What a weekend, through all the is happening around us it was great to see Ash Barty winning the Australian Open, what a great ambassador, well done. This was followed by the “Special K’s” winning the Men’s Double (if ever there was a sneaky form of advertising, this is it!).
Despite numerous requests, the project shed will remain closed till mid February, due to current Covid outbreaks. Even though in most cases, the symptoms are relatively mild, our concern is for the health of our volunteers. Larry Murray will monitor the situation and advise when the Shed can once again re-open.
This Wednesday, our members and wheelchair athletes Tash Price and Adam Sheppard will speak on a subject very close to their heart: Diversity and unconscious biases. Everybody has them. Yes, you too…
Big morning coming up this coming Wednesday 02 February 2022: our members and wheelchair athletes Adam Sheppard and Tash Price will talk about diversity, unconscious biases and how EVERYONE has them.
To start off on the same morning, we'll get a brief presentation by our RYTS awardee Kate Worboys (picture right), freshly returned from the camp in mid January. All volunteers from our project shed are welcome to attend - 07:00 am for 07:30 am start at the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club - upstairs venue. Breakfast and coffee can be purchased prior to the meeting at the ground floor bistro.
The media is running hot: Russia musters tanks and ballistic missiles on the border of Ukraine. China is determined to bring Taiwan “back into the fold”, and.. and... Yup. And whaddya want me to do about it?
That is the obvious question the average ‘Mr & Ms Average’ ask themselves. [Is there such a thing as a Mr & Ms Average? After all, we are all individuals, aren’t we? Like everybody else.]One gets a feeling of helplessness and irrelevance; if one has relatives “over there”, even anxiety. Whenever the subject of Peace and Conflict Prevention is brought up, the first thing that pops into your mind is international conflict. We visualise war, in whatever form, from economic coercion all the way to… (shudder).
Our club has in recent years proudly sponsored multiple International Peace Fellowships. But Peace and Conflict is not limited to international, political boundaries. It is as much an issue in the work place and at home. Just ask your local police officer how many Domestic Violence incidents they respond to every day. In Australia, the statistics are stark: according to the Federal Government’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), one in six women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former partner, but men are not entirely safe either: there, the ratio is 1 in 16. (1) But it’s not just the immediate violence that concerns us. DV is one of the leading causes of homelessness. And, by the way, DV is not just happening in the so-called ‘lower socioeconomic classes’.
So where do we come in as Rotarians? Well, if it is that pervasive as one in six, perhaps it occurs right in your neighbourhood. Perhaps you could take an active role, at least advise the authorities, if not “give an ear” to a person whom you know (or suspect) is affected. If you don’t want to be directly involved, you can volunteer or donate. Pick your favourite charity, from Mission Australia, the Salvation Army, Lifeline, Vinnies; they are all battling this insidious disease.
This year's event is going to be a real country affair, it's in Tenterfield! Go to the Expo Website https://rotary9640.org/page/district-conference and check out what's happening. There you find the program, a brief summary of all the Keynote Speakers, and of course, you can register. But of course, one of the big attractions of attending a conference is always the deep feeling of Rotary Fellowship. Being in the country, formalities will be kept to a minimum. Here is another introduction of a keynote speaker:
Professor Ged Williams is the Area Director of Nursing and Midwifery for South Metropolitan Health Service, Perth. He has a long history of inspiring and providing strategic leadership for the nursing profession through his many senior roles in diverse clinical settings. The subject of his talk: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders: 30 years of learning in 30 minutes.
We regret to advise that our Project Shed at the Arundel Community Centre remains closed until further notice, due to a number of our regular key volunteers as well as members testing positive to COVID. At this stage, we hope to reopen again on Saturday 19th February. We'll advise as soon as we are able to confirm.
However, we expect our regular club meetings to take place as per schedule, every Wednesday morning.
Duty Roster - note: subject to change - please check every week. Note: Fellowship duty also is expected to be at the Project Shed on the Saturday following the meeting
[only for those who follow the re-emerging debate in the USA...]
Q: What is your view on Roe vs Wade?
A: It’s the only way to cross the river if you don’t have a boat.
After all, democracy is not about imagining a common past: it is about forging a shared future. Far from requiring unanimity, what it demands from citizens is a commitment to recognising the diversity of viewpoints - and a willingness to limit one's undoubted disapproval of the viewpoints of others to argument, persuasion and example, rather than prohibition, censure and coercion.
Henry Ergas AO, Australian Economist, in 'The Australian' 28 January 2022.
If you are serious about numerology: Set your alarm clock on Tuesday (2's day) night to wake you on Wednesday morning at 2:22 am. By the time you get out of bed, it will be 2:22:22 on 2-2-22. Then go to bed at 22:22:22. [Feel free to make of it whatever you want. But, importantly, you MUST believe in it! If you read this on Wednesday: sorry, you missed it... ☺]
Big morning coming up this coming Wednesday 02 February 2022: our members and wheelchair athletes Adam Sheppard and Tash Price will talk about diversity, unconscious biases and how EVERYONE has them.
We regret to advise that our Project Shed at the Arundel Community Centre remains closed until further notice, due to a number of our regular key volunteers as well as members testing positive to COVID. At this stage, we hope to reopen again on Saturday 19th February. We'll advise as soon as we are able to confirm.
