Members Present: PP. Richard, Rtn. Stewart, Dieter Dratwa (prospective member) PP. David, PP Walter, P. Jonathan, PP Andy. PP Karen, PP Sam.
Guests:
Angela Fane and David Martin from Ocean For All Foundation
Christy Thrasherand, Regina Pulbino, as well Bunny Grau, all guest of PP David Arell
Returning Guest Rtn. Pascal from the RC of Zottegen (Belgium)
Matthew Barclay, the Australian Consul-General on Phuket
Opening by P. Jonathan welcomed the guests.
Updates:
P. Jonathan - None
Treasurer PP David - None
Secretary PP Walter, that any registered member for the weekly meeting who
is a No Show will have to pay the 350 THB at the next meeting as we have to pay per head to the hotel.
Chairperson of Membership PP Sam - That the application for the membership proposal of Mr. Dieter is in, and if no appeal until Wednesday the 30th received, he will be approved as a new member to the club
Foundation Chair PP. Sam - The DDF for our Swimming Project is ready to file with District.
PP. Richard the Helmet Project - Nothing yet
PP Karen shared the plan for the Christmas Party, which is set for the 21st of December either at the Millenium Hotel or Holiday Inn (waiting for their proposals).
Intro PP. Andy:
David Martin
French national and professional diving instructor since 1989, Marine environmental consultant for hotels, resorts & yacht owners, Underwater cameraman & documentary filmmaker, founder of Kanaloa Nature & Films, Shark behaviour specialist and advocate for their protection and conservation, David regularly organizes underwater filming expeditions for sharks enthusiasts and celebrities.
His work underwater has been seen on BBC, National Geographic, Netflix etc. Author of the Book Guide "Sharks for your eyes only" published in 2000.
Project manager for Her Majesty the Queen Sirikit Sea Turtle Conservation's book, He is a Member of the board of advisors for Bluevoice.org and ambassador for Shark Guardian.
Our guest speaker talked about their Foundation and its goals, which are restoring the Ocean as the CO2 emissions are the biggest risk factor with overheating from the ocean.
Project:
1) Install a Coral Farm, as corals first grown corals in captivity as they grow 5 times faster in captivity and then release them. All Aquariums you see any corals in are either cement or from plastic.
This Farm can be also a Tourist Attraction and educate the people
2) Clean Ocean: building a boat to collect floating plastic.
3) Reduce eating seafood
4) Conservation for Shark Breeding, The Sharks are on top of the food chain and need to be protected. Currently, a petition is on the way in Thailand to protect the Leopard Shark by making them a protected species.
At this time 100 Million Sharks are killed each year and mostly because of the high demand of Shark Fin in Asia.
5) Sea Grass protection which is most important due to exchange Co2 to Oxygen for funding the Foundation has started to issue a Blue Pass where any Business or home can pay in relation to their CO2 Foodprint at 300 THB per 1 Ton (online calculation available). This membership of Blue Pass will provide discounts at membership businesses.
Thank you by PP. Richard.
Hand over of Certificate of Appreciation and Banner by PP Jonathan.
Also, hand over of Banner to the guest from the Australian Consulate General on Phuket Matthew Barclay
Joke by P. Jonathan and Rtn. Stewart (a disaster)
Quick update on next meetings: The monthly dinner out next month has been moved to attend the Network Night of the PBN at the Ramada Hotel in Phuket town, Friday the 8th of November at 17.00 hour in order to network with other organisations and introduce our Rotary Club to them. Dress-code: Rotary Shirt (no dinner only finger food) THB 500 incl. some drinks.
Rotary members don’t turn a blind eye to need
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of reflections on Rotary’s Vision Statement: Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
Paddy Rooney
By Paddy Rooney, governor of District 7390 (Pennsylvania, USA)
It is said that the greatest problem with adolescents is that they are selective listeners … although I personally believe that the problem is not limited to adolescents! We all hear what we want to hear and choose to ignore those things that we don’t want to hear. We pick and choose from the information offered to us, accepting that which pleases us to hear at the moment and ignoring that which we find uncomfortable.
And if that is true for hearing and listening, it is equally true for seeing. We have become selective in what we see, again ignoring those things that make us uncomfortable and seeing only those things that please and satisfy us.
But the problem with such selective seeing is that we can easily miss those things that are critical and important. We would rather frame our reality around those things we see which reinforce our own perceptions and beliefs rather than the sometimes brutal reality which is our world today.
As Rotarians we choose to see those around the world who are dying from diseases because there is no clean water or sanitation; we choose to see those who are displaced children of war or other humanitarian crises; we choose to see those who live without hope because there is no sustainable economic development plan to lift them out of poverty.
We see because the world has chosen to turn a blind eye to these issues, these problems, these crises. But we are Rotarians and we have chosen to open our eyes to the needs of the world and our communities and having seen we cannot turn away.
True sometimes the images are hard to see. But then other images offer themselves for us to see – the parent who cries knowing that those two drops will save her child from polio; the faces of the children when that clear, clean water bubbles up from the earth; and the families who know that we have helped to bring peace and resolution to the conflicts that afflict our world. That is why WE are Rotarians…because TOGETHER we are open and ready to SEE.
