President Kelly's musings...
President Kelly opened the meeting to much applause and cheering from the unruly crowd known as Mill Point RC! Kelly thanked Gorby and Lorrie for the hard work in organising the vocational visit to the WA Ostomy Association on Thursday afternoon. He also welcomed three visiting Japanese Rotarians who are in WA to resurrect the Australia-Japan Youth Exchange (AJYE) which was suspended during Covid. They are now looking for Rotarians to be the first delegates in reviving the program.
Guest Speaker - Kim Larsen, RC of Como "Amertha Bhuana" Bali Taman Water Project
Kim Larsen is a fellow Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Como.
Kim gained his pilot license in 1974 and initially worked as an instructor and then with the RFDS
In 1977 he joined TAA (Trans Australian Airlines) and flew domestically throughout Australia, spending 3 years in Brisbane and 9 years in Melbourne.
From 1988 Kim flew internationally out of Hong Kong for Cathay Pacific Airways and retired to Perth in 2009.
He joined the RC of Como in 2010 and has been President twice, Director of Youth; Community and currently holds the international portfolio.
He was previously on the District Handicamp Committee for 5 years and at present is on the RYLA and RYPEN district committee.
Between 2013-2016 he was also part of the Rotary team who rode on a lawnmower around Australia to raise funds and awareness of Rotary.
Kim is married for 47 years and has 2 children and 6 grandchildren.
Kim spoke about the Taman Bali Water project which brought fresh water to remote villages in Bali. The project benefitted 150 families, nearly 1,000 people in 4 villages.
In 2019, 4 villages were identified in need of water, situated 400m above water level. The available water was of low flow and villagers had to walk downhill (and back) to the well to draw water for every day use. Detailed discussions on the water project started in November 2022 and an MOU drawn up to commence the project.
In April 2023 Kim flew to Denpasar to review the project and the MOU was signed. Kim spoke of the pro-activity of the people involved and their willingness to commence and complete the project.
The total cost of the project came in at $35,409 USD, and Kim was charged with raising the shortfall of $21,000 AUD towards the project after the RC of Taman raised funds from their own club, their DDF and Rotary International. Kim was on the hunt! For like-minded Rotary Club to join in and help - and he succeeded (no mean feat) in gaining support from the Rotary Clubs of Moora and Mill Point, as well as an electrical contractor and the Marielle Schloss Trust Fund.
The amount of materials (which had to come from Surabaya) included storage tanks, 4kms of piping and other forms of materials needed to complete the job.
There were no mechanical diggers - the villagers all helped to dig the trenches - yes male and female - to get the job done. This gave them ownership and pride in the project and a sense of purpose. The villagers 'dug in' (pardon the pun) and worked without pay. These are poor people who rely on their working paid jobs, but this did not deter them from being part of the project - despite the lack of OHS regulations!
Now fresh water is pumped up with gravity feed to the houses, but still only a water tap outside the house not inside. The availability of fresh water not only means fresh drinking water, but water to cook, clean and maintain personal hygiene much better than before.
In August Kim and his team paid a visit to the village and took along 'goodies' for 120 school children in the area, as well as 20kg of clothing for the villagers (which Kim's wife purchased from St Vinnies for approx $70). They were greeted with much enthusiasm and a demonstration of 'how we wash our hands' which lasted a full 4 minutes!
The gratitude was evident when the team witnessed the joy of the village children playing under a hose pipe for the very first time in their lives and Kim's video of them splashing away echoed the simple pleasures of childhood we may have taken for granted, for many of us in the audience.
Kim was instructed at the 'opening' ceremony to 'read the riot act' to the villagers so that they would appreciate and not take for granted the abundant supply of fresh water to their villages and paid for by hard working Rotarians!
People often ask Kim "Why doesn't the Indonesian Government do these things?" and the simple answer is that Indonesia consists of 17,000 islands, 280M people, and a GDP of 1.3trillion (Australia's GDP by comparison is 1.7 trillion) so there just isn't the economy to serve that many people. However, the project worked out at $50 per person for water forever. It isn't free either, households have a meter and thus controlled as they pay by use and it is controlled by the village chief, so a self sustaining project where the charges pay for maintenance and upkeep.
Rotary is well known and regarded in Indonesia, where it is renowned for its humanitarianism and involvement in community needs.
Kim's full presentation and videos can be found at
millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members
only (password)> this link>Guest Speaker Presentations>LARSEN Kim-Amertha Bhuana Presentation.pptx
Directors' Reports and Member Announcements
Michelle
- Assistance needed to help care for Phil Doyle between 10-12 December. Meeting after breakfast to discuss.
- Gerry McGann recovering well and expected home today.
Scott
- New Centurion program documents being updated - watch this space.
Rick
- More meals needed for PICYS next week please.
It's a Fine(s) Line - for Madame Lash Jenny McLean who doled out the discrepancies this week...
- Scott, Lew and Rick - for being late in reporting their announcement thus interrupting the seamlessness of the fines!
- Commonwealth Bank Bankers who don't have a mobile phone and are unable to take advantage of the new banking via QR codes and SMS options.
- CBA shareholders - you can now deposit up to $10,000 daily but only withdraw $500 - shame on you!
- UBER users - after an airline attendant frittered away $32,000 in UBER Eats and UBER taxis - you can afford a $ or two!
- Cricket fans of Sir Ian Botham who has NEVER attended a House of Lords meeting but prefers foot massages instead.
- President Kelly for going AWOL from the ARH 'Ask the Experts' forum last night.
- Gorby and Raelene - something to do with car boots and sheep poo...
- Lyn M who's garden was swarming with Spotlight TV crews...
Winner of Heads and Tails
Our lovely Michelle who won tails down!
Attendance
32 attendees in all, including guest speaker Kim Larsen and visiting Japanese Rotarians Kiyotaka Arai san, Hiroshi Odate san and Tetsuo Tanaka san.
