Yarra Bend Rotary Bulletin Page 1

Volume 15 Issue 38 5 May 2015

Rotary Year 2014 – 2015

President: Tony Boyd Vice

President:

Bob Lambert Secretary: David Shave

Treasurer: John Pocock President

Elect:

Justin Wibrow

Rotary International President Gary C.K. Huang

District Governor Murray Verso

Assistant Governor Gabe Hau

Club Avenues of Service

International: Isabel Armer

Community: Bob Lambert Club Service: Matt Pollard Foundation: Clint Sceney

Youth Service: Anne Brown Vocational: Justin Wibrow

Club Protection: John Orr

Bulletin: Matt Pollard

PLEASE REMEMBER

Apologies and guests to David Shave

by Tuesday on 0408 511 615

President’s Message

For the second time in recent weeks one of our speakers has indicated that they are

participating in charitable or volunteering pursuits for “selfish” reasons. Last week our

guest speaker was Chitra Amaradasa who works as a commercial lawyer in her

professional life but, at the weekend, works as a volunteer with primates at the

Melbourne zoo. Chitra is an enthusiastic supporter of the zoo and committed to the

welfare of the gorillas and monkeys with which she works. Although her volunteering is

motivated for the selfish pleasure gained, it assists the zoo staff, the wellbeing of the

animals, and visitors to the zoo through her interaction with the animals and her

explanations. Chitra’s “selfish” passion benefits others. I would like to thinks that many

others can also find a passionate “selfish” pursuit that benefits the wider community.

Rotary is another organisation that can give enormous satisfaction and enjoyment to its

Members. I am sure such “selfish” sentiments are shared by many Rotarians. The

community benefits from the various projects undertaken by Rotary at an international,

regional and local level but also, Members can gain enormous satisfaction from seeing the

results achieved whilst having fun at the same time. In this context we should not feel

guilty about our “selfish” pursuits.

I mentioned last week that the Nepalese Bright Future Community Centre that Yarra Bend

Rotary supports in Kopan area of Kathmandu survived the recent devastating earthquake.

Netra, our contact at the centre, has advised that some of the housing surrounding our

building has not been so lucky. ( continued over page)

Postal

Address:

P.O. Box 271 Kew East ,

3102, VIC, Australia

Meet Wednesdays

6:30p.m. for 7:00p.m. at

The Amora Hotel

649 Bridge Road

Richmond Victoria

Tel: 03 9246 1200

Website: www.yarrabendrotary.com.au

Email: yarrabend@rotarydistrict9800.org.au

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President’s Message

The older houses have crumbled and others have big cracks in the walls and could fall if there is a significant aftershock. Electricity has

now been restored and we have managed to get some money to the Bright Future bank account to enable Netra to buy food parcels

which he is distributing to “our” families and any neighbours who are destitute. Many of the families live in rented accommodation and,

if this has fallen down and they want to return to their village, Netra is giving them the money for bus fares.

Aid agencies are establishing a presence in Nepal and some food aid is getting through, However, the distribution is chaotic and will take

some time to settle down. The worst affected areas are in the more remote country areas and I would hope that food is now going to

these areas where the people are starving.

There will be an ongoing need for assistance in Nepal. Yarra Bend Rotary will later further review its commitment and the support we can

offer as the reconstruction effort gets underway.

Next Wednesday our Club is having a vocational visit to the MCG in lieu of our normal Club meeting. It will be very interesting to see

behind the scenes where the mighty “Bombers” and other ALF teams play. Our next Club meeting at the Amora Hotel will be on

Wednesday 13 May.

Remember, spread the word to “Light Up Rotary”.

Regards Tony.

On this Day Sunday April 29 1770 (245 years ago).

Lieutenant James Cook discovers and names Botany Bay

Lieutenant Cook was born at Marton in North Yorkshire, on 27 October 1728. As the son of a farm labourer, he held no great ambitions,

being apprenticed in a grocer/haberdashery when he was 16. Lack of aptitude in the trade led his employer to introduce Cook to local

ship owners, who took him on as a merchant navy apprentice. Here he was educated in algebra, trigonometry, navigation, and

astronomy, which later set Cook up to command his own ship.

Cook was hired in 1766 by the Royal Society to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun.

Following this, Cook's next orders were to search the south Pacific for Terra Australis Incognita, the great southern continent that many

believed must extend around the southern pole. He came across New Zealand, which Abel Tasman had discovered in 1642, and spent

some months there, charting the coastline.

Nearly a year later, Cook set sail west for New Holland, which was later to become Australia. On 29 April 1770 Cook's vessel, the

Endeavour, sailed into Botany Bay, after first sighting the eastern coast of Australia ten days earlier. He described the bay as being

"tolerably well sheltered", and initially named it Stingray Bay, after the large numbers of stingray he noted. The name was later changed

to Botany Bay due to the vast numbers of new and unique botanical specimens noted by the ship's botanists, including Joseph Banks.

Cook named Cape Solander and Cape Banks after Banks and Finnish botanist Daniel Solander. He then landed at Kurnell, allowing the

cabin boy, Isaac Smith, to be the first known European to step foot on the soil of "New South Wales".

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Guest Speaker – Chitra Amardara – Zoo Volunteer - (Notes by Matt Pollard) Chitra works with Mark Miller and was invited to talk about her passion for animals and her work as a volunteer at Melbourne Zoo. She stressed that volunteers and allowed no interaction with the animals, this is the domain of their keepers who are highly trained.

Originally from Malaysia, Chitra told of her education and that she was regarded as “too short” to study animal scinces so she ended up studying the law! She noted that Zoo volunteers were very often teachers rather than lawyers. Chitra joined what was then “Friends of the Zoo” which was established in 1980. The organization grew rapidly and eventually came under Zoo management a few years ago. There are now 200 Victorian Zoo volunteers. Chitra joined in 2009 after a difficult selection interview. To become a tour guide, she had to undertake 16 full days of training and an equal number of evenings. Her training was said to require more effort than her Master’s degree! Once she had completed her training a number of great opportunities emerged. One example was working as an assistant in a behavioral study of the gorillas. The study was conducted before a new female was introduced and then monitored the behavioral change. This was a 14 month study and Chitra really enjoyed the experience. A later study was conducted at Werribee Zoo on the group of male gorillas located there. The studies involved shift work and Chitra did two shifts per week. The data analysis was done by others. Chitra says she does the volunteer work at the Zoo for selfish reasons as she is so passionate about the animals and she gets so much satisfaction from her involvement. She told us of the close interaction between the handlers and the animals. She said it was a priviledge to be exposed to the interaction and told stories of how the animals can “push their keepers buttons”. The behavior of the animals demonstrates the trust they have in their handlers and the volunteers. Volunteers also work on the “enrichment program” which is designed to compensate the animals for the excitement lost through captivity. Chitra told us about LuLu’s love of jewelry. She told us that research has busted some myths along the way. The most amazing trust is evident between handlers and the animals and the Zoo is now a conservation led organisation although the entertainment value delivered to Zoo visitors is important to bring in the punters who subsidize the cost of operations.

Thought of the week (David Chivers) “Half of something is better than all of nothing”

Club News - Upcoming Events

Event: When and where: Contact: Vocational Visit to the Melbourne Cricket Club

6 May 2015 at 6.30pm Gate 1 Ponsford Stand City end MCG Tour of MCC and dinner at Il Duca, 132 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne

Justin Wibrow and David Shave

Changeover Dinner Amora Hotel Wednesday 1 July 2015 6.30pm for 7.00pm

Justin Wibrow

2015 Boroondara Emergency Services Awards

Amora Hotel Wednesday 28 October 2015 6.30pm for 7.00pm

Clint Sceney

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Useful websites

Websites with information about: Rotary Foundation; Rotary partnering and resources.

Websites of other Rotary organisations: RC Yarra Bend;

District 9800; Rotary Downunder; RC Woodend (sister club of RC Yarra Bend).

Meeting Details

Meeting Date: Wednesday 29 April 2015

Attendance: 17 members

Apologies: Clint Sceney, Justin Wibrow

Guests: Edda Williams, Chitra Amardara

Chairman: Irene Leung

Door Prize : Chitra Amardara

Meeting Closed: 8.30 pm

Director’s Reports

President Tony thanks all those who attended the ANZAC service and flag raising at Kew High last week

Signs have been made for the gardens worked on by YBR members

John Brownsea has resigned effective last Thursday due to his perceived inability to fully contribute to YBR

Isabel updated in the Nepal earthquake and was pleased to report BFCC remains standing and our local community are safe. YBR to ascertain if RAWCS can be used to channel donations directly to BFCC. Pressure needed on RC Pashupati to disperse the YBR funds they have been sitting on for months. YBR will withhold a direct donation until current funds have been expended and priorities have been set

District Assembly is on 17 May as reported previously in the bulletin

MCG tour next week meeting point is Gate 1 at MCG at 6.30pm

William Liew promoted Bowelscan at $10 per kit. Members encouraged to take test annually

Member’s Moment

Jane Stott’s presentation was again cancelled due to an absence of technology.

Camberwell Sunday Market Duty Roster - changes in Red - If you have arranged a swap please advise Bill Chow *

Date Member Date Member

3 May Matt Pollard 31 May Tony Boyd

10 May David Shave 7 June William Liew

17 May Jane Stott 14 June Justin Wibrow

24 May Bill Chow/John Pocock 21 June Bob Lambert

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Other Rotary Matters District Assembly Sun 17 May

District Assembly is to be held at Tabcorp Park in Melton between 9am and 3pm on Sunday 17 May. Those who have attended before

will know there is a focus on District priorities for the year ahead and a range of presentations and discussions on each avenue of service.

David Shave has emailed members with the details so please let him know if you can attend. The Club pays the modest attendance fee.

So far 8 persons have indicated that they will attend.

Exchange Student - Doriane Remond

Doriane is speaking at RC Kew this Thursday and moves from the Pollard’s home to Adrian and Nadia Ranson’s home in Kew this Saturday

9 May. Adrian is President of RC Balwyn North. Her presentation to our Club on 20 May will summarise what she has got out of her year

in Australia. She returns to France on 16 June.

Diary Notes

Upcoming Program Anniversaries

6 May Vocational Visit to MCG 26 May David Shave and Nola Geary

13 May Swinburne Rotaract Mentoring Scheme Graduation

20 May

Doriane Remond

Youth Exchange Experience

Justin Wibrow

2015-2016 Plan for discussion

Birthdays

27 May

Anne McLeish AO/Helen Brown

Grandparenting

6 May Jane Stott

3 June Catherine Smith

RYDA

10 May Elizabeth Sceney

Meeting Duty Roster

Meeting Date 6 May 13 May 20 May 27 May

Chairman Ken Maher Mark Miller Justin Wibrow Charles Tuchtan

Thought & Gong David Shave Bob Lambert Irene Leung Darren Grevis-James

Member’s Moment (5 mins)

Matt Pollard Anne Brown John Pocock Bill Chow

Set Up/Pack Up Jane Stott Matt Pollard Darren Grevis-James Bob Lambert

Bulletin Notes Anne Brown Charles Tuchtan Mark Miller Isabel Armer

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Some Photos from our last meeting