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Watering New Growth

Musings around the District Assembly

 

Image L to R – Rotary New Farm Lucia (Treasurer), Melinda (Public Image Elect), Holstein (Youth Services), Monica (Secretary) and Sue (President Elect 2023/24) Graeme (Secretary/Risk Manager – present, but not in this photo).

District Assembly is run each year because Rotary changes each year and this assembly is to inform new Club Officers of the responsibilities for the various roles and also hear from District Governor Elect Paul Roger on the international theme and the goals for 2023 – 24. This weekend some members of Rotary New Farm attended the District Assembly Conference, Saturday, April 29, at the Hope Centre in Rothwell, Brisbane Queensland. Here’s a snippet of our day’s agenda. We started with DG Tim Keeler reminding us to stay motivated, enthused and in a state of ‘redefining’. To not focus on any ‘internal squabble’. To challenge ourselves to stay ‘impactful and important’. Reminding us that ‘a failure to plan – was a plan to fail’. The day’s agenda included:

Welcome and Safety Directions John Mulraney
District Special General Meeting/Welcome DG Tim Keeler AM & Ian Hope
District Introductions DGE Paul Roger
Board Leadership Team – Goals/Aims
Membership Address PDG Jitendra Prasad
Public Image Presentation PDG Darryl Issepi
Foundation Presentation PDG Elwyn Hodges
Breakout Session Information John Mulraney (as follows)
President Elects & President Nominees DGE Paul Roger & DGN Sue Mulraney
Secretaries & Treasurers Ian Hope/Michael Carrigan
Youth & Youth Protection Shirley Mahon/Colleen Caruana
Membership PDG Jitendra Prasad
Effective Services PDG Neil Black
RARE – Latest update John Paskin
Cluster meetings – how can we help each other?
Summary & Close DGE Paul Roger
Opportunity for Feedback

 

Image: A fitting statement on the wall at the Hope Centre, Rothwell, and below part of a scrumptious lunch served by the generous hospitality of the staff.

It was particularly moving to hear Tim Keeler remind us that the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military has unleashed unimaginable misery on a civilian population, in scenes that have horrified the world. Young and old, women and children, families and people alone are abandoning their homes and livelihoods to flee to safety, and that one of those civilians supported remarked that ‘the humanity of Rotary will always stay with me’. Further, Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) have set up a fund, sponsored by the Rotary clubs of  Sydney Cove and Kyiv, Ukraine to meet immediate lifesaving needs of the crisis-affected civilian population in Ukraine & provide early recovery assistance as soon as feasible. The terror and misery that people in Ukraine are experiencing right now is unfathomable. You can help through Rotary.

We enjoyed an engaging address by Gordon R. McInally announcing his theme for the 2023-24 Rotary year, “Create Hope in the World”. He explained that the goal is to restore hope to help the world heal from destructive conflicts and to help achieve lasting change. Questioning how clubs can bring ‘long-lasting change’. The conversations then moved to strategic planning priorities including ‘Thinking differently’ ‘Inclusivity and Making the Club match the Members’ ‘Measurable means – driven by data’ and ‘Enhancing Reach and Engagement’. The end of this session posed a key thought, ‘Our legacy is the making’, posing us to think: What are the ‘things’ you do for others? What is your legacy?

 

 

Humility is perfect quietness of the heart. Hubris and humility are two sides of the same coin–opposites, like oil and water. While hubris boasts with excessive pride, humility goes about its way quietly, free from pride or arrogance. Rotary’s work is part of a big network of communities that ‘give’. We know this. There is no ‘self’ in our ‘service’.

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/234475-humility-is-perfect-quietness-of-heart-it-is-to-expect

If Rotary’s theme for 2023 – 2024 is ‘Create Hope’ what are you hoping for? How can you ‘hope for a better version for yourself and others’? Let us know in the comments.

PS Rotary is looking for volunteers to complete the relocation of RAWCS RARE project . Can you assist? Please share these details. This project now based in Alexandra Hills Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment (RARE) is an activity that establishes an efficient and effective program for distributing obsolete medical and educational equipment to disadvantaged communities in Australia and overseas under a regulative framework.

Image: The list of donated expertise required to transfer the RARE project to its new warehouse in Alexandra Hills.

Can you help or share this information? For more information about RAWCS click below to read the latest newsletter about the warehouse relocation and new install and need for tradespeople to assist. PH RAWCS 0466556042