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Central Connection 9
 

Next meeting:

29 August 2017

We meet on Tuesdays at
5:30 for 6:00 PM at
The Dunedin Club
33 Melville Street
Dunedin,  9016
New Zealand
 
Apologies and meal guests to be entered into the web base (button below) by 11am on the day of the meeting.
To review your entries go to:
Speakers
Aug 29, 2017
"An Unpdate on the Middle East and then building a data centre and the people I worked with"
Sep 05, 2017
My life
Oct 03, 2017
Art
Oct 17, 2017
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Bulletin Editor
Graham Spence
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Reception 1
Thomas, Rajesh
 
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Eskdale, Murray
 
President's guest
Eskdale, Murray
 
Grace
Batchelor, Grant
 
Thought for the week
Batchelor, Grant
 
Speaker introduction
Foster, Lisa
 
Speaker thanks
Hall, Neville
 
Sergeant
Jefferies, S, Sandy
 
What's new
Hall, Neville
 
Heads and tails
Smith, Bob
 
Hospitality
Smith, Bob
 

Club Notices

1    President Sue welcomed her visitors Diana Watson and Dr Derek and 3 year old Hilda to our meeting
 
2    GLH no seeds have arrived yet from Japan.
 
3    We will be having a 35 tree planting on Saturday the 2nd of September at the Sinclair Wetlands. We will meet at Lke Waihola for lunch and then proceed to the Wetlands for the tree planting and a photo shoot with the other Rotary Club at 1.30. Remember to bring gardening shoes and a spade or fork.  
 
4   As previously noted the $300 gift from DG Bruce is to be donated to Access Radio. AR is used by 8 to 22 year olds. Rotoract and Interact members will be able to use it as well. Our Club will contribute and extra $700 this year and follw it up with $1000 next year. We will get a lot of PR from the venture for the Club.
 
5     Ah-Lek mentioned that the Rotary Club of Mosgiel will be having  their book sale on the 8th, 9th and 10th of September at the Bowling Green and we have been given the opportunity to take all that is left from 12 noon on the 10th. Ah-Lek will organise the help needed. Please keep the 10th free - "all the more the merrier".
 
6     Any unused unwanted, clean bras - bras are required for distribution to ??? obviously to those currently enjoying some freedom.        OR as Presi Sue puts it:
The Maori Hill Presbyterian Church Minister and a team of volunteers are going to Vanuatu in 10 days to help with the repair of a school and hostel in Palma. They are requesting bras and undies for the hostel girls who often come to school without any underwear.
If any Rotary club member wants  to donate, Sue will collect them at Tuesday’s meeting and make sure Geoff Skilton (Minister) gets them before he leaves.
 
7    For those that do not want to print off all pages of the bulletin, limit your print run to those that you do want a copy of. I suggest you include the duties list in your print off.
 
 
Prior to our guest speaker Heather,
Dr Derek and Diana gave an overview of what they do to fill their days up.
Diana spoke about the 30years that Derek had been taking health care to 3rd world countries. They spent 3 months overseas and 3 months here. Their time in NZ is so that they can raise funds for airfares and the next 3 months service overseas.
Diana introduced us to Hilda a Vanuatu girl who has 7 siblings and whose parents asked Derek to look after her as they could not afford to keep or educate her.
Diana has started a library on Vanuatu, where Hilda comes from, and is trying to get books to stock it. We will do our bit by getting children's books from our 'book sale' stock and Derek K has undertaken to pack them and organise transport. Most who live there are not aware of any life outside Vanuatu so the books hopefully, will broaden their outlook.
Death is a tremendous occasion there and they have 40 days of mourning. Sorcery and witchcraft are still prevalent. See below for a full account of their past itinerary and history.
 
 
This week's guest speaker
Rotarian Heather McLean
Heather started her talk with this succinct summary of her first years.
Hi I was born, Heather Margaret Leckie,  in Timaru on 12th January 1953 - the year Queen Elizabeth was crowned and Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Mt Everest. Not too sure if these two events have had an influence on my life, but I have had some interesting experiences and had many high mountains to climb. My Grandfather's brother - the late Sandy Leckie, started Leckie's butchery and he was a great man who had a heap of wisdom to share with me.
I am the second eldest of six children. My father died aged 38 the day after I turned 13 years old. My Mother did a great job, trying to keep her head above water with regard to financing her large family on her own.  We  milked 15 cows, had  a number of sows and raised their offspring on 40 acres of land at Hunter, 7 miles north west of  Waimate. Mum wore out three knitting machines in her life as she worked to earn a little extra.
My brothers and sisters and I had to pick raspberries and strawberries as kids. One day I told Mum: "I'm not going back!!" She said "You will not have any money" I told her I didn't care" I still hate the smell of raspberries!!
I do not believe in pursuing activities that do not give rewards.
 
Heather's full history is below for those that want to avail themselves of her very full and interesting journey.
 
 
 
Sergeant's Session
As we had basically two speakers we did without a Sergeant's session - 
apart from President Sue's effort to embarrass the Bulletin Editor 
The Thought 4 the Week
"If you believe you can do it, your'e half way there"
via Sandy Jefferies.
 
 
SPEAKER INTRODUCTION
 
        Speakers are paying us a compliment when they give up their time to speak to us. Some are professional speakers but most are trying to interest us in their activities. They greatly appreciate our making their visit comfortable.
 
a      Meet them as soon as possible after they arrive.
b      Introduce to President.
c      See they have a drink and if they need a glass of water during their talk.
d      Show them the layout of the room and help with screen, etc, if required.
e      Sit with the speaker during the meal at the top table. Inquire as to the most pertinent information in their background to use in your introduction, again stress the need to stick to the agreed timing. (Normally 20mins) This is important as members often have other engagements after the meeting.
 
Rotary is fun
Brockville 2017
Happy faces at Brockville
Carisbrook 2017
Dictionaries in Schools is sure a worthwhile project
 
DUTIES
 
Duty      29th Aug 5th Sept 12th Sept
       
Duty One Rajesh T Rob M Bob C
Duty Two Murray E Annette M Don A
Grace Grant B Sandy J Bob C
Thort 4 Week Grant B Sandy J Bob C
Guest Intro Lisa F Jenny S Stephen G
Guest Thanks Neville H Barbara H Andrew H
Sergeant Sandy J Alison A Heather McL
Heads & Tails Bob S Penny S Beth S
Hospitality Bob S Everyone Beth S
What’s New Neville H ??? Don A
l
 
Troppodoc - Dr Derek Allen and Ms Diana Watson
Toppodoc is non-governmental organisation and was founded in 2002 to help Dr Derek Allen provide free medical care to those in need in the developing world.

''We try and find the poorest people in the world,'' Dr Allen, a former Dunedin School of Medicine student, said.

The countries visited included Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Burkina Faso and Somaliland and the medical work included pulling teeth, dispensing medicine and performing operations.

The organisation had a pool of about about 30 volunteers and usually worked in a country for three months.

The volunteers treated about 100 people a day and they often queued overnight for treatment, Dr Allen said.

If the medical attention had not been available, many of the people would have died, he said.

Dunedin midwife Diana Watson said she had been a full-time TroppoDoc volunteer for the past two years.

The organisation needed more volunteers, she said.

''We are always looking for people, who are not necessarily medical but must be 100% enthusiastic in helping poor people.''

Many volunteers had no medical background but helped with tasks including dispensing medicine, bandaging sores, decorating schools, teaching people how to grow vegetables and installing systems to produce clean water.

Volunteers did not get paid but the villages usually provided free food and basic accommodation, Ms Watson said.

''We are usually sleeping on the ground and there is no toilets or showers, so you need to have a bucket shower. It's not glamorous.''

Dr Allen said people volunteered to live in the ''harsh'' conditions because the work was rewarding.

''What you get back is worth it. It's amazingly rewarding helping poor people. I've been doing it 30 years and once you start you can't stop.''

Dr Allen said some of the experiences were challenging, including the common practice in Somaliland of sewing a girl's vagina closed after her first menstruation to protect her against being raped.

''It would be unsewn the night before her marriage. It's amazing this still happens in our world.''

Dr Allen said in Somaliland it was common practice for people with mental health issues, including depression, schizophrenia and dementia, to be chained to a tree and ''fed like a dog'' because there was no treatment available.

On a trip to Vanuatu, Dr Allen and Ms Watson began the shared guardianship of Hilda, a girl from a Vanuatu family, whose parents struggled to care for their seven children and asked for help, Ms Watson said.

''She travels with us. She has done 38 flights so far. She has been to Africa, South America, Indonesia, New Zealand three times,'' Ms Watson said.

Dr Allen and Ms Watson would continue to care for Hilda until her education was complete and she would return to Vanuatu every year to visit her parents.  ''She travels with us. She has done 38 flights so far. She has been to Africa, South America, Indonesia, New Zealand three times,'' Ms Watson said.

Dr Allen and Ms Watson would continue to care for Hilda until her education was complete and she would return to Vanuatu every year to visit her parents.  

 
 
Heather's life history
 
Heather's talk was so comprehensive and compelling it is reproduced here in it entirety. I promised Heather that i would not 'just' copy it but!! - I hope you don't mind Heather.
Hi I was born, Heather Margaret Leckie, in Timaru on 12th January 1953 - the year Queen Elizabeth was crowned and Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Mt Everest. Not too sure if these two events have had an influence on my life, but I have had some interesting experiences and had many high mountains to climb. My Grandfather's brother - the late Sandy Leckie, started Leckie's butchery and he was a great man who had a heap of wisdom to share with me.
I am the second eldest of six children. My father died aged 38 the day after I turned 13 years old. My Mother did a great job, trying to keep her head above water with regard to financing her large family on her own.  We milked 15 cows, had a number of sows and raised their offspring on 40 acres of land at Hunter, 7 miles northwest of Waimate. Mum wore out three knitting machines in her life as she worked to earn a little extra.
My brothers and sisters and I had to pick raspberries and strawberries as kids. One day I told Mum: "I'm not going back!!" She said "You will not have any money" I told her I didn't care" I still hate the smell of raspberries!!
I do not believe in pursuing activities that do not give rewards.
Mum sold our small farm when I was 17 and I moved to Dunedin where I trained as a Primary School Teacher for three years from 1970 - 1972.  Before I went to College I worked at the Studholme Pea Factory and arrived in Dunedin with the total sum of $100 which I needed to buy books etc. I lived with the late Bill and Doreen Christie and Family for the first year. Bill was deputy Mayor for a long time. The father of the girl I roomed with paid her full years board when she arrived!! Heather had no money but boy I had some fun.
Bill and Doreen were great and took me to another part of Dunedin and afield every weekend. I certainly know a lot of places and have really enjoyed learning about the area.
I joined Young Farmers and still have a huge number of friends from that time. I was at a 70th birthday party for one of them a month ago. I flatted for the second and third year and that was a lot of fun.
When I left College I was posted to the biggest school in Christchurch but I did not want to go to a city again. Therefore through a bit of "Standing up for myself" (which I have done a lot of), I was posted to Awamoa School in Oamaru. The lecturer who helped me complained that I had to change boards and schools. He said "Get out of here and come back later" When I came back he said "Sign you are in!!" I said "You can do anything that you want" That has been my philosophy all my life.
I met my husband, Ross, soon after I began teaching in Oamaru. I taught two years at Awamoa School, one year at Fernbrook School and three at Totara School where there were 50% Chinese children.  Ross and I were married on 7th June 1975 at the Anglican Church in Waimate - my Mother-in-law tried to tell me that I had to be married in the Presbyterian Church and in Oamaru - that wasn't going to happen!! My father-in-law said that when his son got married he had to have God Save the Queen and relations at the wedding - I said "Well he won't be marrying me!"
We farmed at Waianakarua and All Day Bay (McLean's had lived at All Day Bay since 1860. You may notice that McLean's Road is just North of Herbert and this runs right down to All Day Bay. Turn off at The Mill House for a lovely Coastal drive and you will go past this area.
Just after we moved to Waianakarua, Ross had a terrible car crash when a tyre blew out and the car was flung upside down along the right hand side of the bigger Waianakarua bridge, then tipped onto the road and he was thrown out after his safety belt broke, hitting his head severely on the bottom ledge of the bridge. He was in very bad shape with the top of his head coming off. He was unconscious for nine days, and after being told he would die that night - he made an amazing recovery.
We have four sons: 
Jamie who is married to Michelle and have two lovely children: Olivia who is almost 8 and Isaac who is 6. Jamie is a drafter for Silver fern Farms and Michelle is an HR for Fraser McKenzie Accounting in Oamaru. Jamie started off in Dunedin after stints on large farms in between going to Lincoln. He now has the Waimate Area and they have just built their brand new home near the North Otago Golf Course.
David has his own business in Sydney: Leki Installations. He employs up to 15 fellows and works from Canberra to Newcastle and has also helped build the new Darwin Hospital.
When David was at Otago University he spent two holidays on Fraser Island in Australia. One day his Aussie mates asked him "What was your mother's maiden name?” He replied "Leckie" They laughed at him and thought that was the Maori name for Blacks as he goes very dark when he has had too much sun!! So he called his business Leki Installations. When you are in Sydney, next, look to see if you see many high rise buildings with louvers on them - probably David's work.
David recently married the Duchess of Bronte, Laura, and they have a gorgeous little fellow, Ted. My father's name was Edward James and unbeknown to David he has named Little Ted the same.
Our third son, Roy was something of a rebel. At the end of his sixth form the Rector at Kings asked Ross what Roy was doing next year. Ross said - coming back to school. The rector replied I hope you have a cell phone and have it on. Roy left school and went to Otago PolyTech to do an IT course.
He had been there about six months and we got a phone call to say that if we weren't in there with $3000 today then tomorrow we would owe $6000. He hadn't paid any board. Great.
So he left there and thought he would try Dairying. He ended up on a farm in North Otago. He stayed there for one year and then told me "The only friend I have up here is my brother - I am going to join the army!! Boy how was that going to go? I went with him to his first group meeting to find out about the army and what was expected of them.. They told the recruits that they had to do everything themselves - including toilets, beds the right way etc. I asked Roy, "How are you going to cope?"  He replied: "It will be a piece of piss, Mum" Indeed it has been.  He graduated out of the initial course top of his group, has gone onto become a Sergeant, has his Paratrooper wings and has had many postings. Including: Afganistan, Solomons, East Timor and then three postings to Kabul where he was involved with some rather terrible situations.  He also applied to go on a course to Singapore. - he was the only Kiwi to apply. When he had been in Singapore a short time he sent an email to his mates and his Mum and Dad. He was complaining bitterly about how they were treating him - including taking his cell phone off him. One of his mates replied and that email came past me. They were laughing and saying that was why they didn't apply to go. I told him there is good in everything we do so look for some.  Well things improved dramatically - he ended up with his own apartment, own car and own maid!! He sent me a photo of the group who were on this course and said "Pick Out the Whitey, Mum - he was the only one!!
He has now gone onto transfer to the Aussie Army, is a top soldier, has become an Aussie Citizen - a requirement to be in the Aussie Army, married a beautiful Pilipino girl, Sherry Mae - on Boracy Island (Reputed to be the second most beautiful island in the world) and has a gorgeous little girl, Poppy who is now 17 months old. He also has a Stepson, Josh, who is also living with them plus his Mother-in-law and they are all living in Brisbane. He is a top golfer and was the Captain of the New Zealand services team and is No 1 for the Aussie army.  Amazing how a rebel like him  has turned out.
A great example of what you can achieve if you put your mind to it.
Our youngest son, Grant left school to also be in the army. He was a driver and also had a posting to East Timor. He has since finished in the army and is now an underwater diving engineer in Auckland. He has recently set up on his own and that seems to be going rather well. While having a chat, recently, with Eleanor she told me her son, James, was also in the army. I asked Grant if he knew James Archer - he said no. When I told Eleanor that Grant didn't know her son, James Archer, she told me that his name was James Faber - or Dougie Faber as the boys called him. Small world as Grant has spent a lot of time with James and has also met Eleanor!!
My boys all went to boarding School - Jamie to Waitaki and the other three to Kings in Dunedin.
One day when Grant was at boarding school the hostel boys heard on the radio that school was closed until 10am because of snow. They thought it would be fun to ring the radio and impersonate Lindsay Hocking and cancel it again until 11am. That worked really well so they called again and cancelled for the whole day. However they didn't realise that they had closed Kings and Queens and that they were in the middle of school exams!!  Many weeks later I got a phone call from Lindsay Hocking and he said" Hello Mrs McLean, I'm afraid I have to suspend your son." I said "What has Roy been doing now? He said “Not Roy, Grant." Grant has been the impersonator!!  At least my boys have had fun and grown into fine young men who know how to work and have done well for themselves.
In 1986, just after we bought the McLean Family farm at All Day Bay - we were hit with Rogernomics. Interest rates went from 7% to 20%. We had paid $400,000 for the farm - a year later it was valued at $180,000. We were also in the middle of a full on drought. Ewes were selling for $1 and lambs for $6. Not a lot of income to raise four young boys. So in 1996 we moved to Hindon where we leased Mt Hyde Station. This was a really lovely place to bring up our boys who had the run of 1800 acres. We stayed here for five years and then Ross worked for the neighbour for a further five years.
When we moved to Hindon in 1996, I had a year off teaching and then I relieved in classes and had a number of part time classes. I taught a lot at Arthur Burns School in Mosgiel and had a group known as The McLean Naughty boys!! These fellows were great and I had great fun with them, taking them on outings if they had done all that was asked. I do believe that many of our children need to be given a chance and have fun. They certainly had both in abundance.
In 2002 I saw an advertisement in the local Property Press for a job in Real Estate - offering a retainer and a vehicle supplied. I applied and turned up at the interview. I said I don't have a CV, I do have a car and I know how to work. They hired me.
I worked for this firm until 2007 when the atmosphere was getting a bit rough. Ross and I have always been ground members at Carisbrook and now the Stadium since we moved to be closer to our boys at school in Dunedin. One night I was in the Referees Room at Carisbrook and was introduced to a chap by the name of John Cutler - I had never heard of him and asked him what he did. He said "Real Estate" He asked me how I was going and when I mumbled a not too positive reply he said "Perhaps we need to have a coffee sometime" The next week things were very unpleasant so I called John and I said that I would like to have that coffee. That was Thursday, he said when do you want to start, I said "Monday" he said "You don't waste time" I never have. Working for Cutlers is great. The team are exactly that and when there is a deal to be done with competition, we all hook in and compete among ourselves for the benefit of our sellers who are the most important cog in the equation.  I really enjoy Real Estate where I have met a huge number of people. The buzz of putting deals together, the energy required to deal with everyone and all situations can be a bit stressful - but I do not let that faze me. I now have a data base of over 1200 clients who I have dealt with through selling to them or for them. The challenge of something different happening every day at any time of the day is great. Many people think hat Real Estate agents work all hours - we do but this career has given me the opportunity to do what I want when I want - so long as I have my cell phone with me. One time I went with an agent from another company to look at a property at Hampden - on the way home we decided to play golf at Palmerston. His phone rang and he told the caller "I'm just looking at a farm!!" Maybe but he wasn't on a farm.
Real Estate had enabled us to buy a small block of land on Saddle Hill and to build the most beautiful home. This was of Oregon Logs and such a wonderful place to live. There were 50 acres, but being rather steep was really a lot larger than that. Maybe you would like to Google www.saddlehilllodge.co.nz where you can see some photos of our home. I really enjoyed the home stays and met hundreds of very nice people from all over the world. We always gave them a real Kiwi experience and the comments in my visitors book is testament to that.
From 2006 my husband, Ross was working as a fencer for Kim Rapley and also spraying gorse for Otago Spraying - which Kim owned. In January 2013 we bought Otago Spraying Ltd off Kim and Ross was in his element and making great money as he had already worked the business for four years - knew all the farmers and was building the business up very nicely. We had the contract with Electrics which involved spraying under all pylons from Clinton to Palmerston. On Saturday 16th February Ross was spraying and about 6.30pm he went to spray the last of his load around some pylons on the Mungatuas, near Outram. He got out of his truck to open a gate and then the truck started to roll back, so he reached into the cab to turn the truck up the bank to stop it - he over did that and the truck rolled over on top of him - killing him instantly. This was a most dreadful time for myself and my family and so terrible as I couldn't find him - with the help of Search and Rescue he was located the next afternoon. Ross was a very hard working person, had many many friends and loved his family dearly. The attendance at his funeral was testament to him.
Since I have been on my own, I farmed our property but increasingly this was taking me away from my Real Estate work - with sheep and cattle to care for and Saddle Hill Lodge Home stay, I was full time in every way. So last July I found a lovely family with four children who could see the value in my home and they have continued on the home stays and are farming the land.
I enjoy travel and last year was lucky enough to be invited to an Indian wedding in Rajkot - North of India. We also stayed in Mumbai and with the benefit of guides had a great look around. While in Rajkot I was taken to the International Rotary Doll Museum - where there were displays from all over the world.
Then this April I travelled to a little place called Mollymook - about three hours south of Sydney for David and Laura's wedding. Was so beautiful and boasted two Rick Steiner hotels. Then we drove to Melbourne for a couple of days.
I also own an e-bike and have now done a few trails: A2O (Mount Cook to Oamaru -360kms), The Clutha Gold Trail (Clyde to Lawrence - 200 kms), The Round the Mountains (Queenstown to Walter Peak to Kingston - 180kms) Aramoana and over on the Wheels Over Water Boat (70kms) to Portobello and we are just planning the West Coast Wilderness Trail for the beginning of November (- 139kms)
I travel to Australia at least three times a year and to Auckland at least once to visit family. I don't have any big trips planned at the moment. However I have always travelled to see our boys in their sport and Grant has told me that he may be going to a rugby tournament in Melbourne in September, so I might just have to go to that.
When I sold Saddle Hill I bought a unit in South Dunedin. Going from a four bedroom three bathroom 347m2 (plus 126m2 of decking) home to a two bedroom unit was quite a change. I also bought another four units that are near me and that I rent out, so I do have an income without relying entirely on Real Estate income. I have settled well and enjoy being able to lock up and leave without worrying about animals, gardens and other people.
I do not intend to stay in Dunedin forever and will soon be weighing up my options.
I have three sisters in Timaru, a brother in Geraldine and another in Waimate and family in Oamaru - so I will go north but not sure how far.
Thank you so much for listening to this long ramble.