President Rhonda opened the meeting. Rhonda welcomed the representatives of the community organisations which benefited from our recent funding of $25,000:
Alzheimer’s Foundation – Guy Malthus
Merivale Community – Sophie Rapson
Your Garden – Jess Hubbard and Joe Easterby
YSAR – Andrew Scott
Homes for Hope – Robyn Walker
Epilepsy NZ – Christine Sligo
Bay Twisters – Beccy Grigson and Tamsin Crilly
Breast Cancer BOP – Helen Alice
Te Puna Kindergarten – Suzanne Steens and Laree
Also Jan and Keegan. And Leone Trubshoe
Anniversaries: Neil Matson 70 today! Warwick de Vere 20 years in Rotary.
Thanks to the members of the International Committee for their efforts on Labour Day putting books in boxes for shipment.
Friday Fives Tonight
Dave Woodhouse is on leave of absence and happy to receive visitors.
- Viv Dykes – the Fine Homes event is proposed for February 2022. Viv asked us to think about suitable homes which can be submitted to the committee for consideration. The idea is to have a list of homes with some sort of “wow” factor. She will also be looking for volunteers in due course.
- Wayne - a Christmas Tree Disc painting session will be held at his place on 5 or 6 November. Contact Wayne.
- Michele – in addition to the books, it is possible there might be 80 desks and chairs available next week. These will need to be packed into a container at short notice. Please contact Michele if you would be available to help.
Ross Brown introduced our speaker Greg Brownless
Greg talked about his involvement in the events following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. He noted how sometimes things happen which change your view on life.
Greg had been on holiday in Vietnam and Phuket in late 2004. When he heard first about the tsunami he noticed that the death toll just kept climbing – it finished at a bit under 300,000. Greg set out to find out how he could help.
The Moslem victims, which included the local people and some visitors, were buried promptly, often in mass graves. The European nations put pressure on the Thai government to identify bodies for repatriation and burial. Greg had skills which were relevant to that process, and more importantly he was willing to use them.
Greg said a tsunami like this one moves at about 800 kph and while you may not notice it in the open ocean, when it reaches shore it can create a wave 10m high with enough power to drive it (at Phuket) up to 300m inland. Greg’s photos showed some examples of the destruction.
Greg’s description of the work was sufficiently graphic to make it clear that it must have been very hard. He told us of operating in very hot temperatures wearing full protective gear, handling bodies which even in the few days after the tsunami had deteriorated quite badly.
Greg returned to New Zealand but in about July 2005 he was contacted by an organisation called Kenyan International and returned to Thailand as a contractor to continue the work.
Greg closed his talk by saying that we need to make the most of every day because you never know what might happen. If you want to do something, do it because you will have more regrets from not doing something you want to do, than from doing it in the first place. Following Greg’s return to New Zealand he was instrumental in setting up Legacy Trust, and gifted his business to it.
Glenn thanked Greg on behalf of all of us for his talk.
The Raffle was won by Jim Rickard.
Dean Thompson gave us some post-election comments on politics and politicians, including urging our local politicians to do something about a housing development in Auckland to be called Auranga. Dean finished with a quote from Billy Connolly: “The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever becoming one”.
Parting Thought came from Shiv:
The only way to do great work is to love what you do (Steve Jobs)
