Our club normally meets at a regular venue every Tuesday evening. However, with stay-at-home and social distancing rules in place, we have now reverted to conducting our meetings online.
While the attendance for the first few meetings has been lower than expected, we are hoping it will grow as the less technologically-minded members become acquainted with the virtual concept.
One of the benefits of these online meetings is that we can invite guest speakers who may be located anywhere in the world. In a recent meeting, our guest speaker was Chris Ochaya and his wife Sarah from Uganda. Chris was sponsored by our club several years ago to spend 3 months in Australia to learn various farming techniques. Since returning to Uganda, he has established the Tamarind Community Farm which is aimed at supporting many families in the region. Werribee Rotary and several agricultural businesses in Australia have been instrumental in providing funds and expertise for some of the projects which include building a bore water system, constructing a goat shelter and a chicken shed.
During the meeting, Chris gave members an update on the status of the various projects. He also talked about the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on his country.
In the future, we will invite some of our past Rotary exchange students from Japan and Brazil to speak about life in their respective countries.