PP Dougie introduced fellow Rtn Alan Brown from the Rotary Club of Royal Hua Hin to explain how he remained connected to Rotary while being under strict lockdown in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from Glasgow, Rtn Alan Brown studied electrical engineering before engaging in a career in ship building, steelmaking, foundries, locomotive, and nuclear power.  Rtn Alan has been a significant contributor to the Rotary Club of Royal Hua Hin and is also the Chair of Inter Club Relations and the Chair of Thai Australia Intercountry Committee.
 

Rotary International has a good presence in Australia, which started with the first club of RC of Melbourne in 1921 and remains the current sister club of the RC of Bangkok. 
 

At present in Australia there are more than 1,100 Rotary Clubs with 30,000 Rotarians. For Rtn Alan it all started with the RC of Cheltenham when he met Rtn Peter Murie and Rtn Ian Risley. Rtn Alan made an active effort to engage regional DGs in order to gain relationships with other Rotary clubs in the area. While the RC of Cheltenham has been operating with Zoom meetings during this lockdown, they have been able to engage in activities with the Southern Autistic School, Speaker Nights, Secondary Rotary Market, and Fellowship.

For the Southern Autistic School, the RC of Cheltenham created an event with “sausage sizzle” BBQ, children’s game, amusements, and animal interactions, much to the enjoyment of the children and parents alike. They also host a weekly Sunday Farmer’s Market as an ongoing fundraising activity. 

When visiting the RC of Lilydale, Rtn Alan was introduced to several initiatives that caught his attention more specifically Days for Girls Talk, Wheelchairs for Kids, and Donations in Kind. For instance the Donations in Kind, which operates under RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service), where they recycle medical, school, and other general equipment. Rotary clubs collect items from local hospitals, schools, and businesses to help check, package, and dispatch to locations in need globally. Donations in Kind, at the facility in West Footscray, has shipped during the period  2000-2021 over THB 1.6 Billion in goods in over 600 containers to a wide range of countries. The Wheel Chairs for Kids has distributed 47,774 wheelchairs to over 90 locations worldwide, including 336 to Thailand alone.

Rtn Alan also attended for nine months, through Zoom, meetings at the RC of Noble Park - Dingley where he got involved with grape picking, picnic days, horse racing and fellowship activities. One expression at that club that resonated with Rtn Alan was “Friendhships in Rotary know no borders”. RC of Noble Park - Dingley also collaborated with Rtn Alan and the RC Club of Royal Hua Hin to support the Jungle Aid Foundation with a new truck sporting the Rotary Clubs respective logos as it travels from Hua Hin to the Myanmar border. At the RC of Nedlands & Joondalup - Perth in Western Australia, Rtn Alan helped with the Bridging the Silence initiative as a joint venture with RC of Khon Kean International and RAWCS to assist new born children with possible hearing deficiencies through audiology equipment. At the RC of Frankston Sunrise, Rtn Alan was involved with the golf day fundraiser that raised over THB 1.2 million for service activities.

Moving closer to home with important inter club projects opportunities driven by the RC of Royal Hua Hin, Rtn Alan explained two such initiatives: TELK and Thai Voices. RCRHH also helped in the construction of the Anuban Nong Khon School of Hua Hin with a sponsored classroom for TELK (Technology Enhanced for Learning for Knowledge). The Thai Voices project, pioneered by Rtn Dr. Keith Humphreys' efforts in Hong Kong, created the Panyankul School at Petchaburi to meet the needs of autistic children. There are now a total of 19 schools in Thailand with the Ministry of Education taking notice by adopting new teaching methods introduced by the Panyankul Schools. Rtn Alan hopes he can collaborate with other RC in Thailand upon his return to help scale this positive initiative even further. PP Dougie mentioned that it’s worth exploring further joint collaboration projects, especially in areas such as wheelchairs and education. Rtn Joe was kind enough to provide Rtn Alan a vote of thanks on behalf of the RC of Bangkok South highlighting his significant contributions and insights on how to keep in touch despite the hurdles that COVID restrictions have imposed on all of us.

On behalf of RCBS Rtn Joe Scuderi gave the vote of thanks.


Reported by Rtn Sunny Patel