Guest Speaker … Michael Curtin (CSU) Michael is an occupational therapist. He graduated from the University of Queensland in 1983. After graduating he lived and worked in Toowoomba, Hobart, and Ballarat, primarily with 
children and young people for a few years. He moved to Botswana in 1997 to develop occupational therapy services at the two main referral hospitals. In 1991 he took up an occupational therapy research post at the National Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, England. This lead onto a position as an occupational therapy lecturer at the University of Southampton, England from 1995 to 2003. In 2004 Michael returned to Australia to take up a lecturing position at Charles Sturt University. In 2005 he became course coordinator of the occupational therapy course, a position he still currently holds. He became an Associate Professor in 2011. The School of Community Health has been running this well established paediatric and disability program for fourth year students since 2001. Originally students worked in interdisciplinary teams with children with disabilities and their carers at orphanages in Vietnam. This programme has now expanded to include similar work in Bangladesh and Nepal. In collaboration with Australian agencies, following an intensive training programme, students are supervised by experienced CSU staff and by therapy staff for a five week period of placement. Local volunteers are also involved in the various locations allowing a sharing of skills and opportunities for on-site learning. The programme has expanded to include students in speech therapy as well as occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Language and cultural classes are compulsory prior to placement. Students are involved with parent/carers as well as the children and appreciate the challenges and experiences as excellent grounding for future employment.
Category Archives: Guest Speakers
Club Meeting 4 September 2013
Guest Speaker Tony Rumble. Conditions experienced on Christmas Island and at Weipa in northern Queensland, whilst working for the Department of Immigration during 2009-2012 were presented to us by former member and 
President of Albury Hume, Tony Rumble. Tony indicated that Christmas Island was a thriving community with readily available facilities, serviced by air and sea from Perth and Malaysia … a location of unique and raw natural beauty in the middle of the Indian Ocean with a diversity of plants, national forest, whale sharks, crabs and abundant bird life… also, recreational swimming, diving and snorkelling are popular with the locals. Although the housing of refugees and processing them for eligibility for final transfer, is the main focus of its existence in the public eye, Christmas Island is home to a wide cross-section of the community. Tony enjoyed the friendship of many locals, including many of Chinese and Malay origin and appreciated the many challenges they have in providing for the needs of the current increasing number of refugees. All supplies come from external sources as no food is grown on the island. Housing of the refugees is an on-going challenge resulting in the growth of an unsightly ‘container city’. Tony was also stationed at Weipa in far north Queensland for nine months. The present town of Weipa was constructed mainly by Comalco (now called Rio Tinto Alcan), the large aluminium company, which began making trial shipments of bauxite to Japan in 1962. The bauxite mine is the world’s largest with expansions increasing the margin over other mines in 2010 … most definitely a mining town. However, Weipa has a public library, visitor’s centre, swimming pool, bowling green, golf club, tennis and squash courts. There are netball and basketball courts as well as football fields. At Nanum the shopping precinct has a Woolworths supermarket, bakery, coffee shop, travel agent, clothing shop, post office, newsagency / sports shop and butchers. There is also a chemist, camping and fishing store and within walking distance is a gift shop, furniture and whitegoods store, credit union and Centrelink office. At Evans Landing you will find a hardware store and a number of mechanical workshops. No swimming or surfing due to presence of numbers of ‘nasties’, including saltwater crocodiles !
Club Meeting 28 August 2013
Guest Speaker Anthia Packer from Parklands Albury Wodonga gave us details of the organisation and its involvement and support within the community. Parklands Albury Wodonga is a not-for-profit community managed organisation that operates as a social enterprise. It works in partnership with the regional community to enhance over 4,000 hectares of bush parks in the Albury, Wodonga, Indigo and Towong local government areas including Huon Hill Parklands, Kiewa River Parklands, Gateway Island Parklands, McFarlanes Hill, Eight Mile Creek Parklands, Padman Park High Country Rail Trail and Bonegilla Block 19 Migrant Experience Centre, Federation Hill, Nail Can Hill, Red Light Hill (One Tree Hill), Murray River Parklands (under development, Eastern Hill and Mungabareena. The primary focus of the board and staff is to facilitate the involvement of local community in each project. By so doing, it aims to ensure that the community accepts ownership and responsibility for the long term viability and enhancement of all its regional parklands. In the past year, Parklands Albury Wodonga worked in partnership with 75 partner organisations to implement in excess of $656,000 worth of on ground activities across the regional bush park network. In essence, parklands is about ensuring that the local community has areas of open space which have been set aside, in perpetuity, for recreation, preservation, and conservation.
Club Meeting 21 August 2013
Guest Speaker – Peter Cerexhe – Border Music Camp – Peter gave an overview of the music camp and what it was achieving for participants. It started 40 years ago and Peter acknowledged the part played by Kate Davis, wife of Albury Hume Charter and long-term member Ian Davis and the support given in the past by our club. He then showed a video made by students to support his earlier talk. The week long camp held at Scott’s school involves about 300 people made up of 220 students (8-17 years), 20 volunteers, 50 staff and 6 conductors. The camp gives Country kids Capital city experience. About 120 children live in during the camp 9 children were given financial support this year costing $235 for non-boarding and $750 for live in with full board. Three of the top 10 in last years HSC were from Albury and had attended the camp. More information can be found on the camps web site. http://www.bordermusiccamp.org.au
Club Meeting 14 August 2013
| Another interesting Speaker last week in Peter Gleniston talking about his ‘human aid’ activities in Africa and Middle East. Reminded me of a similar story given by Mark ‘Squidgy’ Squirrell at last years District Conference at Ballarat, when he spoke about the similar problems when working for the UN. Only other difference was that he met the late Asser Arafat and worked in the various African and Middle East war zones when negotiating food deliveries into Gaza and climbed Mt. Everest for a UN fundraiser project. He wrote a most interesting book called ‘ From Arafat to Everest’ and it is a really excellent read. Peter is a local boy who spent 12 years in the army. He then spent 6 years with the British Red Cross In the middle East/ Africa and now works for and Australian security company Unity Resources Group out of Dubai. He gave a powerful PowerPoint presentation showing pictures to demonstrate the type of work he was doing and to give his audience a view of the work that is undertaken. Yet another reason to go to District Conferences to hear such excellent keynote presentations. Along with other Sponsors, I received an update from Howard and Deborah this weekend advising about their visit to the Kitenden School in Tanzania, and the great strides made there with our Club and private sponsorship money. Let’s hope that District will be generous with our Grant application for both them and River of Stories. |