Ghana is a small country on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa with a population of 30 million. As a developing country with an improving economy and adoption of westernised lifestyles, its people are experiencing significant levels of endocrine disorders such as diabetes and thyroid. Unfortunately, as distinct from Australia, they also have an unusually high death rate from what are treatable conditions.

Having interesting and diverse speakers is important for Rotary clubs.  A vibrant and diverse program not only retains members, it can also attract potential members and introduce new opportunities and learning experiences.

Sourcing speakers for weekly meetings, however, can be a challenging task.

The Rotary District 9800 Speakers Bank is a very useful resource that assists clubs in sourcing interesting and diverse speakers to enhance their weekly meetings.

Good – Better – Best!

From time to time clubs decide to review their activities, and ‘temperature check’ what they have in place so they can determine objectively what needs to stay, what needs to change and what needs to be implemented to ensure the club’s future success. A great way to do this is by conducting a Club Health Check.

To assist this review process, District has developed a very useful template that includes a system to enable a club to rate its overall performance, as well as each of its constituent parts.;

Having grown up in Boroondara, Glenferrie Rotarian, John Hudson, has been devoting his retirement years to volunteering in the community that provided he and his family so many benefits.

A Fellow of the Certified Public Accountants and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, John’s career included the role of Company Secretary at McIlwraith Davey Ltd, which employed over 7,000 people, and finally as Finance Manager at Trinity Grammar until 1990. 

A graduate from Melbourne University’s School of Dental Science, George set up his own large regional dental practice in Ballarat some twenty years ago.  But, with a passion for giving back to the community, George decided to sell his practice and volunteer through the Pacific Islands dental charity, Australian Christian Dental Aid. He has completed approximately 16 trips to Vanuatu providing dental care in remote villages.

George was introduced to Rotary through current Southbank Club President, Jasmin Dhillon, and after attending a few meetings, joined the club in June this year.  In George’s words: “I enjoyed the company of like-minded people with a focus on giving back to the local and global community.” 

A business colleague, who was a member of Rotary Club of Balwyn, encouraged Doug Hawley to join Rotary in 1987.  They had done voluntary work together, and when Rotary Balwyn formed the Canterbury club, Doug became a Charter Member.

“I have been fortunate to be involved in three major projects. In 1993-94, clubs were invited to raise funds for the Donor Bone Marrow Institute.  Our project was a re-enactment of the inaugural Grand Prix, and we organised vintage cars and 350 volunteers to keep people off the track,” advised Doug and further adding “I was surprised how easy it was to get Rotary volunteers from other Clubs.  We raised $70,000 in two years, a great effort for a small club. When the real Grand Prix came to Melbourne, no other motor sports were allowed, so we lost our fund-raiser.”

The Rotary Club of Footscray was chartered in August 1937 and was the first club in Melbourne to be formed in a highly industrialised area where the majority of potential members would be non-residential. It was an experiment where Footscray’s progress would determine whether establishing similar clubs would proceed.

Peopled by ‘captains of industry’ in a community soon to experience the privations of World War 2, the Club endured.  The captains have long gone—light industry and a certain gentrification has replaced them while the Rotary Club of Footscray has cemented its place as a contributing force in the area for over 80 years.