Glenn Smith
Club President
2010 – 2011
President's Address
Promotions
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Bahay Tuluyan is a non government organisation working with street children in the Philippines. It provides social services including food, medicine and shelter to many street children. The children served by Bahay Tuluyan, broadly categorized as ‘children in need of special protection’ fall into the following sub-categories: Street children; sexually abused; physically abused; psychologically abused; exploited; maltreated; neglected; abandoned; orphaned; working children; children in conflict with the law; prostituted children; trafficked children; and, children whose rights are at risk of being abused Bahay Tuluyan was originally established in 1987 to serve the street children who flooded to the red light districts after the Marcos regime ended. Since the founding of Bahay Tuluyan, the situation of children in the Philippines has improved significantly. The Rotary Club of Essendon has supported Bahay Tuluyan since 2005. The Club has provided funding for a Junior Health Workers program; a Theatre and Arts project; a Youth Environmental Stewards program; as well as a shipping container of goods for the children; and the building of a house and recreation centre. A delegation of club members, family and friends has visited Bahay Tulyan each year since 2005 to maintain our relationship and monitor progress and effectiveness of the projects/initiatives we have supported.
The Rotary Club of Essendon are partnering with Rotary Clubs of Manila Maynilad Seafront and Los Banos Makiling in the KENYA
On 5th June 2008, a delegation lead by Essendon Rotarian Matt O'Brien went to Kenya for the opening of the Sewerage Treatment Plant and the new school at Embulbul. The Treatment Plant has been an international project of the Rotary Club of Essendon in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Karen in Kenya. The Rotary Club of Karen is located in the vicinity of the Mukuru Slum, which houses some 700,000 people. This area is in desperate need for sanitation and fresh water stations and the delegation is currently evaluating the viability of another joint project with the Rotary Club of Karen to address these needs. Myanmar (Burma)
Myanmar (Burma) is the 4th poorest country in the World. Despite being the major children's facility in the country, the Yangon Children's Hospital is extremely under resourced. Yangon looks after children from all over this poverty stricken country, at least those who are lucky enough to have families who can afford to pay for medication. For the past 10 years the Rotary Club of Essendon has contributed many and varied items of medical and associated equipment to improve the Yangon Children's Hospital capability to treat sick and dying children. Medical equipment supplied has included Oxygen Concentrators, a Defibulator, a Chemical Analyser, Syringe Pumps, Hearing Testers, Surgical Theatre equipment and the fit out of a Pathology Department, all to value of over $300,000 . A major contribution was also made to assist in the establishment of a dedicated cancer ward. It is estimated by the grateful hospital management that these contributions have saved the lives of over 10,000 children. Our assistance with the hospital continues, as their acute need may never be satisfied. Other Rotary Club of Essendon projects in Myanmar have included support and development of the Community Education Centre in Insein, a desperately poor areas on the outskirts of Yangon, supplying educational books, writing material, school uniforms and the means to access fresh, clean water. Support has also been provided for the Myanmar Handicapped Centre via giving of wheel chairs and computers for the disabled. Two orphanages in Yangon have been supported over a number of years with clothing, toys, balls, sport items and books as well as supplying a generator to an outlying orphanage with no electricity supply. Additional projects include the Monk Hospital - a dedicated facility for aging and ill monks, and also the Muslim Free Hospital which is also Yangon's premier facility for eye surgery. As with all health establishments in Myanmar, "premier" is a relative term, and all these places are chronically under resourced, poor and in desperate need of the most basic items. For example, a recent donation to the eye facility was quality sutures. Also during Cyclone Nargis (June 2008) that hit the Southern part of Myanmar killing over 150,000 people, the Rotary Club of Essendon was one of the first groups on the ground in Myanmar supplying much needed medical aid, food, water and shelter. Over $70,000 worth of aid was distributed by Essendon Rotarians in Myanmar in June 2008. This included paying for re-building thirty homes in the delta area, for those left homeless. Because it is always our practise to visit and monitor our past projects, in April 2010 a delegation from the Rotary Club of Essendon again visited Myanmar and this time provided aid in goods and cash in excess of $250,000 to hospitals, schools and residents in need. The Rotary Hut Project
The Rotary Hut Project finds funding for the building of new huts and homes for poor and under privileged families throughout Asia. The Rotary Hut Project is currently being adopted by many of the local schools in the Essendon community and importantly , VCE students are being encouraged to visit Asian countries to help build huts during the “schoolies” end of year week. Each time AUD$1000 is donated by participating companies or organizations to the Rotary Hut project, our club licenses the addition of hut insignias to be placed onto the donation total area on the company's website. Any Rotarians interested in having the insignia placed on their website please call: Michael Mahoney 0407502825.
Local ProjectsIn addition to the above outstanding International Projects, the Rotary Club of Essendon (RCE) also supports many worthy local community causes, including:PIONEERS RETREAT The first major project of the Rotary Club of Essendon was to build a “Pioneers Retreat” on the banks of the Maribyrnong River. Many retired men were lounging about on the banks with nowhere to go. It was felt that a building where they could congregate would improve their lifestyle. The project was begun with an anonymous donation of 100 pounds and was completed in 1937 at a cost of 272 pounds. It is still in existence today. It can be seen from Maribyrnong Rd in the land on the East Side of the Maribyrnong Rd Bridge. Pioneers who used the retreat were invited to a club luncheon in December for many years. At one lunch it was worked out that the “Pioneers” had an average age of 72 years and the total of their ages was 1728 years. A 10ft x 10ft concrete draughts board was subsequently built in the surrounds of the Pioneers Retreat and we also provided them with Trugo equipment. Trugo is a game invented by workers at the Newport rail yards and played with mallets and large ring like a washer. The success of the original retreat lead to others being built by RCE in Queens Park, Ormond Park and Kensington, as well as extending the Maribyrnong retreat in the 1950's. ROWALLAN SCOUT CAMP The Rotary Club of Essendon established the Rowallan Scout Camp over 60 years ago. The Club purchased 180 acres of land in the Riddell's Creek area in 1945 (at a cost of 700 pounds) and then helped build the camp through construction of roads, planting trees, installing water facilities and installing three huts (ex POW camp). The total cost of the project was in excess of 4000 pounds. Our financial partners in the project included City of Essendon, Moonee Valley Racing Club and Moonee Ponds Bowling Club. In 1950, the camp was handed over to the Scouts and Guide's movement. We assisted with re-building effort when the camp was destroyed by the Ash Wednesday bush fires. We also provided tanks and fire fighting equipment to better protect the camp in future. The camp is still fully utilised today and we continue to support it with recent activities including a "hands on" building renovation project in 2007 and $3000 financial support in 2009 for capital improvements aimed at harvesting rain water and solar energy to improve the camp's environmental footprint. ROYAL DISTRICT NURSING SERVICE (RDNS) We have been long term supporters of RDNS. We helped build the original offices that were opened in Grice Crescent in 1967 through a 10,000 pound donation. We followed this up with a contribution of approximately $100,000 in the period 1989 - 1992 toward extensions/renovations. GELIBRAND SUPPORT SERVICE (GSS) Gelibrand Support Services (formerly known as Gelibrand Residential Services) provides suitable accommodation and care support for people with special needs within our community. In 2009, we, along with funding support from D9800, assisted GSS through the construction of a pergola at one of their houses. The cost of this project was in excess of $10,000. The pergola, built over a BBQ area and water feature, provides for a significant quality of life improvement for the residents, particularly those wheel chair bound. It provides an area for them to enjoy the sensory stimulation of the outside environment. It also provided a significant morale boost for the carers who realised their efforts were appreciated and others were happy to support them. CANCER RESEARCH The Rotary Club of Essendon is a regular participant in the annual Cancer Council Moonee Valley Relay for Life. The 24 hour event is attended by many club members and their families and is an activity of good fellowship as well as serious fund raising. We have raised in excess of $100,000 for this very worthy cause through our participation. We also provide breakfast for all relay participants at the annual event. ESSENDON TRAFFIC SCHOOL We helped build the children's traffic school in Montgomery Park, Moonee Ponds in 1961. The club contributed 1500 pounds out of a total establishment cost of 3200 pounds. The school conducted its first class in 1962 and continues to operate today as a thriving, fun and educational facility for local youths. We continue to support the school through an on-going role on the management committee and with funding as appropriate. We recently funded the purchase of new tricycles, including a custom built tricycle that allows children with special assistance needs to participate in school activities. CAROLINE CHISHOLM SOCIETY (CCS) CCS is based in Moonee Ponds and provides free and confidential assistance to expectant mothers and parents of young children. This is done with a goal of achieving and maintaining a safe and nurturing environment. In 2005, we donated toy teddy bears that could be distributed at Christmas time. In 2006 we donated toiletries that could be passed on to families in need. We then followed this up in 2008 when we assisted CCS by funding, in partnership with Bendigo Community Bank, the acquisition of three lap top computers and a car to help them be more mobile in the delivery of their services. In 2009/10, our assistance was through our "help in a shoe box" project that provided CCS with over 1200 baby items worth over $8,000. "BLACK SATURDAY" Bushfire Relief The Rotary Club of Essendon contributed to the Rotary District 9800 Bushfire Relief fund, the largest Australian humanitarian project ever undertaken by District 9800. In addition to raising almost $1m in funds, District 9800 undertook survey and liaison work and consultation with affected communities to identify, assess and implement aid projects. Projects have been concentrated in the area of supporting people in dealing with psychological trauma and stresses as they recover from the affects of the fire. Our work will continue for several years to come.
Youth ProjectsThe Rotary Club of Essendon typically undertakes a number of projects each year aimed at supporting local youth. Examples of these include:
JOE BRADBURY AWARDA $1000 scholarship to assist a local youth with year 12 schooling and pursuit of their chosen endeavour.
NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE FORUMA high profile twelve-day program for Year 11 students going into Year 12, held at ANU Canberra and in Perth.
ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD (RYLA) A week-long residential personal development program for young people aged 18-25, which focuses on self-leadership and community. RYLA provides an opportunity for young people from a diverse range of backgrounds to gain a better understanding of their strengths and the unique qualities and abilities of others. KOKOADA TREK FOR TROUBLED TEENS A Victoria Police lead programme aimed at disadvantaged youths with low self-esteem who are disenfranchised in the community, lacking goals and direction in life and are at risk of not completing school. They are taken to trek the hills of Kokoda for a positive life changing experience. ROTARY YOUTH PROGRAM OF ENRICHMENT A program of weekend seminars for young people 14-17 years of age. The principal aim is the communication of a series of ideas, problems and social experiences to assist the young participants in forming their own values and moral standards. ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE A year long hosting of a student from another country to attend one of the local secondary schools. SIEMENS SCIENCE EXPERIENCEA three day program for year 9 students.
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