Our next meeting will be 6:00pm for 6:30pm Wednesday 13 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.
The first quarter of 2024 continues to be jammed packed. Brigit continues to lead the development of our first dog day. Thank you to Tracey, June, David (from Rotary Maroubra), Mark and Simon who are all assisting and doing great work preparing what will hopefully a great community event.
Twelve of our members attended the tour of Prince of Wales Hospital Acute Services Wing (the new part of the hospital). The Wing is a significant development for the hospital, with very impressive operating theatres. We also saw how big the new Children’s Hospital will be when completed. After the tour we enjoyed a dinner in the courtyard of the nearby Royal Hotel on a warm summer evening.
Greg, Ken and myself attended the District Conference in Wollongong on 9 March. We heard from numerous excellent guest speakers.
We would like to wish Peter Hamer all the best success in his trip to the Philippines developing a RAWCS project. I’d like to remind our club member to complete their surveys for our President Elect Simon for when he attends the President Elect Conference.
At our next meeting we will meet our RYLA and NYSF attendees. Please invite anyone you think may be interest to hear them speak about these remarkable Rotary youth programs.
Looking forward to catching up with everyone on Wednesday night
At this meeting we will have three young guest speakers, all sponsored by Rotary to attend youth development programs over recent months.
Oliver will tell us about his experience at the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) camp that he attended recently.
Michaela and Shayna, both now Year 12 students, attended the National Youth Science Forum. Michaela was our sponsored candidate whilst Shayna is a fellow student who will speak of her experience.
There will also be several club updates including information about the Dog Day.
Our last meeting
Our last meeting involved a tour of the new Acute Services Wing of the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick.
Club members visited the 6th & 7th floors of the Wing, off Barker Street, which is now the new front entrance for the Prince of Wales Hospital. These floors in the last stages of being commissioned.
The tour was led by Elizabeth Browne, Director, Clinical Operations for the Hospital and Holly Zamboni, Acting Foundation CEO, together with Sarah Dawes, Acting Fundraising Director. They were supported by the ABS development team, who provided the detailed explanations of the facilities being viewed. Members were shown several wards and private rooms. Highlights were viewing of the ICU Unit, Operating Theatres and Recovery Ward, complete with the latest development in vital signs connectivity.
Following the tour, members adjourned to the Foundation offices for a brief club meeting, Christine initially thanked the POW Foundation for the tour, Greg followed by conveying thanks on behalf of the group. Christine gave brief progress reports, including:
the Dog Fun Day on 7th April:
Marrickville Ten Pin Bowling Night on 1th April
Dinner was held at The Royal Hotel, in the outdoor dining section which was an excellent environment at which to continue to have conversations and develop networking opportunities.
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.
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
December 2023
Donation to Lou's Place, supporting victims of domestic violence
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 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 March 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.
Clean water is a basic need for human beings. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives. However, at least 3,000 children die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates our members to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure.
While very few people die of thirst, millions die from preventable waterborne diseases, providing the impetus for our members to also improve sanitation facilities in undeveloped countries. Members start by providing toilets and latrines that flush into a sewer or safe enclosure and then add education programs to promote hand-washing and other good hygiene habits.
From the various water projects in which Rotary has participated, we have come to know the obstacles that many people across the globe face when it comes to some of the basic necessities of life. We tend to take for granted the clean and generally safe and plentiful water sources to which we have access.
Rotary International, through the combined actions of individual Rotarians and Rotary Clubs, seeks to assure that all people have adequate access to clean and safe water. The Rotary theme for March, Water and Sanitation, asks us to focus on the life changing improvements that we can make through these international projects to provide a more readily available and healthy supply of water to all people.
The problem is not that the world will run out of water (that amount is fixed through evaporation and re-condensation). The problem is the unequal distribution of water and the lack of universal proper sanitary practices to assure safe water for drinking. While some regions and peoples are certainly at greater risk than others and deserving of greater attention, we have seen recently that no population is free from concern. Consider the lead problems in Flint, Michigan and the approaching Day Zero for Cape Town, South Africa (which fortunately has been moved further out and may never happen). Water and sanitation issues will certainly continue to be an area of focus for RI and deserving of our attention as Rotarians.
Rotary is dedicated to six areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever. Water and Sanitation is one of those six areas of focus.
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
Baby Melenaite from the Pacific Ocean island of Tonga, was born with a large teratoma, a mass of tissue and blood vessels, on her lower back. 
Clean water is a basic need for human beings. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives. However, at least 3,000 children die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates our members to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure.