Fifteen students from Murray Bridge High School attended the 2018 Conoco Phillips Science Experience late last year at Flinders University for a 3 day Camp. llaria Tarasenko and Jade Beuret reported to the Murray Bridge Rotary Club who supported them financially to attend. They were also supported by Rotarian/MBHS Teacher Roxanne Rowland and MBHS teacher Brendon Watts. The Rotary Club of Murray Bridge has now funded and put through 80 students in the last 4 years and the results for the students and the school have been exciting. In 2019 MBHS enrolment's, one third of all students went into stem choices and of them 50% were female. The experience is structured around 6 key workshops, interspersed with keynote speakers and hands on experiences to familiarise the students with the University lifestyle and the stem subjects. The workshops were Zombie Maths, Surface Chemistry(Chemistry and Nanotechnology, Zumo Robotics, Food Science (biology and fermentation), Marine biology, and Nutrition. Speakers touched on Robotics engineering, Environmental Health, and physics of light and lasers. The students also had the opportunity to listen to a panel of current Uni Students to hear about their experiences and academic journeys.
9520 District Conference in Broken Hill
This past weekend saw the 9520 District Conference held in Broken Hill. I was unable to attend and therefor I have taken snippets from John Scarvellis and his posts on our Facebook page.
Rotary is NOT only about BBQ's but serious business. Men and women both young and old of Action. The 9520 District Conference was opened by the Mayor of Broken... Hill Dariea Turley who introduced the City, the 1st Heritage listed city in Australia, listed in 2015. DISTRICT GOVERNOR Kim Harvey introduced our special guests and MC Andrew Schmidt from ABC Broken Hill. To set the scene of Inspire, Connect, and Transform local businessmen Garry Radford OAM and his son Steve Radford OAM were interviewed about their story. Isolation can be a weakness but can also be a strength. Guess what they made it. Their father and Uncle started 100 years ago with trucks. They have diversified the business to hotels, gold mines, and aeroplanes. Garry's life story was published in the biography Ripper by John Miller. The book traces his grandfather's arrival, with 11 children in tow, through to Garry's semi retirement and his maintenance of the family's legacy as philanthropic supporters of the local community. Garry enjoys "semi retirement" where he continues to work 7 days a week. Two locals from Broken Hill - men of Action.
Saturday's first Plenary Session of the Rotary Conference in Broken Hill opened with the "Ocean to the Outback Bike Ride" participants and their supporters on stage with their cycles and leader Rotarian Mark Cox telling their story. They rode from Victor Harbour to Broken Hill and raised $52,000 for MENTAL HEALTH research. Five out of the twenty who participated had experienced mental health issues. One in five Australians experience mental health issues at some stage in their lives. The money raised will go towards sponsoring a Phd student working in the Mental health area. Australian Rotary Health is our lead agency.
Another highlight in Saturdays morning Rotary District 9520 plennary session in Broken Hill was South Sudanese migrant Mayor Chagai's work in Blacktown Sydney with youth basketball programs. He survived the war in Sudan with the Islamic north. He fled Sudan as a 7 year old walking to Ethiopia, swimming across the River Nile to the Refugee Camp Kakuna in Kenya. It took him 3 months surviving Yellow fever, hunger and Measles. The refugee Camp had a tent for sick children, 90% of them died and buried in mass graves. UNHCR support rescued them. He arrived in Australia in 2006 at the age 19 years. Being tall and athletic he found his way through basketball. He learned about Rotary during this time through the statement " Rotary provides humanitarian services and goodwill around the world". This empathy with his experiences motivated him to become involved and support young Sudanese and others thru basketball. He showed us memorable photos and videos particularly highlighting the differences between children of War and children of Peace. He formed the Savannah Pride Basketball Program and Team in Blacktown. He addressed the feelings of isolation and depression and developed relationships with police as well as other support agencies. He volunteered for 12 years, worked part time and went to TAFE. He finally got government funding and recognition. Students are now recruited for AIS and USA college programs. The Sydney Kings Basketball team has benefited with his recruits. Participants are now chosen regardless of background, black or white, rich or poor. The aim is to create respect, create role models and to study hard to achieve goals. His focus is on Family, to give back for the opportunity Australia has given, make Australia proud and a better place.
Jessye Campbell provided the spotlight to highlight the human spirit at the Rotary District 9520 Conference in Broken Hill. Rotary Youth Exchange. She has been ...blind since the age of 5 years. She has shown outstanding resilience. She sings, plays the trombone and viola. She has also been a member of the debating team for the Brighton Secondary School in Adelaide. She has been the guest speaker/performer for CanDo4Kids, Camp Quality, Glenelg Kiwani Club, and Variety SA. She is a keen Salsa dancer, horse rider, bike rider, practices Karate, rowing, and she excels in sports. Jessye was an Exchange Student to the Rotary Club of La Roche-sur-Yon in Western France. She had 7 host families in France and travelled 5 continents. She can read music in braille. Her advice is "Say YES and the world expands". How's that for Inspire, Connect, Transform. And if that is not enough she has Co-pilot skills in flying small planes.
Disaster Aid and Emergency Services Topic at the Rotary District 9520 Broken Hill Conference. Wing Commander Bronte Martin is the Director of Nursing (Trauma & Disaster) at the National Critical Care Trauma Response Centre at the Royal Darwin Hospital. She was a very impressive speaker and is an extremely competent leader. She is a Wing Commander in the Royal Australian Air Force and is the Senior Instructor for Military Critical Care Aeromedical Teams. The AUSMAT self sufficient Field Hospitals have now been developed which can be packaged in units weighing 30 tonnes with 54 people with skill standards in Environmental Health, medicine, nursing, pharmacy etc. The hospital is erected on an area the size of a soccer field. She has been involved in Operations Philippines Assist the worst storm in history Typhoon and six metre king tide, Vanuatu Rapid Needs Assessment Team, Operation Anode Solomon Islands, Operation Slipper Afghanistan and the World Health Organisation. She is a registered Nurse with 22 years experience with a Masters Degree in Nursing.
There are so many areas of interest within Rotary. So many ways Rotarians and non Rotarians can make a difference. You can participate less regularly or weekly.... What ever you can or need. Our last Keynote Speaker for Saturday's 3rd Plennary Session at the Rotary Conference Dr James Best GP focused on Autism with his autistic son Sam. In 2015, he and 15 year old Sam embarked on a 6 month backpacking journey around Africa on a purposeful exposure to uncertainty and chaos in order to improve Sam's life skills. This intervention was studied by Griffith University as a Case Study. Dr Best had developed an observation that "Sameness was the Enemy", and this became the focus to be tested. Video footage of before and after was remarkable. They tested themselves together, father and son, through 10 countries and no fixed daily plan. Both struggled to cope early, it was stressful, then the turning point was James introduced a scoring system to promote motivation. That along with the input by the locals and Victoria Falls provided confidence. The scientific results will be published shortly, but the result is amazing and is the subject of a book published by Allen and Urwin written by Dr Best, called Sam's Best Shot. The remarkable adventure was also featured on Australian Story in July 2017.
Saturday was an amazing morning of speakers at the Rotary District 9520 Conference. The 4th Plenary Session started with the topic Rotary Aboriginal Health Scholarship. Keynote speaker Dr James Charles is an Associate Professor at Deakin University and a National Naidoc Scholar. He is a proud Kaurna man from Adelaide, the first Aboriginal Podiatrist in Australia, the first Aboriginal person to receive a Master of Podiatry, and the first Aboriginal person to receive a PhD in Aboriginal Foot Health and a recipient of a Rotary Health Scholarship and funding. He could not read or write till at the age of 19 when he took the first step and went to Tea Tree Gully TAFE to study year 10 as a first goal. On to Marden Adult College for year 11 and 12. He was the first person in his family to complete year 11. The Rotary Club of Adelaide East supported him with a RAIH Scholarship. He went to California on a Rotary Group Study Exchange which helped his growth and confidence. He worked in outback Australia in remote aboriginal communities, taught and lectured at Newcastle and Geelong Universities. He did research in biomechanics of the ankle, achilles and calf muscles and the condition called Equinus. He developed pressure and movement measuring devices. Now his focus is on the Mungo Man footprints 65,000 years old and comparing them with today. The site of the footprints has them running away from Giant Kangaroo Prints. These have been calculated to enable 50meters to be run in 25 steps. This would make them extremely athletic hunters. In 2014, James received the Golden Microscope Award from the Indigenous Health Program for his research. Dr Charles is also working in the School of Medicine, and will continue to help Aboriginal medical students and all medical students about aboriginal cultures. At Deakin University where he now is he is, he is teaching Aboriginal students as the Coordinator of Master of Public Health, at the Institute of Koorie Education.
ROTARY DONATIONS IN KIND Royal Adelaide Hospital project was led by Rotarian David Cockshell. This was a one off project in 2018-19 with 7,393 medical items wit...h a replacement value of $12,600,000 distributed. South Australia had first option, interstate, then overseas, and the rest auctioned. There were 28 successful projects in 21 countries. ROTARY was the chosen distributor because of its previous history with the RAH and SA Health.
Keynote Speaker Anika Molesworth 4th Plenary Session Rotary District 9520 Conference topic Farmers Cultivating a Bright future. Anika's interest in Agricultural... Science was prompted after witnessing a decade-long drought on her family's sheep farm in the far west of NSW. She has a BSc in Ag Business, Master of Sustainable Agriculture, and is currently completing a PhD on the topic of organic soil amendments in irrigated cropping systems. She presented global temperature data from www.nasa.gov showing the increases and info from the www.youngfarmingchampions.com site. Todays farmers are the earliest adopters of new technologies. The move is multigenerational and includes water use, renewable energy, genetics, engineering, sensors, reducing emission targets, weather changes, leadership, and diversification.
Rotary Group Study Exchange Team from District 6040 Missouri USA at the District 9520 Conference. Vocational exchange focus group. Funding 4 Dialysis Units in Pukeja (Ernabella) in remote northern South Australia. Visited and hosted by Adelaide Clubs and Murray Bridge.
Currently our Green Sheet only is seen by those who are actually at our meetings and sometimes it does not get to all tables.
In an effort to enable ALL MEMBERS TO BECOME ENGAGED, the Volunteer Module within ClubRunner has been activated.
All members will have recently received an email generated from within ClubRunner inviting you to volunteer for the upcoming Murray Bridge High School Catering. Once you click the sign up button you will be asked to select either or both of the time slots available.
This system is working well in other Clubs and enables ALL ROTARIANS to contribute to the projects of their Club.
Please give it a try and provide feedback next meeting.
Robin LeGallez
Vocational Director
Broken Hill Conference Photos
Photos from the recent Broken Hill Conference are now available on the District website.
The following links will take you straight to the albums.
Simon and Lyn Sickerdick, Bev and John Scarvelis with Robin Le Gallez spent time yesterday selling Rotary Raffle Tickets at The Murray Bridge Mall. A great place to meet and talk to people about what Rotary does in the local and global community. We collected over $600 in sales along the way to go to Rotary Projects. The Raffle will be drawn on Tuesday next week with a $1,000 cash first prize. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time.
Calendar Draw 26/3/2019
1st - $100 No.599 Phil Westrover (MB) sold by P.Westover
2nd - $30 No.072 H&C Bowen (Glenelg South) sold by M.B. Water Activities
3rd - $20 No.638 Jerry Wilson (M.B) sold by M.B. Pistol Club
Apologies Meeting 3304
Michael Bagshaw, Wayne Jackson, Brenton Lewis, Peter Seals, Dave Mellen, Heather Muirhead, Garry Wilson, Ron Jerico, Ron Leahmann, Don Mc'Clean, B. Nicholson, Marg Whitehead, Leanne Walding, Darryl Web, Gordon Schultz, Malcolm Blight, Roger Wickes, Trevor Curtis, Glen O'Bryan, Christine Willersdorf, John Whimpress.
Breakfast Meeting
The breakfast meeting will be held on the 30th April 2019 starting at 7am to about 8.30am.
Guest Speaker will be Riding For The Disabled.
Location to be finalised.
Rotary Wine Sales
Following our successful wine labelling event, our Club is now able to offer the exceptional Lake Breeze Cabernet Sauvignon for the unbelievably low investment of $120 per dozen. To purchase simply pay in advance via EFTPOS or cash at a regular meeting and then arrange collection with Rotarian Ian Elston
Letters from Magdalina & Anania of St Jude school
LETTER FROM MAGDALINA – Our sponsored student at SCHOOL OF ST JUDE
March 2019
Dear all at Rotary Club of Murray Bridge,
How are you all? I hope that you are all fine and I am fine too, together with my family. It’s a new year 2019 and I am very happy because this year I am going to do a lot of things especially graduating from high school. Thank you so much for the Christmas card and the letter. I am always happy to be receiving letters from you when I had the last letter I was so happy to know that you were interested in my marketing club as I enjoyed very much participating in many activities of the club including writing stories and newsletters of the school.
I was also happy to know other projects which you are doing apart from sponsoring me. The truth is you are all my role models. The projects are really good and may God provide you with everyt5hing you need so as you may continue helping people who are really in need.
I really appreciate that you know a lot of things happening in my school, the Graduation and the National examination in May.
In your last letter I saw that you were interested to know what I would be doing after graduating. After the graduation, I may be joing the National Service for three months. If chosen, then I will do internship as part of helping my community. I would like to be teaching the secondary schools at my community while waiting for university.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading my letters as I have always enjoyed reading your letters and keep them well in my room. In this letter I have decided to add a drawing. I hope that you won’t get bored reading it. Also I hope that have improved my English that you can understand well what I have written.
De3ar members of the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge thank you so much for sponsoring me. I don’t know a lot about you all but I am glad to write this letter. I hope it will pass to all 47 members. You are all welcome to my Graduation on 25th of May.
I hope to hear from you soon. My regards to President David and the Directors.
From Magdalina Yusufu Mhando Form 6HGL F66
LETTER FROM ANANIA CHARLES – our sponsored student at School of St Jude
Dear all at Rotary Club of Murray Bridge
I hope you are fine? I and my family are fine. I would like to share with you about my holiday in December.
In December I spent much time with my mother and my friends at home and doing my holiday homework that I was given at school. In 2018, when I was in grade five, I helped my mother in doing some activities like washing dishes, mopping, washing my clothes and my mother taught me how to cook different foods. And also when it reached 16:00 I usually go to a place called <BBA> Bible Baptist Academy. There, there are different games like volleyball, basketball, netball, football and I was so happy during my holiday.
And also I would like to tell you about my New Year and Christmas. During Christmas I went to my brother and visit him. I was with my mother at that time. By that time we were happy and we celebrate Merry Christmas and in New Year I went to Church to receive another year and there is a slogan was given to the church was is “The Dominion Bulm” and for the last year was the “Immigration of Eagle”.
And now I have got new teachers and new homeroom teachers. Mr Cashio is my homeroom, Mr Lechine our Mathematics teacher, Mr Ombeni my history teacher, Mr Sebastian, our Science teacher and I would like to thank you a lot for sponsoring me. since 2014, when I was in Grade one and I was too young and now I am in Grade six.. May God bless you with your families. Happy New Year and Merry Christmas.
Love from Anania Charles 6A
What's happening on our Facebook page
John Scarvelis has been posting up a storm with some great content including details of the upcoming Multicultural Network 2018 End of Year Celebration.
