M-l recommended members have a look at the virtual conference sessions, especially the Jeremy Neesham session about the Clontarf Foundation.
Mark Forgie spoke about Ron’s funeral. Ron’s family were extremely happy about the guard of honour at Kangaroo Flat. It exceeded their expectations and got them off on a positive journey. Once at Blinman the question was whether the truck would start. It did have some rubbish in the fuel tank which took some time to clean out enroute to the cemetery, but they got there. Everyone saw the photo of Ron on the Back of the truck. A photo of Ron on the truck was shown on the screen. Mark felt very privileged to be there. There will be a memorial service in Gawler at some point in the future. Although he is buried a long way away, he is close to us in our memories. Stan mentioned that the Gawler History team has a life history of Ron on their website. Ian agreed with everything that Mark said and congratulated Mark that everything was very well run. Bob said that he and Marge enjoyed the Kangaroo Flat guard of honour immensely. It was a beautiful setting. Ron was important in Ahrens business as he transported silos all over the country for them. He and Marge will travel to Blinman to pay their respects when they can. Wayne was disappointed in the condition of the Kangaroo Flat Church. Could it be a Rotary project to restore it? If it is heritage listed there could be grant funding available. There would need to be a use for the building otherwise it would not be worth doing it up. Need to find out who own the building now.
Steve has been advised that the President plaques at Clonlea had been vandalised. Kim will visit tomorrow and report back. Ron reported that the damage appears to be mainly from the lawnmower rather than vandals. This can be discussed further outside of the meeting.
Mark asked members how they were going with the slight relaxation of the social distancing. Wayne reported life was pretty much the same as they usually work from home. They are looking forward for the Sandy Creek hotel opening on 8th June.
Ron Lloyd informed the meeting that we need to communicate with the Council that we wish to extend our lease. This needs to be done by the 29th May. Mark Smeaton will action this.
Youth Exchange Student Sara reported she cooked Carbonara on Sunday. Sara presented at the District eConnections tonight along with Ana from Brazil. The rock and reef trip has been canelled which is very disappointing. The students have been offered to attend next year, but that is not practical for Sara. Adrien expressed his sadness for Sara as it was such an amazing trip.
Mark Forgie asked where Sara has been. Sara responded that she has visited Adelaide, Noarlunga, Victor Harbor, Maitland, Pt Vincent, Calperum, Fisherman Bay, Brisbane. Mark suggested the Flinders Ranges would be a good thing to do as it is not far and there is a lot to see. Sara would need to sleep in a swag… which she has not done before.
Guest Speaker Brett Dalton – ROMAC
Brett is PE of RC Burnside. He has been in Rotary for 8 years and has been President of Burnside club for 4 years! When he was younger Brett did a short term exchange to NZ, RYLA, RYPEN. His Spouse Tania is the Treasurer of RC Burnside. Outside of Rotary Tania works for Sealink and Brett produces visitors guides across SA. They went for a trip on the weekend visited Pt Turton and there are signs of people starting to travel. Brett caught his first squid yesterday! It was delicious.
The RC Burnside relationship with ROMAC goes back a long way. ROMAC stands for Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children. Approximately 530 children from pacific island nations have been assisted over the past few years. The children are brought to Australia for live changing surgery. D’Arcy Walsh (RC Adelaide) is taking over as committee chair for District 9510. Brett has been chair for the last 3 years.
Brett shared a presentation. The first screen featured Adato who came to Aust for cranio-facial surgery 3 years ago. The surgery was carried out at the Adelaide Craniofacial unit. He was 2 years old when he came over and his parents could not accompany him. He only cried once during the whole ordeal. He was physically helped, but it also changed the family and the community he lives within. Children with an issue like this in the island communities would be confined to the house because of the problem which is very debilitating to him and his family.
The second slide showed the Central Region ROMAC committee with 4 patients and their family member. Two with simple to repair heart conditions (more complex heart conditions are treated in Melbourne). It is day surgery, but unavailable in their home country. They came over 10 days before the surgery. It is important they have good gums and teeth prior to the surgery as it presents a high infection risk post-surgery. The young boy had almost all of his teeth removed by surgery prior to the heart operation. The girl required less dental work. The girl’s family put their plans to build a house on hold so they could get their girl well. Once she qualified for ROMAC they wanted to start the house again. The Rotary club supplied a drill and circular saw to assist in the project. The mum was so happy and they committed to pass on the tools to others in the village to complete their houses.
A story from the ABC was shown. It was the first time that the Women's and Children's Hospital had been involved with bringing children from the Solomon Islands for paediatric hear surgery. The story aired on 27 June 2019 and is available from Youtube. The picture below is from the video.
The average cost for a ROMAC patient is $30,000. COVID19 may delay treatment of other children. The Craniofacial unit provides a number of procedures at not charge. The cost is getting the children here, accommodating them and returning them home. Some have to stay for quite a while pre and post surgery. Adelaide is mostly Craniofacial, simple heart and some burns. Most burns go to Darwin and serious heart conditions to Melbourne.
Last year D9500 and D9520 contributed a total of $13000. 2 clubs from 9500 and 7 from 9520.
There is a lot of competition for funds, especially with droughts and fires. Brett is happy to raise our awareness and share his passion with us.
Wayne Murphy congratulated Brett and Tania for being our first Zoom guest presenters.
Brett said it would be great if each Rotary club would dedicate one BBQ to ROMAC each year.
Stan asked a question about Interplast – ROMAC difference. Brett replied Interplast sends team to the country, whereas ROMAC brings the children to Australia.
Steve and Mark expressed the club’s thanks for Brett’s presentation.
President Steve thanked Brian/Barry for running the meeting last week. Last week Ron Sanderswas farewelled on a nice sunny day with a guard of honour. It was a fitting farewell and our thoughts to the family. Thanks to Kim and Colin who organised the UCare project. The goods were presented to UCare last week with Kim, Colin, Steve and Brian present. Thanks to all in the club who contributed. It is great we can still help those in need. Steve asked for volunteers to be next week’s chair – Adrien agreed to do it from France! Steve asked for volunteers to move our items from the existing clubrooms – there were lots of hands up to do this. Steve will advise on the date. Steve thanked Mark for Chairing the meeting, Brett and Tania for being the guest speaker. Thanks to Adrien and Sara for attending. Thanks for all who attended.
Guest speaker next week is Associate Professor Mark Nottle
Meeting closed at 8:45pm
