Meeting Details

When: Tuesday evenings

Time: Social chat from 6.30 pm

7.00—8ish Club meeting

Venue: Zoom meeting via link from President Rajeev

Visitors are very welcome. Please contact:

Kevin Harrison 0419 919 011

Rajeev Wadhwa 0408059778

May 19th 2020 Newsletter 32 2019-2020

Ever since we moved to our new digital medium of communication, we have exper-

imented with multiple ways to keep everyone engaged. We have explored numer-

ous ways to be creative, courageously conducted an ANZAC day service and taken a

chance by moving the Knox Art Show into the virtual space. Amazingly we have

achieved success with everything!

Our fellowship has strengthened, and we feel more connected with each other. We

have been excited by meeting our past exchange students, local and overseas. We

have enjoyed the flexibility of attending other club’s meetings as well as inviting

other Rotarians to our club, attend district webinars and training. We boldly even

conducted a digital induction of a new member and did not miss the opportunity to

experience a virtual social night! Our initiatives are being noticed and our resilience

appreciated.

1. Rotary Zone 8 newsletter “Rotary on the move” published our article “Finding

Opportunity through adversity”

Click here for the article.

2. This was followed by a Webinar where I was invited to be one of the panellists

alongside Neill Sheldon from Rotary Club of Bayswater to talk about Virtual Knox

Art Show.

3. Jeff’s article on our ANZAC day ceremony was published in our District newsletter

“Staying Connected”. Click here for this article.

Coming up next:

• Planning for a Rotary Facebook post is underway.

• Our online initiatives will be highlighted in one of the RI blogs “Rotary Voices”

soon. Click here for this blog.

Another major highlight during these recent times has been the initiation of the

Knox Rotaract club! They are now preparing to get chartered! They have already

held two meetings and elected their Board. They started with nine members and

have since grown to eleven.

Importantly, we are continuing to serve our communities in these challenging times

even though all our traditional fund-raising activities have come to a complete halt;

to name a few, we have collected donations for East Gippsland fire relief, supported

the homeless and struggling families and are planning to host a virtual business

breakfast.

We are gaining momentum. We are thriving not just surviving! We are leading the

way. I feel immensely proud of our achievements. I hope you do too.

A big thanks to all of you for your support, advice, and hard work to bring us to this

stage. Rajeev Wadhwa

President’s Message

President Rajeev Wadhwa

2

Rotary Areas of Focus for each month

February—Peacebuilding and conflict

prevention/resolution

March—Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

April—Maternal & Child Health

May—Youth Service

June—Rotary Fellowships

July— Non-designated month

August— Membership and New Club Development

September— Basic Education and

Literacy

October— Economic and

Community Development

November—Rotary Founda-

tion

December—Disease Prevention and

treatment

January—Vocational Services

An very interesting presentation was given this week by Gabe Hau,

who is an Ambassador for the Institute of Economics and Peace and

the District 9800 Peacebuilding Committee Chair.

Gabe highlighted the difference between Negative Peace—the

absence of violence or fear of violence— and Positive Peace. Positive

peace refers to the attitudes, activities and structures that, when

strengthened, lead to a more peaceful society. Positive peace de-

scribes the optimum environment for human potential to flourish.

The Global Peace Index

ranks 163 countries

according to their rela-

tive states of peace

based on 23 different

indicators. A highlight

of 2019 was the fact

that the average level

of country peacefulness has improved from the previous year. This

was the first improvement in the last five years.

Higher levels of positive peace are associated with

• Higher per capita income

• Resilience

• Better environmental outcomes

• Higher GDP growth per annum

• Better performance on MDGs

The global impact of violence in 2019 was

11.2% of total world GDP or $1853 per person.

When comparing the Rotary areas of focus there is a link to the pillars

of positive peace.

Rotary has been

building peace for

year.

Gabe posed the

question of what

we can do?

One place to start:

https://positivepeace.academy/ provides free on-line learning.

This week’s meeting—Gabe Hau

Well done!

It was good to see DG Shia Smart

at our meeting this week.

She took the opportunity to thank

Neil White, who is stepping down

from the role of District Treasurer,

having done an excellent job for

several years.

Gabe Hau

3

District Training Assembly

Have YOU

registered

yet?

Pre-reading available at

the RI Learning Centre

Our Club is doing

well with a large

number of people

attending the

virtual Training

Assembly.

4

We can see that this virus is affecting our mental health tremendously. Therefore, continuing to support

mental health research to learn how to best support our communities when unexpected events like these occur, is crucial.

We ask that you please consider donating to mental health research today to help Australian Rotary Health #Liftthelidonmentalillness in these uncer-tain times and ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of all Australians.

We have set a target to raise $200,000. Any dollars towards this will be greatly appreciated.

SAVE THE DATE

Virtual District

Changeover Night.

June 20th

Keep the date free

Donate here

The new “normal”?

Australian Rotary Health COVID-19 Appeal.

A message from Rotary Health

5 5

Rowville Roundup Carol is reaching the “pointy end” of packing up ready to move, while still

working very hard with Australia Post. Good luck with the move Carol!

What a gorgeous weekend to get out and enjoy the sunshine and to be

able to resume some of our favourites activities, especially catching up

with family and friends.

So, as a reminder of how wonderful it is that we live in Australia, and how

beautiful Melbourne can look in autumn, here is an iconic building in full

autumn glory.

Rotarian behind

the Badge—Gary

Forrest Gary shared with us a brief

snapshot of his life starting

with growing up in Laverton,

with abundant tiger snakes

and redback spiders. He

spent his spare time outside

and loved being outdoors

He attended Box Hill High

School and very much

enjoyed the camping and

outdoor activities that came

with belonging to Scouts.

He travelled a lot from an

early age and he became a

Roman Catholic in later life.

He has worked largely for

petrochemical firms, and

has been Account Manager

at Amtrade for 16 years. He

was married in 1984,

divorced after 24 years of

marriage and has four

children.

Gary Forrest, dressed for ‘iso’.

Jenny handing over a collection of woollen

clothing, donated by our Club members, to

Janne Spiers, PDG of District 9820, which

covers East Gippsland.

6

Rotarians may be wondering how the campaign to end polio is evolving in the time of COVID-19. The following extract from Rotary Oceania (Zone 8) provides some up-to-date information. For the complete article click here.

We must take every precaution to ensure that polio eradication activities do not contribute to COVID-19 transmission. For that reason, to observe global guidance related to physical distancing and hygiene practices, all countries have been advised to pause polio immunization campaigns during the COVID-19 outbreak response. While responding to COVID-19, Rotary and our partners will work to continue protecting children to avoid a resurgence of polio and will main-tain essential polio eradication work, including surveillance. In fact, polio surveillance workers are now searching for both polio and COVID-19 symptoms – and are increasing the chances of early detection. We will continue working to strengthen immunization in certain at-risk areas and will maintain our vaccine supply so that campaigns can begin without delay as soon as it is safe.

Rotarians can stay focused on our work eradicating polio even as we face a pandemic of a virus for which there is not yet a vaccine, a situation similar to what the world faced with the poliovirus not so long ago. As the world responds to COVID-19, there is a significant risk that many children will miss out on life-saving vaccines that prevent dangerous dis-eases, including polio. While confronting the new challenges of today, the most important thing that Rotary members can do to continue the fight to end polio is to sustain our commitment to polio eradication and reach our fundraising goal of $50 million dollars this year. Continued contributions to PolioPlus will ensure that polio eradication activities that are ongoing -- such as surveillance and vaccine supply – continue, and that we come out of this crisis strong and tackle the remain-ing barriers to a polio-free world. We know that many members are seeking to support COVID-19 response. We hope Rotarians will see that polio and COVID-19 are dual priorities, and urge Rotarians to consider supporting both PolioPlus and COVID-19 efforts to the extent that members are able to during this difficult time. This is not a question of either/or—both are of great importance.

Districts are encouraged to consider contributing District Designated Funds to PolioPlus. Donations of DDF are matched 1:1 by the World Fund, then 2:1 by the Gates Foundation for a total of a 6:1 match. In the midst of a global pandemic, we recognize that attention to polio eradication will be diverted, but this makes it all the more vital for Rotarians to remain strongly committed to fighting polio and not let our progress be eroded.

Status of polio immunization activities

Rotary support for PolioPlus

This is a week to show thanks to

all volunteers—this means all

Rotarians! Thank you.

Polio Plus Campaign in the era of COVID-19

A visitor to our Club last year, PP

Maninder Lamba, formerly of the

Rotary District 9211 covering Tanzania

and Uganda, has sent through infor-

mation about this volunteer organisa-

tion.

Sikh Volunteers Australia has been

providing free meals to needy people in

the Frankston region for several years.

It has now delivered over 41,000 free

meals to people in need during the

COVID-19 crisis.

In India, 59 million people are provided

with a free meal every day in Sikh

temples. A remarkable effort.

Click here for more information.

7

Date Chair Share a life

Experience

Rotarian behind

the badge

Director of

fun

Program

Week of May 25th

Virtual workshops for District Assembly

May 26th Jeff Kevin Ian Carol Schooling from home (tbc)

June 2nd John Gary Rajeev Anita Rotary Fellowships—David Tomlinson

(tbc)

Club Board Meeting

June 9th Steve Not required this night Ian Club Forum

Steve Macdonald will facilitate our Club

Forum Night. All members will have an

opportunity to share ideas, thoughts and

improvements for consideration as we

move into the 20/21 Rotary Year.

June 16th Carol Murray Neil W Jeff Shirley Constantine has an Honours Degree

in Australian History and is a tutor of

Australian History with U3A in Dandenong

will speak on:

Pandemics in Australian History

June 20th Virtual District Changeover Night - details to come

June 23rd Corinne Neil M Marg Daryl Moran DGE

Daryl will provide valuable insider

knowledge on the plan and expectations of

clubs as we commence the 20/21 Rotary

year. He will also touch on his plans for his

year as DG in 21/22 and how our club will

be involved.

An Insiders Perspective on 20/21

June 30th Alan Jenny Murray Mike McFarlane is a member of the

International Fellowship of Flying

Rotarians. Mike will outline the structure of

a fellowship, describe some of the exciting

fly-aways they have been on and explain

how interested members can get involved.

International Fellowship of Flying

Rotarians.

July 7th Club Changeover Night

Duty Roster and Forward Program 2020

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Let’s support our members in their business endeavours….

86 8

Friday May 29 Friday June 19

Friday July 17

Friday August 21 Friday September 18

Friday October 16

Friday November 20 Friday December 18

Thursday December 24

POTENTIAL BUNNINGS BBQ 2020 DATES

This week’s zoom meeting

www.rowvillerotary.com.au

https://twitter.com/#/RotaryRowLyster

Rotary District 9810

http://www.9810rotary.org.au

https://twitter.com/rotary9810

Rotary International

www.rotary.org

Contact details

Where to find current infor-mation about Rotary

District 9810 newsletter

My Rotary

Rotary Down Under magazine

2019-20 BOARD MEMBERS

President Rajeev Wadhwa

Vice-President Kevin Harrison

Secretary Heather Eddy

Treasurer Neil White

President Elect Marg Vesey

Immediate Past President Daryl Moran

Past President Alan Lunghusen

2019-20 COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Community Anita Wadhwa

Youth Service Jeff Somers

Foundation Murray Wilson

International Alan Lunghusen

Vocational James Wilson

Public Relations James Wilson

Membership Kevin Harrison

OTHER ROLES

Rowville Secondary

College Council Rep Kevin Harrison

Lysterfield Primary

School Council Rep Daryl Moran

Newsletter Jenny Moran

Website Alan Lunghusen

Club Protection Officer Corinne Baillie

Program Co-ordinator Carol Constantine

79 9 9