THE ROTARY CLUB OF NUKUʻALOFA

The Rotary club of Nukuʻalofa was chartered in 1968. The Club is committed to serving the local and global community with over 20 members at present.

We meet at 9am on the 2nd and 4th Saturday each month at the Seaview Lodge, Hala Vuna, Nukuʻalofa Tonga. We welcome any residents in Tonga who are committed to the ideals of Rotary. Visiting Rotarians are also very welcome to join us if your schedule allows. The Rotary Club of Nukuʻalofa is an active club renowned for its fun and fellowship as well as being involved in a number of projects locally and globally.

We have a long tradition of collaborating with clubs in Australia and New Zealand as well as various clubs worldwide. We partner with local businesses and organisations who share our goals. We continue to build on these partnerships so that we can continue to provide much needed service to our community and other projects identified locally and globally. The majority of previous projects have focused on childrenʻs education and community health.

In the mid-90ʻs we led the establishment of the ongoing partnership between Vaiola Hospital and St John of God, Ballarat, Australia. This partnership has given Tonga much-needed medical support, especially surgical and dentistry equipment, visiting medical teams, medical wards renovation works here and in the outer islands clinics.

The new partnership with Whanganui North Rotary Club in New Zealand, for a three-year ʻTonga Medical Project 2024-2026ʻ builds on our long tradition of supporting the Tongan medical services. This project will enable the upgrade of the operating theatres at Vaiola Hospital to best practice standards and improve surgical outcomes for the Tongan community.

Contacts

Incoming President [email protected]

Director International Projects [email protected]

President Elect [email protected]

THE ROTARY CLUB OF WHANGANUI NORTH

Our Club was established in 1959 and currently has some 50 members. We meet on Wednesday evenings and share a meal and a speaker of interest.

Whanganui is a river city on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island with a population of some 50,000 people. We invite you to visit the website - discoverwhanganui.nz - to see and learn a little about our region.

Through personal contacts, we have developed an interest in Pacific Island projects over the years. These island nations are not wealthy, and many of their citizens have migrated to New Zealand, supporting those at home with remittances. New Zealand supports them through aid programs which are designed to provide practical assistance and a hand up.

Weather and natural disasters are a problem in this region. There is a hurricane season which can inflict considerable damage, and the recent Tongan underwater volcanic eruption - the largest in the world for 150 years - has also been a major problem in many ways.

In 1999, a group of 10 of our members spent 10 days at St Andrews College in Tonga, restoring and re-roofing 6 classrooms and the office block which had all suffered major hurricane damage. We again became involved in supporting Tonga in 2020 when our current member and orthopedic surgeon Dr. John van Dalen began visiting the islands as a specialist surgeon. Through the Rotary Foundation and other sources, we were able to raise some $60,000USD for upgrading acute orthopedic services in Tonga, the sourcing of orthopedic surgical equipment for Vaiola Hospital, and the training of local medical staff. This work is ongoing and will continue for another two years to the end of 2024.

Hospital facilities in Tonga and the other Pacific Islands are very basic, and there is a great need for theater upgrades to enable more advanced surgery to be safely undertaken by both local medical staff and visiting specialists from New Zealand and Australia.

We need the support of other Rotary Clubs by way of donations and Rotary District Grants to obtain the necessary Rotary Foundation funding to make this project happen. Can you help us, please?