Coolamon Rotary News Bulletin # 5
DINNER MEETING JULY 30th. 2012
We had 27 members, guests and visiting Rotarians attend tonight’s meeting.
- Hannah Bushell and Jarrod McPherson
President Paul Weston welcomed all our visiting guests to our meeting. We had the pleasure of two guest speakers tonight: Jarrod McPherson and Hannah Bushell, Jarrod’s fiancee. Jarrod and Hannah are from Narrandera and spent 12 months in Laos during 2011- 2012. Jarrod works with Narrandera Fisheries and has been with them for the past 7 years. Hannah worked with the Lao Disabled People’s Association. Jarrod and Hannah gave us all a very detailed account of the 12 months they spent there. It was a most enjoyable and very interesting talk by both of them. Thank you Dick Jennings for introducing these two great Aussie ambassadors to our club and guests.
Some facts given to us by them on Laos:
Population 6.5 million of which 80% are reliant on agriculture subsistence.
Land locked country.
The Mekong River flows through Laos and holds 1200 species of fish of which 2.2 million tonnes are caught on an annual basis or 2% of the world’s total catch.
50 % of the Lao people’s diet is fish.
10% of the population are disabled due to the bombing from 1964 -1973 80 million tonnes of bombs were dropped on Laos and many bombs lie in the fields unexploded.
Read more about Hannah’s work here, heart breaking work and most needed for these people:
LDPA
Read more about Jarrod’s work here, just excellent work being done:
Lao Fish Ways
- Garth and Marg Perkin
Rotary International 2012-13 President Sakuji Tanaka
President Sakuji Tanaka visited a school located in the village of Enkusero Sampu in southern Kenya. A solar-powered water pump provided through a Rotary club project sponsored by District 5340 in California, USA and three districts in Japan supplies the school’s water. Sakuji was glad to see that Rotary is having a positive impact on the community.
PRESIDENT PAUL WESTON’S REPORT
We’ve had a couple of interesting meetings over the past two weeks. Thanks to Christine Atkinson for sharing a condensed version of her life story with us last week—it’s amazing what you can find out about someone when they’re given the opportunity to speak! We’ll be continuing this new tradition of having club members share their life stories with us on the 4th Monday of the month. Next up: John Burns on 27 August.
Following Christine’s talk, we had the first of our discussions regarding the reshaping of our club for the future. It was just a beginning, but it was evident that our members are keen to make changes to keep our club vibrant and a positive force for change in our community and the world. We’ll continue the discussion at a meeting in the near future, so watch this space.
Last night’s meeting was focused solely on fellowship, with a sumptuous Chinese buffet and two very engaging talks by Jarrod McPherson and Hannah Bushell. Jarrod (Dick Jennings’ nephew) and Hannah (Jarrod’s fiancée) shared their experiences living and working in Laos for a year. It was very interesting hearing their different perspectives on their experiences (Jarrod was involved with assisting the fisheries industry, while Hannah worked with improving the lives of disabled and disadvantaged Laotians). The life-changing experiences and challenging living conditions they described made everyone in attendance appreciate the little things we take for granted (such as turning on the tap and not wondering if you’re going to come down with some gut-wrenching gastric affliction!). Thanks again to a great presentation, Jarrod and Hannah, and to members who brought along the many guests which made for a lively evening.
Our next meeting (6 August) is likely to be an even bigger affair as members and guests will be packing the house to hear Linda Tillman present her vision for enhancing the profile of Coolamon Shire as a place to visit and do business. Many of the proprietors of local businesses are expected to attend what should be a landmark dinner meeting for our club. Garth has been hard at work lining up a stellar line-up of dinner speakers, so if you can’t make Monday’s meeting, you should have other opportunities to hear stimulating talks by influential members of our community and the region.
Onward and upward!
Yours in Rotary,
Paul.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
COWBOY TOMB STONE
Headstone of Russell J. Larsen in the Logan City Cemetery , Logan , Utah !
I wonder if he died knowing he won the ‘Coolest Headstone’ contest?
His five rules for a happy life are at the bottom.
FIVE RULES FOR MEN TO FOLLOW FOR A HAPPY LIFE:
1. It’s important to have a woman who helps at home,
cooks from time to time, cleans up, and has a job.
2. It’s important to have a woman who can make you laugh.
3. It’s important to have a woman who you can trust, and doesn’t lie to you.
4. It’s important to have a woman who is good in bed, and likes to be with you.
5. It’s very, very important that these four women do not know each other or you could end up dead like me.
{submitted by an anonymous Rotarian who goes by the monica H3}.
ROTARY INFORMATION
Rotary’s Future Vision
Over the next few months we will look at how the Rotary Foundation is changing from July 1st 2013. The programme is called Future Vision and over the past 3 Rotary years including this one 100 districts have been involved in the trail of Future Vision. There are some changes that will not please everyone including the end of Group Study Exchange or GSE. GSE will be replaced by Vocational Training Teams or VTT we will have an in depth look at VTTs as they do offer an exiting new way to travel within your vocation to another country.
Here is a brief outline of what Future Vision will look like with 6 areas of focus:
{Click on the image above for a larger version so you can read it!}
President of Rotary International Sakuji Tanaka
Governor of District 9700 Greg Brown
Coolamon Club President Paul Weston
Coolamon Club Secretary John Glassford
Coolamon Club Treasurer Henk Hulsman
Coolamon Rotary Club Inc. P.O. Box 23 COOLAMON N.S.W. 2701
Websites of Interest
Coolamon Rotary Club: http://coolamonrotary.com
Rotary Down Under on line: http://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/2/26587/49598/pub
Rotarians For Fighting AIDS: http://www.rffa.org
Our Rotary Centennial Twin Club Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa: http://www.rotaryhoutbay.org
Don’t forget to regularly check our club web site for current information such as bingo rosters and various newsletters from the District Governor, the School of St. Jude’s, the monthly membership on the move newsletter as well as several other club bulletins.