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Meeting Notes
10th June
Guest Speaker
Vicki White
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Meeting opened with President David welcoming all members and guests and invited all present to sing the National Anthem led by John Thornton.
President David then introduced the Guest Speaker. “This evening’s meeting is privileged to have as our guest speaker Vicki White who will be speaking to us on her intriguing topic of being a Chronic Health Doula. She will be more formally introduced to us later in the meeting by Rtn. Pek Goh”
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VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS:
We were pleased to welcome 14 visiting Rotarians and guests to the meeting this evening, excluding the guest speaker, as follows:
Rotarians:
Cadu — our RYE Inbound, this will be Cadu’s formal exit meeting from the club. However, Cadu will be present next week as well before he flys back to Brazil.
Don Holywell - RC Cambridge and a friend of Cadu
Joanne Bowen – RC Northam and District Youth Exchange Coordinator
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Mark Williamson – RC Mundaring and representative for Camp Opportunity, Mark spoke briefly on this topic and presented the club with an award of recognition for our participation in Camp Opportunity last year. He encouraged us to continue our participation this coming year. |
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Club Guests:
Robyn Holvwell— a friend of Cadu and guest of Rtn. Richard Gorham
Joy Crocker – Cadu’s 3rd host mum & wife of Rtn. Mike Bisset
Catherine Gorham — Cadu’s 2nd host mum & wife Richard Goreham
Holly Fredrickson — our RYE Outbound last year
Cheryl Mellor— grandmother of Holly and wife of late RCD Charter Member John Mellor, unfortunately, Cheryl was a late withdrawal due to illness.
Andy Mellor — Cadu’s 1st host father and guest Kim Smith
Cheryl Mellor — Cadu’s 1st host mother and guest Kim Smith
Lindsay Shepherd — partner of Rtn. Tim Humphry
Axel Soborg – friend of Cadu’s and fellow Exchange Student from Denmark
Jaz Hernando – friend of Cadu’s and fellow Exchange Student from Argentina
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
In Rotary, what is a “make up” and how long does it remain active.
Answered correctly by John Murdoch. Wine was awarded to his table which included many of the exchange student guests, President David wondered how John was going to finish the bottle and if he needed some assistance.
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BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES:
Bob Davis mentioned the following members birthdays and presented flowers for partner’s birthdays and anniversaries.
Members Birthdays – Brad Noble – 45yrs.
Partner’s Birthdays – Ondina Brash.
Anniversaries – Graham Sansom, 48yrs, John Bolto 40yrs, Kim Smith 34yrs and Anthony McGrath 29yrs.
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NEWS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
Cadu's farewell speech:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
I’ve made my farewell speech indeed but you have no idea how hard it was for me to put in words a year that changed completely who I am and how I see the bb world with my own eyes, the challenges faced as an exchange student in Australia were tough, exhausting but sometimes even enjoyable. For me it started at the airport in Brazil, it was the first time I was flying so far and for my first flight I had a 26 hour trip and if you think it couldn’t get worse, it did when I missed my connection in Sydney and got lost at that huge city with barely any English skills and that was just the first of many challenges. I remember really well how tiring and how stressful was listen and try to speak English every single moment, I’ve got used to going to bed at 7 pm because at least there I was able to rest my mind. Then school started and a new challenged came, making new friends is already hard but I had to do it in another language. The first month was, in fact, the hardest, I got over it though and being here proves it.
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| Cadu with Catherine and Richard Gorham |
with fellow exchange students Axel Soborg and Jaz Hernando |
Tonight, is time to celebrate, celebrate how much I learnt and grew in such a short time, it wasn’t just a year in my life, it was a whole life in a year. In this year I had the opportunity to visit and know most of Western Australia, from Esperance and the lighthouse in Augusta, down south, going up to Margaret River and its chocolate factory, Mandurah, the crabbing and the Christmas lights in the channels, Perth the place which I call home, and I just kept going up, Geraldton, Kalbarri, Shark Bay, Coral Bay where I dived with whale sharks and manta rays, Karrijini, Dampier and the Red Dog and stopping in Karratha, that was a lot however doing just south-north wasn’t enough so I did west-east, from Rottnest with the Quokkas to the middle of WA , the wet belt, Quairading, Corrigin and also Kalgoorlie ending up at the east coast, Sydney, where I watched the New Year’s fireworks at the Opera House, that was pretty cool.
Although being an exchange student doesn’t mean being a tourist, I had to live as a 17-year-old Aussie so I did, I went to my year 12 school ball, I played footy and proudly went to the Optus Stadium to support the Dockers in the winnings and losses, mainly losses though. I felt how boring cricket can get after 5 minutes watching it, I had barbie with my mates and got used with their slangs, I surfed, went to the beach during weekdays after school just to watch how magnificent is the sunset, went to the beach on the weekends in the morning and afternoon, went to the beach when there was nothing else to do and went to the beach even when there was something else to do. I celebrated Straya Day with my Australian family and watched the fireworks at Kings Park. I went to the shops barefoot and none saw me as crazy. I ate vegemite and after a while could find a way to enjoy it and at last and probably the hardest for me as a Brazilian, I started arriving on time for my meetings. Indeed, I had uncountable Australian experiences and I’m proud to say I made most of my year here.
As member of the Rotary Club of Dalkeith I could help the community in some opportunities, as asking donations at Claremont Quarter to the END POLIO NOW, also collecting CANS FOR CHRISTMAS, preparing a Christmas meal for the homeless people around Perth City, selling raffles to raise money for the women hospital in Cambodia and my favorite, cooking sausages at Bunnings for the men’s shed.
This year wouldn’t have happened without the help and dedication of some people in my life and that’s why I also would like to say thank you. Thanks to my family in Brazil who always gave me support in any of my good decision, not the bad ones though (what’s fair enough), thanks to my sponsor club, the ROTARY CLUB OF CANDIDO MOTA and all the Rotary Youth Exchange committee, thanks to my host Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Dalkeith, you made it become real. Thank you, Kim, my mentor in Australia. And for the host families who are here tonight (Jodie and Andy, Richard and Catherine, Tim and Lindsey and Mike and Joy), thank you very much, thank you for being my family here, thank you for making me feel special, unique and also loved at your home. I know that might be a bit tough looking after a 17 year old boy, even more, when he’s not your own kid and furthermore when he comes from Brazil but you were strong and generous enough to take it over and I ensure you that what we built here will last forever, at least long enough for you to come and visit me in Brazil for my wedding party, and I ensure you that my Brazilian barbie will easily beat yours.
I’m glad for all the opportunities I had here, and I won’t ever forget what you have done for me. Thank you again and I hope one day I’ll come back and when it happens, I’ll be able to enjoy a cold beer with you all. Cheers.
Response from President David – thanked Cadu for being a great member of our club for the last year and his commitment to attending meetings and events. Presented Cadu with some Dockers memorabilia as a token of the club’s appreciation for the year he spent with us.
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Joanne Bowen gave a speech recognising Cadu as a very good exchange student showing all the qualities Rotary would expect of an excellent young man. Wished all the best for his future. |
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ATTENDANCE: 43 members present (no wine this evening) and 58 in total.
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CLUB AND COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Treasurer – board meeting next week at NGC at 5pm, both outgoing and incoming board to be present.
Club Service – committee meeting this Thursday morning at Little Way @ 8.30am.
Community Service – Rotary bags on sale, please see Peter Robinson, hoping to have sold all of them by 30th June.
Vocational Service – Vocational Excellence Award to be presented on 22nd July to Fremantle Sea Rescue.
Public Image – Kevin is just back from 8 weeks away. He attended Jaap Poll’s 80th birthday at RC Crawley recently along with 6 other members, great morning except for the fire alarm. Planning Post article featuring Cadu and Holly in the near future.
Membership – Peter reminded all that it was last call for the new Entertainment Book, see him if interested.
Youth – Kim is going on leave for 2 months to his place in Northern France with his wife Chris. He thanked his committee for their efforts during the year and their great achievements. Looking forward to working with his new committee next year.
Mens Shed – Trevor Gorey said great progress was being made, much thanks to Peter Panek for his project management of the upgrades including a new concrete floor, roof repairs and recent work by carpenters upgrading fixtures and fittings.
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SERGEANT: Trevor Gorey
The following fines were handed out:
- Wine Table
- Those with anniversaries or birthdays.
- Anniversary of club membership – Trevor Gorey and Jon Stewart
- All the farmers in the room as they have had a very good week with all the rain – Bruce F, Kent W and John Martin
- Footy tipping winner – Annie Hawkins, Russel paid the commission, I am sure he will get it back!
- Peter Marefleet for leaving his name badge at home.
- Peter Panek for the flashy bag he came through the door with, not a Rotary bag!
- Geoffrey Cahif for his comment that today looked like a nice summers day where he comes from in Glasgow.
- Trevor Gorey, applied by Peter Panek for
- Trevor not tying down the contents of the trailer properly when they were picking up some Men's Shed donations and successfully depositing a table, the right way up, in the middle of the showgrounds entry gate without Trevor realising he had done it.
- Trevor cutting the power cord to his electric saw whilst cutting up some waste floorboards at the shed for fire wood.
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GUEST SPEAKER:
Guest Speaker – Vicki White – Chronic Health Doula (CHD)
Vicki was introduced by Pek Goh.
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She explained that a CHD is a person who supports and helps people with chronic health conditions. They don’t treat the person, it is more in the role of listener and empathetic supporter.
Vicki explained her life to date to give a background as to why she became a DOULA. A summary of her life experiences follows.
Vicki lives in Kojonup and remarried some years ago and they have a mixed family of 6 boys.
The youngest boy has epilepsy as a result of his premature birth.
Vicki gave blood some years ago in Kojoup, as she did regularly, unfortunately, she suffered a heart attack as a result of giving blood, it does happen but is very rare. Luckily she was near the hospital and her husband took her there. She was transferred to Perth where she recovered well.
As part of her exit procedure from hospital, she was given an angiogram and in doing this the doctor punctured an artery causing very serious bleeding. She recovered from this after numerous blood transfusions.
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Thereafter she was discharged but suffered from chronic pain, paralysis to her left side and her condition worsened as time went on. In the next 10 years, no doctors could find the reason for these conditions. During this time Vicki realised how different it was to be sick versus being a healer and how she wished there was an independent person to whom she could speak with about how this journey was affecting her.
About this time her eldest son got ill and again started to progressively decline. Eventually, he was diagnosed with Lymes Disease by a doctor in Perth and via a test performed in the USA. She battled medical experts, politicians and others who all believed Lymes Disease did not exist in Australia. She and her helpers raised money to get their son the Germany where there was a cure. Also during this time she compared her symptoms to those of her son and came to the conclusion that she had contract Lymes Disease from her transfusions 10 years earlier.
After the treatment in Germany Vicki was cured of Lymes Disease but have ancillary conditions continue, never the less she is significantly improved. Unfortunately, her son was not cured, it happens, they think because of the different strains of the disease around the world. He is now terminally ill.
As a last twist of fate her youngest son, the epileptic was bitten by a tick, same form of infection as her eldest son, now has the disease as well. He is now the permanent carer for his brother. They now live in Perth to be closer to the constant medical attention they need.
Vicki is now a permanent carer for another 19 year old woman who has Lymes Disease.
Once she started to recover she wanted to give back to the community who had helped her through her hard times. She, therefore, started her business as a CHD. A proportion of her work is pro-bono presently and will probably always be that way.
She runs workshops for the chronically ill and their carers and does one on one counselling with the chronically ill.
Several questions were asked about the status of recognition of Lymes Disease and whether there was any research being done to allow the cure of Australian suffers.
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CLOSE:
President David thanked Vicki for her inspiring talk and wished her well in her efforts to improve the lives of the chronically ill.
He reminded the Rotarians of the following event:
- President-Elect John Bolto’s life talk on 17th June
- Handover Dinner on 24th June.
- District Handover Dinner on 30th June
Meeting closed at 7.45pm
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Photographer: Peter Robertson/Dick Sudlow/Richard Gorham
Meeting notes: John Bolto/Cadu
Webmaster: Tom Langley
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