Welcome to Rotary OCEANIA - New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

There are many ways to be involved with helping local and global communities through Rotary with like-minded people from all backgrounds, vocations, cultures and lifestyles. Find out about these opportunities - click here to find out more

Trees for Survival benefits the environment and the people

The act of sinking your hands in freshly tilled soil to plant new life creates a sense of incredible achievement. Trees for Survival is a Rotary founded programme inspiring young environmentalists - Kia tupu ai enei kakano hei rakau nui - that St Johns Rotary has supported since 2009 as part of the Environment and Science Committee. This is a programme widely supported by Rotary clubs across many schools.

Devastated Fijian families are recovering thanks to Labasa Rotary

The noise was incredible. Just so loud and so frightening. We were sheltering under a table wondering if the roof would come off … and it did. “The kids were terrified. We could only tell them to hold on to whatever they could”.

Tropical Cyclone Yasa in December 2020 was the most severe cyclone in the Pacific in decades devastating large parts of Fiji and was promptly followed the very next month by a second severe Cyclone Ana. Cyclone Yasa was particularly devastating to Fiji’s northern islands including Vanua Levu with wide-spread destruction of buildings and the crops on which so many livelihoods depended.

It was into this situation that the Rotary Club of Labasa mobilised, initially to support their own member families, but quickly into distributing Emergency Response Kits. After the initial response, a visit to cyclone hit areas by Labasa Rotary members they realised that there was a need to provide people with roofs as soon as possible especially in cases where there were many family members and taking into consideration children and people with disabilities.

The ‘Gift a Roof’ project was born.

Disaster Response Grant and the Shirley Village Project

Within the Disaster Response Grant - Covid-19, Riccarton Rotary is working with the Shirley Village Project team of the Shirley Community Trust, and the Oak Development Trust in Riccarton, to mitigate the ongoing aftermath effects of Covid-19 with vulnerable individuals, families and sections of the community.

Interplast - 12 months of Covid-19

With the continued international travel restrictions resulting from COVID-19 Interplast volunteer medical teams have remained grounded in Australia and New Zealand over the past 12 months. However, this has not stopped Interplast or their network of dedicated volunteers from continuing to support their local partners and patients across the Asia Pacific region. Despite the challenges they’ve faced in the past year, the Interplast mission remains the same; to enhance people’s health and wellbeing by enabling access to life-changing reconstructive surgery and related medical services. Read more at https://interplast.org.au/12-months-of-covid-19/

The Amazing Experience of a International Rotary Scholar in Auckland

An Ambassadorial Scholar studying in Auckland, Rosie has provided an update that gives a fascinating insight into her journey - her report is below:

My name is Rosie, and I am from Baldock in the UK. I am currently living in Auckland, doing a Master of Arts in Sociology at the University of Auckland, as part of a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship. My background has always been in the humanities - I did my undergraduate degree in History at the University of Cambridge, UK, before going to Canada to do a Master of Arts in History - both looking at historical Indigenous settler relations.