David Clark of Rotary Club of Lower Blue Mountains, NSW, knows firsthand the difference the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) makes to the lives of young participants.

Siobhan Clifford, a 15 year old from Winmalee High school with a passion for music, said the RYPEN camp gave her the strength and courage to follow her dream to sing.  Siobhan has been selected as one of the performers for the new Hi-5 team.

“The RYPEN camp was really a life changer, as I was just sitting on the fence” Siobhan said. “It really made me think about what I wanted to do in the future and to make goals and plans to achieve it. Thank you Rotary. I will always think about that weekend that changed my life.”

Rypen article

Since 2005, the Rotary Club of Padstow, NSW, has collected unsold magazines from local newsagents and distributed them to nine local nursing homes and aged care facilities, as well as a local school.

Some nursing homes have local primary school students read the magazines to the residents.

The Rotary Club of Padstow encourages other clubs to consider similar projects to foster literacy rates.

Rotary recreational reading for wrinklies

With the support of a group of New Zealand Rotarians, leprosy victims and their families in Tanzania are receiving the care they deserve.

When PDG Stuart Batty and the late John Somerville travelled to Tanzania in 2001, their journey took them to the Upendo Rehabilitation Home for Leprosy Sufferers in Maji ya Chai. The centre was home to 150 men, women and children, including widows of Leprosy victims and families where both parents suffered the debilitating, though curable, condition.

The sisters, with Rotary’s support, further prepare the children for formal schooling and encourage residents to realise their potential despite their circumstances.

Cared for with love article

Fun and fantastical fashion were the order of the day at the Rotary Club of Frankston’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in October – raising funds for Interplast.

High Tea at the mad Hatter’s Tea Party