The possibility of combining a little bit of tropical paradise with a whole lot of Rotary lured me along to this year’s District Conference in Fiji.It was a little sad not having any other St John’s members to enjoy the conference with but this ensured I happily networked with a bunch of other Rotarian’s in our district and Tony was very happy to join me for any cocktails and entertainment!
Hosted by DG Malini, I can report this conference was a lovely mix of beautiful-Bula combined with interesting Rotary presentations. In a relaxed Fijian format, we had an informative line-up of presenters who were kept very efficiently to the timetable by the humorous and masterful conference MC, Ajay Bhai Amrit.
Ajay (a Fiji television personality) spoke about his leading role in Fiji’s 'Man Up' campaign which aims to encourage the involvement of men in the fight against gender-based violence. Who knew the South Pacific is one of the most dangerous places in the world for women and girls? And in Fiji, seven in ten women will be subjected to physical or sexual violent in their lifetime. Totally dismal to absorb these statistics, but truly encouraging to see Ajay in action and ‘Manning Up’ to share with us why this relatively new campaign is now running throughout Fiji.
For those enticed in on the Friday for the famous (?) District 9920 Golf Tournament, there was some disappointment. Due to the incessant rain, play could not proceed thus the trophy remains unchallenged this year. Happily, the rain certainly didn’t deter the ‘Welcome cocktails and fellowship’ on Friday evening – a very popular event. Bula!
Saturday’s programme included: a warm and polished address from former RI Director Jennifer Jones; presentations from Cure Kids in Fiji; Women’s Outreach; and a surprisingly enlightening and funny presentation titled “Leadership Lessons from Generation Z” delivered by Fijian Businessman Nouzab Fareed (Group Chief Executive Officer at Fijian Holdings Limited), plus an address from DG Elect Ingrid on Redistricting.
Following lunch there was a Rotary Youth Exchange presentation, where I was happy to speak as a “host Mum” in support of our constant drive to encourage Clubs to back this superb programme and consider hosting the wonderful students this programme attracts.
It was also great to be able to meet up again with four of the five RYE students currently hosted in our district (Hannah from Austria, Kevin from Germany, Christopher from Denmark and Marie from France) who were chaperoned to the Conference. They were just “buzzing” with enthusiasm having spent their Friday involved with the Rotaract conference (which also took place in Denarau).
Before we broke for time by the pool, there was a presentation from Homes of Hope, a residential campus in Suva which is providing a safe haven and long-term shelter for single mothers and their children. They are badly in need of volunteers. Visit www.hopefiji.org.
Saturday evening’s formal dinner was so well attended that extra tables had to be set up! Some ‘has-been’ Australian Cricketer was keynote speaker who was easily forgotten thanks to the awesome seafood banquet-buffet and follow-up cultural entertainment.
Sunday featured presentations from ROMAC, Days for Girls, VTT Midwives Lautoka, Water for Life, a plug for next year’s conference (watch out Napier) and wrap-ups from Jennifer Jones and Ajay Amrit. Very sadly, due to the incessant rain and impending storms, trips to Koroipita Housing Project and School in Lautoka were cancelled.
Despite the uncooperative weather this was a stimulating conference. I was shocked to hear Fiji’s statistics regarding gender-based violence but very heartened to learn about projects that are surfacing to address this.
I encourage members who haven’t been to a District Conference to diary next year’s one in Napier (May 10-12). It will be a superb opportunity to learn more about the gazillion projects Rotary is involved with and a lovely opportunity to meet other enthusiastic and friendly Rotarian's from around our District.