East & Bays Courier June 2013
Doing Good
East & Bays Courier - May 2013
Breakfast helps educate on Anzac Day
East & Bays Courier - 20 Apr 2012
 |
| SHARING STORIES: Alex Schuck, 16, and Michele Mann are taking part in The Great Kiwi Anzac Day Breakfast at Glendowie College on Wednesday. |
A young man in a black coat stood quietly, taking in the Anzac Day dawn service. When it ended, everyone headed off in their separate directions and the young man left, alone.
Michele Mann was standing next to him and he sparked her curiosity.
"Sometimes young people turn up in groups, but not alone. I wondered who he was and why he was there. Was he troubled? Did he need to talk to someone?"
That was in 2000 and the memory has stuck with her ever since. The idea that people needed a chance to share their stories and emotions on Anzac Day led her to create The Great Kiwi Anzac Day Breakfast.
"At the dawn service you hear kids asking their parents what it's all about, and their parents can't answer them," Mrs Mann says.
She hopes that by getting people together on Anzac Day, stories will be shared and younger generations will develop their knowledge of wartime and a deeper appreciation for peace.
The event began in 2007 at Mrs Mann's Rotary Club in St Johns. Rotarians invite friends for breakfast in their homes and collect donations for the Great Kiwi Anzac Day Breakfast Trust. The money goes towards raising the level of Anzac education and can include rebuilding war memorials.
This year Glendowie College is hosting an Anzac Day breakfast for up to 400 people. Tickets are $10 and the school PTA receives 60 per cent of the proceeds. The rest goes to the trust.
"This is so exciting," Mrs Mann says. "This is what I wanted all along – for young people to be involved."
Alex Schuck is the chair of the student council and plays guitar in the school band, which will entertain guests at the breakfast.
"Having it at the school is the easiest way of integrating the younger generation," he says.
"When people share stories, the level of knowledge you get is so much greater than what you read in a book.
"It gives it a personal touch."
Go to thegreatkiwianzacdaybreakfast.co.nz for more information. The Glendowie College breakfast is on Wednesday at 7am. For tickets phone Mrs Mann on 0275244901 by Monday. Children under five free. No door sales.
'One day I'll walk again'
East & Bays Courier 03 April 2011
(This was one of a series of articles)
 |
| WALKING CHANCE: Varayame Batini, centre, with, from left, Andy McCarrison and Gary Key of St Johns Rotary and documentary maker Sarah Graham Read. |
HOPES HIGH: Varayame Batani hopes he'll be able to walk soon.
ALL Varayame Batini has ever wanted to do is walk, but he's never had the chance.
The Fijian was six months old when he had an operation to heal a sore on his lower back. The procedure turned his feet inwards and he has been restricted to a wheelchair ever since.
But a chance meeting with a budding documentary maker and support from Rotary has given him new hope.
Varayame had surgery in Auckland last week. He has to spend the next five weeks recovering in bed but doesn't mind one bit.
"My dream has come true," he says.
"One day I'll walk again, like a normal person."
Doctors hope this is the case but Varayame has a long journey ahead of him.
Work to reconstruct his feet will start once he has recovered from the operation.
The 17-year-old dreams of playing soccer – on his feet instead of his hands and knees.
It was Sarah Graham Read who made it her mission to bring Varayame to New Zealand to seek medical help.
Her mini-documentary, Varayame's Feet, features the teenager's mum Ilisapeci saying she dreams of walking side by side with her son.
But those dreams were never going to come true in Fiji – his case is too complex for the medical professionals there with the resources available to them.
The St Johns Rotary Club and Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children, Romac, are supporting Varayame, who arrived in the country with his mother last month.
It was by pure chance that Sarah, from Glenfield on Auckland's North Shore, and Varayame met.
Sarah was staying at a health retreat in Fiji and was walking to the dairy when Varayame caught her attention. She noticed his knees were infected so started spending time with him, drawing out the infection with charcoal and potatoes – a remedy she learned at the retreat.
She started recording the sessions and noticed he could move his feet when she watched the footage.
"When I realised he wasn't paralysed, I thought: `Wow this kid could be walking'."
She returned to New Zealand determined to find help for Varayame. Five specialists have come to the teenager's aid.
A close friend put Sarah in touch with Rotarian Gary Key, who suggested she contact Romac, an organisation that provides medical treatment for children in developing countries. Varayame's application for assistance was approved.
"What seemed impossible happened," Key says.
"If it all goes according to plan he could end up walking."
Varayame and his family broke down in tears when Sarah returned to Fiji to share the good news.
And the cameras have now turned on Sarah. A documentary crew is following her and Varayame's story, which will eventually be broadcast on New Zealand television.
Rotary seeks more kits for Samoan relief
East & Bays Courier 1 Jan 2010
Rotary emergency response kits used after the Samoa tsunami need replenishing before the cyclone season begins.
More than 300 kits were sent by New Zealand Rotary clubs to the disaster-affected areas in the Pacific after the September 30 tragedy.
Clubs are now being called on to assemble or fund new kits so there's a stockpile when the next disaster hits.
The St Johns Rotary Club recently supplied another three kits, worth $750 each, and is calling on the public to help it give more.
The kits are held in New Zealand ready for immediate supply. When needed, local Rotary clubs handle the distribution to ensure the packs reach their intended recipients.
Families are then able to construct a basic shelter, find food from the land and sea, cook and clothe themselves.
Kits contain a cooking pot, unbreakable cups and bowls, candles, matches, blankets, clothes, tools, medical supplies and more.
St Johns club president Colin Robinson says with the cyclone season looming "there will be an inevitable need".
Demand varies year to year, depending on the severity of the cyclones.
The club welcomes support from the community to help buy the emergency packs. Email stjohnsrotary@gmail.com
Rotary supports younger people to membership
East & Bays Courier - 14 Oct 2009
 |
| NOT JUST FOR OLD PEOPLE: Steele Gibson is trying to encourage more young people to join Rotary clubs. |
Steele Gibson is out to prove that Rotary clubs are not just for old people.
The 30-year-old is the youngest member of the the Rotary Club of St Johns and is trying to encourage more young people to join.
"What people think of Rotary is not actually what it is.
"I always thought it was old men and women sitting around. I couldn’t have been more wrong."
The Glendowie businessman was first involved in Rotary 10 years ago when he was nominated to go on a Rotary Youth Leadership Awards course, a week-long leadership camp for 20 to 24 year olds.
Since completing the course, he has had a varied career working mostly in managerial roles.
Four months ago, in the middle of the recession, he started his own business – something he says has been "a lot of fun and hard work".
He is also a former world champion small-bore rifle target shooter and an avid mountain biker.
Mr Gibson got involved with Rotary again last year after a chance meeting with the 2008 club president led to an invitation to a meeting.
"They kept inviting me back, so I kept coming back and then they asked me to join.
"The meetings are really casual – none of that stuffiness you’d associate with it."
St Johns Rotary is part of Rotary International, an international service organisation with men and women all over the world who have fun making a difference.
Club service director Beryl Robinson says the club is looking for more members.
"We need more hands to make a difference.
"We’d love some young members who want to give back to the community and enjoy doing it."
She says St Johns Rotary has a reputation for being "a fun, lively, lots of laughs club".
It is also a big supporter of events in the community and at an international level.
Mr Gibson says the last fundraising event he was involved in raised $9000 for a water project in Samoa.
"It’s probably a misnomer that it’s all bake sales and sausage sizzles outside a supermarket," he says.
"There’s massive projects that go on that people aren’t aware of, that I wasn’t aware of."
The club is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month with a dinner for members, past members and people directly associated with the club.
It is also hosting an interest meeting on Monday. Anyone wanting to find out more about Rotary can email stjohnsrotary@gmail.com for an invitation.
Queenstown or Bust
East & Bays Courier - September 2009,
 |
| GOOD CAUSE: Rotary Club of St John president Colin Robinson and his wife Beryl are hitching a ride to Queenstown to raise money for Cure Kids. |
Some would say Beryl Robinson is a sucker for punishment. She says she just loves an adventure.
Mrs Robinson, a member of the Rotary Club of St Johns Inc, first competed in the Novotel $10 Queenstown Challenge to Cure Kids event in 2006 with Sam Gordon from the Rotaract Club of the University of Auckland.
She is hitting the streets again – this time with her husband Colin, 52.
"I’ve never had so much fun raising money," Mrs Robinson, 53, says.
"It’s an amazing experience. It’s like the television show Amazing Race – Cure Kids style."
The challenge is a fundraising event that involves teams of two taking part in a series of innovative activities en route from Auckland to Queenstown over three days.
Competitors are allocated $10 each and are provided with accommodation. However, they must get themselves to Queenstown.
This year’s event runs from September 29 to October 2 and money raised through the competitors’ fundraising goes to Cure Kids.
The team that gets the most challenge points will win the 2009 title but the most coveted trophy is awarded to the champion fundraising team – a trophy Mrs Robinson and Mr Gordon won in 2006 after they raised $32,495.
The 2006 challenge was also a rewarding experience on a personal level for Mrs Robinson.
At the age of 50 she hitchhiked and bungy jumped for the first time.
"You have to be prepared to put your life on hold for three days," she says. "You have no idea where you are going or how you are getting there."
Mr Robinson says while he is not keen on hitchhiking he is more than willing to give the challenge a go – besides "it’s all about the kids".
"We’ve done some amazing things over the years just by taking the opportunity and saying ‘yes’," he says.
Mrs Robinson says the fundraising ahead of the event is as much of a challenge as the race itself.
"It is more challenging this year than it was three years ago. Every donation helps. It all adds up."
Mr and Mrs Robinson have both been members of various community service groups for a number of years.
Currently, he is president of the Rotary Club of St Johns while she is the club service director.
Mr Robinson is a foundation director of the 20-year-old club and Mrs Robinson is a past district governor of Rotary District 9920, having held the post from 2004 to 2005.
They also run the Rotary Down Under magazine New Zealand and Pacific Islands editorial and promotions office.
To donate to Mr and Mrs Robinson’s Rotary Makes A Difference team go to www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/Rotary.
Saving lives
Cure Kids, previously the Child Health Research Foundation, was established by Rotary to address the lack of research into life-threatening childhood illnesses in New Zealand.
The foundation was set up in 1971 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Rotary in New Zealand after it was petitioned by the late Dr Ronald Caughey, a leading paediatrician and member of the Rotary Club Auckland, to set up the foundation to encourage funding for research into child health.
New Zealand had previously led the world with the lowest infant mortality rate but by 1970 had slipped to sixth place.
Under the leadership of District Governor the late Bob Yarnton, Rotarians took on the challenge.
Less than six months later $250,000 was presented to foundation chairman Sir James Doig and in 1996 Rotarians donated another $87,000.
Today the foundation’s public face is Cure Kids and with the ongoing support of Rotary, new initiatives are continually being developed to raise funds for medical research into children’s life threatening illnesses.
Cure Kids has since invested more than $23 million in medical research that has helped save hundreds of young lives and has improved the quality of life for thousands of children.
Highest honour for relief work
East & Bays Courier - 6 November 2008
The efforts of one woman to help a Sri Lankan fishing village devastated by a tsunami have been recognised by the Rotary Club of St Johns.
Mary Taylor lives in Pt Chevalier and helped rebuild the lives of an entire fishing village on the southern coast of Sri Lanka after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
The aim has been to create a sustainable model that can be adopted and adapted by other villages.
St Johns Rotarians recognised Mrs Taylor with a Paul Harris Fellowship award – the highest award given by Rotary clubs.
It is a rare honour for a person who is not a Rotary member and is given to people for exceptional service.
The award acknowledges the projects she has run which have included raising money to replace fishing boats and developing an ice plant to keep fish, the villagers’ main source of income, cool.
The Rotarians also gave her $1250 towards her current project Project Fencepost 125.
It is designed to draw older men back into the economy of the villages, by growing vegetables as a collective.
The fence posts provide boundary fences to keep away wild pigs and other scavengers from the vegetable plots cultivated by former-tea plantation workers, who can no longer work on the sloping tea plantations, but could still contribute to the welfare of the community.
Each fence post costs $10.
Rotary club member Dr Anne Perera, who was born in Sri Lanka, has also arranged for $10 from the sale of Hot Potatoes & Cool Bananas, the book she co-authored, to be donated to the project.
In 2005 Mrs Taylor was awarded the British-based Geoffrey Roberts Travel Award which recognises people who make a difference in their travels.
She has also been awarded the Auckland Mayor’s Living Legend Award for her efforts in Sri Lanka.
