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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 – 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).
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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