Monday 6th March 2023
WELCOME ROTARIANS and FRIENDS
to the WEEKLY NEWS NOTES
FROM the DESK of the PRESIDENT
Cheers Andrea
I am back from Adelaide so I will see you at the meeting on Thursday.
Andrea
OTHER ROTARY at WORK and COMMUNITY NOTES
Duty Roster
The next meeting will be on the 2nd March at the Commonwealth Club at 12.15 for 12.30.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date
|
2nd March
|
9th March
|
16th March
|
23rd March
|
Door
|
Ross
|
Ross
|
Ross
|
Ross
|
Welcome and Opening of the Meeting
|
Astrida Upitis
|
Keith Gray
|
John Little
|
Judy R
|
Toast to Rotary at Work
|
Sally Goodspeed
|
Bill Andrews
|
Linda Wilkinson
|
George
|
Thanks to the Speaker
|
Judy Raymond
|
Eric Carmody
|
Monica G
|
Bill
|
NOTES ON THE LAST SPEAKER AT OUR THURSDAY MEETING
This week we will have Dr Elizabeth Minchin will draw on her research on the Homeric epics as oral poetry. She will consider the relevance of writers and poets from the ancient Greek world. Her studies have encouraged classical scholars to recognise the continued relevance of linguistic studies from the Homeric epic
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES ON FUTURE SPEAKERS
|
|
|
|
|
This week we will hear from Mr Shu Hirata of the Peace Wing Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Family Witness program detailing stories of families who endured the Nagasaki Atomic bomb.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ROTARY AT WORK AND COMMUNITY NOTES
URGENT URGENT URGENT
We recently assisted the Woden Rotary Club with parking at the Royal Canberra Show.
We received $1,100 from the event, so it is an excellent way to help out another club and make funds to help our own Club continue with our community work.
The Woden Club have asked if we can help out again with parking at the Black Opal Stakes which takes place on Sunday 12th March and Monday 13th March 2023 (Canberra Long weekend).
There will be two shifts each day : From 9.00am till 12.30pm and then 12.30pm till 4.00pm
Please volunteer to help out with this great cause, it is not difficult work and we are well rewarded.
Please email me
59rtbrown@gmail.com with your preferred day and time slot and I will get you placed on the Roster.
Treasurer Ross
Ross Brown
M 0401 051 660
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ABORIGINAL MESSAGE STICKS AND OUR PEACE POLES MISSION
Aboriginal Message Sticks
Among the Australian Aboriginal people, the boundaries between traditional tribal areas were fixed and jealously guarded. This is evidenced by physical markers, tribal ownership of food producing resources, different spoken language forms and totems. There was no written language. Venturing from one tribal area to an adjacent tribal area was fraught with danger.
Message Sticks were both a means for conveying information and for proving the bona fides of a person seeking admission to an adjacent tribal area.
Message Sticks were created and approved by the bearer’s tribal elders. Of varied sizes, they were inscribed with pictures of flora and fauna, local topological features and other unique aspects of the bearer’s home area. Sometimes small dots were painted on the sticks to obscure secret business.
Possession of a Message Stick was necessary for the bearer if authorised, to have access across tribal borders. The Message Stick acted as a visa. If accepted by the receiving tribe, the Message Stick established the identity and status of the bearer and guaranteed free access, support, safety, acceptance and respect. The bearer’s purpose and presence were acknowledged and valued.
Rotary Peace Poles serve as Message Sticks
Rotarians approve the purchase, placement and inscription of Rotary Peace Poles for two purposes. First to convey unique aspects of the home area in which they are placed. They say that in this home area, people will value harmony, respect, reject violence and conflict, reconcile differences and value an inclusive community.
Secondly to affirm that Peace is the essence of who Rotarians are and what they do.
All the activities of Rotarians are Peacebuilding. They are directed towards improving the world, through local, regional and international actions. Rotarians test their Peace actions in four ways: are they truthful, fair, support friendship and are they beneficial?
The Peace Credo’s five commitments to respect, reject, resolve, reconcile and rejoice, provide us with a framework of beliefs that enables us to judge our performance in the four tests of Peacebuilding actions.
These five commitments to Peace embody and convey the purpose, historical significance and utility embodied in the Aboriginal Message Stick. Rotary Peace Poles serve as Message Sticks. They acknowledge Peace in the home area and at the same time, they proclaim the essence of who Rotarians are. They promote understanding, build respect for diversity, and ultimately build Peace.
PDG Dr Raymond J. King OAM
March 2023
Subject: CONGO PEACE POLE AND OTHER TRIP REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
Dear Michael Rabey – we’re baaaaack from Congo, and wanted to share some pics of the fabulous Rotary Peace Pole ceremony that took place on January 19 2023. See overall trip report below + pics attached. Thank you both very much for the action steps required and plaque production. The Rotary Peace Pole in Mbandaka, capital of Equateur Province, is located at the city’s busiest intersection and is no doubt a catalyst for many meaningful conversations with the population. The city Mayor launched the peace pole, and said, “Now we will call Mbandaka the City of Peace”. It was wonderful to have Taree president Dr Grace Maano with me in person!
Feel free to share the photos as you see fit. If you would like additional info, please get in touch.
With appreciation for the important role you play in raising awareness about Rotary and peacebuilding. – Lucy Hobgood-Brown
🙏 Thank you for making it all possible!
The first Rotary Peace Pole in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
|
|
|
Because the DRC has suffered through decades of conflict, the team also collaborated with Australian and Congolese Rotarians to install the first Rotary Peace Pole in the DRC. It has been placed in Mbandaka, capital of Equateur Province.
A Peace Pole is an internationally recognized symbol of the hopes and dreams of the entire human family, bearing the message May Peace Prevail on Earth in different languages on each of its four sides. There are more than 250,000 Rotary Peace Poles in countries around the world, but very few in Africa.
|
|
Issue No. 1 January 2023
|
CREATING NETWORKS | IDENTIFYING NEED | TAKING ACTION
|
Message from the Chair
Happy New Year from Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children, a project of Districts in Rotary's Zone 8.
Our ROMAC team is fresh and invigorated from our work in 2022 to restart medical aid for children. We have many new patients in our referral process and the year is shaping up to be busy.
Most importantly, we are looking for Rotarians or Rotaractors with skills to join our committees in areas like fundraising, marketing, communications, producing newsletters and maintaining databases, liaising with Government and Hospitals, paediatrics, finance, recruiting, and hosting. ROMAC is a wonderfully rewarding project to be involved with and appeals to all ages so give it some consideration and let us know how you would like to help by emailing me at chair@romac.org.au.
Ian D'Arcy Walsh
|
A husband and wife are on the 9th green when suddenly she Collapses from a heart attack!
The husband calls 911 on his cell phone, talks for a few minutes, picks up his putter, and lines up his putt.
"Don't worry dear," says the husband calmly, "they found a doctor on the second hole and he's coming to help you.
"Well, how long will it take for him to get here?" she asks feebly. "No time at all," says her husband. "Everybody's already agreed to let him play through."
"You are spectacular, your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course.
The young man says, "An 8-iron, father. How about you?"
The young man hits his 8-iron and puts the ball on the green. The priest tops his 7-iron and dribbles the ball out a few yards.
The young man says, "I don't know about you, father, but in my church, when we pray, we keep our head down."