Stories
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Meri Freedom Bags
MERI FREEDOM BAGS Valuing the women of Papua New Guinea. Founded by Gay Muller, Meri Freedom Bags is group of volunteers, based in Ipswich, Australia, providing reusable sanitary products for women in Papua New Guinea. It has been a busy few weeks. PP Sandra Logue and I attended the District Conference at Sea World. and Meri Freedom Bags once again had the opportunity for exposure on a booth at the Annual Rotary District Conference. As our district includes Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Nauru the project is well received. It was wonderful for Sandra and I to meet other delegates and for me to once again connect with Mr John Onga, Principal of Mt Hagen High School. We look forward to receiving photos from him soon showing the distribution of 400 sanitary bags that were sent to the school for the start of this year. Currently a consignment is clearing in Port Moresby Customs destined for distribution to girls and women in the settlement areas of Port Moresby. This is a new distribution area where poverty prevents girls and women from having what they require to manage their menstruation.  Gay Muller at the Meri Freedom booth at Dist 9620 Conference  John, Osivo (Goroko) Gay Muller and Aggie from Mt Hagen  Meeting delegates from Bouganville Island  Spreading the word about Meri Freedom to other delegates from the District Volunteers Meeting was well attended on 17th March at Booval Scout Hall. Thanks to President Adam and his wife Deb for making the effort to attend. Yours in Rotary Service Gay Muller - (Rotary Club of Ipswich) Founder Meri Freedom Bags |
EULOGY for PAUL HUNTEREULOGY for PAUL HUNTER 8th February 2024 Paul was a Rotarian for over 40years. Rotary is a world-wide, non political, non sectarian Service Organisation and our motto is ‘Service above Self’. I think that throughout his membership Paul’s dedication to that ideal reached a very high standard. Paul joined Rotary in High Wycombe whilst he was still a serving Police Officer. He Joined Ferndown Club, as it was called then, in 2001, having just retired to Dorset. In 2004/5 he was elected President and the following year he took the Chair of our Membership Committee, a position he held almost permanently thereafter. Indeed Paul’s outstanding legacy for the Club has been his enthusiasm for Recruitment and his ability to mentor and nurture new members in their early months. There have been two separate periods when almost single-handedly he found new members when the Club was at a low ebb. Paul was also a keen advocate of our Twinning activities and travelled several times when we visited our twin club, Dublin North. In 2015 Paul brought together all his professional and Rotary contacts to mastermind ‘The Dorset Rotary Police Community Awards’ competition The idea was for Rotary Clubs to canvass local communities, in partnership with their local constabulary to find the most successful policeman, not for their number of arrests, but who were deemed to have been most influential in improving harmony in troublesome areas. Paul persuaded Sarah Farmer at BBC TV to M.C. at the Finals in April 2015. This was a notable coup and it has proved a valuable contact which has continued to thrive after Sarah agreed to become an Hon Member of our club. Following the success of the venture, Paul was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship, a prestigious Rotary award for outstanding Service. With family in Australia , Jean & Paul have been able to spend time there during our Winter months, and, as a true Rotarian, Paul was not idle but attended the Ipswich Rotary Club and was soon made an Honorary Member for his services in their Barbecue Team at fund – raising events! In a message received from them, Rtn.Don Barney said the Aussies had known him since 2002 and called him ‘Pommy Paul’! They too referred to his passion for Membership among their members. They also paid tribute to the generosity and help he and Jean had offered when they visited England, and when the ANZAC committee travelled to visit cemeteries in Belgium & France Paul personally drove them round. Since being diagnosed Paul has displayed admirable courage and bravery. He has hardly missed a meeting and was tin-rattling at our pre – Xmas collections as usual. He could be relied on to volunteer whatever the event, always loyally and cheerfully supported by Jean. In Jean’s own words ‘ he loved every minute of Rotary and was always thinking how he could help to spread its influence.’ Above all, Paul was a man of Faith and I believe that in Rotary he was able to fulfil a life of service in the community that enabled him to obey the higher Commandment that we ‘Love our Neighbour’ . Paul was a Good Man and he was a splendid Rotarian. At Ferndown & Parley Club his presence and influence will be sorely missed. |
Shelter Box
  It has been another busy for ShelterBox around the globe, with disasters and conflict forcing more people from their homes. Responses are never straightforward, but increasingly, complexity is factor. Take Syria as an example. Whilst we have seen the conflict dynamics in Syria show a general trend towards stabilisation, there have been periodic regional escalations which serve as a reminder that the potential for the situation to descend into active conflict remains. The current Syrian crisis is compounded by a series of factors and events that interlink to create significant suffering to the resident population including the ongoing threat of hostilities, including sporadic artillery and air strikes; the regional economic crisis which has seen the dominant currency in Idlib (the Turkish Lira) depreciate significantly; the effects of Covid-19; and environmental factors such as drought, seasonal flooding and wildfires. With the occurrence of the recent earthquakes, complexity takes on a whole new meaning. In a complex world, we need to remain flexible and adaptable to meet ever-changing needs. Over the next few months, you will read how our aid, and how we source and deliver it, is changing. This month's quote comes from Alan Perlis, "Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it. Thanks for being part of the team. Stay safe. Mike Greenslade CEO ShelterBox Australia  The ReliefAid teams are distributing warm winter jackets to community centres in the camps in northern Syria Syria - Earthquake/Conflict In northern Syria, with our existing partner, Bahar, Project 1 aims to support 992 earthquake affected households in the Aleppo area. The aid package consists of tents, blankets and mattresses, solar lights, water carriers, the construction of tent bases, and cash assistance. A second ‘lighter’ project with our existing partner, ReliefAid, is now complete. We have provided 6,000 blankets and mattresses (4 of each to each family) to support new arrivals into displacement camps in Idlib. Beyond the emergency phase of this response, we will be scoping additional opportunities to support families with more durable shelter options over the coming months.  Rotary volunteers erect a tent in Hatay, Turkiye Türkiye - Earthquake In Turkiye, Rotary is supporting the Government led response, coordinated through AFAD and supported by the Turkish Red Crescent. Rotary is working closely with, and have permission from, AFAD to operate in some of the affected areas. Rotary’s connections with AFAD, search and rescue organisations, supply chain and logistics businesses and municipalities has been critical in enabling ShelterBox to respond and get aid on the move in a dynamic and complex emergency. Rotary and Rotaract members have been instrumental in this response from the very beginning, providing ShelterBox with critical introductions to local authorities, valuable translation services, assistance with travel and logistics across the country and supporting with distributions on the ground. In collaboration with Rotary, Project 1 in Türkiye will support 2,000 families affected by the earthquakes in Hatay, Antep Maras, Malatya and Andiyaman. It aims to contribute to people’s immediate safety by providing access to emergency shelter and basic household items. Distributions have been ongoing throughout March, and we expect these to be completed by mid-April.  Distributions for Project 11 are underway in Cameroon Cameroon - Conflict For Project 11, we are working with a new partner, Public Concern, a national NGO based in Maroua in the Far North of Cameroon. They have extensive experience working in this region, including the founding and management of Minawao Camp itself. This project aims to support approximately 9,800 households in the Far North (refugees, Internally Displaced Persons, returnees and vulnerable populations) with a range of emergency, transitional and durable shelters. Project 11 builds on the learning of our previous projects and will utilise our new partner’s ability to carry out local procurement, delivering a larger range and more specific set of aid packages to affected people in Cameroon. |
Trailer Raffle 2022  Mary Banks winner of 2022 Ipswich Rotary Trailer Raffle - ONE VERY HAPPY CAMPER. PP Anita Dwyer delivered the trailer to Mary with the support partner Barney Dwyer - Barney has assisted throughout the trailer raffle and the club could not have managed with the support of the all the Rotarian and their partners. Some of the proceeds of the trailer have already been allocated to local organisations
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Rotary Foundation Rotary Foundation Australia was established to direct funding to local Rotary projects and offer Australian tax deductibility. We’re connecting generous local corporates and philanthropies with Rotary projects that are a social and geographic match. By targeting Australia’s 1,700 private ancillary funds (private foundations for wealthy benefactors and companies, totalling A$7.3 billion in assets), Rotary Foundation Australia is pitching Rotary projects for the A$600 million these funds donate to registered charities each year. Your Rotary project could be a match. How would your Rotary club use A$50,000+ to supercharge its project? To find out more, register your Rotary project today. https://www.rotaryfoundationaustralia.org.au/resources/#supercharge |
Rotary Mud Army 2022FLOOD CLEAN UP 2022  Rotary Clubs of Ipswich Greater Springfield and Goodna in action leading Ipswich's own mud army on Sunday 6th March 2022. Ipswich Rotary bookends - Michael Byrne and Richard Horne..... Sergeant what is PP Richard holding in his hand and PP Michael not a Rotary badge or hat to be seen. Great job Richard and Michael for answering the call.
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What is RotaryFunny Rotary Video
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