Next Tuesday, On October 30th we have a fun get-together and tenpin bowling. So no regular meeting at the Tawa Bowling Club.
Meet at North City Tenpin, 35 Kenepuru Dr, Porirua 5022 at 5.45pm. It shares the Transmission Gulley construction site entrance off Kenepuru Drive. Then follow the signs to the ten-pin bowling alley carpark.
The cost for the evening is $15 per head, which covers games, platters of nibbles, and shoe hire. A cash bar is also available. North City Tenpin owner and no. 2 NZ ten-pin champion, Chris Haynes, will give us a short talk about the business and future development plans etc.
Also a reminder about our meeting scheduled for 6th November. This is Melbourne Cup night. And it is our annual Melbourne Cup get together with Plimmerton Rotary Club at The Mana Cruising Club. The evening starts at 4.30pm, with the Melbourne Cup race at 5.30, but PLEASE feel free to join from 6.00 pm for dinner and speaker and polio quiz. There will also be prizes for Ladies Best Fascinator, and Gentlemen's Best Tie.
Many thanks to those who came along and helped with the Spring into Tawa event with the set-up, management during the day, and with pack-up. Another great occasion for the Tawa community.
If you still have any Rotary vests please return to Richard Herbert so that can be washed and packed ready for the Christmas parade and toot 4 tucker events.
On Tuesday, October 23rd we went On Safari with our member Bernie O'Loughlin recounting a photo log of a recent journey he and his wife undertook in Southern Africa.
The tour was 3.5 weeks in Southern Africa, and touched on South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
In South Africa they visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. It illustrates the rise and fall of South Africa’s era of segregation and oppression, and is regarded as an absolute must-see. It uses a broad variety of media to provide a chilling insight into the architecture and implementation of the apartheid system, as well as inspiring stories of the struggle towards democracy. Surrounding the museum are pillars illustrating the pillars of the constitution which comprise seven fundamental values: democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom.
A number of the sayings of Nelson Mandela are illustrated in the museum; e.g. "To be free is not merely to cast off ones chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace. "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
Two safari tours were experienced; firstly a five day tour in Sabi Sand Game Reserve which shares an unfenced border with Kruger National Park in northern South Africa with parties of up to 8 people, and the second a 14 day tour with parties of up to 12 people to the Okavango Delta, in Botswana, and Victoria Falls.
While on safari lots of wildlife were seen including; elephants, lions, leopards, cheaters eating impala, various antelopes, hippo, crocodiles, buffalo, warthogs, and birds; fish eagles, kingfisher, and flamingo, and also some beautiful African sunsets.
A new appreciation was learnt of the effects of elephants impact on the landscape, trophy hunting and poaching.
The tour finished with some time in Cape Town, South Africa and Robben Island.
John Melville provided the 3-minute talk on his role as the new Treasurer for Rotary Tawa and what that involves.
Earlier in the year Judith Havill, through a 3 minute talk, told us of her interest in making dresses for the Dress a Girl Around the World program. Dress a Girl Around the World is a campaign under Hope 4 Women International bringing dignity to women around the world since 2006.
"Imagine a world where every girl owned at least one dress," this is the motto of the Dress a Girl Around the World program.
Recipients love the dresses because they are so pretty! They help the children realise they have dignity and are worthy of love. Many girls are overlooked and often abused with no one to protect them.
Dress a Girl dresses have a Dress a Girl label on the outside front of the dress which may help protect the girls from predators. The label indicates that an organization is looking after the wearer and just maybe a predator will pass us over! That's worth the extra time and effort, don't you think.
This is a clothes line of some of the dresses that I have made.
Dresses made in NZ go to Solomon’s, Vanuatu, Fiji, Myanmar Orphanage, Kenya, Ghana, and Vietnam. They work with organisations such as Children of Massai, QuanAm Foundation, Fountain of Peace Children’s Foundation in Uganda, Heart of Hope Charitable Organisation (widows and orphans) in Solomon Islands for delivery of dresses to local girls. Shorts and tees for boys are also made which have gone to Uganda.
All garments go with people travelling from NZ so that the clothing reaches its destination. Dresses are sewn by people throughout New Zealand.
When Bruce Phillips travelled to the Solomon Islands in July he took some of the Dress a Girl dresses with him and they were distributed by the local Hearts of Hope Charity. Bruce furnished this extract from their local newspaper the Solomon Times issues of the 12 October 2018.
Every Thursday morning, I receive an email from the World Health Organization with an update on the status of polio eradication. It contains a wealth of information, country by country: where and how immunization campaigns are being conducted, how many millions of children are being vaccinated, and where environmental surveillance has found evidence of circulating virus. But every week, when that email appears in my inbox, my heart seems to stop for just a moment until I read the first few lines – and learn whether a child was paralyzed by wild poliovirus that week.
That, my friends, is where we are today in the work of polio eradication. The question on my mind as I open that message isn't how many thousands of cases we might see in a year, as we did not too long ago, or even how many hundreds. Instead, when that WHO email arrives every Thursday, the single, binary question it answers is: Was there a new case this week, or wasn't there?
Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for both community service and friendship. Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group of professionals who share your drive to give back.
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Rotarians are both women and men with a passion for service
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Rotary at a Glance
Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders who dedicate their time and talent to tackle the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members from more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work impacts lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world.
