Our next meeting will be 6:00pm for 6:30pm Wednesday 26 March, 2025
at the Graphic Arts Club, 182 Coward Street Mascot
Visitors are very welcome
Members are reminded that Membership Fees for the Jan/Jun period are now due
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.
We welcome everyone to come along to any of our meetings to join in the fellowship and to learn more about what we do.
We will not have a guest speaker at this meeting. This will allow us to have a more casual meeting and provide an opportunity to discuss our upcoming major projects.
We have been asked to assist Ronald McDonald House by providing a BBQ as part of their major fundraising event on Sunday 30 March, when they will have 2,500 people walking from Rose Bay to the House adjacent to Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick. Everything has been donated, all we have to do is turn up and cook!!
Tohe meeting will also provide an opportunity to plan for the Dog Fun Day, scheduled for Sunday 13th April at Maroubra Beach. The planning committee is well advanced on the details for this day, and again members will be requested to assist on the day.
Our last meeting
Our very special guest speaker at our meeting on 5 March was Gemma Sisia, founder of The School of St Jude, in Arusha, Tanzania.
Gemma outlined how in 2002 she started with an enrollment of 3 students on a gifted piece of 2 acres of land. The first classroom block was built by a Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) volunteer team.
From that small beginning, the school now has over 2000 students on full scholarships, around 350 staff and a groundbreaking tertiary program with over 300 tertiary graduates.
To be eligible to attend, potential students must:
be currently attending a government school
satisfy a poverty test
demonstrate academic promise and a great attitude towards studies
St Jude’s students receive highly-qualified teachers, uniforms, food, water, transport, boarding, health and welfare support and learning resources. 60% of the students are female and they typically rank in the top 5% nationally. St Jude’s is a centre for academic excellence with a strong focus on students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields during their secondary education.
There are three schools filled with happy and healthy students: St Jude’s Primary School, St Jude’s Girls’ Secondary School and St Jude’s Secondary School. All of the secondary students are in boarding.
Following their graduation, 97% of St Jude’s secondary graduates go on to access higher education.
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.
Nayline, an 11-year-old girl from Vanuatu, was born with severe kyphoscoliosis (an abnormal curvature of the spine occurring in two planes). In addition to having to contend with an increasingly rounded and hunched appearance, over time Nayline’s condition has begun to compromise her growth and overall health.
The 11-year-old arrived in Sydney recently with her father Henry for life-changing medical treatment. She is currently receiving specialist care at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, led by the orthopaedic team of Dr Angus Gray, who has a special interest in scoliosis.
Nayline is undergoing a two-stage surgical process. Stage 1involved a disc release and the application of halo-gravity traction. This stage lasted four weeks, with Nayline remaining in hospital to allow the traction to straighten up her back. The second stage of Nayline’s treatment, a posterior spinal fusion, was last Friday, 7 March, to stabilise and support her spine, significantly improving her quality of life.
Henry has been staying at Ronald McDonald House so that he was close to Nayline whilst she was in hospital. After nearly five weeks in traction at the hospital followed by successful spinal surgery, Nayline was finally discharged and able to join him at the House this week. She now awaits medical clearance to return home to Vanuatu.
Botany Randwick Rotary Club members have been involved in the care and support of Nayline and Henry during their stay in Randwick.
The Rotary Club of Botany Randwick has recently renewed its sponsorship of a family accommodation room at Ronald McDonald House, Randwick.
Ronald McDonald House provides a home away from home for families of children from rural and regional NSW who are undergoing treatment at the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick.
In 2024, our room provided accommodation for 70 different families, with the longest stay being 36 days. Those families came from places like Goulburn, Wagga Wagga and Dubbo.
Our relationship with Ronald McDonald House goes back at least 20 years. The arrangement is reciprocated with the House providing accommodation for children and their guardians who are being treated under the Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC) program. 11 year old Nayline and her dad, Henry, from Vanuatu, are currently staying there whilst Nayline undergoes treatment for scoliosis.
As well as sponsoring Room 20, the Club also provides a family meal. Last year this took the form of a BBQ, where we catered for 80 people staying at the House. This was greatly appreciated by the many families staying there, especially after returning from a long day attending to their children up at the hospital. Not having to worry about then preparing a meal was a blessing for them. And there were enough left overs for a cook-up the following day!
Nayline, an 11-year-old girl from Vanuatu, was born with severe kyphoscoliosis (an abnormal curvature of the spine occurring in two planes). In addition to having to contend with an increasingly rounded and hunched appearance, over time Nayline’s condition has begun to compromise her growth and overall health.
The Rotary Club of Botany Randwick has recently renewed its sponsorship of a family accommodation room at Ronald McDonald House, Randwick.
