PORT VILA ROTARY CLUB HISTORY 1972-2003
Establishment.
The Rotary Club of Port Vila was chartered on 2 October 1972, at
the French Anciens Combattants (Returned Soldiers)
club-house. A photograph taken then (provided by Jean-Marc Colardeau, the only founder-member still resident in Port Vila)
shows 19 men at the first meeting, 18 of them French, holding
jobs such as manager, civil servant, doctor, vet, lawyer,
accountant, builder, and butcher. Jean-Paul Roumy, a bank
manager, started the club, and became its first president.
Meetings were conducted in French and English.
Membership.
Over the years, the range of nationalities has widened to ten,
with Australians, French and Fijians, being the main ones, and
meetings are now usually conducted in English. The number of
occupations has also risen, to 22, including retailing, hotels,
real estate, insurance, photography, brewing, printing and
computing. Only one member is fully retired and locally
resident. Numbers were around 50 from 1983 to 1990, but have
settled back due to a decrease in the expatriate population, and
lack of participation by the ni-Vanuatu, and are now stable at
26, including 6 women, 8 past presidents and 6 Paul Harris
Fellows (there are 2 other service clubs in Port Vila, Kiwanis
and Lions, with about 12 members each). Turn-over is high, as
many members come to Vanuatu to work on 2 to 3 year contracts ˇV
consequently, only 5 persons remain of the 47 who were members
in 1988. However, this constant renewal keeps the club fresh. A
photograph of members and wives taken in September 2003 is
attached, as also is the current club banner (designed by P.P.
Geoff Feast).
Port Vila Club Projects.
In the 1970ˇ¦s and 80ˇ¦s, the club contributed towards numerous
overseas medical evacuations, community buildings, ˇ§Handicampˇ¨
P.A.C.E. and R.Y.L.A. visits overseas, hospital equipment,
Polioplus, scholarships and prizes, wheel-chairs and equipment
for the disabled, donations of tools, and distributed books
(many from the Ranfurly Library Service, Sydney), furniture and
supplies for schools and libraries. These activities are
continuing.
An anti-malaria campaign commenced in 1983 as a joint project
with the Kiwanis Club, with the support of the Vanuatu
Government and the World Health Organization. In 1990, this
developed into R.A.M. (Rotary Against Malaria), with substantial
funds coming from New Zealand ($NZ 20,000 from our District,
9910) and Australian clubs ($A8,000 from District 9570 and
Gladstone, and $A5,000 from Brookvale), as well as from
Australian, New Zealand, French and Japanese governments. Early
club stalwarts in R.A.M. were Euan Lindsay-Smith (PHF), P.P.
John Smith (PHF), P.P. Jean-Luc Bador (PHF), Jacques Schepens
(PHF), P.P. the late Chris Phelps (PHF) and P.P. Claude Boudier
(PHF). The campaign consisted of providing a spraying-machine
costing $US13,000, bed-nets and insecticide, distributing 2,500
flip-charts and 150,000 leaflets costing $A20,000, producing a
T.V. documentary, and broadcasting radio messages. It continues
to this day, now called R.O.M. (Rotary Operation Mosquito), and
supported by grants from the Rotary Foundation 3H of $US300,000,
and $US200,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Vital
assistance in obtaining these large grants was provided by
District 9910, particularly from P.D.G. Rod Dennis (Orewa R.C.)
and his son John, who conducted exhaustive surveys and
professionally presented the results. Due to illness, Rod has
been replaced by P.D.G. Ken Baird (Warkworth R.C.). Currently,
P.P. Claude Boudier, our ˇ§retiredˇ¨ resident member, and
director of our RAM Committee since 1995, devotes himself almost
full-time to the project, which employs 4 workers, and will set
up 60 aid-posts. In time, responsibility for the project will be
transferred to the villages involved.
From 1995, Port Vila Rotary also became involved in a series of
rural water supply projects, together with the Vanuatu
Government and the Australian Army. This we called ˇ§Save Water,
Save Livesˇ¨. P.P.ˇ¦s Phil Rundle (PHF) and John Smith, and Bob
Cooper (PHF), followed by P.P. Robert Bohn (PHF), were leading
lights in steering by 1997-8 a total of about 30 projects at a
time supplying water to outer island villages. These involved
some $US300,000 in matching grants from Rotary Foundation and
Rotary clubs in Australia (SWSL Australia, Lismore) New Zealand
(East Coast Bays, Warkworth, Mt. Roskill, Kerikeri, Dunedin
clubs, New Lynn, Takapuna, Waipapa) England (Nailsea, Bristol
Breakfast) and Japan (Takamatsu). Due to delays in a government
department finalizing matching grants paperwork, S.W.S.L.
projects have now wound down, but could be re-started on a
smaller scale in future, if funds become available.
In 1995, Mark Ward (PHF) started up the supply of packs of
materials for pre-schools, called ˇ§Kits for Kidzˇ¨. In 2002, a
donation of $A45,000 from the Australian Government enabled Port
Vila Rotary to obtain and distribute 230 ˇ§Kits for Kidzˇ¨ to
pre-schools and primary schools throughout the islands.
Other Clubsˇ¦ Projects.
Port Vila Rotary also assists in the provision of Donations in
Kind, which have come from Rotary Clubs in Queensland (Stanhope,
Sunshine Coast, Surferˇ¦s Sunrise,Wishart), Victoria (Geelong
D.I.K. Centre, Ballarat, Wendouree, Sale), South Australia (the
Scott-Hoys of the Adelaide R.C.) and New Zealand, including
hospital and medical equipment, eye-glasses, wheel-chairs, film
canisters and school furniture. P.P. John Smith, a customs agent
and haulage contractor, has provided invaluable assistance for
this over 20 years. In 1997, about $A200,000 worth of D.I.K. in
5 containers was provided from District 9910 and Australia for
the refurbishment of the Port Vila Dispensary, and the Centre
for the Disabled, and for the Santo Hospital T.B. Ward, which
was carried out by 36 F.A.I.M. Rotarians from Australian and New
Zealand clubs. In 1998, Takamatsu R.C. provided 6 portable
housing units worth $A180,000, temporarily used after the Kobe
earthquake, which P.P. Geoff Feast had installed on Epi Island
for use as school class-rooms. In 1997-98, the total value of
all Rotary contributions to Vanuatu was about $US1,000,000,
making it one of the top 10 aid donors.
Transport to Vanuatuˇ¦s outer islands is difficult and costly,
but good relations have been built up with the U.S. Peace Corps,
and visiting yachts, who have helped in distributing educational
and medical supplies, including for Project M.A.R.C. (Medical
Assistance to Remote Communities) which started in 2001, and is
sponsored by the R.C.ˇ¦s of Park City and West Jordan, Utah, in
conjunction with The Hope Alliance, of the U.S.A.
In 2001, the Upper Hutt R.C. provided the Port Vila Central
Hospital with a defibrillator, and since then, there has been an
increasing wave of Rotary help for Vanuatuˇ¦s ageing health
system. The Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise club and Rotary
District 9690 started a project in 2001 for the refurbishment of
the Port Vila Central Hospital, to be spread over 3 years, and
involve a series of F.A.I.M. teams visiting about every 3
months. Container loads of hospital equipment and supplies, and
building materials, have been imported, and teams have come from
Penrith, Beecroft, Lindfield, Parramatta, Nowra, Charlestown,
District 9650, Coffs Harbour City, Epping, North Balwyn, Holroyd,
Cabramatta, Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise, and West Pennant
Hills, and carried out a wide range of repairs, replacements and
maintenance of the hospital buildings and equipment. They have
been welcomed and greatly assisted by Vila residents Chrissie
and Laurie Lockwood ˇV Liles, who have been awarded PHFˇ¦s for
their unstinting endeavours. Some workers on the project are
branching out, and have gone down to Tanna island to replace the
roof on the hospital there. Williamstown R.C. are also sending
container-loads of equipment to that hospital.
New Zealand clubs are contributing to the support of the Norsup
hospital on Malekula, where Dr. Derek Allen has been provided
with 6-7 containers of equipment, 4WD vehicles, and a helicopter
to make travelling for his calls less arduous, with some
deliveries made by the R.N.Z.A.F.
Christchurch N.Z. and Frankston Vic. clubs have been sending
teams up over several years to repair and extend the Tanaliu
Primary School, without any funding from other sources.
District Conferences.
Port Vila Rotary hosted district conferences in 1987 (which P.P.
the late Chris Phelps was prominent in organizing), and in 1998,
when P.P. Phil Rundle and P.P. Loic Bernier (PHF) were to the
fore, in receiving 450 Rotarians from 8 countries.
Publicity.
Up to 2000, the club had a low profile, and would be lucky to be
mentioned in the press more than once or twice a year. Since the
2000-01 presidency of P.P. Shirley Randell, who continues as our
publicity officer, we have been in the local papers every week.
We also have a web-site, started in 1997.
Fund-Raising.
Most of our local population have low incomes, and the
expatriates are limited in number, so a substantial part of the
funding for our projects comes from overseas, for which we are
extremely grateful. We also raise some money ourselves, from
Christmas cakes and cards sales, collection-boxes, balls, a
coconut-shy, lotteries, raffles and fines.
The Future.
We see ourselves remaining very busy, with the kind of projects
we do now, given our location in a developing country with many
needs, and look forward to welcoming new members who will assist
in that work. We also appreciate donations of funds, and in kind
(though donors need to check with us first as regards
suitability, needs, freight costs, etc.). And Vanuatu provides
many opportunities for overseas clubs to undertake projects,
which Port Vila would be glad to advise on and assist.
President 2003-4 David Hudson (PHF)
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