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A Heartwarming Reminder Of Why We Do What We Do Friend of the club and self-confessed 'golf addict', Eric Hudson, was our guest speaker this week. We enjoyed hearing about the changing needs of the young people of the town of Luro, in East Timor. Since Eric last spoke to us as a group, Luro has gained its own senior secondary school, and many students, particularly young women, prefer their new local school to the relatively strict conditions of boarding away from home. There is still a large need for vocational education, which is what the current students we are sponsoring are engaged in. In particular, studying to be mechanics, learning agricultural science, as well as general domestic trades skills. The format of learning ressembles more closely an Australian traineeship, as they run for between 12 and 18 months, and cover a broad range skills relevant to what would be several separate trades here. These last two young lads were brought in off the streets. Eric was asked many thoughtful questions by Rotarians, and with the assistance of George Weston (who is also a member of Friends of Luro), and Greg Brown, gave us all an insight into how the town of Luro's economy functions through a mix of formal and informal business activities, with the majority of households reliant on subsistence agriculture. Every year the Friends of Luro brings in around AUD $10,000 into the East Timor economy. This is a huge effort for a small group, with donations coming from members, as well as our club, and another club in Victoria. This amount is dwarfed by the remittances that East Timorese guest workers send back to their families from Australia under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. Around 20% of East Timor households rely on Australian remittances. Eric spoke about some East Timorese workers in the PALM scheme being taken advantage of by a minority of unscrupulous employers, and that Leeton Mayor Emeritus, Paul Maytom OA, is working to help improve their conditions and fight against exploitation. We learned that there are even a few East Timorese PALM workers right here in Leeton.
Environmental Project - Tree Planting in Sandigo A group of Rotarians are headed out to Geoff and Maryanne's Rosedale Road property in Sandigo to plant a variety of gum and other trees, as part of our club's commitment to the Environmental Values of Rotary International. Remember to take photos, folks!
Fun For A Cause - Friends Of Luro Charity Golf Day Sunday 25th of June 2023 A Lost Generation? Young people these days just can't seem to tear their eyes away from their phones! 
Just For Fun - Jokes From The Internet (Memes) I make no apologies for indulging myself in this way. Fans of the fantasy and scifi genres will understand... Intergenerational humour... if you don't laugh you'll cry!  -  They say don't talk political at the dinner table, so I saved it for this bulletin... The pitfalls of relying on past performance to predict future outcomes... By my calculations the ball will land at approximately midday tomorrow.  -  The existentialist philosophers encouraged us to create our own meaning in life...  -  -  - My final words of bad advice...
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