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Meeting Report 3367
Motivation Speaker Frank Kitchen from Arizona USA was guest speaker for the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge on Zoom this week. Rotary opens so many doors and provides opportunities in life in so many unique ways. Rotary has so many different exchanges for youths, young adults and the more mature so what ever stage you are at look to Rotary. Everyone who experiences a Rotary Exchange talks about it as a life changing experience. It influences the group and those with whom the group comes into contact. It may be a Study Exchange, a Rotary Overseas Project, Peace Exchange, a travell experience ( when Covid "normalises" again). All of these provide opportunities for fellowship, networking, learning, cultural exchange, and providing support. For now we are only able to do this locally except in a virtual way. Frank was part of a Rotary Group Study Exchange in 2006 from Ohio. The Exchange in South Australia was supported by the Rotary Clubs in Mildura, Broken Hill, Murray Bridge,Tailem Bend, Blackwood, and Somerton Park, who all took part as hosts. For Frank the Rotary Exchange he says set a direction in his life. It highlighted his speaking, leadership, and motivational skills. He has become a mentor for aspiring entrepeneurs ( and dont we need those at the moment), and fundraising as one of the first African American Fundraising Auctioneers. His approach was FRESH focussed, resourcefull, enthusiastic, strong and honest. It was 2am in Arizona but he still had time for lots of questions and discussion. Leadership is about the ACTION that you take. You can help someone live their dream.
From Frank Kitchen
What were you doing at 2 AM this morning? I was having an amazing experience with my friends in Australia. I was invited by Jenny Phillips to speak at the Murray Bridge Rotary Club weekly meeting. The meeting turned into a 1-hour conversation on how my participation in the Rotary Group Study Exchange Program in 2006 helped facilitate my speaking / entrepreneurial career. Technology allowed us to bridge the 16.5 hour time difference. Want to be a servant leader in your local community? Investigate your local Rotary Club to learn how you can be a positive difference-maker.
Sister Act
Sister Act day 2 session 2 Chioma Amaechi tells her story of Migration and setting up her own Law business. She arrived in 2006 from Nigeria via Namibia with her husband who had a job as a GP in Loxton, with one 4 year old child and one on the way. She was a trained lawyer, however the Law Society did not accept her qualification so she went through Uni NSW and did the Law Degree on line. In the meantime she got a job.in Berri in community work. In 2019 she started her own Law firm and Migration Agency rather than move away from Loxton. She connected with the audience really well. A great story. Note The next session is on Wednesday 12th August.
Day 2 Sister Act first session pathway for Migrant women to employment and starting a business. Carolyn Jeffery the BizNatal Way. Steps to self employment, women in business network, and processes. Timing now with Covid, marketing, regional solutions and benefits. Ideas eg Bali in a jar cooking on line, health and wellbeing, social support services and Enviromental projects. www.biznatal.com.au
Food Bank
Our journey to bring Food Bank SA to Murray Bridge commenced 12 months ago, when launched by Mayor Brenton Lewis. The project led by the Rotary Club of Mobilong partnering with the Rotary Clubs of Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend went from concept to nearing implementation in June 2020 and today came another step closer due to the hard work of Rotarians Jill, Jack, Sadie, Simon, Bronwyn, Andrew and Wendy in demolishing walls, lifting up carpet and cleaning to ready the site for second fixing.
Promoting Peace
In March, members of Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact from both Pakistan and India gathered together at a holy shrine on the border for an afternoon of food, fun, and fellowship. It was a small, but significant step toward building peace between our two countries.
Ever since attending a breakout session on healing the wounds of war at the 2018 Rotary International Convention in Toronto, Canada, I have had a heart to draw members of the Rotary family together to talk about peace. Being from Pakistan, I have seen how the tensions between my country and India have disrupted harmonious relationships.
Recently, I had a chance to put my idea into motion, and reached out to my Rotary friends in India. Upkar Singh Sethi from the Rotary Club of Amritsar South and past governor of District 3070 (India), agreed to organize the meeting from the India side of the border.
We held the event at Kartarpar Sabib, a shrine in Pakistan built on the site where Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, settled and assembled the first Sikh community in the 16th century. Because of the tensions between the two countries, it has been difficult for Sikhs in India to visit the shrine. But in 2018, the government of Pakistan opened up a corridor so pilgrims from India could visit the shrine visa-free.
On that day in March, we stood together in goodwill and fellowship, among the other visitors who come to venerate the site. It was exhilarating. Sethi expressed deep gratitude for the opportunity and noted how his club had limited its delegation to a little more than 20 members because of the strict protocols for visiting through the corridor.
“However, we were amazed to see the response from across the border, where more than 50 Rotarians from various clubs turned out to receive us and join us in paying homage to this holiest of Sikh shrines,” he said.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, we plan to invite a delegation from India four times a year to join us in building goodwill and friendship between our two countries.
It may have been a small effort at peacemaking, but it is the start of an evolutionary process of achieving peace and justice with the greatest speed and grace.
About the author: Sajid Pervaiz is a member of the Rotary Action Group for Peace and an assistant Rotary Public Image Coordinator. He served as a representative to the 2019 Council on Legislation and is a member of the Pakistan National Polio Plus Committee
CALENDAR WINNERS 28th JULY 2020
1st $ 100 No. 461 Scott Rowland (M.B.) (sold by R. Rowland)
2nd $30 No. 100 Bridge Dental (M. B.) (sponsor)
3rd $ 20 No 166 Roger Kilpatrick (M. B.) (sold by Mens Shed)
For a bit of fun :)
Iceland
Where will Brenton be next week???
What's happening on our Facebook page
John Scarvelis has been posting up a storm with some great content.