Has anyone dug a bit deeper into the concept of this year’s Rotary International Theme logo ‘Imagine Rotary’ (see picture right)? Did you get an inkling too that it has an Aboriginal feel to it? Correct, that was certainly very deliberate. Designed by an Australian artist, Riki 
Salam, the design is reflecting Aboriginal culture: the circle signifies our connection to one another, and the dots around it represent people; seven because of Rotary’s areas of focus, the solid line underneath is a digging stick. The colours green, purple and white are not necessarily connected to aboriginal culture. You can read all about it – click on this link.“I worked in the medical field since I was 17 years old”, Karen stated with justified pride. She is a registered intensive care nurse but has worked in several areas in her field. Hence, her personal projects are related: At the top is ‘Liveblood’, the campaign to donate blood. Did you know that people undergoing Chemo require blood products every two days? There is a distinct shortage, which can even result in the doctors needing to decide on a triage-type process.
Karen highlighted the upcoming District Conference at Yamba, from 10th – 12th March 2023. There will be several hugely interesting keynote speakers – watch this space in upcoming bulletins, or go to the District website www.rotary9640.org – Registrations are now open.
But a major point of emphasis for this year is ‘DEI’ (yes, another Rotary acronym…): it stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. Yes, we’ve all been pounded with the ‘flavour of the period’ [my remarks, not the District Governor’s. Ed.] But Karen highlighted a hugely important point: Not all disability is visible. Have you thought about people with hearing difficulties? Allergies (think gluten)? Chronic pain? Intellectual? [no, please don’t start. It’s not funny.] No, neither did it pop up in my mind first off.
Thank you, DG Karen. As our meeting chairman, Adrian remarked: “I’ve actually learned something at a DG’s club visit.”