The meeting will commence at 7:40am and conclude no later than 8:45.
NO GUEST SPEAKER:This will be a Club Forum
Theme for the meeting: Celebration!
Current Service Chairs will showcase achievements over the past year for all to celebrate and recall what calls us to become members of Rotary, especially of our Club.
ROTARY CENTRAL MELBOURNE – MEETING REPORT 14th June 2022
President Elias acknowledged the traditional owners of the country, and Malcolm Fielden chaired the meeting and made the toast to Rotary International.
President’s announcements
Trevor Nink, Melbourne Rotary, and Teresa Carlson, Echuca Rotary were welcomed as guests
Alan Seale was congratulated on his OAM for diverse community services announced yesterday on the Queen’s Birthday 2022 honours
An email was received from an African Rotarian seeking employment assistance for his son who is studying at La Trobe University; please contact Elias if you can assist
Members are welcome to attend the July 15 Board Meeting (last one for the current Rotary year) with current and in-coming Board members in attendance
Next Tuesday’s meeting (face-to-face) on June 21st (last before changeover) will be a Club Forum showcasing the past year’s activities with presentations from current Service Chairs – a time for celebration
Member Milestones
Member’s Birthdays
Nil
Partner Birthdays
NIL
Wedding Anniversaries
NIL
Date Joined Rotary
NIL
Speakers: Fiona Still from LiverWell (incorporating Hepatitis Victoria) and Andree (lived experience presenter)
Topic: Ending Viral Hepatitis
Trevor Nink, Rotary Club of Melbourne: Introduced the speakers and described his club’s partnership with LiverWell; the aim is to mobilise Rotarians to assist in the rollout of the vaccine for Hep B and the anti-viral treatments for Hep C based on increased testing; similar to Rotary’s work on polio elimination; elimination by 2030 in Australia is the goal
The liver is a much-maligned organ; however, it performs 500 critical functions, including blood cleansing and vitamin storage, and is one of the body’s major metabolic organs, second in size only to our skin
Incidence in Australia: Hep B: 230,000 reported cases; Hep C: 130,000 reported cases; HIV: 29,000 reported cases
If untreated, Hep leads to significant health issues
Key example: 1/3 of liver cancers are due to viral hep; liver cancer is now the fastest cause of cancer death in Aust
Hep B & C are transmitted via blood-to-blood transmission (ie. tattoos, dental, transfusion, intravenous drug administration sharing)
Hep C testing was introduced in Australia in 1990
Hep B has had a vaccination program since 1991
No Hep C vaccine yet; however, there are effective anti-viral drug treatments available; it can be eliminated via treatment
There is significant discrimination against specific high-risk groups (for example drug users, prisoners); this stigma must be addressed if elimination is to be achieved
The Rotary partnership with LiverWell is due to synergy between their missions and Rotary’s polio elimination program
Covid-19 has delayed the fight against Hep
Andree has lived experience of Hep and provided her story of living with the condition; publicising these stories is an excellent way to reduce stigma and hence increase testing and community understanding
No notes were provided here on her story due to the request to keep the details confidential; the key, broad takeaways were to highlight the need to reduce stigma and encourage more testing
Trevor Nink: What can we do as Rotarians to assist?:
Promote testing
Promote awareness in our networks
Assist to reduce stigma and promote wellbeing
Burnett Institute, Uni of Melbourne: new vaccine program into the future recently announced, includes a planned Hep C vaccine using mRNA technology
Questions:
What are the differences between the types of Hepatitis:
A: Bacterial; caught from faeces
B & C: Viral; caught via blood-to-blood transmission; can only get C if you’ve got B; B & C are different liver-inflaming viruses
There are additional types of Hepatitis classification; however, no details were provided
Announcements
Kevin Love: 23 July Phillip Island new planting day at the same location; please look out for Kevin’s email
Doug Robertson: Second Youth Mental Health Program on 4 & 5 July; some vacancies still available; please spread the word
Neville John: Taste of Africa fundraiser on Sat 11 June was a great success for SSHMI Menstrual Hygiene project; please refer to story in the bulletin for further details
Neville John: July 10 Sausage Sizzle at Collingwood now fully staffed; there will be another event in August
John Ilott: Encouragement to please register for Changeover dinner; only 49 registered; we need about 70 to avoid a penalty; now urgent; book via Trybooking
Teresa Carlson, Rotary Echuca (sister club): Its large Steam Rally which we has been postponed to October; 2 July Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser; 16 July changeover dinner- all welcome; Contact Teresa
Peter Duras (on behalf of Rob Hines): 12 July Port Melb Sausage Sizzle raised $980; A good result thanks to all involved
You are cordially invited to ‘A Taste of Africa’, a lively evening of African food, music and cultural immersion! This is an International Services fund-raiser for the South Sudan Health Matters (SSHM) Project: South Sudan Girls Sanitation and Education Project! RCM is supporting this project initiated by Mawien Ariik, RCM member and SSHM founder. Ariik will present on the project at our meeting on 7 June at the RACV Club.
Date: Saturday 11 June 2022
Place: Cecily Neil’s home - Unit 1801, 1 Freshwater Place, Southbank
Time: From 6 pm
Cost: $50 per person
Inclusions: A variety of African food (South Sudanese and other; meat and vegetarian) provided by Kuei and Mawien Ariik; drinks (wine, beer soft drinks); auction items; African items for sale
Bookings (via TryBooking: https://www.trybooking.com/BZTJO) close on 10 June 2022. There will be a limit of 50 attendees so get in early!
You can also find out more about The Lighthouse project. In South Sudan’s remote Lou Ariik Village, it is a common experience for girls to miss school during menstruation and, because of poor sanitation and hygiene, infection rates are higher than they should be. Most schools are also ‘under the trees’ schools.
This project will distribute 800 re-usable menstrual hygiene kits with a carefully designed education program. The principal intended outcome is to improve girls’ school retention and educational performance. In broader terms, the project is designed to empower girls, address traditional cultural mores sensitively, and reduce infection rates. Your contribution is going to a great cause!
2023 Rotary International Convention - Volunteer Opportunities
In less than 12 months, Melbourne will be hosting Rotarians from across the world! Our Club has an opportunity to help showcase our town, whilst extending our hospitality to fellow Rotarians during their visit. Here are the details of the Volunteer Opportunities for events occurring as part of the 2023 Rotary International Melbourne Convention, but outside the Convention location and times. These city locations should be of interest to members of the Batman Cluster Clubs.
The opportunities are as follows:
Melbourne Museum: Held at the Melbourne Museum on May 27th. Two shifts of volunteers required: 5:30pm - 8:00pm for 24 volunteers and 8pm - 10pm for 8 volunteers. All volunteers shall be able to have a complimentary beverage at the museum as a thank you. Volunteers shall meet at the main Museum entrance and then be allocated a task. They shall be assisting with directing delegates from the bus drop-off points in Rathdowne and Nicholson Streets to the main entrance before and after the event as well as directing delegates into and around the museum.
South Wharf - Food of Melbourne: situated at the west end of South Wharf. Two shifts of volunteers are required, one on May 29th and the second on May 30th, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm both nights for 10 volunteers each shift. They shall meet at the Promenade exit at MCEC and be placed along South Wharf directing delegates towards the food venues along Dukes Walk up to the Showtime Events Centre.
Flemington Melbourne Cup Event 30 May: Volunteers are required to meet at Southern Cross Station and direct delegates to the correct dedicated platform for train departure to Flemington Race Course. One shift for 10 volunteers from 5:30pm - 6.30pm.
All volunteers need to first register at http://www.rotarymebourne2023.org, and this can be done now. Once registered, and after September, volunteers can go online and choose their event and shift.
For more information, contact Stephen Lamont PDG, Host Organising Committee Director - Services and Volunteers, mobile: 0412 152 933, e: stephenlamont9780@gmail.com
After a two-year COVID imposed break we are resuming where we left off with the New Generations Service Exchange program. You might remember Lotta Rink, the talented young Bassoonist who had to go home early thanks to the pandemic.
Nevertheless, in July this year two young Australian opera singers, Louise Keast and Michael Dimovski, will be heading off to Bavaria where they will be hosted by German Rotary families for around 6 weeks. They will be participating in the Bayreuth Young Artist’s Festival, attending master classes, and in Michael’s case, performing at the D1950 District Conf.
