Please Join us
at the next RAWCS meeting
May 16th & 17th
LEETON, NSW
Host District: 9700
RSVP: Secretary Ted Lewis:
[email protected]
Linking Eastern Region Clubs in Districts;
9650, 9670, 9675, 9685, 9700, 9710
Chairman’s Report
John Roberson
All aboard for the Congo container!
May 2015
I would like to
thank Deputy
Chairman Graham
Taylor for conducting the
meeting in February. I understand it
went well and all
had a great weekend at Tamworth.
Strategic Review of Projects
The ER management meeting resolved that
District RAWCS Chairs are asked to carry
out a strategic review of all current projects in their Districts to ensure that they
meet the Rotary Australia Overseas Aid
Fund - RAOAF Criteria. They have been
asked to contact all Project Managers to
ensure that their projects are sustainable
development aid and are NOT considered
to be “welfare”.
Please be mindful that the National Board
is carrying out an internal audit of ALL current projects to ensure that what they
have written on the National website
meets the RAOAF Criteria.
Once the bi-annual Project Manager Reports commence Project Managers will
have to provide a written justiﬁcation for
any expenditure for the period of the report. The report will automatically record
all expenditure for that period on the report.
RAWCS National Meeting
RAWCS Rover readers know that our network of Rotarians supports countless worthwhile causes around the world. It’s not
often, however, that we have the opportunity to receive a personal ‘thank you’ from a recipient. In March, many of us met Luc
Mulimbalimba Masururu, as the 37yr medical doctor and MP
from Democratic Republic of Congo visited ﬁve Australian states
and met with more than 150 Rotary clubs, schools, universities
and other organisations to personally thank them for past support of projects in a country that is at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index.
Aﬀectionately called “Dr Luc”,
this eloquent champion for so
many marginalised people in
the Congo shared updates on
the Mission in Health Care
and Development
(www.mhcdafrica.org) projects that many Rotary clubs
have supported.
Dr Luc with donation of Medical Equipment from RAWCS project 47/2009-10 ………
continued page 3
Rotary Australia World Community Service
Limited’s AIM is to:
“Support Australian Rotarians and Rotary Clubs in assisting
The RAWCS National Board meeting and
disadvantaged communities with humanitarian aid projects.”
annual meeting of Regional Project CoordiOur objective is to:
nators was held in Melbourne in April.
“Enable Australian Rotarians and Rotary Clubs to undertake
Chairman John Roberson’s report
continued page 2
humanitarian aid projects.”
Visit RAWCS Eastern Region website: www.rawcseastern.org.au/
Visit RAWCS National website: www.rawcs.com.au/
Chairman John Roberson’s report continued from pg 1
RAWCS National Meeting
The next RAWCS meeting will be held in
beautiful Leeton hosted by District 9700
The following Board decisions were made:
 RAWCS volunteers will only be accepted if they are
15 years or older at date of departure from now on.
From 1st July 2015 the fee to register a project of $50
and a volunteer fee of $10 will cease and be covered by
the National service fee of 3% on donations.
Date: 16th and 17th May 2015
The website committee to make recommendations to
the Board meeting on 24th May to upgrade the website
and its functions ASAP after that meeting.
We are developing online Team Leader Reports and
Project Manager Reports:
1. Team leaders will receive a link to the report 2 days
after their return home to ﬁlled in online and be
able to upload up to 4 photographs. Portions of
these reports will be sent to our Promotional Team
for possible publication.
2. Project Managers will receive a link to their online
report every 6 months, they will need to ﬁll it out
online and upload up to 4 photographs if needed.
Failure to complete the report could lead to the project being closed.
Program: Saturday afternoon - from 2pm
Venue: Historic Hydro Hotel, LEETON


Volunteer Team Leaders will have the option of having their sponsoring Rotary Club President sign one
form for all volunteers on the Team and upload that
form. All volunteers will still have to sign that they have
read and accept the agreement and code of conduct.


John Souter - Rotary Club of Griffith on a joint
project with Pittwater Rotary Club in Cambodia.
Chris Finkle & Jeff Hurdigen - Rotary Club of
Forbes on their project in Vietnam.
John Glassford & Fred Lonergan - on the Mt
Kenya climb and projects in Africa.
John Roberson & Barry Silburn - the role of
Project Managers & Team Leaders
Saturday evening 6:30pm
The date of the working with children check (WWCC)
and Medicals be recorded by the website so that they
automatically appear (if valid) when a volunteers enters details for a second Team.
Venue: Historic Hydro Hotel, LEETON
Featuring Entertainment from Riverina Men's Choir
A Team Leader/Project Inspection Checklist & Finalisation Report be available on the volunteer website for
all Team Leaders to print oﬀ and take with them. To be
used to formally hand over a project on completion to
the local Nationals who will be responsible for the project from then on.
our Key Note Speaker will be: Robyn Murray
Rotary Club of Orange Daybreak on
“Nepal Friendship Project” - Community Development and Training - Maidi, Dhading District, NEPAL
All Manuals and Project Application Forms are to be
progressively updated to reﬂect recent changes.
Presentation of Pink Umbrella Foundation Grants
Sunday morning - from 9:00 am
General Meeting: featuring “Have your say”
Financial Reports from National to Project Managers
We have ﬁnally received our ﬁrst automated reports to
all project Managers. They contain the opening balance
for the period, all transactions during the period and
the closing balance for the period. As this is the ﬁrst
report many Project Managers will have seen we may
have made some mistakes. They may be either way!
If Project Managers and their committees do not
agree with the balance presented please contact
Belinda Griﬀen at the RAWCS National Oﬃce with
documented evidence to prove the diﬀerence and all
eﬀorts will be made to rectify the discrepancy.
RAWCS Secretiart: Belinda Griﬀen belinda.griﬀ[email protected] – (02) 8833-8317
everyone gets a go to talk about their project
or special interest area.
Hope to see you there - YOU ARE INVITED
RSVP: Secretary Ted Lewis: [email protected]
Check out LEETON!
If you are planning to arrive Friday, some "toursity"
visits will be arranged for
anyone interested on Saturday morning.
Contact Alan Chesworth
for details:
[email protected]
John Roberson RAWCS Eastern Region Chairman
2
All aboard for the Congo
container!
Kudos
Thanks to RC Berrima District’s
(RCBD) experienced team of John
Macpherson, Frank Rodrigues and
Barry Barford and Brian Wallis of RC
South Nowra for coordinating the
shipping logistics, and to RAWCS’
Medical Aid for Oceania (project
48/2012-13) for underwriting the
shipping costs. These will be reimbursed from donations, partially
from generous Rotarians who
attended the March District 9685
and 9670 conferences. Dr Luc also
Continued from page 1…
Track the container!
extends his appreciation to Miriam
Jacka and her team of forklift exDr Luc asked for continued support, The container is now on board a
outlining his 2015 projects, which
ship, scheduled to arrive Singapore perts at the DIK Warehouse, and to
Ramsay Health Care (RHC) hospitals
range from building a children’s
1 May; depart Singapore 12 May;
home to ﬁghting malnutrition
arrive Dar es Salaam 27 May. If you for providing the major medical
items. Hospital staﬀ organised the
through MHCD’s nutrition centre
would like to track the container's
following: Albury (a blood frig),
and providing bicycles for women
progress go to http://
Nowra (theatre lights), Bowral
accustomed to carrying heavy loads. www.vesselﬁnder.com/, type the
Below: Luc with bicycle recipient
(infusion sets and chairs), Hunters
vessel name OOCL Houston into
Hill (suction devices, theatre instruthe search engine and it will give
you the ship's position, course and ments, lockers and instrument washing unit) and Berkley Vale
ETA next port. After 12 May enter
ship's name Kota Nebula for details (anaesthetic machines). “RHC is the
major player with RCBD in Project
of the trans-shipped leg from Sin48,” notes John.
gapore to Dar es Salaam. From
Tanzania the container will go
Congo container still needs support
overland to Burundi, where Dr Luc Help cover the remaining container
has arranged for it to be trucked to expenses (approx. $10,000) by makMHCD just across the border in
ing an online donation to RAWCS
Congo.
Project 48/2012-13 Medical Aid for
Another big project Dr Luc ﬂagged
Oceania.
with Rotarians was ﬁlling a 40 foot
https://donations.rawcs.com.au/
container donated by Royal Wolf
Default.aspx?
with such useful items as medical
ProjectID=670&ReturnTo=4
equipment, Wrap with Love blandesignate Congo Container and mention
kets, Days for Girls kits, and even
your Rotary Club.
new shoes. Many donors and volunteers responded, facilitated by Rotary Hunters Hill member Lucy Hobgood-Brown and Rotary Raymond
Terrace members Jacky and Bruce
Gendre. At the Rotary Donations in
Kind Warehouse in Minchinbury,
teams of volunteers including Rotaract members from Sydney University and Macquarie University were
coordinated by the “king and queen
Above: sorting and boxing
of the container”, Jacky and Bruce
Below: packing the container
Above: Dr Luc with donation of an Oxygen
Gendre (below).
Concentrator from project 47/2009-10
Anxious to bring a solution to
healthcare
problems Dr
Luc founded
Mission in
Health Care
and Development
(M.H.C.D.) in 2005.
3
Mera School - Kharakhola Village, NEPAL
Rotary Club of Port Macquarie Sunrise D9650
RAWCS project number # 54-2011/12
Project Manager: Kerrie Wood
The next step is to expand the initial objectives by Increasing the living standard of the Kharikhola community through the implementation of an environmental conservation and sustainable development programme.
We aim to introduce a
system of bio-organic
toilets at the school this will provide a
cleaner and more hygienic toileting program
for the children and
staff at the Mera
School. If implemented
and maintained correctly, the process will provide the self
-sustaining cycle we are working towards. The waste
product is processed and the slurry used as fertilizer in
the recently constructed Greenhouse. The methane byproduct can be harnessed as energy for cooking.
Benefits to the community –

Local people assisting in the construction, builds
skill within the community.

Local maintenance – provides work opportunity.

Cleaner environment.
Increased education relating to health & hygiene,
leading to reduction in illness i.e. gut infection &
diarrhoea.




Reductions in deforestation.
Biogas production for cooking – reduces respiratory
and eye infections as families cook in a smoke free,
cleaner environment.
Bio-slurry is produced and used as fertiliser for
greenhouse crops – results in other areas has seen
a 3 fold increase in food production.
Increased food production providing greater opportunity for small business to develop.
Due to the altitude of Kharikhola - we will need to partner
with a Nepalese organisation – Biogas Nepal.
www.bspnepal.org.np BSP- Nepal have a history of
success at this elevation.

Department of Foreign Aﬀairs and Trade - DFAT are
in the process of changing their registration of travellers and will no longer accept bulk registrations.
They require every traveller to go online and register themselves. Very soon they are moving to a
username and password system for all travellers so
that travellers can log in while on their trip and
amend their travel plans and contact details.
RAWCS has subsequently changed our volunteer
website to reﬂect this change and the Regional Coordinator can no longer submit a bulk registration.
We have placed on our site a recommendation to
each volunteer to log in to
www.smartraveller.gov.com individually to register
with DFAT.
Deputy Project Manager
All projects can now have a Deputy Project Manager
whose details appear on the website so that a project can have two people available for public contact. The Deputy Project Manager will receive copies of all receipts issued for donations as well as the
Project Manager. We have stated that the Deputy
Project Manager must be a member of the committee running the project and they can be a NonRotarian. It is suggested that the Treasurer of the
project is the person most likely to beneﬁt from the
notiﬁcations. It is still a requirement that the Project
Manager must be an active member of the sponsoring Rotary Club.
I encourage all Project Managers to submit their
Deputy Project Manager details. We need their
name, Rotary Preﬁx (Rtn, P, PP, PDG) and contact
details to the National Projects Coordinator to add
them to the website
PP John Roberson,
RAWCS Eastern Region Chairman
Working with Children Check
RAWCS requires all NSW
overseas volunteers aged 18
years & over to be registered
with the new working with
children. For more information
follow this link: https://wwccheck.ccyp.nsw.gov.au/
Applicants/Application# It is a simple process. It requires completing the online application and then an
identity check at your local RTA. It is important process for Rotarians and volunteers working with children locally or overseas to complete.
RAWCS National is looking at
a standard approach that is
legal in all States for RAWCS
Overseas Volunteers.
4
Projects Registered
National ﬁgures as at 9th April
We have a total of 455 current projects. Since 1st July
2014 we have registered 66 new projects – 13 Rotary
Australia Benevolent Society - RABS and 53 Rotary Australia Oversea Aid Fund - RAOAF.
REGION
Northern
Southern
Eastern
Western
Central
RAOAF
67
126
169
40
23
RABS
6
6
8
2
1
Total
73
132
177
42
24
National
TOTAL
6
431
1
24
7
455
Projects holding Fundraisers
Projects that hold fundraisers and wish to
take donations and give tax deductible
receipts can keep a spreadsheet with all
the details of donors required on
the online donation site and sit
down at a later date and enter the
details online for each donor. Donations can all be
banked into the Rotary Club account.
The email address used should be yours – the person
taking donations and responsible for issuing receipts.
You will receive a transaction ID number for each donor
and you can list that on the spreadsheet to send to
Belinda with a Club cheque to cover all donations.
If you have recorded email addresses then you can forward the receipts to the donors email addresses. If they
do not have an email address then you will have to
print and mail the receipts to donors.
Online Volunteer Registration
Since 1st July 2014 and up until 9th April 2015 we have
registered 601 volunteers on 106 teams travelling to
25 different countries.
It is easier for all if donors do the online donation
themselves.
Nominations for the Prestigious LEN AVARD Award
Before the end of the Rotary year nominations will be
called for the RAWCS Eastern Region LEN AVARD
Award.
Online Volunteer
The Eastern Region (ER) online
Registration
The "Len Avard" award is
an annual award given to
the
RAWCS
Rotarian
judged to be the RAWCS
“Rotarian of the Year” within Eastern Region. This is a
most prestigious RAWCS award and has included volunteers and RAWCS administration Rotarians.
volunteer system has been
online for 12 months having begun in April 2014. This
system has seen tremendous change to the amount of
time spent processing volunteer applications, the storage of data and notiﬁcations to the stake
RAWCS notiﬁes key stakeholders. Those being
holders for you including
DFAT, ACE Insurance,
Club Presidents and District
Club Presidents both
Governors both in ER &
in Eastern Region and the visiting countries, DFAT
the visiting countries,
and ACE Insurance.
District Governors
again both in Eastern
Region and the visiting countries. In the main, users of
the system have been very proactive and positive in
their approach to using the system. The user’s guide
can be of great beneﬁt to assist when using the online
system for the ﬁrst time. The stand out issue of confusion for volunteers is the downloading, uploading and
emailing of forms and the Working with Children document. With time we hope we stream line the system
even further making it as user friendly as possible.
Previous awardees include:- Ron Marcus, Jack Elliott,
Ron Wynn, Bill Walker, Ron Sommers, Lou Brown, Sue
O’Neill and many more worthy recipients.
You are welcomed and encouraged to nominate a
RAWCS volunteer for this Award. Submissions should
be a written nomination limited to one A4 page.
Nominations need to be CONFIDENTIAL. Please take
time in researching your nominated Rotarian.
Morph - (Graham Morphett)
[email protected]
5
Community Empowerment UGANDA
Rotary Club of Woy Woy
NTT Small Grants Project INDONESIA
RAWCS project number #24-2011-12
RAWCS project number #36-2014-15
Project Manager: Sue O’Neill
Project Manager: Chris Curtis (pictured)
As part of our project we engaged a volunteer to set up a
sewing group at Alive Medical Services in Kampala, Uganda. The volunteer Danielle is an experienced project manager in developing countries. Danielle worked with a group
of woman to set up a sewing workshop and develop a
business and marketing plan. We provided the seed capital with the plan for the project to ultimately become selfsustaining.
The NTT Indonesian Small
Grants project is a grant
system to assist farmers
and rural schools in southeast Indonesia. The target
region is the Indonesian
province of Nusa Tenggara
Timur (NTT) where most
projects are conducted on
the island of Flores and in
West Timor. Kupang, the capital is 800km from
Darwin.
Small Grants are limited to about $600 and are given to traditional groups formed by small farmers
and their families as well as groups of school staff
and parents. The local people are responsible for
originating, planning and completing each project.
Grant funds are usually used for the purchase of
raw materials, seed stock, agricultural training,
school furniture and similar items. Typical projects
are libraries, field days and farm training, water
tanks, wells and ablution blocks, which the members of the group construct themselves.
Rotary Club of Lane Cove
The woman who choose
the name “KISAKYE”
which means GRACE for
the project are producing
“Super Kits” that contain
high-quality, reusable
menstruation products.
The kit includes enough
materials for an entire
menstrual cycle and because the pads are made
from cloth they can be
washed and re-used for up to 3 years!
The project aims to economically empower the woman
and restore their dignity by providing a small income.
Additionally, by creating a reusable and hygienic menstrual product the group is helping local women’s ability to
manage their own health and hygiene. Currently school
girls miss up to a quarter of the school year and women
miss out on work, choosing to stay home rather than risk
embarrassing situations in public. These hand-made sanitary pads are effective, comfortable, cost-saving, and environmentally friendly. Providing girls and women affordable
access to sanitary pads offers them a healthy way to manage their menstruation without interrupting school or work.
The cost per super kit is $8 including a small amount for
the KISAKYE woman.
The KISAKYE group will be looking at other saleable
items to produce.
Projects for support are chosen
from the projects
available from
the service provider (The Nusa
Tenggara Association) and are
regularly monitored as well as
inspected twice yearly.
NTT is one of the poorest parts of Indonesia and
has a population of about 6 million. Rainfall is irregular and the land is often unsuitable for the digging
of wells. Child malnutrition and mortality are high
due to the lack of clean drinking water, sanitation
and health facilities.
Chris Curtis (Project Manager)
Rotary Club of Lane Cove D9685
Sue O’Neill (Project Manager)
Rotary Club of Woy Woy D9685
6
Smart Villages Sustainability Project,
Siem Reap Province, CAMBODIA
Rotary Club of Pittwater
What DIK is all about...
Donations In Kind (DIK) provides humanitarian
aid through provision of donated goods.
The objectives of Donations in Kind are:
 To receive requests for aid goods from Rotary
Clubs and aid organisations in developing countries.
 To receive goods from within Australia, from Rotary Clubs, schools, hospitals and other organisations
for distribution to developing countries.
 To match the goods received with the requests
for aid goods and ensure that all goods are dispatched to appropriate areas of need.
 To maintain records, facilitate customs declarations and transport arrangements.
 To assist Clubs to dispatch aid goods direct to
recipient Rotary Clubs or aid organisations.
 To maintain the quality of the goods dispatched.
 To minimise the cost of transport.
To maintain a close liaison with the Rotary Clubs and
aid organisations at the receiving end so as to have
an appreciation of their requirements and to minimise any problems that they may encounter.
RAWCS project number # 82-2013/14
Project Manager: Tony James (pictured)
The project aim is to turn around the
plight of 4 remote villages in Cambodia from poverty and despair to self
sustainability over 4 years using a
proven model by "Build your Future
Today" (BFT).
The project is partnering with local Cambodian NGO called Build
your Future Today (BFT). BFT trialled a 4
year project to transform an extremely
poor village to self sustainability.
It has a holistic approach addressing health, education
food sustainability and clean year round water. It was
funded mostly by an individual Rotarian. The project was
a great success. So much so, that it became the blueprint and is now being used on a neighbouring village
and, subject to donations will continue to spread to many
other villages.
BFT is dedicated to providing Cambodian people with the
right intellectual and economic tools to be self sufficient.
BFT’s vision is built upon two beliefs:
 Knowledge is Hope and
 Peace is Development
Eastern Region has been given notice we will be required to vacate the DIK warehouse at Minchinbury
by December 2017. It was agreed by the Manage-
ment Committee that the Region should search for a
suitable premises to relocate and that the relocation
take place as soon as we can organise for it to occur.
We will relocate before we are expected to vacate if
we ﬁnd a suitable site.
Education is key to developing economic stability and
personal well-being. The goal is to help people living below poverty line to attain a better standard of living, while
strengthening their growth for ongoing development.
Pink Umbrella Foundation initiated a grant
program to generate more interest in RAWCS through
increased attendance at the Eastern Region Meetings.
Miriam Jacka our Eastern Region DIK co-ordinator is Pink Umbrella Foundation will continue the grants and
donate six $1,000 grants to registered RAWCS or RABS
working on a relocation plan. If anyone has ideas on
projects for the next four Eastern Region
a replacement site we would like to hear from you.
Meetings. Five grants are competitive and
the sixth selected by a lucky draw. CriteContacts for Eastern Region DIK are DIK co-ordinatoer ria includes recipients attending the
Miriam Jacka [email protected]
RAWCS Eastern Region Meeting to reor National DIK Manger PDG Keith Roffey
ceive the grant and submit a short [email protected]
mary on the project.
7
Editor’s Comment
Humanitarian Medical Missions PHILLIPINES
Welcome to another
RAWCS Rover!
There is so much news
this quarter.
RAWCS is building
comprehensive frameworks to allow Rotarians and Rotary Clubs to
undertake humanitarian
Aid projects overseas and in Australia. It is an exciting
journey as we transition to more automated systems
and streamlined guidelines.
When you read about some of the projects you can’t
help but be inspired. Opportunities for volunteering
are enormous, if you are interested in volunteering
check out the project listings on the RAWCS website
for more information: www.rawcseastern.org.au/
All Rotarians are welcome to attend the RAWCS
meetings. If you can make it we would love to see you
there. It is a great chance to hear about some wonderful Rotary work undertaken and meet some inspiring Rotarians.
RAWCS is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Rotary Club of Penrith
RAWCS project number #79-2013-14
Project Manager: Dr. Amabel Harding (pictured)
The project will conduct annual
medical missions so that disadvantaged Filipinos can access medical
care. The project will help equip
rural health units so that they can
effectively assist their local communities.
In May a medical-surgical-dental
mission will travel to Leyte, Philippines in an area that was hit by
Typhoon Haiyan and also Typhoon Ruby. The surgical
mission will be conducted at Leyte Provincial Hospital
and the medical and dental consultations and minor surgeries will be conducted in the Municipal Hall of Tanaun.
Some education classes to target
chronic issues will be conducted.
New medical equipment has been
donated from DAK foundation, including an oxygen concentrator,
vital signs machine, suction machine and Foetal Dopplers (pictured).
Yours in Rotary Service,
Chairman: John Roberson
Secretary: Ted Lewis
Treasurer: Jack Elliott
Immediate Past Chairman: Harry Durey
Vice Chairman: Graham Taylor
Assistant Secretary: Ron Marcus
Volunteer Co-Ordinator: Karen Wyers
Project Registration Co-Ordinator: Lloyd Chatfield
Project Report Co-Ordinator: John Glass
Benevolent Society Co-Ordinator: Alan Chesworth
DIK: Miriam Jacka
Ranfurly Co-Ordinator: Graham Morphett
R.A.M. Co-Ordinator: David Pearson
RAWCS Rover Editor: Sue O’Neill
Training: Barry Silburn
Promotion Co-Ordinator: Sue O’Neill
Webmaster: Brian Goldstraw
District 9650
District 9670
District 9675
District 9685
District 9700
District 9710
PP Sue O’Neill
Rotary Club of WOY WOY D9685
PS. If you have an inspiring project or any RAWCS or
RABS news we would welcome a report to include in a
future RAWCS Rover. Please email me at
[email protected]
Looking for a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR)
RAWCS Overseas Aid Fund is a Deductible Gift Recipient so is able to oﬀer tax deductible donations to
support organisations with worthy projects outside
Australia. Rotary Australia Benevolent Society (RABS)
can provide a similar service within Australia.
Our Rotary Australia Overseas Aid Fund ABN: 21
388 376 554 holds the following registrations which
will enable it to accept tax deductible donations and
grants from all sources in Australia including business corporations and not-for-proﬁt organisations.
 Deductible Gift Recipient
 Tax Concession Charity
 Income Tax Exempt Fund
www.rawcs.org.au or talk to your District RAWCS
offi cer.
All RAWCS and RABS projects in all Regions are now
registered for online donations.
Bob Neich
Brian Coffey
Lloyd Chatfield
Theo Glockermann
Alan Chesworth
Brian Goldstraw
8
We hope to see you at our RAWCS
Meeting August 29th & 30th 2015
Location: Goulburn,
Host District: D9710