Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment
Over the last weekend in March, the Inglewood Rotary Club again hosted the RYPEN course for students aged 15-17 years, from all over the lower half of the North Island. Fifty students from 27 colleges and one home-schooled student were sponsored by 24 Rotary Clubs and all the students arrived at Vertical Horizon camp on Friday night not knowing each other. All were very quiet and somewhat timid. Between Friday night and lunchtime Sunday, things changed!
Best Friends Forever and “I’ll miss you” to “the weekend should be longer”, were all phrases in abundance as everyone departed after Sunday lunch. Cooking marshmallows over the campfire on Saturday night was a hit, as were the two guest speakers. The course theme for the weekend was “Be bold, be brave” and this was very much in evidence when Friday night guest speaker Paul Rangiwahia challenged the students to think about themselves when he spoke about mindfulness and looking after your mental health. Lake traverse, Flying Kiwi, the Raft Race and the Mud Run were all physical and mental challenges, then came Sunday’s guest speaker Jamie Turner, whose theme was “Expand the Edges” which was another way to conquer the challenges when fear, bullying, embarrassment and a lack of confidence come our way.
The evaluation forms all had two things in common, the macaroni cheese for lunch on Saturday wasn’t hugely popular and, the course should be a week, not a weekend! The warm letters and emails from students, parents and teachers have made RYPEN 2021 highly rewarding for all the Inglewood Rotarians and we know that we have changed the lives of several young men and women, which is why we do what we do. Planning is already underway for the 2022 course.
Rotary House was first built in 1966 by the Inglewood Old Folks Association with the help and impetus of the then six-year-old Inglewood Rotary Club. In 2012 the OFA went into recess and transferred the hall "back" to the Inglewood Rotary Club to be maintained and cared for by the Club's Charitable Trust. Since then a new kitchen has been installed and this week, with the significant assistance of the Taranaki Electricity Trust and their generous grant, a new roof is about to be constructed over the flat-roofed area of the building. The flat roof has been leaking badly for some time and became worse last winter, as the butynol was failing after 25 years, having been renewed in the mid-1990's. This exciting project will allow interior decorating and some exterior painting to be done and bring the building back to life, once again offering a pleasant environment in which to meet. Work is expected to be complete by mid-June.
What is it like taking a large team to Africa? It has probably been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. In mid February, I began leading Rotary members from all over the East Coast of the United States through Ghana. I’ve tried to give the team a warm Ghanaian welcome like I’ve received on my earlier trips. A large trip is a real blessing because each person sees Ghana and our work in a different way.
Throughout India and around the world, Rotary clubs are celebrating a major milestone: India has gone three years without a new case of polio. The last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal on 13 January 2011. To mark this historic triumph, Rotary clubs illuminated landmarks and iconic structures throughout the country with four simple but powerful words, "India is polio free."
For years, Angalia Bianca had slept in abandoned buildings throughout Chicago. She stole. She did drugs. She spent time in and out of jail for forgery, theft, trespassing, and possession of narcotics. But after she landed in prison for the seventh time, something changed -- Bianca knew she wanted a better life. She just didn’t know how to make it happen.
