Last week I touched on the rewards that come from being a Rotarian, citing four that came to mind.  This week I want to add two more.

The first of the two I want to talk about is how fortunate we are that in our activities as Rotarians we have the opportunity to meet and hear from remarkable people – people who inspire us through sharing their life experiences and achievements and spur us on to emulate these.  One such person is Dr Judith Slocombe who will be our guest speaker this Tuesday.  Some of you may have heard her speak at a conference a few years ago, and I certainly have felt privileged to hear her on other occasions address the challenge of juggling priorities in a busy world.  There is no doubt when she speaks of managing a family of 9 children along with a high profile career and other activities there is little wonder she was awarded Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year.

The second reward I want to talk of this week that comes from being a Rotarian is the sheer satisfaction of hands-on volunteering.  Whether it’s cooking a barbecue at a special event or to serve those less fortunate, we come face-to-face with people from all walks of life; and no matter who they are, we learn something from them and our lives become further enriched.  The fun we have working as a team when we undertake hands-on projects reminds us that we are part of a family in Rotary and that these activities strengthen our bonds with one another as well.  One such project coming up is the manning of the “Know Your Numbers” stand at the Royal Melbourne Show, but we also have others in the pipeline. I encourage everyone to participate in a hands-on volunteer project so that you can experience the wonderful camaraderie and the sense of wellbeing such activities give us.

I look forward to seeing you at the Club meeting this week and don’t forget that it will be in the Drawing Room on Level 3, and that we are expecting a number of guests from other clubs.

Have a sensational week.

Philip Archer
Club President 2009-2010

Last Week's Meeting

(Thank you to myself for these gorgeous notes)

Meeting 498 Scribe Notes

It was always going to be a special meeting - no sergeant's session!

Arriving at Como, it was not too difficult to find where the Rotarians are - those lounging around with drinks in their hands!  It was fantastic to see so many people present.  Apart from Southbank members and other Rotarians and partners, we also had friends from and of the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation and others.  It was difficult to work out who is who but with a drink in one hand and a sandwich (or two) in the other, life is bliss!

Before long, we started streaming into the theatre, with over a hundred people, it took a while as people settled into their seats and greeted their neighbours.  Our sergeant and MC Chris gave an introduction to the evening, pointing out that the event was in fact a Rotary meeting (fortunately, no one got up and left at that point).  Chris introduced President Philip who spoke about our association with the Xanana Vocational Education Trust, the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation and why we were all there.  He then introduced our guest speaker Kevin Bailey, Honourary Timor Leste Consul General for Melbourne, to introduce the film.

Kevin have just been back from Dili's celebrations of the decade of independence.  There is much to be done but a lot of progress as already been made.  Kevin mentioned that the producer of the film, Balibo received a medal from the President of Timor Leste for making the film.  He also said that Australian owes the Timorese a debt of honour.  In the second world war, 384 Australian soldiers were sent to East Timor to provide warning for Darwin in case of an invasion.  At the time, East Timor was under Portuguese rule and were neutral but the Timorese did not inform the Japanese of the Australian presence.  After the Australians left, the Japanese found out about this and killed 40,000 Timorese for it.  Kevin also noted that Balibo is a true story.

President Philip also noted that the Xanana Trust was recently able to obtain US$500,000 for a buffalo milk project in Timor Leste.

Balibo is about the events leading up to the last days of the Balibo five journalists and another journalist, Roger East.  The film itself is not only educational in that it described the events of 1975 in close detail based on eye witness accounts, but was also a fast paced thriller in its own right.  It is a gripping story and at times left me on the edge of my seat and other times squirming in my seat - you will know which parts.  This is a challenging film but well worth watching.  Balibo was not about revenge nor is it necessarily about justice but it is, in my view, about the truth.  The truth is, after all, the first first of Rotary's Four-Way Test.

At the conclusion of the film, President Philip asked the audience to think about the film and consider supporting projects such as the Xanana Trust, the RCF and other projects that are helping Timor Leste. 

It was a great meeting and I am more people with support Rotary's good work at Timor Leste as a result of it.