Our next meeting will be 6:00pm for 6:30pm Wednesday 27 March 2024 at the Graphic Arts Club, 182 Coward Street Mascot 2018.
Members are reminded that Membership fees are now overdue!
President's Message
Welcome to this Newsletter of the Rotary Club of Botany Randwick Inc. Our club has been serving the local and international community since 1948.
Rotary promotes the ideal of service through fellowship. Attending our meetings allows members to enjoy the fellowship of other club members, enrich their professional and personal knowledge, and meet other business leaders in their community.
As a Club we support a wide range of projects. As well as having a broad range of local and international community projects, we are particularly focused on the Rotary projects, Australian Rotary Health, Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) and Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) together with The Rotary Foundation.
Planning is well advanced for our inaugural Dog Fun Day at Maroubra on Sunday 7 April. Please remember to help us by purchasing tickets in the Raffle, with many prizes now on offer:
How can we engage this audience in our club and activities.
There will also be several club updates including information about the Dog Day.
Our last meeting
At our last meeting Shayna and Michaella, Year 12 students at Cerdon College, spoke eloquently about their experiences at the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF). Our Club was pleased to sponsor Michaella to this annual event, whilst Shayna was sponsored by the Drummoyne Rotary Club. It was a pleasure to have their parents along with them.
NYSF is designed to broaden senior high school students understanding of the diverse study and career options available in STEM. Rotary is a founding partner of NYSF, with other partners including the CSIRO, Lockheed Martin, CSL and major universities such as UNSW, ANU and UQ.
During their weeklong experience, Shayna and Michaella attended specialised lectures, site visits to scientific establishments, a careers day and a range of social activities.
They expressed their appreciation to the Club for providing them with the opportunity to attend NYSF, saying that they had gained much from their experience:
A broader knowledge of other STEM fields
Now open to other Universities in Australia, other than the ones in Sydney
Made new friends with similar interests in STEM
Meeting with industry professionals and connect with Rotarians
We wish both girls all the best for their HSC studies and their future endeavors. They were thanked by President Christine and Youth Director Paul.
Proudly Partnered with Sydney Airports Corporation
2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at the Graphic Arts Club,
182 Coward Street,
Mascot.
6pm for pre-meeting drinks and chat. The meeting, with dinner, starts at 6:30pm and normally concludes by 8:30pm.
Support to ROMAC child Melenaite at Sydney Childrens Hospital
February 2024
Sponsorship of a family room at Ronald McDonald House at the Sydney Children's Hospital, allowing families from rural NSW to stay close to their children whilst undergoing treatment.
Donation to the Philippine's SHEP project.
January 2024
Sponsorship of Michaela to attend the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) at the University of Qld.
Sponsorship of Oliver to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, a weeklong personal development program.
Renewal of our annual Indigenous Health Scholarship
Refer to our website for the full list of projects supported.
Baby Melenaite from the Pacific Ocean island of Tonga, was born with a large teratoma, a 2.5kg mass of tissue and blood vessels, on her lower back.
Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) arranged for her, with mum Michelle, to fly to Canberra, where the 2.5kg tumour was removed at The Canberra Hospital. Unfortunately, some remnants remained and she was transferred to the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick for more specialised treatment. Unfortunately, the tumour resulted in other complications, impacting her kidneys, bladder and hip joints.
In March 2023 Melenaite underwent 5 hours of surgery at The Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick. Firstly, an operation by Urologist Dr Sarah Guitronich addressed the kidney issue. Then followed a 4-hour operation by Neurologist Dr Saeed Kohan to excise the remaining teratoma. Following these procedures, Melenaite was fitted with a hip brace and returned to Tonga with her Mum Michelle in April 2023.
In mid-February 2024, Melenaite and Michelle returned for reviews of her various issues at both Canberra and Sydney Children's Hospitals. This included an MRI under general anaesthetic. It was great to see the child that was here twelve months ago as a babe in arms, returning as a very lively near 2-year-old!
Following the all-clear they returned home to Tonga on 8 March 2024, farewelled at Sydney Airport by Botany Randwick and ROMAC Board Member, Richard. It is planned that they return in a few month's time for a further review.
Whilst in Sydney, they stayed at Ronald McDonald House close by the Hospital. Our Club is a major supporter of the House, and it is fantastic to see the reciprocation of this support in their assistance to ROMAC children.
These yearly scholarships are awarded through Australian Rotary Health to Indigenous tertiary students as a way to support the barriers of tertiary study and qualification in Australian Indigenous populations. They are jointly funded by a Rotary Club or District and the State or Federal Government. Each scholarship is worth $5,000 per year.
The Rotary Club of Botany Randwick has been funding one of these scholarships each year, for the at least the last 15 years.
Our Scholar this year is Jesse, who is studying Vision Science at Flinders University. Jesse wrote recently to update us on his progress:
"I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to you and the Botany Randwick Rotary club for the invaluable support extended to me throughout 2023. The club’s generosity through the Rotary Indigenous Health Scholarship played a pivotal role in allowing me to engage my studies at university.
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we've reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate childrRemove Diven in the Philippines in 1979.
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.
Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
Our Club is proud to have been contributing to this program each year for most of the past thirty years.
The Four Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a non-partisan, non-sectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
To contact the Club, please email info@botanyrandwickrotary.org.au
Our next meeting will be 6:00pm f
NYSF is designed to broaden senior high school students understanding of the diverse study and career options available in STEM. Rotary is a founding partner of NYSF, with other partners including the CSIRO, Lockheed Martin, CSL and major universities such as UNSW, ANU and UQ.
Baby Melenaite from the Pacific Ocean island of Tonga, was born with a large teratoma, a 2.5kg mass of tissue and blood vessels, on her lower back. 
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.