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“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time.  We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  We are the change that we seek.” 
–  Barack Obama
 
May is Youth Service Month
Thoughts from DG Ingrid

This last month has been a busy one with clubs involved in their different projects while we have also had a great combined Women in Rotary event with District 9910, we officially chartered the Rotary Community Corps in Tarawa, Kiribati, a highly successful RYPEN camp was held (with Rotaractors taking the lead in running it) and work is ongoing on some very significant Global Grant projects, which included Auckland South Rotary’s Charity and Cultural Evening raising funds for the Fiji Oxygen Project amongst other causes.  These are examples of Rotarians being People of Action.

Make sure you read our Newsletter Editor’s piece further on with some ideas for making Rotary even more an action-oriented organisation that is relevant for now and the future.

April is Maternal and Child Health Month

April’s theme of Maternal and Child Health really resonated recently as I visited Kiribati. Kiribati is one of the poorest countries in the world – 1 in 18 children die before the age of 5 years, the average wage is AUD2 per hour, there is 60% unemployment and more than 50% of the population is under the age of 20.

The purpose of the visit was to charter the South Tarawa Rotary Community Corps (STRCC) and to work on a significant Global Grant.  I travelled with PDG Jennie Herring, whose club Otahuhu is the sponsor club for the RCC, PDG Simon Manning who is District 9940’s Foundation Chair and interested in supporting the Hydroponics Global Grant as well as exploring other opportunities, and PDG Tony Castley from Sydney whose Foundation Sewaid International (www.sewaid.com)is looking at establishing a presence in Kiribati. 

We had the privilege of meeting many local community and government leaders and visited schools, communities, a women’s centre, as well as having an interest meeting to form a full Rotary Club.  The highlight was participating in a wonderful occasion to formally mark the charter of the STRCC, where we presented every member with a Charter certificate as well as the Corps formal charter, and they fed us and performed some local songs and dances.

There is another interest meeting for a Rotary Club in May, we already have 8 people have signed up to join, so we look forward to welcoming another club into our district before too long.  There is enormous work Rotary can do in Kiribati and they need the support of the wider world of Rotary to be able to do it.
And finally on Maternal and Child Health Month - did you read the Guest Editorial in the April edition of Rotary Downunder Magazine, written by our own Claire Eyes, about the Midwife Training Vocational Training Team that operated for the last three years, training Pacific Island midwives.

May is Youth Service Month


What is your Rotary Club doing to focus on Youth Service in May 2019?
How many youth programmes does your club support? 

Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Model United Nations Assembly, International Youth Exchange, Rotary Australia NZ Student Exchange, National Science and Technology Forum, Rotary Youth Programme of Enrichment, Challenge Camp, Rotary Youth Driver Awareness.

I was fortunate this month to also attend the official chartering of the latest Interact Club in our district – Epsom Girls Grammar School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Auckland and supported by Mt Eden Rotary.  They have 100 members!

Can your Rotary club sponsor a Rotaract Club and/or an Interact Club?  You may like to co-sponsor a Rotaract or Interact Club with another Rotary Club.

Interested in finding out more??  Contact Ainie Kwok (0212203090) or George Wilson (021736966) from our District Youth Committee.

Our District currently has 5 active Rotaract Clubs (3 in Fiji and 2 in Auckland) and 17 Interact Clubs.  Over the month of May you could organise a special meeting with your Rotaract or Interact Club or involve them in a special Community Project.

I believe it is one of Rotary’s main contributions to a better world –developing the next generation of leaders, while also providing funding to make the world a better place, and making peace a priority.

And a final very important note – if your club is involved with any programme with children under the age of 18, you must follow all Youth Protection protocols.  If you are not familiar with these, please contact Ingrid as District Governor, District Youth Committee Chair Peter Ross, or district Youth Protection Officer John Mitchell.

Our combined districts walk on Saturday 6 April was a great success in spite of the weather.  Dressed in our Green tshirts, abut 70 women and men braved the rain to walk the 5k circuit from the Wynyard quarter around Westhaven and back, promoting Rotary and having some fun along the way.  Look out for future women in Rotary events.

 

News - What we've been doing
Around and About - During April 2019

Thank you club bulletin editors who have sent me your bulletins. I’ve included some good stuff from them!

Actually, while I'm thinking about it, I will be at the Conference as it's a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, learn some interesting ideas and (because it's in Hawkes Bay)  drink too much. I hope that you'll make yourselves known to me so I can thank you personally for sending me your bulletins and providing me with a whole lot of good ideas and quite some amusement!

Club bulletins were received from:

  1. Auckland
  2. Auckland East
  3. Botany East Tamaki
  4. Downtown Auckland
  5. Ellerslie Sunrise
  6. Howick
  7. Mangere
  8. Manukau City Sunrise
  1. Newmarket
  2. Otāhuhu
  3. Pakuranga
  4. Papakura
  5. Parnell
  6. Penrose
  7. Suva East

Auckland: Chartering a new Interact Club

On Tuesday our Club sponsored the chartering of a new Interact Club at Epsom Girls’ Grammar.  Rotary Interact Clubs are for young people aged 12 to 18, who want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they most care about.  Our Club has already chartered one Interact Club at Auckland Grammar School and this Club continues to grow each year – with a current membership of about 130.

Auckland East : St. Heliers School Fair

A very big thank you to all members and partners who volunteered to be part of the St Heliers Primary School Fair on Sunday. It was a great opportunity for our club to be seen doing great work in the community thus raising our profile, as well as giving back to the School who have supported our book fair in the past years.

We really stood out in our Rotary uniforms and those who had the high vis vests with the Rotary emblem even better. The Rotary auction wheel we have is really a great asset both for fundraising and also raising our profile and it made me realise we should try and use it more often. President Bevan

Anon (i.e. I can’t remember which club’s bulletin this came from!)

So John says to Joan, “how did you get on at the faith healing session last night?”
Joan replies, “It was rubbish. Even the guy in a wheel chair got up and walked out”.

Downtown Auckland Club: notifications in advance

While we encourage all members and guests to attend our informative and fun meetings, it's important to register your attendance in advance. The Northern Club normally charge members who fail to register in advance a $5 late fee as it causes challenges with catering.  Starting in May, we will begin charging members/guests who don't register the $5 fee. The Northern Club have graciously agreed to donate any late registrations fees to our Sunshine Fund. So please make sure to click your meeting invitation to register yourself or your guests by the 12noon deadline on Monday before our meeting.

The club is working on getting an online payment system in place, in the interim you may register online at the club website https://rotarydowntownauckland.club/ and pay on the day at reception with either in cash or credit card for the $25 breakfast fee. If you have any issues with online registration, please txt Graham Hendry at  021 997 934 or email President Lucy at changlorinczi@icloud.com.

Mangere:

Auckland Harbourside

“Work for a cause
not for applause,
Live life to express
Not to impress"

Three Ideas for meetings:

These are some venues and activities that clubs that sent me their bulletins had during April:

Auckland – Spirit of Adventure evening sail

Newmarket – Petanque at Epsom Bowling Club

Pakuranga - Sachies Kitchen Chinese Cooking Social Night, St Georges Bay Rd.  This is a wonderful opportunity to learn some basics of Chinese cooking and at the same time taste your cooking

Global Grant Hydroponics project, Kiribati

Jennie Herring visited South Tarawa. During her visit she presented the charter certificate to Kairao Tune, chairperson of the RCC, and a pull up banner to the South Tarawa Rotary Community Corps (STRCC).

Remuera and St Johns, and Mt Eden

There were two ‘quiz’ nights managed by these clubs recently. Remmers and St Johns was in aid of the medical-oxygen project in Fiji and Mt Eden’s for Allergy NZ.  These are great fun, add to the branch’s social engagement and raise money for good causes.  What’s not to love? Your Humble Correspondent and the Ever Loving went to the St John’s and Remuera competition, we were unable to repeat last year’s winning performance but had a great time in a well presented and profitable evening.

Read more...
Polio Plus - April 2019
Get the latest Polio Flyer here 
And for the latest Polio Plus messaging ... read on ...
Read more...
Looking Ahead
Looking Ahead - May '19 onwards

Please let us know about your June events so we can include them in next month's newsletter!!!

New Zealand Motorcycle Show 2019 Papakura Rotary is seriously involved in this:

Save the dates! New Zealand Motorcycle Show is back for 2019!

Mark the dates on your calendar for September 13, 14-15 2019.  More Info will follow soon.

Centennial History of Rotary 1921-2021 in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

Is your Club contributing to the Centennial History of Rotary 1921-2021 in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands?

“Mana Tangata: People of Action” is the working title of a coffee table publication being crafted by professional historian Dr Stephen Clarke. The achievements of your Club and Rotarians cannot be considered by Dr Clarke if he is not aware of them.  Many Clubs have already sent information to Dr Clarke. Research and writing is already under way.

The manuscript is due in July 2020 for publication in 2021, so Clubs need to get their information to the historian as soon as possible. More details and an outline of what the publication will cover are set out later in this article.

Read more...
International Motorcycle Rally - this year in NZ

An opportunity to see our country through other people’s eyes!

Incoming DG Gary Langford received the following note recently. Naturally he said that we would support the rally.

If you feel that you, and/or your club, would like to be involved Gary would love to hear from you. Gary Langford glangford.rotary@gmail.com

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Membership campaigns
Increasing Rotary’s ability to deliver on projects
Is it time we rethought how we campaign to get new members? Many of us are involved in the private sector where we see employees not only as an asset to the organisation but also as a cost thus within reason we want to keep their numbers to a minimum. So we only take on new recruits when we know that their contribution to the enterprise will be more than their cost.
So, what do we do, often because we’ve got HR breathing down our necks, but also because it makes logical sense?
  • We define what tasks we need completed, the job description;
  • Then the attributes that the successful applicant needs, the person specification;
  • Then we advertise, hire head hunters, etc. and eventually
  • Recruit a new employee who’s going to carry out a specific job to contribute to the organisation’s success.
Could we apply that methodology to new membership in Rotary?
            Firstly what tasks need to be completed? Notice it’s not ‘we need new members, let’s have a membership campaign’ it’s what tasks need to be completed.
  • It might be some skills required for ‘Internal’ reasons
    • for example a new treasurer or a
    • person to arrange the speaker’s programme,
  • we have too many/too few female members
  • a local ethnic minority or age group is not represented .
    • or an External reason,
    • we are running a project and we need more people to carry out the work
It might also be that we want to be more representative/relevant - Rotary was originally founded to enable business men to trade with other professional men they knew and trusted. I know, it’s now men and women and it’s not only professionals who are members but the thought’s the same, we need members who represent our whole community. That is the shop keepers, the restaurateurs, the plumbers, the medical and legal professionals, and so on but also members of immigrant communities.
A person who knows everybody, a good connector who can arrange interesting speakers and events. Or relatives, friends and neighbours who are prepared to help take action, not become members in name only but do the task as a Saturday morning stint to help a friend. Plus targeting local business people; telling them of the networking opportunities that are represented in the club. As an aside I can tell you that my lawyer, doctor, insurance broker and travel agent were all engaged as I got to know them through Rotary.
So:
            1          identify the task, then;
            2          the person who can fill it, then;
            3          approach that person
Give them a chance to make a real contribution to society by being involved in the community via Rotary.  
Then not only will we have success in increasing numbers but also the effectiveness of our projects.
Rotary Months May - July
The focus for the next three months is:
MayYouth Service
JuneFellowship
JulyStart of Rotary year and Service
 For the full list of months, read on ...
 
Read more...
In the Diary
DG's Visit to Rotary Club of Rarotonga/50th anniv
Creative Centre
Apr 25, 2019 8:00 AM –
Apr 29, 2019 7:00 PM
 
DG PIPLETs training Apia Samoa
Apia Samoa
Apr 27, 2019
 
Mt Eden Rotary Wellness Day
May 04, 2019
 
PIPLETS taining Suva Fiji
Suva Fiji
May 04, 2019
 
DG visit Papatoetoe Central
De Haveli Restaurant
May 06, 2019 7:00 PM
 
District 9920 Conference
Napier Conference Centre
May 10, 2019 – May 12, 2019
 
District 9920 Conference 2019
May 10, 2019 – May 12, 2019 2:00 PM
 
District Leaders Meeting
PwC Building
May 15, 2019
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
 
MUNA - Model United Nations Assembly
Auckland Girls Grammar
May 17, 2019 – May 18, 2019
 
Leaders Elect Training Seminar
St Cuthbert's College
May 19, 2019
 
District 9920 Leaders Elect Training
St Cuthberts College,Epsom
May 19, 2019
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
 
RI International Convention
Hamburg Germany
Jun 01, 2019 – Jun 05, 2019