Local News and Events
 DG John's  April Message 
He aha te mea nui o te Ao?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people, it is people, it is people
 
April is Child and Maternal Health month in the Rotary world so for us to pass the first financial hurdle in the Zone 8 funding process for Rotary Give Every Child a Future has been a big achievement.  Our centenary project in the Pacific is underway!  Our District has more than carried its weight to help fund this initial stage through our Global Grant contribution of (NZD) $30,000.00. We will deliver 100,000 vaccinations for two childhood diseases and HPV cervical cancer to young people in the Pacific.
 
 
Since Thursday, 26 March 2020 we have been completely overtaken as New Zealand went into Alert Level 4 of lockdown to unite against COVID-19  https://covid19.govt.nz/communities/.  The lockdown will be for four weeks minimum and will impact on our lives and livelihoods for years to come.  Our first response has been to look to our families, then to our work and after that to Rotary.  All our club presidents have set up communication networks to look out and care for our members and their families.  Old and new Rotary friendships, locally and across the world, have been rekindled and affirm our organisation as a connected, caring, international community.  
This week I have chosen to reflect on the themes developed for our 2020 Conference – the one that was not to be.
Rotary Connects the World
Together We Connect
Ko Tātou Tātou e, together we are one
Read more...
 The New Children's Hospital Building Site on hold due to Covid 19.

Bill Day's Update on our New Children’s Hospital... 

Like most things in NZ at the moment the New Children’s Hospital building site has been shut down due to COVID19 as it’s not an essential service, but the current children’s Hospital is operating as best COVID19 will allow. 

In the meantime the New Children’s Hospital project management team and design team are continuing to progress detailed designs and procurement activities remotely. I am pleased to say that Weta Workshop also continue their work for the new hospital as they develop the creative environment and interactive space in the hospital. I have seen some of their ideas via Zoom links last week and even though I am not the target market, their ideas and concepts are impressive. 

Read more...
Denise Garcia - Rotarian - Essential Service

Tawa Rotarian Denise Garcia, has been assisting from day 2 with other  health professionals on the Covid-19 contact tracing phones since March 21.  Denise tells of some of her experiences.

"Checking in on how people are doing, plus giving instructions on self isolation from Ministry of Health headquarters in Wellington for 3 shifts a week. Talking to people from anywhere in NZ to all over the world in contact with anyone in NZ who has tested positive for Covid-19. Highlight was an American couple in Missouri who I rang. "Honey its Denise from New Zealand, the Ministry of Health there really care about us"  

 

Home-visiting new babies and families is a huge challenge with hardly any PPE gear available. Keeping everyone safe, is the priority. Denise has made her own masks as the 7 provided were gone in 2 days. She purchased her own hospital scrubs to be as clean as possible. When she gets home its straight into the shower and changes and washes her clothes. At home its 3 people in separate rooms, different bathrooms, own set of crockery, sitting on separate couches apart - distancing to keep the bubble as safe as it can be". 

lease read more: An excerpt  from 'Midpoint' Midwifery Council of New Zealand Newsletter - April 2020.  It highlights the Council's statement on practice as a midwife during an emergency.

Read more...
 Rotarian - Audrey Shearer - Essential  Service

Coronovirus and how to play the Adaption Game   One of our club members, (Hutt Valley Rotary) Audrey, is doing great work to understand and work towards beating COVID-19. 'We are busy adapting one of our biggest projects to collect data and eventually provide feedback on the best treatment for the novel coronavirus outbreak COVID-19.   Coronavirus mutated (or adapted) recently to give us SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 disease. Adaptation is a great skill for a virus – it’s a pretty keen skill for people and we are using it to fight back with what we do best.' Audrey Shearer, Founder and CEO, Spiral www.spiral.co.nz  

Congratulations Rotary Tawa for 50yrs of great service to your community

Tawa Rotary postpones 50th Anniversary celebration

Tawa Rotary Club President Judith Gray says that, as community leaders, the Board felt that suspending weekly meetings and large group activities to be the correct course of action to take in order to look after people and help slow the spread of Covid-19 through the community. Unfortunately, this has also meant postponing the club’s upcoming 50th Anniversary celebrations. It is sincerely hoped that we may have the celebrations at a later date.

IYM  - to go online for 2020!!
 
Applications for the Innovative Young Minds programme closed on 1 April. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are no longer able to run the July 2020 programme as originally planned. 
 
 
 
The health and well-being of our programme participants, site hosts, staff and the wider community is our priority.
The exciting news is that we plan to offer the July IYM programme online instead. We couldn't let the amazing programme we had planned go to waste! The online IYM programme will be free and open to all applicants. 

We are currently exploring running additional residential programmes next year, but this is reliant on obtaining additional funding and support. We are excited about these opportunities and we will keep all our applicants, sponsors and supporters informed as the situation develops.
In the meantime, thank you so much for your support and our thoughts are with you and your whānau during these challenging times.

 
Life as a DGE during these challenging times.

We're all experiencing the need to do things differently at the moment. Plans we had made, expectations we had have been thrown up on the air.  A key part of a Governor's year is the expectation of visiting each Club. Right now it's hard to imagine how those visits might look. We were planning a District Assembly to follow DG John's Conference but that will need to be delivered differently - and will be - watch this space. 

I feel hugely sorry for DG John having to cancel his Conference after so much planning. I'm planning mine too for March next year.  How might that look? Can we expect to welcome overseas speakers and RI reps or will the borders still be closed? And top of mind is our District Changeover.

John and I are discussing this and originally anticipated an event similar to last year's. But right now we're faced with the possibility of a Changeover like no other - a virtual one! Let's see what unfolds, but one way or another, you'll all invited to a party! 

Next year's theme 'Rotary Opens Opportunities' is definitely playing out. I'm excited about about the opportunities the year will bring.  

Gillian Jones

District Governor 2020-21

 CONNECT WITH THE ( ONLINE ) ROTARY WORLD.
Description
SUBJECT: Register Now: Connect With the (Online) Rotary World
Via: Adestra
To: District governors, district governors-elect, assistant governors, Rotary coordinators, assistant Rotary coordinators, district membership chairs, club presidents, club presidents-elect, and club membership chairs and all Rotarians.
 
 
Dear club and district leaders,
Rotarians everywhere are proving that being socially isolated doesn’t mean disconnected. In fact, people are embracing new ways connect all around us. World renowned experts and speakers are calling in to news shows via Zoom from their living rooms. These are done using the technology they have available—smart phones, earbuds, webcams, and the internet. Nothing fancy, just people adapting with what they have. 
 
 
Join us for the webinar Connect with the (Online) Rotary World on Wednesday 29 April at 8 am NZ time [Tuesday, 28 April, 15:00-15:45 Chicago time (UTC-5)]. Format will be a Q&A with Rotarians who are leading their clubs and districts in the move to virtual connection, specifically who are:
  • Holding interim club meetings online
  • Using social media to engage with one another and the community
  • Developing fun ways to maintain the traditions they love and finding some new favorite activities
  • Finding local and global service and mutual aid opportunities, proving that Rotarians continue to be People of Action
Read more...
Role of District Treasurer available from July 2020
We are keen to identify an appropriate  District Treasurer to take up this important District 9940 role from July 2020.
 
The person needs to be:
  • Familiar with Xero and Microsoft Excel
  • Have an Accounting background
  • Wellington area based
A grant commensurate to the role is paid.
Please contact Gillian Jones if you would like to understand more about this role.  
Gillian Jones 0274403764. gillian.rotary9940@gmail.com
Click here for more stories
 
 
full calendar - here
April 2020
M T W T F S S
30
31
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
01
02
03
District Information
 
District Bulletin
April Bulletin 2020
Apr 10, 2020
March 2020
Feb 17, 2020
RI Convention 2020 - Hawaii
Zone Conference2020