In a club with members of the calibre of Surfers Sunrise, it is never a problem to find a stand-in speaker; there is always someone who has something interesting to share. So it was last Wednesday, when our scheduled speaker, our new member Thomas Robinson, was unable to attend, due to a family emergency. Thomas will now do his presentation on 24th January.
Rock O’Keefe might be new to our club, but he certainly is a highly experienced Rotarian. He jumped into the breach, and recounted a most amazing experience: his mentoring of refugee families. His story included a family who had arrived from Afghanistan. The mother had been sold into marriage at age 10. She arrived with her children (her husband had left her), thus no male protector - a strict condition in her country. The female children had no education, or at best primary school, and of course no English knowledge.
So, what would the majority of our TV-watching population think happened? Come on! Just say it! Permanent Centrelink clients? Well, how wrong would you be. The children not only learned English, they went on to become architects, nurses, engineers… One particular child was studying four degrees at once (Aerospace Engineering, Business, Architecture and Interior Design). She passed all except Business, but now has added Nursing, whilst she is caring for her baby.
Rock’s story is astounding, and in my humble opinion, worthy not just of publication in our club’s newsletter but should be shouted from the rooftops, and pumped into all the major media and social media. Rock, take a bow. Check out his story in the Download files on the right.