Peter Lade, John Lipscomb, Robyn Goodwyn

Rotary 4-Way Test

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Recent Photographs

President's Message

Rotary to fore as Aitape Victims rebuild lives in Papua

The Definitive Guide To Being An Aussie

Val's Traditions

Not Like it Used To Be

Concert Guitarist

Women And Men

Cairns Mulgrave Rotary Club

Boxed Gift Pens Available Now

$15.00 each.
Please see Secretary Mike if you would like one

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

No message this week.

Rotary to fore as Aitape Victims rebuild lives in Papua

Niu Guinea In July 1998 three tidal waves about 15 meters high demolished beach villages near Aitape PNG with the loss of about 2500 villagers.

A disaster fund was established by District 9600 and Rotarians in Australia and New Zealand and around the world responded magnificently. As on June 30 2001, receipts to that fund totaled $A1,024,683 from donations and interest. During this time Rotarians have been working to assist the people to recover from this calamity.

Phase One involved the provision of funds, goods, boats and vehicles and the labour of numerous Project Volunteer Teams who assisted in the construction of housing, schools and medical facilities for the beach communities now located in bush areas inland from the disaster area.

In 2000 it was decided that further Project Volunteers teams were not required and that there was a need for the people themselves to continue with the re-establishment of their villages. Rotary's help was still required however to assist in the rehabilitation of the health services for the area.

Phase Two was implemented following and agreement reached earlier in the year between Rotary District 9600 and the Catholic Diocese of Aitape. The diocese is the responsible authority for the provision of health and welfare and other services to the people in the Aitape area, including the area devastated by the tsunami of July 1998.

Rotary District 9600 will administer a building program at the Aitape Hospital (Riahu Health Centre) comprising:

a. Construction of a new x-ray building incorporating and air conditioned medicals store, a laboratory, offices and other storage area on a site currently occupied by an aged medical store which will be demolished.

b. Construction of a new paediatric wing on a site currently occupied by the physiotherapy ward which will be relocated elsewhere in the hospital precinct.

c. Replace the existing overhead electricity supply service with and upgraded underground supply.

d. Construct a number of staff accommodation houses to the limit of the funds available.

e. The building program is only one part of an overall upgrading and redevelopment program in Aitape being undertaken with funds provided by a number of overseas agencies and other Rotary bodies.

A not-Rotarian volunteer, Ron Fletcher, a retired engineer, has been appointed construction supervisor and a Diocese staff member, Remina van Dijk, is providing clerical and administrative support. They are Rotary's "eves and ears" on site and are critical in the control and reporting of expenditure and in monitoring construction quality. Recently, the Rotary Project Engineer, Rotarian Charles Guesdon, conducted a site construction survey and inspection.

The aim of this visit was to establish and formalize procedures to track and record building progress and building quality and to monitor expenditure as part of the on going funding process. These procedures are now in place and operating successfully.

Unfortunately, land disputes in the area resulted in Aitape being without telephone or telegraphic communications for seven weeks. Steps are being taken to install a satellite telephone and fax link to guarantee communications in the future. This is particularly important if Rotarians and volunteers are going to be working in the area.

To date, and overall amount of $A366,799 has been expended from the fund leaving a balance at October 19, 2001 of $A657,884. It is expected that the x-ray and paediatric buildings will be completed in the first half of 2002. The electrical reticulation and the staff houses will be commenced as soon as the construction site and building areas are available.

By Brian Doyle, Rotary Club of Maleny.

From Rotary Down Under Dec 2001/2002.

The Definitive Guide To Being An Aussie

The bigger the hat, the smaller the farm

The shorter the nickname, the more they like you.

Whether it's the opening of Parliament, or the launch of an art gallery, there is no Australian event that cannot be improved by a sausage sizzle.

If the guy next to you is swearing like a wharfie he's probably a media billionaire. Or on the other hand, he may be a wharfie.

There is no food that cannot be improved by the application of tomato sauce

On the beach, all Australians hide their keys and wallets by placing them inside their sandshoes. No thief has ever worked this out.

Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the plastic milk crate.

All our best heroes are losers.

The alpha male in any group is he who takes the barbecue tongs from the hands of the host and blithely begins turning the snags.

It's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to hold.

It is proper to refer to your best friend as "a total bastard". By contrast, your worst enemy is a "a bit of a bastard".

If it can't be fixed with pantyhose and fencing wire then it's not worth fixing.

The most popular and widely praised family in any street is the one that has the swimming pool.

It's considered better to be down on your luck than up yourself.

The phrase "we've got a great lifestyle," means everyone in the family drinks too much.

If invited to a party, you should take cheap read wine and then spend all night drinking the host's beer. (Don't' worry, he'll have catered for it).

The phrase "a simple picnic" is not known. You should take everything you own. If you don't need to make three trips back to the car, you're not trying.

Unless ethnic or a Pom, you are not permitted to sit down in your front yard, or on your front porch. Pottering about, gardening or leaning on the fence is acceptable. Just don't sit. That's what backyards are for.

On picnics, the Esky is always too small, creating a food vs grog battle that can only ever be resolved by leaving the salad at home.

When on a country holiday, the neon sign advertising the motel's pool will always be slightly larger than the pool itself.

There comes a time in every Australian's life when he/she realizes that the Aerogard is worse than the mozzies.

And, finally, the true test for immigration to Australia …. Potential new Aussies must pass the following test: Mowing a sloping lawn (at least a 20 degree angle) in a pair of thongs, holding a VB while watching the cricket. If you can't pass that, chances are you will never be able to pass yourself off as a true Aussie.

Val's Traditions

Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to home.

One verse they sang was:

Good morning to you, valentine;
Curly you locks as I do mine
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names form a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying over head on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.

Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry. As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

Not Like it Used To Be

February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.

For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.

In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year.

Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes. Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.

Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.

During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.

Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name. The first Valentine card grew out of this practice.

The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time. Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.

Concert Guitarist

Hi folks

On Saturday, 8 March at 7pm, Paradise Palms Karin, one of the most outstanding young guitarists on the international scene is performing. See the current edition of Cairns City Life for further details or call the number below.

At $30 per person, it would cost a lot more to hear her play in a major city.

Bookings should be made by phoning 4093 9018 - Credit cards not accepted. Proceeds go to the Cairns Earlville Rotary Club.

Hoping to see you there. Collin Messervy
Club Service Director - Cairns Earlville Rotary Club

Women And Men

Women like silent men. They think they're listening. Marcel Archard

A woman, especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can. Jane Austen

If there is anything disagreeable going on, men are always sure to get out of it. Jane Austen

Beauty: That power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband. Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary

While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman. Giovanni Boccaccio

Men like to pursue an elusive woman like a cake of wet soap -- even men who hate baths. Gelett Burgess

Were there no women, men might live like gods. Thomas Dekker