I would like to draw your attention to the recent humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria. The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that struck on Feb. 6 surpassed 50,000 on Friday. Wendy and I sent a letter to the Turkish Nurses Association, offering our support to our nursing colleagues and our best wishes from all members of the GNMRC.
In response, the following points were raised by the TNA:
"To summarize the current situation and our needs;
1. Nurses working in the earthquake area have problems maintaining their hygiene due to the earthquake. Cold weather is a serious problem as they work outdoors in tents or in damaged buildings with heating problems. We need to provide them with clean uniforms and clothing which will keep them warm.
2. Millions of people are placed in tent cities or in shelters in the provinces where they were transferred. Turkish Nurses Association hopes to establish shelters to provide health services for earthquake victims. We need equipment and financial support to provide and maintain these services. 3. Many nursing students have lost their families or homes. They are not able to continue their nursing education. We planned to create a fund for earthquake survivor nursing students to continue their nursing education. We need support to achieve this goal.
We are aware of and appreciate that we have caring and supportive international nursing colleagues. That gives us a sense of hope during this hard time. Thank you so much for any support you can provide."
As a club we believe we believe we can focus on point three (3)
Rotarian Maggie - has offered to run a flower pot painting afternoon as a fund raiser (and those of us who have been to Maggie's know what a fun time that is).
Rotarians Sue, Louise and Wendy are thinking about a conference from which we can raise funds.
Wendy is attending the District Conference in March and can challenge and invite each club in District to donate $100.00 to our Turkish Student Nurse Fund.
I invite all of you to consider the plight of our colleague open your imagining to how you could do some fund raising in your workplaces / with your colleagues.
This will be a major initiative for our club and our legacy as a club.
Please email Wendy your ideas for fund raising and assisting our student nurse colleagues by Thursday 2nd March at the latest (wendy@davaar.com.au).
Wendy will compile your ideas / thoughts / questions to present to the leadership team on Monday 6th March (remember any member can attend the leadership meetings however only leadership team can vote at those meetings).
Please note that we have two zoom meeting links. The link for the general meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of each month is
Our presenter for the education meeting on Tuesday the 28th Feb is Charter member Rukhsana Aziz who will be sharing her experiences as a midwife working in different countries and learning the importance of understanding culture of the women that she has supported.
Rukhsana has a wealth of experience and will integrate into the session her experiences of traversing the midwifery ladder.
This will be an informative, thought provoking and heart felt presentation.
Project Portfolio leads are Louise Webber & Jules Aitken. Louise and Jules are open to suggestions from members
Education Lead
Nicole Purcell has the role of Education Lead for the club. Nicole is looking forward to ensuring quality education / information sessions for our members on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
If you have an idea for a presenter / topics please let Nicole know, she would love to hear from you. Nicole can be contacted at kelsoqueen29@gmail.com.
Protecting the Environment - One of the 7 areas of Focus for Rotary
On the 22nd December, 2022, Past President Wendy conducted a Q&A zoom with Dr Nina Lansbury from UQ about climate change, health provision and Rotary. The full video is available in our vimeo site. The link below is a snippet from the interview
Wendy would also like to have a member of the GNMRC join her in writing an article about their experiences as nurses and midwives around the changes they have experienced related to climate events. So stay tuned for an email from Wendy.
We are a very busy Club - below is a snapshot of the projects that we are currently involved in.
End Polio Now
The Three C's Cafe
Hello Rotarians
As you are aware the Three C’s Cafe Check in Connect Chat is one of our major projects. The Three C’s Cafe offers a virtual space for colleagues to come into for a chat about professional matters of interest to them / and a space in which to be supported. The cafe is open to colleagues where ever they are in the world. The cafe is open to members of this club and non members.
I will be commencing an 8 week training to be a Cafe Facilitator from Wednesday 1st March then every Wednesday for 8 weeks the sessions will be 1800-1945hrs AEST (Qld time). Participants in the training will also get the opportunity to sit in a cafe and learn from that experience before actually running a cafe.
The dates of the training will be: 1st March, 8th March, 15th March, 22nd March, 29th March, 5th April , 12th April, 19th April
1. The training will be via zoom - each participant will have the opportunity to practice - being a cafe facilitator, a cafe co-facilitator and a participant.
2. There is a workbook with videos and reflective exercises and participants have to complete a section of the workbook before each training session.
3. Each training session is recorded so that participants can take time to reflect on what was learnt in preparation for the next session.
4. I provide feedback on participant progress with the training.
5. There is a certificate awarded at the end of the training for those who complete it from my company - Davaar Consutlancy
As a club we value this project and want to be able to see it successfully operating in different countries with members in different country's running it.
If you would like to be part of the training please let me know.
Kind regards
Shelter Box is an exceptional organisation that our Club has partnered with. They provide emergency relief to people around the world who have been made homeless by natural disasters and conflict.
We have pledged to fund five Shelter Boxes each year for the next 3 years. The cost is $1000 per Shelter Box and we raise funds for this through raffles and events held at Education Conferences conducted by the Nurses for Nurses Network and Education at Sea.
A big thank you to the work of Sue, Jason and Louise to make this happen. Shelterbox is very active in Turkey and Syria due to the recent devastating earthquakes. Wendy, charter president, donated $2 000 to shelterbox this February after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Project lead Cecelia Flomo invites members of the club who are interested in being involved in this project to contact her and then, as a team, they can determine future progress for the project
The Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF), the charitable arm of ICN, launched the Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF) in 2005 with the mission of supporting access to education for the orphaned daughters of nurses in developing countries.
The Rotary Solar Case has been developed, first and foremost, to provide light in remote health centres, aiding health workers where the availability of electricity is problematic at the best of times. The ability to provide portable lights for village birthing assistants is a major priority in areas where women often give birth in village huts or village health centres where the light from kerosene lanterns or mobile phones is otherwise the best available alternative.
If you want to know the date of any of the Club Meetings or Events then go to the events page on the website.
Meeting agendas and minutes are sent out by the club Secretary attached to an email a few days before the meeting takes place. If you are not receiving those emails then contact the Club Secretary on secretary.gnmrotaryclub@gamail.com
February's Recipe
2023
24th-26th March - District 9620 Conference Leadership Hands, Mind Heart & Mind Brisbane Australia. The conference will be celebrating 100 years of Rotary in Qld. There is a great line up of speakers (see link below). Registration for the conference is also in the link. It would be great to have a good representation from our club attend the conference and a great change for us to catch up in the same space together.
27th-31st May - Rotary International Conference - Melbourne Australia
11th-14th June - ICM Triennial Congress - Bali Indonesia
We have created a Global Nurses and Midwives Club Brochure that we can use to give out to people in they are interested in joining us or want to know what we are about.
Please have a look at the Brochure and distribute it to Nurses and Midwives who you think would be interested in Joining our Club.
If you would like to present to other Nursing colleagues or to other Rotary Clubs in your area about the Global Nurses and Midwives Rotary Club Wendy and her team have created a Powerpoint presentation and notes to assist you.
As with all the documents that are referred to in the Bulletin these resources are available for you to download from the website. Just log in to the Member's area and choose the documents tab. Our website address is https://gnmrotaryclub.com/
Have you accessed the Members Website?
The Members area of the Global Nurses and Midwives Website houses a lot of information about our club.
You can find all the documents that are discussed at meetings and in the Bulletin, plus check your own details, communicate with other Members and there is an App you can download so you can access info anywhere, anytime.
