Club Bulletin No18, Vol 21, December 13 2002 The Cam |
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President's Message | Missed Meetings | ||||||||||
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| Reminders |
David Birthday 23rd, Anniversay 28th |
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Rotary 4-Way Test 1. Is it
the TRUTH? |
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Outstanding Commitment To Students Students Gave Soweto School a Library Legacy
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Boxed Gift Pens Available Now $15.00 each. Outstanding Commitment To Students The late Allan Cliff, who gave 36 years of Rotary service, was committed to the well being of international students. A member of the Rotary Club of Palmerston North, he originated a District Information Resource Center wan operated this for 10 years. He established and operated international student hospitality weekends for more than 25 years with Rotary clubs in Taupo, Napeir and New Plymouth. He also established a scheme to provide books (more than 5000) for schools in need in Kenya and the Pacific. Secondary school pupils requiring assistance for further education in Africa were helped when Allan Cliff initiated a sponsorship program for such a purpose in the Education Trust Fund of the Toray Club of Mombasa, Kenya. He operated a successful auto electrical business in Palmerston North, which employed a staff of 27. His concern for people was evident there too, through his training of adult apprentices under a rehabilitation scheme. Later, he provided training opportunities for people with disabilities. Allan Cliff was a member of the Executive of the Society for International Fellowship (INTERFEL) for more than 20 years and as a Rotarian he always provided a valuable link between INTERFEL and Rotary. The Concern of Allan Cliff and wife, Margaret for international students at Massey University, Palmerston North, and makes memories of them endure. They befriended and provided support and hospitality by offering a home away from home for students from many nations. Today, one can find former students in virtually every continent who remember them with affection. The generous spirit of the Cliffs also was manifested in the annual Christmas Party for international students at Massey University. With the Toratary Club of Palmerston North and University staff, he helped run this function for more than 20 years. In recognition of Allan's humanity and service to international students the Rotary Club of Palmerston North, with international and local friends of the Cliffs, contributed to the cost of furnishings for the Alan and Margaret Cliff International Community Center at Massey University, Turitea campus which was opened in June 2002. What an example these two outstanding Rotarians have provided in a world that so badly needs to extend friendship and understanding to people of all cultures, races and creeds. He was Group Study Exchange (GSE) team leader to District 103 in northern England in 1975. Chairing the District Committee 1976-78 for GSE team selection to District 935 South West Africa and Cape Province in 1976, he arranged a return visit program for 1978. Allan Cliff was a Paul Harris Fellow, sapphire pin. Margaret Cliff also was recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow. Ken Milne. Rotary Down Under November 2002. A conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism, to steal from many is research. To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles. Two wrongs are only the beginning. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. If you must choose between tow evils, pick the one you've never tried before. To save your world you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why? W. H. Auden: "Epitaph for an Unknown Soldier" If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is not the ideals we were fighting for but the methods we used to accomplish them. These methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan who ruthlessly killed every last inhabitant of Persia. Hans A. Bethe Alliance: In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted into each others' pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third. Ambrose Bierce: Cannon: An instrument used in the rectification of national boundaries. Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary I have just spent a year living in Siberia as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program and loved it. I stayed at the Russian-American Experimental Vocational school in Barnaul. I really did not know what to expect, but preconceptions of Siberia are the opposite of how life really is. I lived very comfortably, my host club was brilliant and I made some great friends. I had the opportunity ot travel around Russia in the summer which to my surprise was very warm. I visited Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Lake Baikal and Vladivostok, having a fabulous time meeting great people. Russians are the most hospitable, warm and fun people and they make my stay unforgettable. My ability to speak Russian was non-existent when I arrived, but after a while I was able to take part in converstati0ns and the lessons at school. I took an active part in celebrations and holidays. By being in Rotary and Rotaract programs I was brought closer to the people and the culture. Within Russia there are few exchange students as the programs is relatively young . I believe the program will grow when young people discover what they can experience here. My exchange has been life changing and eye-opening. Sophia Berkemeier Rotary Club of Neutral Bay N.S.W. Students Gave Soweto School a Library Legacy Regan Pitt, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Strathalbyn, S.A., was one of the 30 Rotary Exchange students hosted by clubs in the Johannesburg district, South Africa, in 2001. The students enjoyed seeing the country's natural formations and two safaris to wildlife parks, but their most enduring experiences were seeing different lifestyles and learning different cultures. Regan's words in one of the letters home were "We have so much, and mostly want more. Some people here have almost nothing, and yet they are happy!" As a result of what they learned, these 30 teenagers formed a Rotary Exchange Project Committee (REP) to help where they could. Their plan was to adopt an all black school in Soweto that had virtually no library. The project Committee was taken by Rotarian hosts to seek out a project. They visited with AIDS volunteers at the Wide World Hope Center, where people with AIDS are educated and counseled. They also were taken to an AIDS orphanage and played with children aged from babies to early teens. All were orphans whose parents had succumbed to AIDES, but not all had contracted the disease. The next visit was to Mawilla Primary School, where they found they could envisage doing something practical and beneficial for the school and the community. Employment was made more difficult for black people with the advent of technology, so providing a modern facility with books and computers would broaden opportunities of both scholars and adults. A room that had been a library had dirty walls, broken shelving and only a few dilapidated out of date books. The first job was clean up and painting. Rotary Clubs supplied paint, shelving, carpet and curtains. One Rotarian, updating his computers, gave three to the project. The Rotary Club of Bedford View had a project where books were collected from around the world and distributed to poorer schools and communities, so the exchange students chose books suitable for primary students and were given them free of charge. All the manual work was done by the small Project Committee. Two walls were painted purple with pink trim and two pink with purple trim. Once shelves were in place, books were categorized into the Dewey Decimal System, labeled, colour coded and then recorded into the computer system previously unknown in all black schools. The committee then made a reading corner with carpet and cushions, which they bought from their funds and added four tables from other classrooms. Teachers and students were thrilled with the results and Rotarians were full of praise for the Project Committee. As chairman, Regan was presented with a Rotary Service Award certificate, the first given to an exchange student. Regan is still a member of REP and its work is continuing through a new committee. Ross, Thyer, Strathalbyn. Rotary Down Under Nov 2002
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