Barb Bailey opened the meeting and welcomed us all. We had no guests other than Guest Speaker John Wagner from Mercy Ships.
Ray Capps gave the International Toast to the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, the world's oldest Rotary club. Starting with just six members on 23 February 1905, the club grew to 30 by the end of its first year. Rotary International, now with around 1.3 million members in 200 countries, was established in 1910 by the Chicago club.
President Peter Asher congratulated all Charity Golf Day participants, notably Tony Long, for their part in a most successful CalPac event.
Ross Harrison (International) spoke of a new 'jet injection' polio vaccine method, which may be a breakthrough for Afghanistan children. It seems the Taliban regime is against oral vaccines.
Bruce Radford (Youth) advised that Isabella Buckland, our 2026 National Youth Science Forum participant, wrote a most welcome 'thank you' email with an update on her activities. Isabella graduates from school on 19 November and has applied to QUT for a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science degree course. Before Uni starts she is off to Canberra as a Student Staff Volunteer at the 2027 NYSF. She is looking forward to being a mentor and to giving back to a program that has given her so many opportunities and is so grateful for all of the support given by the Rotarians of CalPac and Glasshouse Country for her attendance at this year's Forum. We wish her well in her future endeavours.
Barb Bailey (Vocational) advised that Christmas Boxes now total 102. Barb thanked all who have contributed. She reminded us to meet next week at 6pm at Best Practice Eyecare, 35 Bulcock Street, for a vocational visit. Finger food will be provided - we are not going to the Chinese restaurant afterwards. BPE was a significant sponsor to last week's Charity Golf Day.
Tony Long thanked all for their Golf Day team effort last Friday. Tony mentioned that Ross Harrison has now provided helicopter support for nine years, for which we are all most grateful.
Graeme Bowden reported from hospital with an update on his health journey. We wish him a speedy and complete recovery.
John Deakin introduced Guest Speaker John Wagner, based in Caloundra, who gave an in-depth and moving update on Mercy Ships goal of "Bringing Hope and Healing" to people who need it most. Since we last heard from Mercy Ships many years ago, two new and bigger ships are now deployed. The newest (Global Mercy) has 12 decks, with operating theatres on six of them. Other decks are used for training locals in care, including dental and medical training. John said they are hoping for a third ship, but the cost of $280M is daunting.
Other facts include:
1. 70% of the world's population cannot access medical operations.
2. Many countries contribute volunteers and dollars to Mercy Ships. Australia is third out of 22 contributing countries.
3. Maxillofacial operations predominate. Cleft palates and goitre are endemic in many poorer countries.
4. Many millions of fistula surgeries have been performed in Africa, with a 95% success rate. Around 10,000 are still performed annually.
5. About 2,500 people volunteer annually. Apart from doctors, nurses and dentists, Mercy Ships also needs housekeeping, hospitality and administration volunteers. Interested? Go to www.mercyships.org.au/volunteer for more, or phone 1300 739 899.
John Deakin thanked John Wagner for his very well-received presentation.
David Johnston conducted Riki-Tiki on the subject of Rivers. Win Fowles won. Or lost...
Sergeant Malou Deakin fined everybody most satisfactorily. It was Malou's first time as Sergeant, so the fines may be even higher next time.
Les Pontin and David Johnston conducted the raffle. Malou won the chocs, Ross won the plonk, and Peter A won the book.
Barb Bailey closed the meeting with a reminder about next week's vocational visit to Best Practice Eyecare.
