We had a great meeting on Thursday with Chris Makoare, who is the Chairman of the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board.
Chris has an extensive network in Glen Innes where he has lived and worked for many years. Hopefully the RCoSJ can work with Chris to better understand how we can support our local community.
I am pleased to announce that John Lewisham will join the board as our Membership Director. We look forward to working with John to enrich our membership over the next year. Thank-you John.
Holly Sutich, our speaker scheduled for Thursday evening, has requested a raincheck as her presentation requires interaction which will be difficult on zoom. We thought we would change to a morning slot with feedback from one of our members and a general catch-up on projects..
Thursday September 3rd - Now a morning Zoom Meeting - 7.30 am. Zoom Link below.
This change is of course due to COVID19 crowd restrictions, but we have a great meeting lined up with our RYE sponsored Student, Lachlan Kerr lined up to share his story about his shortened exchange, and his return to Auckland via Melbourne at the peak of border closures - we're lucky to see him again - be sure to link in to hear his story!
It was disappointing that only 19 members and one guest joined last Thursdays meeting. If you were one of the members who were unable to attend the meeting, unfortunately you missed one of the most interesting and insightful Guest Speakers that we have had the pleasure of welcoming to our club. Being a Zoom Meeting we were unable to buy Chris breakfast, but he has agreed to come back and visit us when planning allows and we are not under any Covid-19 restrictions.
Chris Makoare is the Manager of the Glen Innes Family Centre as well as Chair Person of the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board. Chris has lived in our community for most of his life and apart from the two roles mentioned above, he is also involved in numerous other community organisations. Accordingly he was able to give us a comprehensive insight into the real local community, particularly around the Tamaki / Glen Innes area, how it works, is influenced, its needs and a hint as to how our club may be able to engage more effectively.
Our club is already very active in this area and with the local community, but it became very apparent during Chris' talk, and in the very active Q & A, that there is still much that can be done and having the right contacts is paramount. There is much good being accomplished by many organisation in the area but Chris couldn't stress enough how important it is to not build "Silo's" and to ensure that you also look through a Maori and Pacific lens.
Chris changes hats numerous times a day, between his Council and Community activities. His passion revolves around kids, the environment and the community. These priorities are well aligned with our club interests and activities in the area, so it shouldn't be too difficult for our club to have more discussions with Chris. In this regard DGN Allan and President Hugh will form a small team to start looking at how we may work productively together.
Sir Bob, who was a long-standing member of Remuera Rotary, and founder of the charity Cure Kids, (for which our Frances Benge is CEO), died on Friday August 21st., aged 86.
Those who knew Sir Bob say that he stood out as a kind, dedicated, and hugely talented medical researcher. His achievements are extensive including his global influence on increased life expectancy of those born with cystic fibrosis, his research leading to the establishment of the A2 Milk Corporation, and in his own words:
"My best achievement lies in founding' with Ron Caughey and Rotary, the charity now known as Cure Kids, which is a vibrant organisation, bringing health and vitality to children both in New Zealand and around the world, and I'm very, very proud of that."
For further information, and his last interview with Patrick Gower, see the following (3 mins) news item:
If you read your last Bulletin, and I am sure you did, we did have Holly Sutich scheduled to speak to us on September 3rd at an evening meeting. Unfortunately, we are going to have to reschedule Holly as her presentation was interactive and not suitable for Zoom. We will reschedule Holly later in the year.
So, although we have lost Holly for now, we are in luck, and at very short notice we have secured Lauchlan Kerr to talk to us this week. Lauchlan was our sponsored Exchange Student who began his exchange year in January 2020, well before anyone new about COVID-19. Despite the onset of the Pandemic, Lauchlan chose to stay on in Chile for as long as he could, but regrettably he eventually needed to be repatriated to New Zealand and this abruptly ended his exchange.
Be sure to link in to Zoom at 7.30 am this Thursday to hear Lachlan's story, which as you can imagine, is like no other that any of our former Exchange Students have experienced. The Zoom link is as above and we do hope you can join us to hear his story.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10th - Breakfast Meeting, Remuera Golf Club 7.00 am. (Venue To Be Confirmed):
Guest Speaker Shirin Brown - Labour Candidate Tamaki. Shirin has a background in local government, community advocacy, strategic planning and teaching, both in New Zealand and overseas.
Shirin was twice elected and served for six years in Auckland local government (2013-2019). She has a track record of working effectively with communities, NGOs and government departments to get great outcomes for local people and for the environment. Her time on the local board included developing social procurement criteria to allow local businesses and NGOs to compete for local government waste contracts, turning over occupation and management of community halls to community groups, and initiatives that support youth engagement and participation. She also successfully advocated for people to take citizenship ceremonies in Te Reo Māori.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17th - Breakfast Meeting, Remuera Golf Club 7.00 am.
Brian Fergus will share with us details on his Queen Mary cruise last year. Following Brian's presentation, we will move into Project/Commitee meetings. Please do all you can to attend to ensure your thoughts on the way ahead for our club are shared.
Rotary members have played an invaluable role in the effort to rid the African region of wild polio. We should be proud of all the hard work that we’ve done to eliminate the wild poliovirus throughout Africa and in nearly every country in the world.
This progress is the result of a decades-long effort across the 47 countries of the African region. It has involved millions of health workers traveling by foot, boat, bike and bus, innovative strategies to vaccinate children amid conflict and insecurity, and a huge disease surveillance network to test cases of paralysis and check sewage for the virus.
Over the last two decades, countless Rotary members in countries across the African region and around the world have worked together to raise funds, immunize children, advocate with local and national leaders, and raise awareness about the importance of vaccination, enabling the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to effectively respond to and stop polio outbreaks.
This milestone is an incredible public health achievement for Rotary members, the African region, and our GPEI partners, and a huge step forward on the road to global polio eradication. But we still have important work to do in order to eradicate wild polio in the last two endemic countries.
We have faced many challenges in our journey to eradicate polio. But we’ve made remarkable progress, and the polio infrastructure that Rotarians helped build will serve as a lasting legacy that will continue to help protect vulnerable children against other diseases for decades to come.
We are calling on you today to recommit yourselves to ending polio. We need each and every one of you to help finish this fight and continue raising $50 million each year for PolioPlus. The eradication of wild polio in the African region shows us that polio eradication is achievable, and shows how our hard work, partnerships and financial commitment continue to propel us forward, even during a global pandemic.
Thank you for your continued efforts, for achieving a wild polio-free African region, and for remaining committed to fulfilling our promise of a polio-free world.
Sincerely, Holger Knaack K.R. Ravindran President, Rotary International Chair, The Rotary Foundation
Rotary International President Holger Knaack and Nigeria National PolioPlus Chair Dr. Tunji Funsho congratulate Rotarians on eradicating wild polio in the African Region. Watch here.
All members should have received the email below, regarding the MS Appeal in September, but just in-case you haven't yet seen the email, please read on and if there is any chance that you can assist, as outlined in Penny's email, please register at your earliest convenience.
Hi Everyone
Many thanks to those of you have already committed to supporting the MS Appeal this year for the Friday/Saturday collection on the 18th & 19th September at Stonefields New World. And thanks also to those who have let me know that they are not available. We have had a good response but we still need 3 volunteers - 2 for the 12 - 2 pm slot on Saturday and one for the 2 - 4pm slot, also on Saturday.
You can sign up directly on the Club Volunteer website by clicking here. We appreciate your participation and look forward to making a contribution to assist the MS Society.
So please, if you haven't already, click on Sign Up to view available slots and book yourself directly online.
Event:
MS Appeal
Date:
18th & 19th September; 2 hour blocks between 10am - 4pm each day
The article below is an excert from the latest Rotary International Foundation Newsletter. As a member of St. Johns Rotary, a major supporter / sponsor of ONJA, you will no doubt find this of interest.
These lockdowns are getting annoying and quite frankly I’ve had enough. I’ve discussed the matter over a cup of tea with the kitchen sink, and we both agree that the experience is draining.
I didn’t mention anything to the washing machine as it puts the wrong spin on everything.
Same with the fridge. It only gives me the cold shoulder. I asked the lamp, but it couldn’t shed any new light on the situation.
The vacuum cleaner was rather rude and told me to suck it up. The threshold was no better, it suggested I get over it.
The carpet advised me to sweep my feelings under the rug. But the fan was more upbeat and thought that the crisis would soon blow over.
The toilet looked a bit flushed and didn’t offer an opinion.
The wall didn’t say a word either, just gave me a blank stare.
The doorknob was more forthcoming - told me to get a firm grip on the situation and move on.
The front door declared I was unhinged and so the curtains told me to.....you guessed it right - pull myself together.
Then the chair told me to table it, and the table remarked, I didn’t have a leg to stand on. When I told the table to break a leg, the mirror said that my comments reflected poorly on my thinking.
However, in the end, the iron set things straight. She said everything will be fine, no situation is too pressing for long anyways.
Chris Makoare is the Manager of the Glen Innes Family Centre as well as Chair Person of the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board. Chris has lived in our community for most of his life and apart from the two roles mentioned above, he is also involved in numerous other community organisations. Accordingly he was able to give us a comprehensive insight into the real local community, particularly around the Tamaki / Glen Innes area, how it works, is influenced, its needs and a hint as to how our club may be able to engage more effectively. 
Sir Bob Elliott:
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3rd - Zoom Breakfast Meeting. The link is; 
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10th - Breakfast Meeting, Remuera Golf Club 7.00 am. (Venue To Be Confirmed):
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17th - Breakfast Meeting, Remuera Golf Club 7.00 am.
All members should have received the email below, regarding the MS Appeal in September, but just in-case you haven't yet seen the email, please read on and if there is any chance that you can assist, as outlined in Penny's email, please register at your earliest convenience.
