After a good break the first meeting for the year following the BBQ is almost upon us. It will be an opportunity to renew old friendships and make new relationships. I would urge members to take a risk and sit with and chat with members especially recent members who they don’t normally chat with. Also make any guests feel at home.We are all “hosts of the party” and if people are being ignored or not engaged with they are unlikely to come back and find out the joys of Rotary. Finally a reminder that the District Summit is to be held in Adelaide this coming May. Having spoken to other Boroondara presidents ,other clubs are getting ready to send a sizeable complement of people. Let's join in the fun.
A Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) training program has been delivered at the Aladura Primary School in Buedu, Sierra Leone as part of the club's project to build two new gender specific toilet blocks at the school. Drawing upon existing programs delivered by Rotary projects in Cambodia and Timor Leste, and material from the Rotary Action Group WASHRAG and the USAID Hygiene Improvement Project, the WASH training was tailored by Rotary Glenferrie to meet the specific needs of the Aladura School. The initial training was conducted by the Health Department of the Government of Sierra Leone under the supervision of our project partners, the Rotary Club of Bo, with ongoing classes to be run by the school's teaching staff, and was delivered with the assistance of a District International Grant from The Rotary Foundation.
Take a peek at the program material provided by Rotary Glenferrie by clicking on the images below.
The WASH program developed by Rotary Glenferrie, teaching children how, why and when to wash hands, was delivered to staff and students in January 2025 by the Health Department of The Government of Sierra Leone
The Hygiene Club program was designed by the Rotary Club of Glenferrie based on a concept provided by Beyond Water International. Older students at the school will take responsibility for the maintenance of supplies and cleanliness of the new toilet blocks.
Again this year, PP Thelma Hutchison and PP Mark Ellis are going to be part of the Ride for a Cause RoCan 2025, raising money for ovarian cancer research via the Rotary Club of Williamstown. Both of us are committed to raising at least $1,000 each, so we are after donations to assist us!
In the first week of April, we will be covering at least 700 km as part of a group aiming at 1,000 km in one week, riding from Geelong to Adelaide. Originally the idea was to coincide with the Rotary Conference, but that has been moved to May. Both of us have fund raising pages published via Facebook.
Many members will be aware that Camcare, located in St John's Avenue, Camberwell, is a community organisation of professionals and volunteers. Camcare's paid staff and up to 200 volunteers provide services to people in Boroondara who have low incomes, and are experiencing social disadvantage or personal adversity.
Our Club has assisted in various ways over the years. We have provided toiletry and personal hygiene packs for homeless individuals as well delivering donated fresh food from the Ashwood Woolworths store. We have also assisted in the garden by demolishing an unwanted shed and removing a large of accumulated rubbish. Now there is a new opportunity to help out - click on Read more... below.
Rotary District 9800 will join with Rotary District 9510 for this year's District Conference, at Morphettville Racecourse, Adelaide, South Australia. Combine your conference visit with a short stay in this beautiful city; visit the Barossa Valley wineries; head up north or down south, stay longer for the AFL 'gather Round". As they say in SA Great, "Travel. Our Way". Early Bird pricing still available. Click on the image below for more information and to book.
The club will participate in the annual Clean Up Australia Day event on Sunday 2nd March 2025. It would be great if as many members as possible were able to participate. As many of you will know we spend 2 hours during the morning from 9.30 am picking up rubbish in Patterson Reserve and surrounding streets. Gloves and graspers are supplied, and a very pleasant light lunch will follow the Clean Up. There is a sign-up page on the website under the Rosters tab within the Member Resources section, or click on the Sign Up button below to volunteer now! I look forward to seeing many of our members for a pleasant half day.
Rotary notes the recent announcement that the United States intends to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). We remain resolute in our mission to eradicate polio. As a founding partner of the GPEI, Rotary has for decades worked closely with all the GPEI partners, the U.S. government, and other governments to end polio worldwide. This effort has reduced the number of children paralyzed by polio by 99.9% since 1988. The global effort to eradicate polio has innovated many times over the years to come close to protecting every last child.
As a flow on from the terrific fundraiser for the Sumba Eye Program, there are children books still to be sold. At the meetings, there are opportunities to buy this book written by Mary Crock aimed at bushfire awareness.
A great and cheap gift for your grandchildren (one is in Japanese!!) These books will be available to purchase at club dinner meetings to come, for $5 each - totally going to the Sumba Eye Program via our coffers.
Cash or EPTOS can be used. Bring your credit card!
The club's Facebook page has passed the 1.1k mark in terms of the number of people 'following' the page. This is more than twice the number of a few years ago and is important, since the more people who 'Follow' the page, and the more people who 'Like' the club's posts, the more widespread will be the club's news. If you haven't done so already, please 'Like' and 'Follow' us on Facebook, read and 'Like' club posts, help spread the magic of Rotary!
A group of chaps, all aged 40, discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed that they would meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the waitresses there were gorgeous.
Artist George Petrou OAM is a successful graphic designer and acclaimed portrait artist. "The Art Of Sacrifice" is a haunting and poignant product born of a transformative period in the renowned Melbourne artists life, exploring stories of some inspirational and courageous Australians
The Rotary Club of Glenferrie acknowledges the traditional owners as the custodians of this land, recognising their connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Australia's First Peoples, and to their elders, past, present and future.
The Rotary Club of Glenferrie | PO Box 2134 | Hawthorn Vic 3122
Register for the next meeting of the Rotary Club of Glenferrie
