Download the Club Bulletin for meeting 928 here.
From new President Mina Ward:
Meeting number 928 saw the start of a new Rotary Year and my first meeting as President. I was pleased to present Immediate Past President, Colin with two awards.
During the 2014-15 year the hard work of the Rotary Club of Magill Sunrise was recognised by the District in two ways: District Governor’s Club Award and Best New Generations Project Award.
By continually punching above our weight, the club ticked all the boxes along with 21 out of the 51 clubs in the district to meet all the criteria for the District Governor’s Award.
A combined effort of six out of the seven clubs in group 7 (Burnside, Campbelltown, Magill Sunrise, Morialta, Norwood and St Peter’s) to establish the Rotaract Club of Sturt saw that all six clubs received the accolade of Best New Generations Project. Well done Colin and RCMS!!
The new theme for the Rotary Year is ‘Be A Gift To The World’. We all are a gift to the world in some shape or form.
Our guest speaker this week was Jenny Weaver, from Birthing Kit Foundation Australia (BKFA). This organisation definitely is a gift to the world. Since 2006 when the organisation was founded, over 100 million birthing kits have been handed out to women in developing countries. The birthing kits address the seven necessities for a safe delivery. Each kit contains: a plastic sheet, soap, gloves, sterile scalpel blade, string and gauze.
Jenny is a member of the Zonta Club of Adelaide Torrens whose main aim is to improve the lives of women. In 1999, Dr Joy O’Hazy, a member of the Zonta Club of Adelaide Torrens, devised the simple birthing kit which is still in use today. Together with the commitment from the Adelaide Hills Zonta Club members the production of kits started and has never waned.
In 2004 the project became Australia wide for Zonta and received funding from AusAID as well as International Zonta recognition. Since Zonta helped establish BKFA, the business has developed further and will continue to grow as it follows a sustainable business model. There is good money flow and it is well organised. BKFA has set about achieving two other goals:
1) Getting kits made in the developing countries themselves, with support from their local governments.
2) Provide five day health, nutrition, hygiene and birth attendant training programmes designed and established to complement the supply of birthing kits.
These programmes have proved invaluable in poor communities with the knowledge around health, hygiene and birthing embedded for the long term. BKFA hopes it eventually goes out of business due to 100% safe births and support from local governments.
If you would like to find out more about the foundation please head to either of these websites: https://www.bkfa.org.au & http://zontaadelaidetorrens.org.au
As our first club activity for the year, we will be putting together 1,000 birthing kits together with the Zonta Club of Adelaide Torrens. If you are interested in coming along on Saturday 18th July 1.30pm at Morialta Uniting Church Hall, please contact Julie Carman on [email protected].
Thank you Jenny for your informative talk.
Also thank you to our newest Honorary Member, Jeff Neale, who attended Tuesday’s meeting- it’s always a pleasure to see you Jeff.
We’re looking forward to see some more Sunrisers and at the next meeting on Tuesday 14th July, when Adelle Martin comes along to tell us about her experiences at RYPEN.
Please remember to put in an apology if you’re unable to attend. Thanks for your support and enthusiasm as we embark on a new year….Be a gift to the world.