Rotary Club of Darwin North | Community
Rotary Club of Darwin North
Phone: +61 477 060 766
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25.01.2022 Our Arafura Games on Friday 3 May barbecue is a story of needs and haves (albeit in past tense). We needed a balmy dry season evening but, instead, we had several late season storms pass through. Between the heavy rain, we needed a steady stream of customers; however, we had less than 20. The other stalls also fared as poorly as the community hub was bereft of people because spectators chose to go direct to the venues and not visit the hub. On the positive side, our caterin...g trailer was used by Swimming NT, Variety and NT Foster and Kinship Care all of which promoted Rotary in the community and specifically the work of Darwin North. All the community organisations were grateful for the use of our trailer. Saturday witnessed a bright sunny morning which was needed to dry out our equipment. Thank you to everyone, who assisted with the barbecue on Friday night and the cleanup the following morning especially Katarina (a visitor from the Ukraine), Mina and site supervisor Neo (who ensured we stayed on task). Our trailer is now back at Robbie Robbins ready for its next outing. And our new blue gazebos look great! The leftover bread,steak and sausages were donated to the Juninga Centre, a nursing home in Coconut Grove catering for Aboriginal people. We were able to return the unused water and sauce. Ararura Games provided all community organisations with $500 vouchers in order to maximise fundraising.
18.01.2022 Small club - big heart! A mammoth effort was undertaken by members, family and friends to ensure people enjoying the Carols by Candlelight at Leanyer Water Park were well fed and refreshed despite a smaller than expected attendance. Some statistics for the barbecue were 168 bottles of water, approx 400 sausages, almost 30 loaves of bread, 10kg of onions consumed and 370 kms travelled to collect, deliver, donate and return everything. Leftover bread, sausages and onions were d...onated to the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter (DAIWS). Thank you to Simon George & Sons for donating 15kg of onions, Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston for allowing us to use their mobile cool room, Rameri and her crew at Leanyer Water Park for the wonderful assistance provided before, during and after the event and Richard at Robbie Robbins Reserve for allowing the cool room to stay overnight and then helping me unpack the left over water in the morning. A special thank you to Asha and Kiran McLaren and Raquel Nicholls-Skene for giving up your Saturday night to help us. Sadly, I didn't take a photo of Asha's artistic signs - if anyone did please send to me. Thank you to our members for buying,preparing, cooking, serving, cleaning, packing that pesky catering trailer in dim light,hooking up trailers, sweeping, directing and towing all the in the spirit of fellowship and good humour. Our last event for the year is our own Christmas party at Wharf One on Monday 16 December.
18.01.2022 On Monday 29 April, Darwin North members undertook a base visit to CareFlight Darwin. Rotarians from Litchfield/Palmerston Rotary and two visitors from Timor Leste also joined us. We were fortunate enough to be addressed by CareFlight's Chairman of the Board The Hon Dr Andrew Refshauge, Chief Executive Officer Mick Frewen and Relationship Development Manager Andrew Maytom. General Manager Phillip Roberts was also in attendance. Dr Andrew and CEO Mick were in Darwin atten...ding a CareFlight Board meeting. Following the initial background information to CareFlight's mission and operations, members were taken on a base tour including two of the three new medijets, two fixed wing aircraft and the helicopter. Thank you to the CareFlight medical and aviation staff who made themselves available to guide us and answer questions. This was doubly appreciated as they had just returned from a mission and were very tired. President Lorraine presented The Hon Dr Andrew Refshauge, CareFlight Chairman, with a donation of $1,000 which will be put towards the purchase of a new humidicrib. All funds raised at the Arafura Games barbcue will also be donated towards the purchase of this integral piece of equipment ($1,600). More information about Careflight: https://careflight.org
17.01.2022 Our club is proud to sponsor the trophies for this wonderful tournament. Not sure what to do on Australia Day? Come to Darwin Football Stadium to watch some great soccer played for the love of the game, friendly rivalry and sportsmanship.
13.01.2022 Today Lorraine and I had great pleasure in presenting Wulagi Primary School with its Buddy Bench. Lorraine presented the bench to Principal Louise Corrigan. In her presentation speech Lorraine said," On behalf of the Rotary Club of Darwin North, I am proud to present this Buddy Bench. A Buddy Bench is a place of safety. It is a place where a child who is lonely, scared, sad, new to the school or simply wants someone to talk to can sit knowing that a buddy will come to help t...hem. The buddy can be an adult or senior student who knows how to be a friend and who can listen without making any judgments. I hope you enjoy your new Buddy Bench." It had already proven to be popular with the students. Several were sitting on it when we arrived at the school office before it was moved to the covered play area. Principal Louise conducted part of the school assembly with her buddies (students who ran the assembly) and another teacher used it to pass on a message about a book fair. The bench was built locally by HPA in Yarawonga NT.
12.01.2022 Our 2019 Rotary Family Fellowship breakfasts commenced on Sunday 28 April at the Salty Plum Cafe at East Point. This will be the venue for the breakfasts during the Dry Season. Thank you to everyone who came and shared fellowship with Marian and each other. Marian said this weekend marked the second anniversary of the last mobile seats movement. At that breakfast, she suggested meeting every month. Sadly, Jim’s illness and passing prevented this from happening until Marian thought it was time to begin meeting. Since then, our monthly breakfasts have grown from strength to strength enabling participants to relax, socialise and enjoy the view.
11.01.2022 In 1996, the great African leader Nelson Mandela launched the Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign with Rotary International’s support, setting out a vision for a ...polio-free Africa. At the time, wild polio paralysed 75,000 children each year. To protect communities from this crippling disease, African leaders, health workers, volunteers, parents, global donors and organizations united to reach every child with polio vaccines. On 25 August 2020, after four years without a single case of wild polio, the African region has been certified free of wild poliovirus. Decades of extraordinary investment has paid off. Yet, the job is not finished. These efforts must continue to prevent wild polio from returning and to end all forms of polio for good both in Africa and globally. #rotaryinternational #endpolionow
11.01.2022 FOODBANK NT Donation Thank you for Rotary Darwin North’s generosity toward Baptist Care and all it achieves through the various food programs we have running. Foodbank NT is the Northern Territory’s leading food relief agency distributing the equivalent of over 1000 meals to Territorians in need every day though 94 charity and NGO affiliates. To do this Foodbank NT relies heavily on the good will of donors from the corporate and community sector donating food, labour and c...ash. So our average meals that we process is 31,000 meals a month, but April was 43,000 meals and I believe May will be even bigger. Another one of our programs is our Remote Schools and Remote Communities program. We have 25 remote schools and 18 Urban Schools that we send food to. Also we send food out to remote communities who often are only serviced by one store and the costs are often prohibitive to families eating healthy. Our final program is our Food For Life Hubs. There are 6 hubs across Darwin and this is where the public can shop for food. We are currently looking at how we can increase the number of these hubs. Your donation of $1000 a month will allow us to continue to expand and feed some of the most vulnerable people in the NT. On behalf of these people I want to deeply express my appreciation to you. Best Regards Peter Pilt - CEO Baptist Care NT 9 Mel Road, Berrimah NT 0828 PO Box 38264 Winnellie NT 0821 P +61 8 8947 3669 M 0407288404 E [email protected] W www.bcnt.org.au
11.01.2022 We're back! Our club meetings will resume on the first and third Monday of every month come rain, hail or COVID-19! Our first Zoom club meeting will be held on Monday 4 May commencing at 6.00 pm. Please let me know if you want to join our happy band and I will ensure you receive a link to the meeting.
11.01.2022 Mbirikilli Project Update Funded by our club and some individual donations, Shukrani, our Community Worker in the Mbirikilli Project, has now been able to purchase a motorbike. In Swahili, this is his Piki-piki, and it is enabling him to greatly improve his independent connections with the villagers that border the Serengeti National Park where he is spreading the word that if you look after the wildlife and not poach it, Chagga-Mzungu is coming in with Community Development ...support for the villagers. Using the Piki-piki, Shukrani is putting in place the current beehive project. The Rotary Club Darwin North has now fully funded the manufacture of 12 beehives. These will be distributed in the trees and high rocks lining the border between the Serengeti and the villager's crop fields. The beehives will provide a secondary line of non lethal defence to the volunteer rangers who work at turning elephant and other wildlife away from their fields and villages, Once the beehives are in place and 'buzzing', Geoff Gaskell, a Chagga Mzungu Board member based in Arusha Tanzania who runs the lovely Baraka Lodge (https://barakalodge.com/), will help the villagers with honey extraction and preparation for market. Geoff is an agricultural scientist whose support for our work in Chagga-Mzungu has been invaluable. As we go forward, Shukrani will be working on helping the village women develop a cottage industry raising guinea fowl. Shortly, he will be using his piki-piki to visit the Safari Lodges around the Serengeti to market and see what prices they are prepared to pay to have guinea fowl on the menus in their restaurants. We hope the funds raised from the guinea fowl project will spinoff further small cottage industries for the women. For more information - Please visit the Chagga-Mzungu website. Donations are gratefully received - every little bit helps. https://chagga-mzungu.org/ Dan Baschiera
09.01.2022 Scoop! I am pleased to announce our club will host an international guest speaker for our inaugural Zoom club meeting this Monday. Mr Nget Sothy (Mr Thy) will speak about Chumkriel Language School. Mr Thy is the founder and director of the school. Our club has been associated with Chumkriel Language School since 2013 and has been our RAWCS project since 2016.
07.01.2022 On Monday 20 July, we hope to connect with Mr. Shukrani Malemo Rwambali who lives and works on the northern border of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Shukrani manages the Tanzanian Conservation Agency Tumaini Jema which is partnered with our Darwin Agency Chagga-Mzungu. Both agencies work together using Community Development to enhance the well-being of the villagers living along the border of the Serengeti National Park and in turn, ask them to try and stop the poac...hing of the wildlife and to protect it for future generations. Sponsorship to this project provided by the Rotary Club Darwin North has been a key factor in its success in mitigating the conflict between the villagers and wildlife. The funding has been critical in reducing poaching while at the same time preventing hundreds of families from suffering wildlife induced famine. The project started with the sponsorship of a steel shipping container to protect harvests from marauding elephant who in the past just bulldozed into the mudbrick granaries destroying the annual food stock of the collective villages that make up the Mbirikilli Community. The ongoing community development from this has meant the villagers have been able to enhance the local school by building additional classrooms and developing a volunteer ranger team equipped by Darwin North to herd any marauding wildlife back into the Serengeti. Recently, with further funding, the villagers developed a secondary defence of their crops using beehives, and currently, they are developing a women's cottage industry breeding Guinea fowl to sell to safari operators and local safari lodges. The project is fully supported by the Tanzanian National Parks Authority (TANAPA) who see it as a constructive way to reduce the ever-increasing population pressure on Tanzanian wildlife. Shukrani is our community worker on the ground and hopefully if we can make a good connection with what is a remote part of Africa he will provide us with a report and the feedback he has been receiving from the village elders. Recently, he visited the villages along the border of the Serengeti using his sponsored motorbike - this to deliver Darwin North transistor radios so the villagers are able to keep up with the latest Tanzanian COVID-19 information. Shukrani only speaks Swahili so he will be ably translated by Frederica Gaskell who is the wife of the Chagga-Mzungu Board member and Treasurer Geoff Gaskell. The Rotary Club of Darwin North is working in Africa. Please join us in this unique experience.
05.01.2022 Congratulations and thank you to everyone who contributed to our achievement!
04.01.2022 Congratulations to Past President Lorraine Asprey for receiving her well deserved Paul Harris Sapphire for her extensive contributions to our club through three terms of office as president, special director, secretary, being queen of our rodeo, a dab hand at building houses in Cambodia as well as assessing students, organising everyone, being an outstanding leader and having the uncanny ability to put a smile in her emails to everyone especially guest speakers making them feel welcome.
04.01.2022 Despite COVID-19 restrictions beginning to be lifted from 1 May 2020, there are many people in the Northern Territory for whom life is hard. At our last board meeting, Darwin North decided to support those in need during the pandemic. To that end, the club has committed to donate $1,000 per month to Foodbank NT until the end of December. At that time, the contribution will be reviewed and, if necessary, extended. When combined with Foodbank's buying power, every dollar we ...contribute will enable them to buy $7 worth of food. Peter Chandler, General Manager - Operations said: "Thank you so much for the telephone call and wonderful news in regard to help Rotary Darwin North is willing to provide...On behalf of our CEO, Mr Peter Pilt and all the team here, please pass on our heartfelt appreciation to your Board. Your donation will make a difference."
04.01.2022 Do you want to help your community?
03.01.2022 At 5.30 am on a predawn morning on Saturday 21 September, a hardy group of members and supporters gathered together at the Gardens Oval to cook and serve breakfast to the 2019 Relay for Life participants. Everyone got on with the job of preparing, cooking and serving bacon and egg sandwiches (certain people liked to call them egg and bacon) with no complaints despite the coffee stall not being open. We had catered for 300 with 25 kgs of bacon, 300 eggs and 30 loaves of brea...d. By the end of service, the hungry Relay for Life teams had consumed 18.75 kgs of bacon, 291 eggs and 25 loaves of bread. Thank you to the members who contributed their time and energy to a worthy cause. A special thank you to Kiran McLaren and the MM Electrical crew of Damian Jackson, Brett "Eggman" Rufus and Bevan Tippett who all ensured there were always bacon and eggs ready for the hotplates and sandwiches ready to our customers. The leftover food (6.25kgs bacon, 9 eggs and 5 loaves of bread) were donated to the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter. The previous evening, the club donated its barbecues to Cancer Council NT for its corporate BBQ.
02.01.2022 Recently, we received a request for help from Riding for the Disabled through Assistant Governor Ray. They have eight horses and were seeking funding which would enable them buy critical stock feed for the next six months. The total cost of the stock feed was $6,600. Our club has supported this worthy organisation previously so there was no hesitation in helping out in their time of need by donating $2,000.
01.01.2022 Firefighter of the Year Congratulations to Volunteer Captain Robert Burgess and Senior Firefighter Jean-Remi Campion for being selected as the volunteer and career 2019 Firefighters of the Year. The award ceremony held at Parliament House was hosted by Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison, Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. Special guests included Commissioner of Police and CEO of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services Jamie Chalker APM, Federal Member of Solomon ...Luke Gosling OAM and Paul Kirby Minister for Resources (NT). Volunteer Captain Robert's Eric Simmons Medal was received, on his behalf, by his wife Rebecca as Bob had volunteered for the first contingent from the NT to travel interstate to assist with the fire emergency in Queensland and NSW. The Firefighter of the Year Award recognises the commitment, bravery, professionalism and community service of both the career and volunteer firefighters. Winners are nominated by their peers and selected by the CEO of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services. Recipients receive the Eric Simmons Medal named in honour of Past President Eric Simmons (dec'd) who was a director of the NT Emergency Services and a member of the Rotary Club of Darwin North. In addition to the medals, the Rotary Club of Darwin North donates $1,000 on behalf of each recipient to Australian Rotary Health for ongoing research into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as it affects emergency services personnel. The Eric Simmons Firefighter of the Year award commenced in 2012 as a community service project of our club.. This year marked the eighth occasion on which the award has been presented.
01.01.2022 Everything is in place for tonight's sausage sizzle at the St James Carols by Candlelight at Leanyer Water Park. Catering trailer delivered, mobile cool room delivered and stocked with 500 sausages, 50 loaves of bread, 15kg of onions and 504 bottles of water. All we need now is a good audience and fine weather. Thank you to the Rotary Club of Litchfield Palmerston for allowing us to use their mobile cool room.
