At her first meeting as Club President Lili-Ann Kriegler discussed both the Club's and District's change-over events and the awards which the Club achieved (see story below).
Doug Hawley then outlined the details of the next Club mission to the Philippines between 4 and 16 October. Anyone interested in joining the mission should contact Doug at doug.hawley@canterburyrotary.org
John McCaskill introduced his neighbor and friend Patricia Poynton. She has kindly agreed to act as our badly needed coordinator between our club mentors and the Salvos mentees from the fantastic Pronunciation Class program which helps young professional people from various countries with advice on CV’s, interview techniques and how to find employment in their newly adopted country. Pat is going to join our club which will of course help her to get to know everyone more quickly. Meanwhile, can we ask those great members, who have agreed to help as mentors, to introduce themselves to Pat by email with their contact details, some personal professional background and areas that would particularly interest them as mentors. Pat’s email address is pat_poynton@hotmail.com and we thank you again for volunteering to help with this wonderful program.
Many members will remember Astrid Sweres who was a member of our club for a few years before moving to Croydon. Tragically, Astrid suffered a heart attack last Friday and passed away yesterday…..an amazing, intelligent, caring and wonderful person who will be very sadly missed by all who knew her. This is a huge loss to her family and many loving friends. For anyone who wishes to attend the funeral, it is next Tuesday 9 July at 1pm, Heritage Funerals, 733 Boronia Road Wantirna.
What a humbling experience it was to have Emma and Anne-Maree speak at last Monday's Club Meeting about their work in Uganda. Emmanuel (Emma) Kusasira Edwin Sserwanga, aka Coopy Bly – together with his Australian wife Anne-Marie Reddan are founders of Yimba Uganda.
Emma was born and raised in the largest slum (Katwe) located in the capital of Uganda- Kampala.
At a young age, Emma’s father, who was a driver and loader employed at the Airport, knew that for the sake of his family to have any chance to extract themselves from the slums he had to go to the UK in order to earn a reasonable living. 2 years after his father went his mother too went to the UK leaving their 2 children in the care of their extended family.
Alongside Emma’s education he had a greater passion for music and when his parents sent clothes for him from the UK, he would sell them in order to pay for recording his music in studios. At the age of 12 he released his first single and recorded his first music video at age 16. Emma’s vision was that music would get him out of the slums. With their support Emma completed his education and went on to University to study in the Social Science field.
His wife, Anne-Marie Reddan, from Healesville in Victoria, as a young teenager, with her parents and 3 older brothers embarked upon an “overseas holiday”- destination was Uganda and the holiday was to help build an orphanage. Anne-Marie completed her high school education and something about Uganda did not leave her- it was under her skin, rather than perusing her original path Anne-Marie chose to study International Development at ACU.
In 2013 Emma wanted to fulfil his vision to do more for the people of Uganda - together he and Anne-Marie formed an NGO – Yimba Uganda. Anne-Marie was just 20 and Emma 24. Emma’s experience of life in the slums was instrumental in how to form a meaningful and purpose driven organisation that would make a real difference. They currently operate three program:
The 1st program they commenced was in the city of Jinja as an Agriculture and farming project aimed at Youth in the area, whereby Goats are purchased (with the earnings of Emma’s concerts and record sales) and provided as a loan to families who then breed with them, selling milk and other goat related products.
The 2nd program and the largest one being a 12-month vocational training course in Tailoring, Fashion and Design.
The 3rd program is conducted by Emma - a Music Mentorship program.
Colleen D'Offray from the Brighton Rotary Club then outlined how her Club in conjunction with other Clubs and Districts are combining to support the Yimba Uganda projects.
It was a great experience for all present to hear the presentation by Anne-Maree and Emma and then to have Emma perform his version of the Essendon footy club song
Several Canterbury members attended the District Changeover Luncheon at the Taylors Lakes Convention Centre on Sunday 30 June.
Grant Hocking took over from Bronwyn Stephens as our esteemed District Governor for District 9800. It was a well-attended and festive event and showcased the work of our district in many different ways, as well as the excellent work of Bronwyn over the past year..
Canterbury Rotary had the honour of receiving one of 12 Recognition Awards. Our award was for ‘Addressing Health, Hunger and Clean Water in the Philippines in an Integrated Manner’.
It was fitting that Doug Hawley was present with his wife, Avril, to receive the award accompanied proudly by the immediate past president, Steve Wylie, and newly inaugurated president, Lili-Ann Kriegler. Doug’s immense efforts over the last 22 years in organising the annual Eye and Ear Medical Mission to the Philippines, and his work in initiating the FORaMEAL project received well-deserved recognition. The work of Val Cuniffe and her team in supporting and growing the impact of the FORaMEAL project are key to receiving this award and deserve mention.
Also shown at the event was the award-winning video made by Janet Hay about the FORaMEAL project. The video was recorded at the Multi -District Conference in Melbourne in February. Well done Janet!
In addition our Club, together with the Rotary Club of Mitchell River, received recognition for its work in drought relief to farmers with the award of $45,000 from the District fund of about $350,000. Ted Waghorne, Bill Granger and Past President Steve Wylie were responsible for obtaining the award and its disbursement to needy families.
Congratulations to Canterbury Rotary on the wonderful achievements.
Dr Stephen Dixon travelled to Tokyo, Japan where he planned to continue his study of Japanese for a year before returning to Melbourne. The plan was simple - spend one year in Japan, make some money, finish a Japanese course at Monash course and then return to teaching in a primary school in inner-city Melbourne. That was close to thirty years ago and while things didn't go according to plan, they turned out much better than he could have expected and the experience in Japan has had a profound impact on his understanding and appreciation of culture and diversity, and interest in many major events that have shaped Japan in recent history. Stephen’s experience has, during the course of 30 years, been at times funny and on a few occasions, including the days after the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and impending nuclear disaster, more than a little discomforting… but he happily remains in Japan and welcomes the opportunity to share stories of his experience..
The Canterbury Rotary Club lunch usually meets bi-weeky for a meal and some fun.
David Zrna looks after the reservations for the lunch group. Please contact David at david.zrna@canterburyrotary.org or on 0467033092 to advise that you will be coming to a lunch.
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