Berrima Banter - 20th January 2019 (Jan 19, 2019)

From the President - 16/01/19

Hello everybody! Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the second half of the Rotary year.

Despite being down a bit on numbers due to school holidays, Christmas getaways and the absence of our RLYA stalwarts in Canberra, we started the year well thanks to a number of welcome visitors at this week’s meeting. Part of the attraction was our guest speaker, Richard Lane, which bought along an associate of his, Pieter Franzen. Another incentive to come along was an interest in Rotary and our Club – thank you Di Hosking.

We also had a chance to air any concerns about the draft MOU prepared for our ongoing relationship with Wingecarribee Shire Council regarding the design and installation of the all-abilities playground extension at Berrima, as well as the preservation of our Community Partnership Building grant that is due to expire on the 31^st of March this year. This discussion was facilitated by the attendance of WSC’s Asset Planning Manager, Michelle Green, who I have been working closely with on this project. Thanks for coming along Michelle.

However, enough digression – back to our keynote speaker. Richard Lane is the founder and driving force behind the Wingecarribee Vocal Muster (https://wvmuster.com.au/). The WVM is a not-for-profit organisation whose main objective is to give students from our local high schools with emerging vocal talent the opportunity to perform and to gain experience in real life situations. This program has facilitated 73 student performances in the Southern Highlands in the last 6 months of 2018 alone.

Richard was also delighted to announce their 2^nd Annual Awards Dinner to be held at Dormie House in Moss Vale on the 23rd of February. He is hoping that this event will be widely supported by locals to provide the wherewithal to continue and grow this great program in 2019 as well as to give budding performers the chance to win great prizes.

Bookings can be made via trybooking as per the flyer below.

Ride for Youth

The annual 145Classic: Ride for Youth is back in 2019. The ride will be held on Saturday 18^th May 2019 to raise vital funds for the young people at risk who need the services of Triple Care Farm! The Sir David Martin Foundation will host the ride. Participants will complete a loop course through the Southern Highlands, starting and finishing at Glebe Park, Bowral.

Show your support by registering to do the ride, or donate to support young people. For more information head to www.145classic.com or you can contact the Foundation at events@sdmf.org.au.

Berrima District Rotary is discussing with the SDMF how we might work with them to provide meals for competitors and friends on the day. More to follow on this activity at a later date.

MAFO Update - Medical aid “never enough”

A much cooler day on Saturday was welcomed with relief by the intrepid team of volunteers packing a 20ft container in Sydney for Doctors Assisting in South-Pacific Islands (DAISI). There was an exceptionally large number of donors of medical equipment and consumables including MedEarth, Ramsay Health Care, ANZ Gastroenterology International Training Association, Horten Medical and the Royal Women’s Hospital Sydney.

This week the container will be loaded on board Swire Shipping’s vessel Morobe Chief and sent to the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, Solomon Islands. MAFO Project Manager John Macpherson said the scope for equipping hospitals in developing countries with equipment we take for granted was practically unlimited.

MAFO has organised all of the shipment logistics and will now be working closely with the clearing agent, National Medical Stores in Honiara, to ensure seamless clearance and delivery of the container’s contents to final destinations.

Pictured below one of 9 x 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) handled by MAFO since mid-December, a record for one month.

AUSSIE BOOKS FOR ZIM REACHES TARGET

Aussie Books for Zim has reached its crowdfunding target of $16,000 to ship two container loads of books to Zimbabwe. One 40ft container has now been packed not only with books, but also library furniture, stationery and children's toys and it weighs an astonishing 26.4 tonnes. The consignment will be sent to rural areas of Zimbabwe to set up libraries.

Some 60,000 books have been collected as a result of many generous donations made over the past few months. It is estimated that the books and other donations will benefit 6,000 to 10,000 children living in Zimbabwean villages.

Aussie Books founder and CEO, Dr Alfred Chidembo, who is well-known to our Club, has been a tireless campaigner for this very worthwhile cause that enables children living in remote areas to gain knowledge through books. Alfred was recently presented with a humanitarian award for his work.