Rotary Hawthorn Regional Visits – Noel Halford
It is amazing how from the thoughts of one person can change the lives of so many.
This was particularly so in the case of John Millington a former President of the Rotary Club of Nhill. John’s search for employees to be employed in his Luv a Duck enterprise located in Nhill took him some 300km away to Melbourne .
His decision to provide employment and assist in accommodating a family of Karen refugees from Myanmar was a turning point for so many. Today there is a thriving Karen community in Nhill and neighbouring towns.
John Millington’s actions inspired so many, including your writer, who decided Rotary Hawthorn would benefit from seeing first hand one of our nation’s most truly successful immigration stories.
Rotary Hawthorn visited Nhill and while being hosted by the Rotary Club of Nhill our members learnt of the plight facing over a million refugees living in camps near the Thai border. A decision was made to join with the Rotary Club of Nhill in raising funds for a Sky Hydrant water purification system as part of a Water, Sanitation & Hygiene program. (WASH)
Our second visit to Nhill resulted in Rotary Hawthorn providing support for a young Karen student who successfully entered university to undertake medical and health related studies. Further Rotary support was provided to the 1 ,000,000 refugees living in refugee camps in Thailand continues.
The success of our visits to Nhill heralded the introduction of an annual Regional Visit Program. The benefits of the program are many but include expanding our knowledge of regional Rotary club programs and activities in other regions, making new friendships and seizing the opportunities to combine resources to serve communities in need.
In 2024, a new alliance was formed through Regional Visits to East Gippsland where Rotary Clubs of Hawthorn and Lakes Entrance supported WASH projects in Timor Leste. Through Lakes Entrance and Hawthorn networking, Sky Hydrants were delivered to the village of Calcassa.
The most recent 2025 Rotary Hawthorn Regional visit has just concluded. This year a party of twenty-three Hawthorn Rotarians visited the delightful town of Beechworth in North Eastern Victoria where we established another similar program with the Rotary Club of Beechworth. Timor Leste is once again the beneficiary , this time with the support of three Rotary Clubs from different regions in the state of Victoria.
The project was announced at a combined club dinner held this week in which a total of sixty Rotarians from Hawthorn, Beechworth and Appin Park Wangaratta attended.
The three Rotary Clubs will shortly convene on line and thanks to the Rotary Club of Lakes Entrance, contacts in Dili, Timor Leste and Rotary Donations in Kind will facilitate the delivery of another Sky Hydrant to one of our closest International neighbours.
The success achieved through the four regional visits to date clearly demonstrates the power of Rotary and what can be achieved when four Rotary Clubs from different regions meet with a common objective.
Our new “Rotary Quad” comprising Rotary Clubs from Hawthorn( Metropolitan), Nhill (North Western Victoria), Lakes Entrance (South Eastern Victoria) and Beechworth (North Eastern Victoria) is one that has great potential to positively contribute shared resources to local and international projects.
The synergy generated from our joint Rotary Club initiatives has enormous potential and ensures our Rotary clubs will survive to serve so many in their respective communities.
Announcements regarding our 2026 Regional Visit will be made shortly.