Posted by Andrew Crockett
This week President Andrew reports on today’s Club meeting which included a new member induction, a PHF presentation, an update on the Club’s International Service projects and much, much more.
 
Twenty-seven members and guests attended today’s Club meeting at Kooyong during which I inducted Robyn Sparks as a Club member and presented Paul Harris Fellow recognition to Fleur Maidment. 
 
Induction of Robyn Sparks
It was my pleasure at today’s Club meeting to induct Robyn Sparks.  Robyn’s vocational classification will be ‘Law-Succession’, reflecting the fact that during her long legal career she specialised in wills and estates (now called succession law ).  Robyn has chosen to join the Community Service Committee and will be mentored by Anne Scott OAM.
Following her induction, Robyn gave a ‘Member Behind the Badge’ talk in which she spoke about her legal career and her experience in handling cases involving family abuse, particularly of older family members.  This struck a particular chord with her audience given we recently became the host club for the Rotary Safe Families program.
Robyn also spoke about her role in establishing a section within the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) for practitioners specialising in succession law.  What she might have been too modest to mention was that she became an accredited specialist in her field in 1993,  the first year the LIV offered such accreditation, and for many years she chaired the committee which set the specialisation examination.  During her long career in the law, Robyn also wrote and delivered many papers on various aspects of succession law.
See the report on Robyn’s ‘Member Behind the Badge’ talk elsewhere in the Bulletin.
 
PHF+1 recognition for Fleur Maidment
It was also my pleasure at today’s meeting to present Fleur Maidment with a Paul Harris Fellowship Sapphire in recognition of her help in arranging the delivery of a Skyhydrant water filter, purchased with funds raised by the Club, to the Karen people in Myanmar.  
The SkyHydrant project had its origins in the Victorian township of Nhill which is home to a large number of Karen refugees. One day, Tha Blay, a 24-year-old Karen woman who had lived in a refugee camp, attended a Nhill Rotary club workshop and viewed some water filters. She thought a village in Karen State, which had a high incidence of gastric illness, would benefit from such a filtration system. 
Fleur’s mother, who lives in Nhill, introduced Fleur to Tha and Fleur subsequently travelled to the village to test the water and see if a SkyHydrant filter system would solve the problem. Fleur found that the water was full of bacteria that was causing diarrhea, dysentery and cholera. A local farmer built the tank stands and a SkyHydrant was installed.  The effect was an immediate reduction in the number of cases of diarrhoea and cholera. 
Word spread among the local communities and "Safe Water for Every Child" started getting requests from different refugee camps and villages for water filters.  There are now water filters of different sizes throughout the Karen State. A secondary benefit has been a reduction in the use of plastic bottles and the loss of fewer trees for fuel to boil the water. 
 
International Service report
To conclude the meeting, International Service director Dr Peter Lugg gave us an update on the Club’s international service projects.  The construction of the new surgical wing at the Kampong Speu Hospital -  funded by a generous donor in Perth - is well advanced, and Peter spoke about the Club’s likely future role in providing funding and equipment to support and maintain the facility.  
Peter also mentioned how his own professional role in Cambodia has changed post-Covid.  He will speak further at a future Club meeting about his changed role, and tell us in more detail about how the Club can support the maintenance of the surgical facility.
 
Recent Events
District Assembly
The annual District 9800 Assembly took place last Saturday by Zoom.  
In the opening plenary session Rotary International Zone 8 Director, Jessie Harman, spoke about the challenges of attracting volunteers and potential new members in the current environment and the District Governor-elect, Amanda Wendt, talked about the 2022/23 theme of ‘Imagining Rotary’.  
Past District-Governors Grant Hocking and Peter Freuh told us about the Zone 8 regionalisation pilot, one of two Rotary International pilots designed to test a more streamlined regional governance model. 
Jill Weeks is arranging for one of the regionalisation team to speak about the pilot at a forthcoming Club meeting. Essentially, the aim of the pilot is to examine the feasibility of replacing the current District level of administration with a more streamlined regional model.  Clubs will be asked for their views on the proposed changes.
Following the plenary session, participants went into break-out sessions on various topics.
The Assembly was attended by 176 Rotarians.  The Assembly was recorded and will be available on the District 9800 website via the following link: 
 
Forthcoming events
Changeover Board meeting 6 June
Current Board members and members of the Board-elect will hold a changeover meeting at Kooyong at 6.00 pm on Monday 6 June.  Following the meeting, partners will join us for dinner.  
 
Salvo Hawks match 8 June
The Salvo Hawks will be playing their first home match for the year at Victoria Road Reserve on Wednesday 8 June.  As you know, our Club supports the Salvo Hawks home matches by providing a pizza lunch. 
David McNamara needs 3 or 4 volunteers on the day between about 12.30 pm and 2.00 pm to assist him collecting and serving the pizzas, and cleaning up after lunch.  Please contact David if you are able to assist.
 
Rotary’s Disaster Aid Control Centre and the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne
Regrettably, we have decided to cancel this vocational tour due to insufficient bookings to cover the cost of hiring a bus.  Members and friends of the Club who have made bookings will be reimbursed the cost of the tour.  We will consider rescheduling the tour later in the year.  
My thanks to Noel Halford and Vincent Chen for all the work they put into organising the tour.
 
Rotary Hawthorn Changeover Dinner 25 June
The Club’s Changeover Dinner will be held on Saturday 25 June. As I embark on my second year as your President, I look forward to as many members as possible joining us for this important annual event.  In addition to the formal handover to the new Board, the efforts of those Club members and friends who have made notable contributions to the Club will be formally recognised.
Please remember to book by the RSVP date of 18 June.
 
District Changeover Lunch 25 June
Unfortunately, year’s District 9800 Changeover has been scheduled the same day as our Club Changeover Dinner.
If you would like to attend the District Changeover at Hyatt Place, Essendon Fields from 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm, the link for bookings is:
 
Rotary International Convention May 2023
The Rotary International Convention will be held in Melbourne from 27 to 31 May next year.  Early bird bookings will be available between 4 and 8 June (Houston time) and I suggest everyone take advantage of these special rates because the registration fee will increase by AU$70.00 on 9 June.
Those members who have attended Rotary Conventions in the past will attest to the fact that they are memorable occasions that provide an opportunity to learn more about the world of Rotary and meet fellow Rotarians from around the world.  Being in Melbourne next year, we will all have an opportunity to participate in this exciting international event. 
 
Next meeting
Our meeting next week is at Kooyong, and our guest speaker will be Hamish Taylor, the Government Relations Officer of ‘Teach For Australia’. 
Hamish was an intern with the ABC's 7:30 Report before becoming a TV producer for the ABC's Insiders program under the tutelage of Laura Tingle and Barry Cassidy.  He then worked on The Project on Network Ten before a career change which has led to his current role.
Hamish will join us by Zoom.
The MC next week will be Hamish’s Great Aunt, Anne Scott so it will be a real family affair. 
 
Until next week keep safe, well and warm!
 
President Andrew
 
 
Thought for the Week
Our reflection for this week comes from Mahatma Gandhi.
 
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.