It wasn’t an easy start to life for young Māori woman Kriddles Roberts. Born into gang life, she experienced homelessness as a teenager on the streets of Sydney. However, by the time she was appointed the youngest ever president of the Rotary Club of Waitakere, NZ, in July, Kriddles already...
Australian Rotary Health’s Indigenous Health Program continues to make a difference
Australian Rotary Health’s Indigenous Health Scholarship Program has been providing opportunities to Australian Indigenous students in a wide range of health professions since 2003. A collaboration between Australian Rotary Health (ARH), Rotary clubs, some State or Territory Governments, and the Commonwealth Government, the scholarships offer students $5000 per year to...
Volunteering your way to health & happiness
Service has long been recognised as a fundamental feature of Rotary membership. But neither Rotary nor any of the other major service organisations has been able to gain a meaningful handle on the actual scale or economic value of the volunteer effort they mobilise. Now, a recent international report has...
Imperfection is better than inaction
Seemingly small lifestyle changes can have enormous impact on the environment. Imagine the impact of that small change replicated by 1.2 million Rotarians! My grandparents are unintentionally environmentally sensible people. They scrape every bit of butter from the container; use every part of the meat they buy; compost, then use...
World-first Rotaract Pride Club reflects diversity
In a world-first, the Rotary Club of Woolloongabba, Qld, has established a Rotaract Pride Club in support of the LGBTIQ+ community. The club is both a reflection of the diversity of the Brisbane community it operates in and an extension of the Rotary club’s work within the LGBTIQ+ community. For...
It’s official! The WHO region of Africa has been declared polio-free
After decades of work across 47 countries on the continent, the World Health Organisation declared the African region wild poliovirus-free on August 25, signifying a major milestone in the battle to eradicate the disease worldwide. The certification comes four years after Nigeria, the last polio-endemic country in Africa, recorded its...