24 February 2010

Meeting Report
23 February 2010

Attendance
61Members
2 Guests
1 visitor

 Email all apologies to Philip Lambers or call Philip on 0439 344 407

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Interplast Australia & New Zealand is seeking a Volunteer Rotary Observer from District 9800 to accompany the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgical team on the 100th Fiji Interplast program,  which is to be sponsored by our District D 9800, currently planned for the week of 2 October 2010.  The team will be based in Suva operating at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital.

• Interplast procedure for acceptance of a Rotarian to join a program: 

 Rotarians who are members of a Club or District that raised the money to fund an entire program (currently $40,000AUD) are eligible to nominate as a Rotarian Observer to join the program.  

 Role of the Rotarian Observer:

The objective of a Rotarian joining a program is to observe an Interplast team at work, so they can see first hand the lives changed by their donation, convey this to their Club or District that raised the funds, and inspire others to raise funds for Interplast. Rotarians are to acknowledge they are ‘observers’ – part of a professional team – they will be afforded every courtesy and given as much information as possible, while at all times are under the direction of the Team Leader. 
 
It is expected the Rotarian will travel with the team to the destination country and observe the team working where possible for 3 – 4 days and then return home. Rotarians should be of good health and able to understand and accept conditions in developing countries. 
 
Rotarians are asked to observe, photograph (within guidelines) and gather information so they can equip themselves to come back to their Club and District as an Interplast Ambassador. On return the Rotarian should be willing and able to promote the work of Interplast throughout other Rotary Clubs, District Assembly and District Conferences. 

Rotarians need to:

Firstly,  seek further information on the concept, process and selection criteria from D 9800 District Chair,  Mike McFarlane PP PHF either at mikemcf@bigpond.net.au or on mobile 0418 317 418

Secondly,  complete an ‘Expression of Interest Form’ available from the Interplast District Chair and submit the completed document to the Interplast Rotarians Committee, who will recommend a candidate.  

Thirdly,  the Interplast Board of Directors will then consider and ratify the recommendation after which the successful candidate will be notified. 

This is a great D 9800 opportunity for your Club to continue to support Interplast which was founded 26 years ago by our District 980 together with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons .  Interplast each year now sends in excess of 26 Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery teams to South East Asia and the Pacific.   See the website at:www.interplast.com.au

And then the president Bill Goodwin had a flash of Ulfr the Terrible.  

NOTE: The full rosters for all duties (market, EERN, Mini-rail & meetings) are available at any time. You can access them by:

• clicking here
• or, you can view it any time by selecting the rosters tab in the members area of the club website.

NEXT WEEK’S GUEST SPEAKER

Next Tuesday is the presentation evening for our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tertiary Scholarship. Our guest speaker is Belinda Duarte, an outstanding young Aboriginal future leader. This evening is one you should not miss and as a partner’s evening, we anticipate having a large attendance.

Belinda Duarte (pronounced “Do-art-tay”) (nee Jakiel) was born and raised in Ballarat Victoria and is a descendant of the Wotjobaluk people and the country of Poland.

She is currently Project Manager – National Indigenous Employment Program with AFL SportsReady. Belinda is responsible for managing national initiatives towards workplace employment opportunities. As a qualified teacher Belinda has worked in education and training since 1990. Previously she was a Programs Manager at Leading Teams where she delivered accredited training to elite athletes and facilitated performance improvement programs in teamwork and leadership within community, sport and corporate sectors across the country.

Belinda is also a Director of VicHealth which focuses on public health priorities in Victoria and nationally. As a peak body for health promotion, VicHealth works with a range of partners to deliver innovative responses to social, economic and environmental forces that influence the health of Victoria.

Belinda has been involved with the sporting industry for many years as an elite athlete competing at national standard. She is a Director for the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy (NASCA) which is committed to improving participation in sport & recreation and health outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

Her professional experience has also involved extensive work with young people and high risk groups in managing role model and mentoring programs. Belinda is an Ambassador for the state government's ‘Go for Your Life’ Campaign and a patron of EastWeb.

As a proud Australian she is dedicated to creating pathways and opportunities for Indigenous Australians that create life long outcomes.

Please don’t forget to let the attendance committee know if you are bringing your wife/husband or a guest .

The Labrobe University speech therapist Dr Miranda Rose (above) told Balwyn Rotary Club of the prevalence of Aphasia - more than 80,000 sufferers in Australia and more than 8500 a year being added to that - and the restoration of speech following trauma. 

Dr Rose began by asking “hands up those who have heard of Aphasia?”. When half a dozen hands went up, Dr Rose seemed pleased at this degree of recognition that doubled the average. She continued: “Following brain damage due to trauma such as a road accident or stroke, infection or surgery for a lesion, that portion of the left lobe of the brain which controls language, may well be impaired”. 

In fact, it was not only speech which ccould be impaired, but also reading, and writing and simply listening. The patient with aphasia may have trouble simply finding a word, and so stumble in the middle of a sentence.

Aphasia is not an indication of mental retardation, nor debased reasoning capability. The patient may be just as mentally alert as ever.

Embarrassment at this disability may lead to social isolation, as the sufferer avoids company. Melinda astonished us as to the prevalence of this condition saying that in Australia, there are many more cases of aphasia than there are Parkinsons disorder and multiple schlerosis put together. Treatment consisted of relearning words and dealing with any disabilities.

Thanks to Dr Rose and her recovering patient Marc Skolnik (below) for an enlightening exposition of aphasia. Marc told us that after four strokes, his four daughters had stood by him marvellously.

For more, visit: www.aphasia.org.au

Owen Tassicker.

For Rotarians and partners not present at our Rotary meeting let me
repeat my apology for some mis-information about Norma Perkins.
Norma is not living in Healesville. Norma, fit and well, is still defeating a number of
Rotary Ladies at cards at her residence at Oaktree Village Glen Waverley.

Noticed Jim Kylie getting very cheeky and walking very well without a
crutch. Good work Jim.

Last week a group of Balwyn Rotarians went for a drive to visit the
handicapped Don Jones at Portsea. Don was thrilled to see them and they had
a pleasant lunch together. Don is to see a specialist in early March when a
plan will be formulated for treatment of a foot in a very bad condition.
We wish you well Don.

Please advise if you hear of any Rotarian or partner unwell so we may pay due
respect and or offer support.
 

The Rotary Sunday Market accounts for the year ended 30 June 2009 are included in this week's bulletin.  Helen Dower has submitted the accounts on behalf of Ian Jenkins, the chairman of Rotary Club of Balwyn's Sunday Market Trust.

If a hen & a half can lay an egg & a half in a day & a half,

How many rabbits can you fit in a bag?

NOTE
There are many other Rotary events scheduled for the year. Please refer to the calendar in the club website for details. You can click on the "Agenda" tab for a summary.

2 Mar 10 - Rotary Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tertiary Scholarship presentation evening. Guest Speaker Belinda Duarte. Chairman Bob Batrouney.

9 Mar 10 - You be the Judge . . .  Prof Ari Freiberg (Sentence Advisory Council)

16 Mar 10 - Stroke Foundation . . .  Erin Lalor (CEO)

For details of meetings beyond the dates above, click on the READ MORE link below

District 9800 newsletter "Networker" 
You can subscribe to Networker if you wish. Follow the link when you open this page.

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