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Reported by Fleur Maidment/Kevin Love Acting President: Elias Lebbos Chair: Neville John The meeting was opened by Acting President, Elias Lebbos at 8am with a toast to Rotary and an acknowledgement of country. The Chair, Neville John added his own introduction to the meeting with special acknowledgement to Rotary for bringing us together to hear about the RMIT Vocational Education awardees and Ian Angus prize winners. There were no visitors. Samim Saltarni joined as the guest speaker as the RMIT Vocational Education (VE) Student of the Year. Acting President Elias Lebbos welcomed members present: Neville John (Chair) Annet Brouwer David Jones Tom Callender Therese Robinson Rohan WIlliams | Herb Greenwood Kevin Love Fleur Maidment Malcolm Fielden Maureen Jackson Frank O’Brien | Mawien Ariik Paul Fowler Rebecca John Roger Thornton Yanpu Zhang Ignacio Inchausti |
Chair Neville John shared with members the significant contribution Ian Angus, OAM made to Rotary Central Melbourne as a foundation member and through his generous bequest. He commented that Rhys WIlliams worked at RMIT with Ian Angus and was instrumental in Rhys joining the club. Rhys and the Youth Service Committee were able to partner with RMIT to formulate an agreement to co-brand and co-fund awards to honour Ian’s life and work for 2023 and extending to 2024 and 2025. 2023 RMIT Vocational Education and Ian Angus award winners: VE Student of the Year - Samim Sultani Apprentice of the Year - Lachlan Cannon Industry Excellence Award - Ruby Shields Indigenous Student of the Year - Destiny Harrison Guest speaker Samim Sultani - 2023 RMIT VE Student of the Year and Ian Angus award winner Samim Sultani spoke about his background living in a troubled and violent Afghanistan and coming to Australia as a refugee. He described how overwhelmed he felt when he arrived and the many challenges that he faced including not being fluent in English, not understanding the Australian idiom and accent, and many other cultural differences. He enjoyed his exposure to teaching at a primary school and wished to do further study, yet he did not understand the options and requirements. He is grateful that his mentor Bill Kennedy introduced him to flexible options provided at RMIT and was able to pass the English proficiency requirements to study a Certificate IV in Education Support. Academic study and writing in a second language still proved difficult for him, but with the help of lecturers, tutors and fellow students he has been able to go on and complete his honours year and is interested in pursuing a career teaching ESL in a secondary or mature setting. He extended his great thanks to the club for awarding him the prize. Neville John commended Samim on his award and hard work, and invited him to meet members at an in-person meeting in future. Member announcements Roger Thorton - Exchangee Mia sends her greetings and is fully occupied with physio and other work experience during the week. Tom Callender - put a preliminary call out to members to support the Youth Services project and donate sleeping bags for the cold autumn/winter season by 7 May 2024. The target is to give 50 new or lightly used sleeping bags to young people sleeping rough. Members are encouraged to look at home, in op shops or donate cash. Bags can be brought to in-person meetings or dropped off to Youth Services committee members by prior arrangement. Neville John - donations of phones are welcomed for the Safe Phones project. Mawein Ariik - welcomed members to the South Sudanese Health Matters Inc (SSHMI) clinic fundraising event in Braybrook on 18 May 2024 to experience a festive African cultural setting, food and activities. Meeting closed 8.31am. |
