Weekly
Meetings
When:1pm Every Tuesday
Where:Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club - 489 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong
Cost:$37 including lunch
Together, we build relationships
Together, we take action
Together, we inspire
Together, we solve problems
Together, we reach out to the community
During COVID-19 Restrictions
Club Meetings are being held on Zoom
Monthly
Meetings
When:7pm Third Wednesday Every Month
Where:Grace Park Hawthorn Club - 6 Hilda Crescent, Hawthorn
Cost:$15 including light supper
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Rotary Hawthorn
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In a world where compassion and charity are increasingly becoming the cornerstone of modern society, Rotary Hawthorn is here to facilitate this wonderful change. Our club is the perfect choice for those wanting to make a serious, long-lasting difference. Whether you are young or old, able or feeble - our doors are open to all.
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Rotary Hawthorn
Rotary Hawthorn
News
Today, Tuesday 14th July 2020 members of the Hawthorn Rotary Club had the opportunity to listen to the 'Engine Room of Rotary' from guest speaker, PDG Murray Verso, who outlined the work The Rotary Foundation does throughout the world.
Support for some people doing it tough
We have agreed to assist in providing care packs and clothing for people being admitted to the Alfred Hospital Mental Health Unit. The Unit has 50 or so patients at any one time and staff say people being admitted are highly anxious and frightened and many arrive with no physical possessions or care items. The Hospital is only able to provide basic hygiene necessities.
In a project initiated by Bronwyn Stephens, Past District Governor and member of Rotary Club Melbourne South, we will work with that Club and others to provide a store of basic care packs that can be made available to each person on admission. Additionally, as typically 40 % of people in the Unit are homeless, a store of new clothing will be established to assist as part of the project.
The project is a collaboration of Rotary Club of Melbourne South (lead club), RC Albert Park, RC Port Melbourne, RC Malvern, RC Hawthorn and RC Glen Eira as a. The clubs have made various financial contributions towards the project and as a multi-club project and project has been approved for a matching grant from The Rotary Foundation ( District Grant).
Rotary Hawthorn’s inaugural fundraising lunch raised money for mental health as well as Rotary Hawthorn projects, so the funds committed as our contribution to this project are already available.
This project sits really well with our Club’s focus on support for the disadvantaged and provides a great opportunity for us to work with other clubs in doing something that will be of real practical benefit.
More on opportunities for our involvement as the project rolls on, but at this stage, to get the maximum impact with the available funds, assistance or suggestions in linking with potential donors/suppliers of the care pack items and clothing would be very welcome.
For more information contact.
Denbigh Richards
Community Service Director
Or Katrina Flinn
Consortium Committee member representing Rotary Hawthorn
Rotary Hawthorn’s Sky-Hydrant project will fund the purchase and installation of a Shyhydrant Max to provide clean drinking water to a community of Karen refugees from Myanmar currently situated in refugee camp in Thailand (near the border with Myanmar)
Noel Halford, Rotary Hawthorn Club Service Director 2018-19 heard about the work of John Millington & Rotary Club of Nhill in attracting Karen refugees to Nhill and how they have successfully integrated into the Nhill community. Noel arranged initially for John to address the club and then arranged a club visit /weekend away in April 2019 to Nhill “the road to Nhill”..
Whilst in Nhill we found more about the plight of the Karen, how they have had to flee their homeland and how so many are still in refugee camps . Due to overcrowding clean water is a real issue.
We also started a friendship between our club and RC of Nhill which is in a fairly remote location in Victoria close to the border with South Australia. In recognition of our friendship out Club assisted RC Nhill in sponsoring Mu Yeh Htoo, a Karen student to attend National Youth Science Forum. We are advised that this is the first time a student from Nhill Secondary college has applied and also been accepted to attend NYSF.
We also started a friendship between our club and RC of Nhill which is in a fairly remote location in Victoria close to the border with South Australia. In recognition of our friendship out Club assisted RC Nhill in sponsoring Mu Yeh Htoo, a Karen student to attend National Youth Science Forum. We are advised that this is the first time a student from Nhill Secondary college has applied and also been accepted to attend NYSF.
Immediate Past President Ian Bentley & Katrina Flinn met with representatives of Disaster Aid at their premises in Doveton, & the use of the Sky-hydrant pump was demonstrated to us. The key people in Disaster Aid Australia are Rotarians, one of whom is a qualified water engineer, they are well versed in their field. Disaster Aid is a project of RC of Endeavour Hills in D9810.
By way of Background:
The Karen are an ethnic group from Burma (Myanmar), many of whom fled Myanmar due to religious and ethnic persecution by the government. 140,000 refugees from Myanmar mostly , are living in camps in Thailand, some have been there for as long as 20 years.
The pump will provide filter 10,000 litres of water per day. The community will assist with the installation of the stand etc under supervision. They will also be taught how to maintain the Sky-hydrant pump. The community will also be taught maintenance of the unit.
How have we funded the project?
The Club also arranged fundraising via raffle and auction prizes to assist in the funding of the sky-hydrant together with a matched grant from The Rotary Foundation.
What is the current situation? The project is been delayed due to travel restrictions and we need to be able to get the Skyhydrant unit from Melbourne to Singapore. The reduced number of commercial flights has increased the cost of air freight. In normal course the easiest way would be for someone in our network that is travelling to Singapore to take the Unit as part of their travelling allowance.
For further information contact
Katrina Flinn
International Service Director 2019-20
Rotary Hawthorn
Email: katrinaflinn@gmail.com
Hawthorn Rotary is supporting a clean water and toilet project in Cambodia.
Darrel Steer sends us an update from Kok Tnoth Village.
There is no doubt that over the last few weeks the coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed all of our lives. In particular, self-isolation measures have increased in severity, meaning a decrease in our physical activity and exercise.
Members will recall that we agreed some time ago to support the Yarra Bank Reserve Playground Project to mark 100 years of Rotary activity in Australia in 2021.
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The Club fundraising via Sergeants sessions has been going so well that we decided (President’s choice) to donate an amount to her favourite speaker with a cause.
President Charlotte decided to donate the funds towards Darrel Steer’s Cambodia Clean Water and Toilet Project.
The attached email from Darrel details what the funds have been used for.
Rotary Hawthorn is pleased to announce that the construction of a second toilet block for primary school children in the Phillipines has now been completed. This toilet block is in Pasil Elementary school.
Here is some extracts from an article by Networker Correspondent, Tony Thomas concerning in part our first Philippines toilet project at Pantikan Elementary School. It focused on the special input by Melbourne Rotartian Dr Cecily Neil and the difficulties of projects in remote parts of the world.
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 handwashing 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 .
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The project is small but the principles are vital – community involvement and ability to keep the toilet operational. For example, the children chose the wall and door colors and through organized games were taught handwashing and not to block the pipes, waste the water or damage the taps. Pantikian men provided the unskilled labour on a voluntary basis. The local Municipal Engineer supervised the work at all key construction points.
The Parents and Teachers Assn members worked with and helped supervise the skilled laborers. Mothers took turns cooking and serving workers’ lunches. Others planted gardens around the toilet.
The Cambodia Clean Water and Toilet Project is a 'grassroots' organisation founded by Darrel Steer (a partner with World of Difference) in response to the needs seen in a rural village near Siem Reap in early 2015. With support from village leaders, Darrel took action to raise the standard of health and hygiene for these village families by installing water bores with pumps and sanitary toilets.The project provides the m
eans for very poor villagers to improve their health, save the money that would be spent on medicines, re-focus on their children's schooling and give them hope for their future.
eans for very poor villagers to improve their health, save the money that would be spent on medicines, re-focus on their children's schooling and give them hope for their future. The installation costs are $350 for a clean water bore with casing to protect the actual bore pipe, plus a cast iron pump and concrete base. For the installation of a septic tank toilet and building, it costs $610.
The project team normally insists on the family making some contribution, usually by helping with the drilling or digging and providing the sand and sometimes the cement.
Their contribution helps maintain the family's dignity and provides a sense of ownership. Ownership is a critical factor for ongoing hygiene and maintenance.
Darrel humorously described his own career path since his retirement as an industrial chemist to a financial planner and later to a bricklayer. During his visit to Melbourne he has been delighted by the opportunity to network with Rotarians and the co-operation he received from World of Difference Tours and Donations-in-Kind.
We plan to incorporate a project with Darryl on our upcoming World of Difference Tour in January 2021.
How much do you know about our nearest Asian neighbour? How is Rotary Club of Hawthorn involved in Timor-Leste?
Clean water is a real challenge in many developing countries. Without clean water, disease and sanitation are extremely difficult problems to manage. Sadly, this basic necessity is still a little more than a dream in remote parts of Timor-Leste. Presently water is carried to homes and schools, mainly by women and children, from sources that can be several hours walk away. Supplying water to these remote village schools and communities hugely benefits these children and provide them with more time to sleep and study.
This is where Rotarians have stepped in and formed a Consortium to assist the area of Baguia, a remote area in the highlands of eastern Timor-Leste. Access to water has been deemed the highest priority, as although the area has high rainfall, they have not been able to harvest the water.
