President Report Jan 13 G’day Rotarians It was lovely to see such a good crowd for breakfast this week at Peppergreen Farm. And I thought they put on a great meal. Thanks to Jenny and her staff and to Jim who arranged it. We are back there next week, then we have a week off for Australia Day (more about that in a moment) then for the first two Wednesdays in Feb we will be at the Bendigo Tennis Centre for two breakfasts.
A pub for us to call home looks like being hard to find over the next few months, or it will be a bit more costly than we have been used to over recent years. An area I have not investigated much yet are motels. Virtually none of the pubs are doing breakfasts at the moment but motels that have a dining room are a possibility. If you know people at a motel, and you think they fit our requirements then let me know so I can check it out. On a similar note, there has been a suggestion perhaps we meet fortnightly for breakfast during the winter with more fellowship lunches or dinners in the intervening weeks with maybe a zoom meeting a month as well. If you have some thoughts, then tell myself or a Board member what you think.
The Australia Day Sub Committee met via Zoom on Thursday night and decided to try to organize a free Breakfast Event for the 26th. With sponsorship from the National Australia Day Council to Rotary Clubs all over, we thought we needed to be part of the effort, and let’s face it we haven’t been able to do much since last Australia Day. So there are a few hoops to jump through to be Covidsafe, and we will be trying to meet those in the next week. We hope to be in a position to explain it all next Wednesday, but we will need plenty of volunteers to make sure we keep the event within the rules and put on a good show. At this stage we are planning egg and bacon rolls, sausages and veggie burgers from 8 am until they run out from the usual mainstage area at Lake Weeroona.
There is also a Rotary National Australia Day on line for you to watch after we finish the breakfast. (see below and while it is free you do need to book)
Pam Brown is obviously a dedicated Rotarian, and was an interesting speaker on Wednesday. The program she heads up, called “Healing the Hurt” aims to train counsellors and workers in the field so they can better identify and treat young people particularly children that have suffered trauma while growing up. I learnt a lot more about PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and the history of what is recognized today to affect so many people. The good news from Pam was that this is now curable and people with the right training can make such a difference.
Back last year RCoBS Board agreed to fund a person from Bendigo to undertake this course as part of our Celebrating 100 years of Rotary in Australia.
See you at Peppergreen Cheers Ted.
Quote of the Week:
Joke of the week: The Americans wanted to find a writing implement that could be used in space. It took 200 engineers and they spent over $2 billion to finally come out with a space pen. This pen could write in zero gravity and the ink would still flow. NASA proudly announced their success and congratulations flowed in from all over the globe. In a short note to NASA, the Russians congratulated them but said that they too have found a solution at a fraction of the cost spend by the Americans. Use a pencil.
Teds comment:
A lot is made of Australia’s “natural disasters”. Maybe we are not so bad after all, and if we included epidemics????
The guest speaker for the meeting was Pam Brown. Pam is a registered Psychologist and Vice-President of the Rotary Club of Melbourne. She informed members about the Trauma Recovery Network which is supported by Rotary. Pam has had close involvement with the training of Therapists who support people suffering from trauma, most especially as a result of the recent bushfires. Pam undertook initial training at the University of Colorado and has worked in a number of settings both in Australia and overseas.
Trauma is a physiological phenomenon. The human brain reacts to traumatic or life threatening experiences so it is not a matter of whether people believe in PTS or not. The reality is it occurs and has to be treated. PTS manifests itself in sleep disturbance, intrusive thinking and avoidance of people. In relation to sleep disturbance Pam pointed out that the brain processes information at night so in the case of PTS this can be a time of significant restlessness. Denial and avoidance of the effects of PTS are common. Pam has worked with a war veteran who attended for therapy in his eighties.
PTS relating to war has been described as shell shock, battle fatigue and operational exhaustion. It was only after the Vietnam war that PTS was recognised as a disorder and not until the mid 90's was it acknowledged in the general population. Extensive work has been carried out in recent times looking at the effects of family violence on children. PTS is related to overall health and wellbeing and impacts on life expectancy. The good news is that the brain can heal and in 80% of cases people recover.
The treatment used by Therapists of the Trauma Recovery Network is called Eye Movement and Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). Essentially this therapy has a focus on recalling the traumatic incident and trying to positively process it. Pam with the support of Rotary has trained seventy Therapists in the EMDR technique. Pam's presentation provided very helpful background to the Club's priority to support members of the community suffering the effects of trauma and abuse. We thank her for her in-depth analysis and for the travel to be with us in person for our first face to face meeting in a long time.
Board report of distribution of funds raised; 2019-2020
Lightning Reef P S Passions and Pathways – $10,000
Lightning Reef P S Winter clothing – $3,500
Lightning Reef PS Monthly BBQ and Sandwich lunch program – $2,500
