I am so impressed with the great work being done by Rotarians and clubs around our District such as Rotary Prahran establishing the Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network; Melbourne’s Rotary Safe Families; and, the continuance of Rochester’s community breakfasts in bringing together other community groups to lead the work on the needs of the community. This last project in particular is fantastic given that Rochester only has five members, yet are so engaged with their community. These projects remind me of our new “People of Action” video, which I highly recommend you view and use for promotional purposes in your communities. I know you will find it inspiring.
District Governor-elect Dale Hoy, who is currently at International Assembly (albeit online), has asked me to advise you of the new Rotary International theme for 2021/22, which is “Serve to Change Lives”. This theme gives Dale and his team a great platform to work with in promoting Rotary in our District.
Whilst a lot of work is going on in Rotary, a number of us are also looking for ways to build resilience in these COVID times. With health messages changing constantly, we do need to stay strong. Finding the energy to keep moving through our ever-changing world at this time means being vigilant about our day-to-day routines; ensuring we maintain our personal sanctuary; staying connected with others; monitoring our own wellbeing and forcing ourselves to act if we feel we are not coping; ensuring the basics are in place such as eating well, exercising, getting the sleep we need, staying on top of the everyday household chores and maintaining personal pride. Looking out for each other is also important – something Rotarians are good at!
On another note, now is a great time for clubs and individuals to make a donation to the Rotary Foundation, as our exchange rates with the US are more favourable.
The first Morning Tea with the DG will now be on 20th February (previously advertised as the 13th). Please note the change of date and join me for a morning featuring some great speakers and presentations.
Stay well, stay connected and share our Rotary stories.
Black Caviar, the champion mare does not hold the record for most horse races won, but she does have the unique distinction of winning every race she entered – all 25 of them.
So what has this got to do with Peace Fellows? District 9800 shares a similar distinction in that for every year that the Rotary Peace Centres Program has been running since it commenced in 2002, at least one Fellow has been successfully nominated by D9800, the only district in the world to achieve this outcome.
The doyen of D9800’s program, Bob Fels (Rotary Melbourne), is also a student of the sport of Kings and he has coined the connection. Of course we have gone onto outstrip Black Caviar with 41 successful nominations.
In the annual Rotary calendar February is Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution month. February is also the month that applications open for Peace fellow applicants to study in 2022-23 and we need the assistance of clubs in our district to maintain that Black Caviar record.
By clicking here you can open the flyer that outlines what clubs need to know. The flyer is prepared with candidates in mind and it can be forwarded to people that might be worthy applicants. Applicants need to be endorsed by a district so even though they have until the 15th of May to submit their application, we want them to speak to us no later than the end of March. This way we can assist them to make sure their application has its best chance of success.
Why is this program important? Rotary’s commitment to Peace identified that we needed to develop leaders with work experience in peace and development that would be committed to community and international service and the pursuit of peace. Each year, The Rotary Foundation awards up to 50 fellowships for master’s degrees and 80 for certificate studies at premier universities around the world.
The successful applicants will join more than 1400 other Peace Fellow Alumni who are helping to make a difference in the world. Rotary sees peace not as an abstract concept, but as a living, dynamic expression of human development.
Peacebuilding is a cornerstone of our mission as a humanitarian service organisation, and it is one of our six (soon to be seven) areas of focus — the channels of activity through which Rotarians make their mark on the world. Our programs, grants and fellowships focus on creating environments where peace can be built and maintained. Rotary believes that if concerned citizens work together to create peace locally, lasting change can happen globally.
We ask clubs to work proactively to identify suitable candidates to not only ensure that D9800 remains the Black Caviar District, but that Rotary funds the best possible candidates.
The Rotary District 9800 Speaker Bank is a great resource for clubs and may prove valuable when planning your club program – and a vibrant club program that includes great guest speakers is key to attracting and retaining members.
Our District’s Speaker Bank includes an incredible array of interesting and engaging speakers across a large variety of topics – and all are willing to present at your club.
An exciting recent addition to our Speaker Bank is Anthony ‘Harry’ Moffitt, the author of Eleven Bats (a story of combat, cricket and the SAS).
Here’s a small selection of topics available in the Bank that might be of interest:
Rotary Safe Families; Telling Tales: elders serving up a smorgasbord of life; How To Cultivate Creativity; End Hepatitis Now; Cycling From London to Auckland; A Very Rude Awakening: the night the Japanese midget subs came to Sydney Harbour; Turning the Covid Crisis into Classroom Competency in Australian Schools; Inside the world of Australian sinister crime; The Wisdom Of Wellness by Dr David Grodski; Cross Cultural Management for Rotary Clubs Going International; An Awkward Truth: the bombing of Darwin, February 1942; Social Enterprise Network Victoria; A Good Place To Hide: how one French community saved thousands of lives from the Nazis in World War 2; Infectious Optimism - Your Superpower; Women's Housing Ltd; Private Investigations And Drones; The Experience Equation: The future of work for mature Aussies; Ten Rogues; Climbing the north face of the Matterhorn at 18; A former army sniper, magician and globe-trotting cameraman; FORaMEAL program; Catching the Mind Robber; and, the Era of the Entrepreneur.
Zoom technology has opened up a whole new world of speakers, quite literally! Many clubs have taken advantage of inviting speakers from around the world to present at their meetings via Zoom, expanding cultural horizons at a time when overseas travel is on hold.
If you would like to invite a speaker to your club meeting, here’s what to do:
Go to the Rotary District 9800 website (make sure you are registered, so you can log in)
Go to the header: 'District' (Top Left Hand Side)
Speaker Bank is fourth from the end of the drop down list
You will see the categories of speakers
You can email the Speaker directly from the listing.
We are keen to continue expanding our Speaker Bank for the benefit of all clubs. If you have had a great speaker at your club, why not ask if they would like to be part of our Bank, and if they do, then simply email their contact details and presentation topic to: jill.weeks@lifestylematters.com.au.
By Rowan McClean, District 9800 Club Service Chair
Cyril Lee has had an interesting journey. From Hong Kong where Cyril’s family were heavily involved in the fishing industry, he left for Australia in 1958 due to political unrest, and hopped his way to Australia (by Qantas, mind you).
As the heart of the Australian fishing industry was in Port Lincoln, South Australia, it was here that Cyril settled and achieved success in exporting sashimi-quality tuna to Japan. He was also involved in exporting prawns to Vietnam and initiated the processing of fish on board vessels, enabling much fresher fish to be delivered to consumers. His success was recognised by the Australian Government with an OAM award.
Whilst living in Port Lincoln, Cyril was convinced by a persistent local Rotarian, Gordon Beer to join. Despite telling Gordon that he had no time, Cyril was eventually ‘hooked’.
With changes in the Port Lincoln fishing industry resulting in the smaller operators being squeezed out, Cyril decided to move on to Melbourne, where he and an overseas business partner also became involved in the wine industry.
On arriving in Melbourne, Cyril transferred his Rotary membership to Rotary Toorak, a club of 50 members and one in which Cyril has seen many changes in both membership demographic and community activity. He has been doing makeups at Rotary Waverley and is complimentary about the club’s culture and its projects.
Cyril feels that Rotarians need to focus on the service aims of Rotary as much as they do on the friendships gained. “Apart from fund-raising and friendship, you must provide for interests through worthwhile projects,” he says.
Throughout his life, Cyril has been driven to achieve goals, enabling him to steer a positive course through difficult times and life changes.
By Jaqui O’Donohoe, President-elect, Rotary Southbank
Pallavi had heard a lot about Rotary before moving to Melbourne two years ago from India, her home country. Knowing that Rotary had an international footprint and was involved in a variety of projects, she was keen to become a member. She joined the Rotary Club of Brunswick Tullamarine on 18th November 2020.
Whilst her family is still in India, Pallavi came to Australia to continue her studies, completing her Master’s in Information Systems at Deakin University. Since graduating, she has started a position in Marketing with a start-up company in family care services. She also works as a Marketing Consultant.
Pallavi has a history of volunteering and since coming to Australia, she has worked with a not-for-profit organisation, helping travellers and learning the art of customer service. She has also mentored young school children as well as new university students whilst at Deakin. In her spare time, she loves acrylic painting, reading, listening to audio books and baking – particularly chocolate cake and cheesecake! She is passionate about exploring, travelling and networking.
As a Rotarian, Pallavi wants to be able to work on various projects and give back to the community, and at the same gain experience and develop new skills. She recently enjoyed volunteering on Australia Day with her new club. Pallavi is grateful to her supportive parents who have encouraged her education and the ability to pursue higher qualifications. She maintains regular contact with them, despite being overseas.
Pallavi believes our challenge as Rotarians is attracting younger people, but she hopes that she can help to drive this change through leading by example.
By Dr Swati Baindur, Peace Coordinator, Rotary Wyndham Harbour
"What does peace mean to you (internally and externally) and how can it be achieved?"
This was the theme that Rotary Wyndham Harbour put to upper primary school children (Grades 5 and 6) in the Wyndham region for the Club’s first Peace Essay competition.
Despite the Club’s initial apprehension around this project due to COVID stresses and problems, the competition successfully concluded at the end of 2020 with 45 students participating.
The prizes awarded included an Android Tablet and JB HiFi vouchers. Each winner also received a Rotary Certificate of Achievement and children who wrote essays of high quality were also recognised with a Rotary Certificate of Appreciation.
A wonderful awards presentation evening was held on 15th December with prizes presented by the Club President Domenic Cichello and Gabe Hau, District 9800 Peacebuilding Committee Chair.
Three independent judges assessed the entries: two from other Rotary Clubs (Linda Scott from Hoppers Crossing and Gabe Hau from the E-Club of Melbourne) and one non-Rotarian, Dr Rory Hudson. Rotary Wyndham’s Peace Coordinator, Dr Swati Baindur acted as an extra judge and facilitator.
The competition criteria included originality of ideas, clarity of expression, and whether the essays were reflective, perceptive, inspiring and engaging. The entries were excellent and included surprisingly refreshing ideas, making choosing winners a very difficult task. However the four winners were Heili Perera (first), Annika Sharma (second), Tahlia Loades and Siyona Goel who shared third prize.
Following are some selected quotations from the various essays:
"Peace is the desire of every beating heart"
"(Peace is) a door that opens our heart to let friendship and happiness inside us"
"Why only rest in peace, why not live in peace?"
"To be peaceful, a person has to first find the calmness, harmony and true freedom from within"
"When I’m sewing, the sound of the machine unpicks the word 'stressed' on my brain and sews on 'peace' "
"External peace spreads by learning about differences in the world and inner peace starts by being kind to yourself"
"Anything that costs you peace is too expensive"
"People who are at peace aren’t always happy, they just understand that keeping a positive attitude will help them reach their goals in life"
"A world of peace would have no discrimination against gender, skin colour, race or beliefs"
"To find your internal peace you have to accept everything you have around you"
"Many countries have war because others aren't like them and they think that everyone should be like them"
"Peace doesn’t mean everyone likes each other and no one fights or anything, it means being accepting or being a good person"
"Peace will always find its way if you help it"
Rotary Wyndham Harbour hopes to continue this competition into the future and welcomes collaboration with other Rotary clubs in the District, especially in this exciting centenary year. If you are interested, please contact: Dr Swati Baindur on M 0422 444 064
In my understanding, the meaning of peace is to live without worry, fear or burden. To be peaceful, a person has to first find the calmness, harmony and true freedom from within. The peace is not only a personal aspect but also drives beyond yourself, your home, the community and to the greater world. A peaceful person makes a positive impact to his or her family and friends. When more and more people appreciate there are different cultures, religions, races, languages, ways of living, values and ideas then the society becomes a better place for everyone.
Conflicts can occur due to various reasons. Expectations, differences, the greed for power can break the peace. People live with fear, burden, anger and distress when opposite of peace is present. In simple terms, it can be identified as a way of fighting. Fighting with oneself, home or even the community. War as we know it, is when two or more countries or groups fight over something. It could be over the land or even because of different opinions. Cause generally is the greed of power. All these things are opposite of peace.
I find internal peace when I feel calm from within. It is personal and a mental state. I believe people find inner peace in their own way. For me it is all about being free from disturbances such as sadness, anger or fear. Internal peace can be disrupted by conflict, pain, sadness, anger, fear and many other feelings.
External peace as the word suggests is in your surroundings such as home, school, community and the greater world. I think it goes even beyond that to the universe. I certainly experience peace in my home, school and community. Being an eleven-year-old, I have seen the community and the world from my experience and exposure so far from what I see, hear and learn from school, parents and from news. I feel privileged to live in a peaceful country like Australia and to attend a school that always values and promotes peace and harmony for everyone. However, sometimes there are disturbing news not only from around the world but also from our surroundings.
Bullying at schools, domestic violence, home invasions, theft, gang world, criminals, drug dealers, terrorism, vandalism, child abuse, gender inequality and war are some of the disruptive topics that I came across that are obvious peace brakers. Peace can also be impacted by natural disasters and also various diseases. Corona virus is one that the whole globe fights!
Peace can be achieved by being free from disturbances, practicing meditation (inner peace), respecting and caring for family members (home), appreciating other people’s values and differences (community) and tightening ties between countries and promoting shared goals (world). People and organisations can help towards bringing peace by donating money and other valuables to people in need, volunteering, working for charity, educating others and promoting peace. Rotary club is a great example. “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” —Eleanor Roosevelt.
There are no trams on the main roads and it isn’t part of a long line of suburban clones encountered on a car trip. You have to GO to Williamstown … and Williamstown is different.
One of Melbourne’s oldest suburbs saw convicts there as early as 1836. The predominant wharf area grew and surged at the time of the gold rush when Williamstown became the point of entry for diggers heading to Ballarat and Bendigo. Settlers came, businesses were built and 40 pubs slaked the thirsts of a burgeoning population.
The 1890s saw crashes in property prices and building societies and, 20 years later, WW1 changed Williamstown forever. The business hub and main port was Melbourne and so Williamstown adjusted to reduced commerce and set about creating an enviable community, which, even in the 1950s, boasted six schools and a well-resourced hospital. With its generous beach area and proximity to the CBD, the suburb known as ‘Willy’ became hot real estate. Driving along The Strand with its water views to Melbourne begs no further questions as to why.
The Rotary Club of Williamstown was chartered in 1949 under the sponsorship of the Rotary Club of Footscray and has provided District 9800 with three district governors – David Wills (1988-89), Des Hosking (2002-03) and Murray Verso (2014-15).
This year the Club has decided to concentrate on membership and local projects. Notable amongst these is to use a Foundation grant to build a significant local bird hide at Jawbone Reserve (formerly Williamstown Rifle Range). This major project is expected to commence in March.
Another important and continuing project honours the Club’s first female president, Yvonne Moon, who passed away in March 2020. Yvonne was driven by the prospect of early detection of ovarian cancer and was central to the establishment of ROCAN (Rotarians Against Ovarian Cancer). To date ROCAN has raised over $1 million. This year, the Yvonne Moon Memorial Bike Ride will replace Yvonne’s regular On To Conference bike ride. Yvonne’s dream was to build a Wellness Centre for cancer patients and the ROCAN committee, with funds in hand, is now investigating ways to make this happen.
The Rotary Club of Williamstown members have also been active in supporting the work of Donations in Kind (DIK) and Western Emergency Relief Network (WERN).
After months of ZOOM-ing, President Eddie Knight and Club members have returned to their meeting base at Pelican’s Landing, 1 Syme Street., Williamstown – Mondays at 7.00 pm. It’s a fitting maritime location right next to Gem Pier with moored yachts and water views ... you should GO there.
It was the Rotary Club of Loxton in South Australia that sponsored the formation of the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians in January 1992. Coincidentally, at the same time, in at least two other countries (the US and Sweden) Rotarian motorcyclist enthusiasts were also planning to establish a similar Fellowship. However, they decided to join forces when Rotary Loxton crossed the finish line first.
The Motorcycling Fellowship is one of only two Fellowships sponsored by Australian Rotarians; the other was the Rotary Fellowship of Antique, Classic and Historic Automobiles sponsored by the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga.
Extremely popular, the Motorcycling Fellowship has grown to become one of the largest of the Fellowships with chapters in at least 25 countries. As with other Fellowships, the purpose of the Motorcycling Rotarians is to enjoy fun and fellowship, to meet other Rotarians around the world and to fundraise for various Rotary projects.
Membership is open to all Rotarians with an interest in motorcycles from off-road touring, racing, collecting, restoring to motor scooters. And, you don’t need to own a motorcycle to join. Chapters of the Fellowship organise events in their own countries and there are also international events where Rotarians come together in a particular country to enjoy a unique riding experience. An excellent example of this was in 1997 when the Australian chapter organised the Simpson Desert Ride with Rotarians from Holland, the UK and Australia participating – an exciting ride for visiting Rotarians and the Australian contingent alike.
Over the years there have been many interesting international events, all providing wonderful experiences for the visiting Motorcycling Rotarians. Whilst great friendships are formed, funds are also raised, especially for the eradication of Polio and other Rotary projects. Within the Fellowships participating countries, there are numerous riding events, information on which can be found on their website.
So, get your motors running and join this great Fellowship!
Ask Peace Fellows to speak at your club and perhaps partner with them to develop a peace project. You can find Peace Fellows here: https://rpfaa.org/online-speaker-database/
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I am so impressed with the great work being done by Rotarians and clubs around our District such as Rotary Prahran establishing the Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network; Melbourne’s Rotary Safe Families; and, the continuance of Rochester’s community breakfasts in bringing together other community groups to lead the work on the needs of the community. This last project in particular is fantastic given that Rochester only has five members, yet are so engaged with their community. These projects remind me of our new 
District Governor-elect Dale Hoy, who is currently at International Assembly (albeit online), has asked me to advise you of the new Rotary International theme for 2021/22, which is 
Perhaps dreaming is not so bad if one dreams good dreams and makes them come true.
By Past District Governor Dennis Shore
By Jill Weeks
Cyril Lee has had an interesting journey. From Hong Kong where Cyril’s family were heavily involved in the fishing industry, he left for Australia in 1958 due to political unrest, and hopped his way to Australia (by Qantas, mind you).
By Jaqui O’Donohoe, President-elect, Rotary Southbank
By Dr Swati Baindur, Peace Coordinator, Rotary Wyndham Harbour
Ask Peace Fellows to speak at your club and perhaps partner with them to develop a peace project. You can find Peace Fellows here: 