Our Fellowship Chairman today was IPP Tobias and our Sergeant-at-Arms was our new member Rtn Maïlys. Our Sergeant-at-Arms managed to collect $780 between the raffle and fines.

President Thomas announced that the Intercity Meeting in Honour of RI President Bill Boyd will be held on 21 Nov (Tue) at Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel. We will have Christmas Party on 8th Dec (Friday) at HK Golf Club and AGM at the lunch meeting on 14th Dec (Thursday). The Rotary Centenary Challenge Cup will be held on 16th Dec (Sat) at Shatin Racecourse. Finally, our club will visit Home of Loving Faithfulness (HOLF) with Rotary Club of Island East on 18th November (Sat) and BBQ afterwards at Beas River, HKJC.

The speaker of today was PP Paul Lam to talk about “Grandma Cares Project”. The Grandma Cares Project is an initiative that grew from a 10 year old community program providing psychological and social support to families affected by HIV. To date, the program has trained 840 volunteers who in turn train relatives responsible for taking care of the children of deceased or sick parents. These volunteers also work with family members who provide home-based care for people living with AIDS. The program takes a holistic approach to training by educating entire communities. The goal is to create a strong support system for families affected by AIDS and to reduce the social stigma attached to the disease.

Rotary Club of Bukit Kiara Sunrise [RCBKS] is a sister club of Rotary Club of Chiangmai Thinthaingam [RCCT]. Together, they established the “Grandma Cares” Partnership Programme. The objective is to recruit Rotary clubs in many Rotary districts around the world to become a Partner Rotary Club in their respective districts. The “Grandma Cares” Project will also provide the beneficiary children and grand parents for their basic needs with supplements in the form of cash, daily necessities, school uniforms and books, etc. In addition to providing supplements of basic needs, the “Grandma Cares” Project provides training and suppliers for simple agricultural activities undertaken by the beneficiary children and grandparents.

Through the annual sponsorship programme, a selected beneficiary child will be able to grow up in a modest living standard and with the possibility of the completion of a high school education. With a high school education, he/ she will have the opportunity to have gainful employment and will then have the opportunity to live above the poverty line. It is envisaged that by then he/ she will come back to assist those who are still struggling below the poverty line. The annual sponsorship is USD 400.00 per beneficiary child and his/ her grandparents. Our club donated USD 2000 to support 5 children. Also t our IPP Tobias will join their Annual Convention on 15-17th Dec at Chiangmai, Thailand.