Welcome to District 9980 - The lower half of the South Island of New Zealand
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To celebrate 100 years of Rotary in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands in 2021, Dr Stephen Clarke, a professional historian, has been commissioned to research and write a landmark publication on Rotary in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, 1921–2021. Dr Clarke started work on the book in last year. The book will be part of a suite of activities under what is called the Mana Tangata Programme to celebrate the Centennial.
Innovative Young Minds (IYM) is a week-long residential programme, based in Silverstream, in the Hutt Valley. It is designed to inspire young women into the science, technology, innovation and engineering sector — where young women are underrepresented. Started by Rotary Hutt City in 2017, with the Hutt City Council as Principal Sponsors, IYM has taken off.
The inbound team have all started their new school year and have started the count down to going home in July. The activity for this group has ramped up since the start of the year with rebound weekend at the end of January and since then, the Mt Aspiring tramp and the water ski weekend around Waitangi Day.
Special Notice - a bus for Rotarians will be leaving Invercargill for this year's conference on Friday 26th April at approximately midday.
The big trip to International Assembly in January was just that, BIG! It was an incredible experience, with the people being the best (and worst) part of the entire week. Rotarians are certainly a varied lot covering a huge spectrum of all sorts of jobs, businesses, interests and characters. It was great to meet Facebook friends in the flesh, especially those who have been following me on a regular basis.
Sakhr Munassar came to NZ as a Rotary Scholar in 2016. A Yemeni passport holder, he came via the United States to study a Masters in peace and conflict studies at the University of Otago. While he was in New Zealand, the American immigration rules changed, which banned Yemeni passport holders from access to the US. Yemen is in the grips of war so going home has become an equal challenge.
Speech outgoing DG Bruce Cowen gave at change over
