural patterns’. 

“The West is too busy ‘[teaching] that a boy can become a girl and vice versa’ to be able to defend its own traditions and truths”, Putin chastises. And now we have British security bosses obsessing over pronouns as Putin spies more territory for the Russian Federation. Fiddling while Ukraine burns.

Not only but also:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, residents of The Montecito, California, admonished Vladimir Putin’s actions and said they “stand with the people of Ukraine ” as the situation intensifies in Kyiv, some some 6,000 miles away from their $13 million luxury mansion.

Outspoken advocate for the poor and downtrodden Meghan Markle donned a custom Christopher John Rogers dress worth an estimated $2,600 adorned with $9,000 in jewels as she stood alongside husband Prince Harry on Saturday night to accepted the President’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards. (right)

International Service is slowly on the move, despite the Wu-flu.

On sending her report on the Scholarships in Baguia, Derarca O'Mahony, (President, Friends of Baguia), wrote:

There have been constant disruptions in Timor with Covid and the terrible floods last year, so we were uncertain if and when students would finish courses. The suicide of one of our other scholarship students last year also rattled the Friends of Baguia commitee.

But finally, things seem to be settling down in Timor-Leste, although Baguia is getting huge rain and winds right now.

On behalf of the Friends of Baguia committee I wish to thank the Rotary Club of Hawthorn for their continued generosity in supporting the youth of Baguia and thereby enabling them to have improved opportunities in life. 

Derarca’s report on our scholarship program appears elsewhere in this bulletin, as does Katrina Flinn’s International Committee  report.

March is Water and Sanitation Month

Members will recall our Water and Sanitation project in Timor Leste:

https://hawthornrotary.org.au/stories/the-timor-rotary-consortium-1/

https://www.hawthornrotary.org.au/Stories/timor-wash-consortium

The work consisted of 

1.  Installation of five Water Tanks.
2. Construction of one 3 Cubicle Toilet building, with a Wash Basin in Bobuha Primary School.
3. Installation of four toilet doors and a Wash Basin at Lebenei Primary School 
4. Taking measurements of roofs, to identify locations for Water Tanks and Toilets at other schools and communities, and to assist in the planning for scope of works for Team 3 (May 2019).
5. Providing WASH (Water And Sanitation & Hygiene) training by Timor Foundation and Scope-Asia based organisations in Timor. 

Reports from Timor confirm that the installations are in continuous use, and are greatly appreciated by the community.

Who would like to play a round of golf in Albury on Friday 22^nd April? (Before the District Conference)

Rotary Down Under

Just out:  

RI President Elect Jennifer Jones is poised to lead Rotary into a diverse and vibrant future. 

RDU  has a lovely report, with a run-down on her forthcoming Rotary Convention in Melbourne. 

Have you read it yet?

TTFN.