Reported by Anne King
President Michelle opened the meeting with an acknowledgement of country.
Visitors were welcomed:
Andrea Lyons, who is the Youth and Family Liaison Officer with Vicpol Legacy
Nicholas Stefaniw a servicing Victorian Police officer who is also a legatee.
Nicholas and Andrea were the guest speakers for the meeting.
Ron Payne, District 9800 Governor and his wife Deb Payne.
Patricia Wilson, from Belonging Matters.
Michelle then passed on the sad new about the recent death of Robyn Pleydel. As a charter member Tom Callendar was able to speak a little about Robyn. Robyn was a member of Central Melbourne between 16 October 1997 and 28 June 2009, and had been a very active member of the He had been married to Janice for 63 years.
Chair PP Rohan proposed a toast to Rotary International and announced the following milestones:
The birthday of Suvam Ganguli.
Neville and Becky’s 45 year wedding anniversary.
Kerrie Hick’s one year anniversary of joining the club.
The guest speakers Andrea and Nick began their talk about their participation and organisation of their trip to Cambodia to undertake a World of Difference Humanitarian tour in October 2023.
World of Difference is a District 9800 project.
Andrea began by talking a little about the project.
Neville Taylor and Rhys Williams were both involved in the project preparation. Neville in his capacity as ambassador and Rhys as the Chair of Youth Services.
The project was designed to enhance the legatee’s leadership skills with an international perspective. The cohort of participants were in the age range of 18 - 25 years old.
One of the requirements of participation in this tour was to raise $3,000 for use on Humanitarian projects whilst on the tour. The group raised a fantastic amount of $30,000, some of which ($2,000) was from participation in three RCM Bunnings sausage sizzles.
The individuals participating in the project had the life changing opportunity to be involved with helping a number of projects at several villages and schools, funded by the dollars they raised.
Nick then spoke against a slide show of the experience. He spoke very much from the heart about how the tour was the experience of a lifetime. The smells, sights, culture, smiles and seeing another way of life with a real eye opener for the participants to see a different world.
They visited multiple schools and they assisted with the construction of some infrastructure and distributed items such as bikes, educational materials and uniforms. It was great to see children flourish from their input and the difference it would make to their lives.
One of the things that struck them all was how far the funds they raised could go in providing clean water and hygiene for villages. There was a lot of physical work involved including digging into the water table, but they enjoyed every moment of it. They also really enjoyed an immersion into village life and culture. During the experience they were able to learn a little bit about the history of the Khmer Rouge and the staggering demographics that 75% of Cambodians alive today were born after the 1970s.
Overall, it was a humble humbling experience they got to experience local cuisine and the local faith by visiting temples. They also gained an understanding of how much water is an untapped resource in the Country. All participants in the project said that the experience was life changing and they couldn't get over the impact that they had on young minds.
Ron Payne was the next speaker and he congratulated Nick on his articulate presentation and demonstration of how Rotary can change at lives. As District Governor this year he has been focusing on getting back to Rotary basics and the great work that Rotary does in the world.
He then handed a Rotary citation to past president Rohan and acknowledged that Central Melbourne was one of only eight clubs that achieved the citation last year from world president, Jennifer Jones He acknowledged that RCM is a high performing and well managed club.
Nev 1 then announced that two volunteers are still required for the 17th of March bunnings BBQ at Port Melbourne also that Jo Garrity just got married.
Patricia Wilson from Belonging Matters, then talked about two young people with autism that they are trying to place into either work or an internship. One is a mechanic and the other is a maths graduate who is a specialist in data analysis. She requested that club members consider whether they were aware of any opportunities for these two young people.
Ignacio talked about Mia who is the incoming NGSE student. She is in Australia and currently learning more English and will come to visit the club among on 19 March at a face to face meeting.
Michelle concluded the meeting by advising members about the strategy day held the previous weekend. She mentioned that there was going to be a SAG meeting the following night and all the information gathered from the meeting trial survey and strategic plan workshop would be discussed. Following that meeting members will be advised of the results.
She also reminded members of the IFTAR dinner and that it's important that everyone RSVP’s by 8 March. The dinner should be covered by the grant, but depending on numbers a small donation might be required. More details later, but it will be held at William Angliss.