BULLETIN 16th JANUARY 2018 (Jan 11, 2018)

WHAT'S IN THIS BULLETIN

16th JANUARY

NEXT MEETING
OPERA ON THE YARRA
MEMBER NEWS
RENATA IN MELBOURNE
UPCOMING EVENTS

GALLERY

NEXT MEETING - 16th JANUARY

John Hinrichs and Daniel Bogdanov
The Walks of Life – John and Daniel's amazing adventures

The Walk of Life – John’s expeditions to several National Parks in America and others.

Daniel is also a young man from Bacchus Marsh who went for a walk in USA in 2016, all 4,265 km from the Mexican Border to the Canadian Border along a trail called the Pacific Crest Trail. Daniel will speak of the challenges and the triumph of completing this walk in about 5 months. From the Desert in Death Valley, the snow in the High Sierras, through Yosemite National Park then Oregon State and Washington State and all the way to Canada, Daniel has done what 7 Billion People haven’t.

Both presenters are avid walkers who have covered extreme distances, each with their own unique motivations. They promise to provide an entertaining insight to their own “Forrest Gump” moments.

OPERA ON THE YARRA

MEMBER NEWS

Posted by Tony THOMAS

"Getting There is Half The Fun" Dr Cecily Neil - member RCM.

Cecily’s career has been in aid projects including years on AusAid and the Asian Development Bank projects. Her main health and sanitation jobs included projects in Kiribati, Timor Leste, China, Vietnam and Philippines.

Getting a primary school toilet built in the remote Kalinga Province of northern Luzon is one thing; arriving on the spot is another.

The toilet block consisting of three-cubicle toilets with hand-washing stations is at Pantikian Elementary School in mountainous Kalinga Province. At a total budget of A$ 4,600, this sanitation project was funded by the Rotary Club of Hawthorn.

Finished in December, the job was organized by Dr Cecily Neil through RAWCS D9800 and implemented on the ground by Sinangpad Association, a local Kalingan NGO. Cecily is from the Central Melbourne Rotary Club.

The trip, which she did twice last year (2017) involved two bone-shaking trips by bus and car from Manila Airport.

“I’m a short person with a bung knee and couldn’t even get up the bus steps for the 11-hour trip. People lugged me on like a sack of potatoes,” she says.

“We had the opening ceremony but the toilet was not finished till the next week because of massive rain. My trip back to the airport got us stuck behind rice lorries going over the mountains and masses of tricycles in the towns. I was sure I’d miss my flight.”