Bally Barker Blog

Our club Christmas party was held in the Wine Room at Balgowlah RSL club on Tuesday December 10, 2024. Everyone enjoyed a most relaxed night that provided a great opportunity to enjoy fellowship and Christmas cheer.   President Diana welcomed club members, partners and guests. Guests included Margaret Murdon (Streetwork), Sarah Watts(Lifeline), Kerry and Mark Gwynne (Dalwood Splistead Services), and Honorary member, Peter Stephenson and his wife Barbara; together with member's partners, Enid Hill, Chiaki van Brugge, Joy Apps, Helen Gray, Anne Thompson and Diane Mead.     Enid, Helen and Anne selecting pudding   As in former years,  members brought gifts for Dalwood Spilstead Services (DSS) to distribute to the needy families they give so much valuable support. Kerry Gwynne , Manager Spilstead Services told us how they would help make Christmas for so many of the families that are so dependent on the support from DSS. Kerry also spoke about the extremely d...

Tuesday Feb 16   Our inspirational guest speaker at our meeting (via ZOOM) was Gemma Sisia - founder of the school of St Jude Gemma Sisia The School of St Jude is a charity-funded school located in the city of Arusha, in the northern Arusha Region of Tanzania. The school, located across three campuses, provides free primary and secondary education to the poorest and brightest children of the Arusha Region. It was founded by Australian Gemma Sisia in 2002, based on the belief that education is the best way to fight poverty. Gemma statted the first class in 2002 with three students; today 1,400 students are borders at the school, plus approx. 400 living locally in a fifty Km radius attend daily. They are collected by 26 buses (10 coaches, 7 mini vans; the remainder 4WD that pick-up /drop-off from the unmade dirt roads). There are 300 staff at the school in key areas of teaching, head office, Alumni and fund-raising. In earlier years the staff was largely international, but toda...

FIGHTING POVERTY THROUGH EDUCATION A most informative and inspiring evening was held on March 18 th 2025. Gemma Sisia spoke to a combined clubs’ meeting hosted by Belrose Rotary and held at Forestville RSL. Members and guests from 5 other Rotary clubs attended.     Pres Diana Hart (left) and Gemma Sisia In 2002, Gemma opened the School of St Jude in Tanzania on a gifted piece of two acres of land. The school started with a mission to provide free, quality education to high-performing students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Northern Tanzania. Today St Jude’s includes three schools, 1,800 students on full scholarships, almost 350 staff and a groundbreaking tertiary program with over 300 tertiary graduates.   Her presentation went through the years of building the school, its excellent academic record, prioritising nutrition with daily meals and clean water, optimising health checks with international volunteers, boarding facilities for thr...

We just received a nice post card from the students of St Judes School in Tanzania The school of St Jude: This amazing school in Tanzania was started by Gemma Sisia who travelled from Australia to Uganda to volunteer as a teacher, where she taught girls science and sewing. This experience lead to a fervent belief that a free, high-quality education should be the right of all children in the world and that education is the strongest weapon in the fight against poverty, corruption and political instability. How it came about in Tanzania When Gemma first had the idea of starting a free private school for the poorest children in Africa with just a $10 donation from her friend, she knew she would need a major support system. It was at this time Gemma’s father, Basil, introduced her to Rotary. She was given the opportunity to speak to her local Rotary club in her hometown of Armidale, New South Wales. The extremely generous Armidale, Tamworth and Inverell Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs ...

PP Sue Terry gave a very interesting and well-prepared talk on Coeliac disease at our club meeting on Tuesday evening. Many of us of heard of it; but don’t fully understand its implications. Both Sue and Rick are sufferers and gave us valuable personal insights into the implications.   Sue at the whiteboard Coeliac disease is the most severe gluten-related disorder .   It is NOT an allergy, or “gluten intolerance”.   It is an inherited autoimmune disease that affects about 1% of the population and, undiagnosed and treated, will damage the digestive system (small intestine). In Australia about 1 person in 70 suffers, and about 1 in 100 world-wide. It’s more common in white Caucasian females. It may show up in later life rather than from birth.   Why?     It is often thought to be triggered when a person (who has the Coeliac Gene) has had surgery, illness or pregnancy, or a major emotional event..   There are ...