Rotary in our district is one of diversity, something that we are proud of.  In an evening of fellowship and dance, Papatoetoe Central Rotary recently raised about $15,000 for Friends of Fiji Heart Foundation (NZ surgeons volunteer to do heart surgery in Fiji), Ronald McDonald House and St John Ambulance. 
 
They did this by way of a successful dinner commemorating Girmit, an important day in the Fiji Indian calendar recognising the history of indentured Indians from 1879.
 
The Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, a member of Wellington Rotary, spoke of the history and importance of Grimit Day to Fijian Indians and indeed Fiji.  District Governor for 2017-2018,  Malini Raghwan, spoke of Rotary because of the large number of guests who were not Rotarians; its diversity, its activities on a local community and global scale, and her thoughts about Rotary in our district for the Rotary year ahead.
 
 
 
The funds raised came from sponsorship and the auctioning of a wide variety of items mostly contributed by businesses in the Papatoetoe area and from Rotarians. Assistance was also received from the Chenery Trust. The guest speakers were captivating but the real colour came from the Fijian and Punjabi performances … what energy!  All 280 guests had a stunning evening at Alexandra Park and the great news is that the club hopes for this to be an annual event.
 
By way of some history:  Indo-Fijians are Fiji citizens who are fully or partially of Indian descent, which includes descendants who trace their heritage from various parts of the Indian subcontinent. They are mostly descended from indentured labourers, girmitiyas or girmit, from northern part of India brought to the islands by Fiji's British colonial rulers between 1879 and 1916 to work on Fiji's sugar cane plantations. The first indentured labour ship that brought Indians to Fiji was the Leonidas in 1879. The importance of Girmit Day is to celebrate the heritage and provide an idea of the difficulties their ancestors went through.
 
Papatoetoe Central Rotary is a newish club in the district but one that is making its mark with a series of exciting projects.