Our member Elizabeth is a psychologist working with people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (cPTSD), otherwise known as relational trauma. These respective trauma disorders attend to symptoms colloquially referred to as “big T” (PTSD) or “little t” (cPTSD) traumas, which any one person can experience in a variety of ways over the course of their lifetime. Big T traumas generally refer to “single event” traumas, even though there may be multiple events (e.g. motor vehicle accident, natural disaster, physical or sexual assault) while “little t” traumas are repetitive, pervasive, chronic deficiencies of core developmental needs over long periods of time in our developmental/formative years (e.g. emotional neglect, punitive upbringing). “Little t” traumas are in no way any less difficult or disturbing, simply referring to a different type of trauma.
Some of our volunteers travel a fair distance to join the team at our Wheelchair Shed in Arundel: Terry comes all the way from Jacobs Well. “So how did you find out about us?” I asked him. Well, it’s a small world after all: his daughter is a close friend of Des La Rance’s daughter! (For those of you who came in late: Des La Rance OAM is the man who, back in the mid-nineties, invented the concept of making ‘Rough Terrain’ wheelchairs by using discarded bicycles as raw materials, and he is still coming to work today!).
Did you know that Andrew Liveris, the President of the Brisbane Olympic Games, will speak at the upcoming Tri-District Conference? This will be big. Real big: it will be the first conference where three Districts are combining. And it will be held on the Gold Coast, at the Royal Pines Resort. 
Here is a bit of history for you, in view that the Rotary International theme for March is WASH (yes, another acronym...) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
Last Wednesday's speaker is, in my humble opinion, already a high achiever at his young age. Kenn Orbidalla, introduced by our member Fred Hamblen, is the very representation of a man who doesn't allow adversity to stop him from achieving. He is living testimony that proves that immigrants from so-called "developing countries" can become outstanding citizens of this great nation. They just go quietly about their business without much fanfare. Here are some of the major points:
His mother was has human trafficked to the Middle East before he was 10. His father was killed in a motorcycle crash when he was 16. He became the defacto mother and father for his two younger siblings - the three of them orphans in SE Asia.
He and his sister had experiences that defy description. Domestic violence was the order of the day. He lived in a car yard. Jobs in child care ensued (as he already had 4 years experience doing this). Despite all this, he studied hard, gained a Certificate (and worked in that field for 4 years) in Childcare. Now, he's enrolled at the University of Technology in Brisbane to study for a degree in Civil Engineering.
In the words of the famous Australian poet C J Dennis: "I dips me lid". Extraordinary. You can download a PDF of Kenn's PowerPoint with lots of photos - see Download files.
Here is a report directly from President Elect Elizabeth. Last Saturday, she joined the Presidents Elect of District 9640 at PELDS (yes, yet another Rotary Acronym: Presidents Elect Learning and Development Seminar), which was held at the Southport Yacht Club. "Facilitated by Past District Governors alongside the District Leadership Team for DGE Deb (Frugtniet)’s year, the day will equip you with the clarity, confidence, and tools needed to lead well from day one" was the promise of the Event description. And, judging by Elizabeth's report, it was "very worthwhile, inspiring and grounding in preparation for my President role". Here are some of her points:
We have just received advice that the container destined to go to the flood affected highland regions of Sri Lanka has arrived at the Colombo docks. It contains 121 boxed 'Rough Terrain' wheelchairs, as well as 7 refurbished "normal" wheelchairs and 19 pairs of crutches. At a material cost of $123.00 per unit (not including overheads and transport), this represents almost $15,000 worth of wheelchairs. We are awaiting to receive (hopefully) some feedback and photos when the wheelchairs are distributed.
We understand his friends call him “Yinka”. Our RIPE (yes, another Rotary Acronym: Rotary International President Elect) hails from Nigeria, a member of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi. He has a long history with Rotary, starting as a Rotaractor in 1984 and then as a Rotarian in 1994. “One thing is for certain, preparing me for this role are my many years of engaging with Rotary — over four decades, he says. “Not many people who get to this position have that privilege.”
Essentially, it’s your choice. As we get older, the prospect of not just creaky, but non-functional knees, hips and other joints is considered normal. But it need not to be so.
Our Wheelchair Project has world-wide renown for providing mobility to disadvantaged children in developing countries. That's "the big one". But it goes beyond that: As discarded bikes are dismantled, all the left-over components are separated into 'General Metal', Aluminium, rubber tubes and general waste. There isn't much of general waste left, but a 10 m3 skip is filled with metal about every two to three weeks, and the aluminium gets recycled separately. Here is a photo of our ute and trailer full of aluminium wheels, to take to the recyclers. The money earned is, of course, ploughed back into the purchase of materials, including consumables such as grinding wheels. We estimate that, over the years, in excess of 40,000 bikes have been recycled rather than going into landfill!
What great news to learn that both of you were awarded the Order of Australia medal. We are very proud to count you, Rock, as a member of Surfers Sunrise Rotary Club, and Joan a member of Innerwheel.
In his professional life, for decades, Russell had worked for one of the major local manufacturing companies on the Gold Coast, Kings Springs, a company that manufactures automotive springs, suitable for around 30 popular brands of vehicles, including some of the Chinese brands that emerged on the Australian market. “I’ve just about done every job in that factory,” he said, “from really dirty jobs such as collecting the slags, through to skilled jobs, driving industrial-size forklifts and operating the Shot Blaster.” Shot blaster? It’s a machine, similar to a sandblaster, but it uses little bullets instead of sand. This one is huge, as in the size of a room... Then he retired. But, as is not uncommon for a man who by his very nature needs to be busy, he needed something to deploy his energy and skills. What a perfect man to run our new sandblaster! And that is where you’ll find Russell on most days when the shed is active (see photo).
Last Monday's Surfers Sunrise Golf Day, one of our regular fundraising events, again was very successful, raising around $7,000. All proceeds to go towards our 'Rough Terrain Wheelchairs' project and to local charities. Regrettably, your Editor was living it up in Sydney, so wasn't there to take the usual photos. Check our Facebook page for some photos that were sent to me by fellow members - hopefully more to come.
At this morning's meeting, the 10th Annual Lutzy Award was presented to Noah Siladyi. The award is in memory of our late member Keith Lutz, who not only was a leading light in our club but was one of the major leaders and sportsmen of the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club.
On Saturday night, Channel 9's A Current Affair screened an update on our Wheelchair Project, 28 years after the first screening in August 1997. Click on this link to view it on the Channel 9 Website. If you would like to contribute too, our website
As President Andy mentioned in his closing remarks, we always hear the mostly negative stories about "Today's Youth" and - regrettably - one hears so little about young emerging leaders who quietly beaver in their classrooms, the school library and slave over hot computers to qualify for the rather stringent requirements to be selected to attend the annual National Youth Science Forum in Canberra. Future leaders in their professions who well may make headlines when they publish their discovery some years hence. Considering that it is quite expensive (over $3,000, of which our club sponsors 50%), the event is usually oversubscribed and participants are selected purely on their level of scientific knowledge and in particular on aptitude. 
At the last meeting, our freshly baked President Andy emphasised that he wanted to put the Four-Way Test back into the forefront of our consciousness. So, I did a bit of digging into old records, and here is what I dug up out of the archives of 1997-98 from one of my (then) President's Messages. Today, 27 years later, it's still as relevant as ever:
Last week, the project shed sent off the 11,015th wheelchair. Just on 3 years since we celebrated the 10,000th wheelchair in September 2013. The Photo on the right is our regular project shed worker Al Sirovs pointing out the number on the world map. The photo above shows some of the regulars, taken this morning. The wheelchair displayed is not exactly the 11,000th (that one is already on the way), but nobody needs to know... Third from left is Des La Rance OAM, who invented the concept and delivered the first 10 to Fiji in August 1997, 20 years ago! - See report in the Download Section on the right.
So, keep your soft drink bottles, stubby bottles, aluminium cans, milk cartons etc. As a general rule, most drink containers between 150ml and 3L can be returned for a refund under Queensland's container deposit scheme. Containers should be empty, unbroken, the lid removed and display a 10-cent refund marking on the label. Something like the image (right), but many others are simply marked as suitable for recycling. Note: they must NOT be crushed. See image above what is and what is not accepted. For details of what can / cannot be returned for cash, and where the locations are, click on this link. 
In the olden days, for a new member to join a Rotary club the unofficial rule was, expressed in simple terms, he should be "somebody who is in a position to hire and fire". Yes, 'he'. Thankfully, around 1987, the 'he' was expanded to also include the fairer sex. There were lots of other rules too, for example, weekly attendance at our meetings was considered to be just about essential. 
What a superb morning last Saturday at our Project Shed, where we celebrated the 10,000th Wheelchair manufactured. For any of our readers who are not familiar with the concept: parts from recycled bicycles, marine plywood, solid rubber BMX wheels and... LOTS OF VOLUNTEER HOURS equal a wheelchair which can be manufactured for $100! Give yourself a pat on the back, but particular recognition must go to the principal movers and shakers who started and carried this project through: Des La Rance, Daryl Sanderson and the late Keith Lutz and Bob Harrison. Jan Lutz was there, but regrettably, Gloria Harrison was unable to join us, but for a good reason: her grandson debuted on that same day, playing Grade 1 Cricket in the Queensland Premier League. Howzat! Bob would be proud on both accounts. 
A great way to start the day
Surfers Paradise, QLD 4217
Australia