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A Diwali event, expertly organised by Govind, Sandhya and team has become a regular and popular addition to our annual calendar.  

This year was no exception and a large group of Rotarians, partners, family and friends joined together for a fun evening of great food, great entertainment and a great cause, I Am Hope. This year the event raised $7000 which will go to help I Am Hope provide the counselling support that many in our community need in a time of mental crisis. 

While Diwali is an Indian celebration the cultural entertainment for the evening went much wider than that. Guests were entertained by Indian drumming and dance but also Korean, Scottish, Mongolian and Sri Lankan dance. [More photos to come in following Bulletins.] 

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The guest speaker for the meeting on 3/11/2025 was Bill Charkow of Howick Rotary Club.

Bill has been a long term member and involved with the running of RYLA courses for about 20 years.In recent years it has been difficult to get Rotary Clubs involvement in overseeing the courses and a recent decision by Defence Force senior management not to officially support the project placed the project in jeopardy of having to close.However with the help of long term Rotary members support a plan to run it on a similar line to Trees for Survival with a business model was developed and 5 Directors elected to put the project on a more solid footing.

With help from the Commercial Business Community and continuing Rotary support the Courses were able to continue to run and now RYLA  is a successful event with funding and the support of members of the Defence Force who assist by attending in attire not related to their army employment.Without these people offering to volunteer for this role it would have been extremely difficult to find a group with the right background and experience to replace them.

While Rotary still has a major role in the RYLA courses there is considerable support now from the Commercial world with other Directors appointed to the board who are from this area.

The courses are run in June or July each year with an average of 60% female attendees and candidates nominated by Rotary Clubs totalling about 40%.

Please pay to our account 02 0223 0017811 005 reference name and Christmas.

Look forward to seeing you there. Ian H. 

Most readers of the Bulletin will associate Sistema with very handy plastic storage systems. 

It is also [ from Wikipedia] El Sistema (The System), officially National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela is a publicly financed, voluntary sector music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975.  The curriculum is built on the belief that the collective playing of music, especially orchestral and choral, fosters discipline, teamwork, and social integration.

It's a program that also runs in NZ with the largest operating in Otara where many hundreds of mostly Pasifika and Maori children get free lessons in orchestral instruments which are provided by the Sistema Trust. 

Concerts which can also include professional musicians from the Auckland Philharmonia are a celebration of music, colour and community. Children from pre-school to high school are involved with Sistema being very proud of their graduates who go on to careers in music. 

Sistema are very fortunate to attract funding support from a range of funders but as with any such organisation, especially one catering for such large numbers, money is always tight. If its something that you are interested in go on line to 

https://www.sistemaaotearoa.org.nz/. to find out more. 

Why is the Bulletin editor promoting this? Because his wife is the chair of the Trust and I get to attend their many concerts and to see just how much children and families get out of it. . 

Members will be wondering about what has happened to the progress on the sculpture.

The modifications are  nearing completion.  

Before the sculpture was installed it underwent rigorous testing on a test bed on the artists property. No problems were detected. However it is a kinetic installation - it moves - and Auckland is a windy place. Subsequently issues began to appear and some modifications to ensure better clearance of the moving parts were designed. Those changes are now being made by a professional fabricator.  

All going well it will soon, again take pride of place on the Rotary Walkway.  

With members health and situations sometimes not the best the club has an almoner.

Originally  almoner, was an officer responsible for distributing alms to the poor, usually connected with a religious house or other institution.  

Now the almoner is the person members can go to when they know of a health or other issue another member has so the club can rally around and provide support. 

Our clubs almoner is Malcom McLagan.