January Newsletter - In This Issue |
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2010 has kicked off with our usual Rotary calendar but a lot of planning activities going on for the projects and events in the upcoming months.
Read about what has gone on in January and what is planned for the weeks ahead. A box to the left shows links to each of the articles in this newsletter. |
| AN UPDATE ON OUR PROJECTS |  |
Solar Energy at Dar il-Kaptan & Caritas San Blas
The solar energy projects at Dar il-Kaptan and San Blas have been accepted by the Club's board at the board meeting held last week.
Weeks of planning, discussions with suppliers and technical evaluations have been undertaken. Many thanks to Rotarian Robert Ghirlando for his input on this and Ian Decesare for driving the project forward.
Through the project, the estimated costs of which amount to EUR20,000, we shall be furnishing Dar il-Kaptan with facilities for all their main water heating needs as well as a good portion of those of Caritas' San Blas facility.
Technical evaluations estimate that the cost savings from the project will amount to about EUR7,000 annually for both establishments. The effect of this is like contributing EUR7,000 annually for the life span of the equipment as our effect will be cumulative.
It is hoped that work on the project will commence in the next few weeks and I look forward to keeping you informed of progress.
Our Next Hands-On Day
Following the great success of the first Rotary Hands-On Day held at Dar il-Kaptan on the 3rd October, we are looking to carry out a similar make-over of another deserving institute probably at the beginning of March. This event will be held together with Rotary Club La Valette and Rotaract.
This morning Ian Decesare, Douglas Salt and myself visited one such institute, Dar Sagra Familia in Zabbar, but the work needed there is not very suitable for a Hands-On day with volunteers.
We are therefore looking for a suitable institute that we can assist. Ideally they would need some painting, gardening and general maintenance work. Nothing that requires professional skills.
IF YOU KNOW OF SUCH AN INSTITUE OR ORGANISATION THAT WE CAN HELP, PLEASE DROP ME AN e-MAIL. |
| CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS - ESU Conversation Facilitators | |
Help Needed
As you may recall, our club has been assisting the English Speaking Union in furthering its aims of increasing the quality of English language usage in Malta. We have in fact already contributed to a pilot project at the Zabbar Primary School as reported last month.
I have always believed that a more hands-on contribution by our members could be more beneficial however the ESU's initial projects have not lent themselves to such collaboration.
Now we have a different position. The ESU is organising English Conversation classes where groups of 8 people will hold conversations in English. The ESU is looking for volunteers to act as facilitators for these courses and I believe that our members and possibly wives may provide excellent resources for these courses.
The courses will be held at the ESU offices in Dingli Street in the late afternoon or early evening time frame and are likely to start later this month or in March.
Anyone of our members and/or their wives wishing to obtain additional information about this are asked to drop me an e-mail. Read more about the English Speaking Union in Malta. |
| QUIZ NIGHT | |
Laughter & Good Company Guaranteed
The annual quiz night is upon us. An evening of pasta, salads and wine with a quiz thrown in as the excuse (as if we need one).
Please bring wives/partners and friends to form your own
 tables or join a general table.
The venue for this year has been changed to the Royal Malta Yacht Club from the Metropole that has hosted us for all these years but Pussy Gatt is still the catering driving force. Two anonymous quiz masters have been organising the event.
Date: Next Monday 8th February
Time: 7:30pm
Price: EUR15 per head
Places are limited and we need to plan food numbers so please e-mail secretary David with your bookings.
Blackberries and iPhones banned!!!! |
| EVENTS in JANUARY | |
Another month of interesting speakers
We have had some very interesting speakers during the month of January with unusually one speaking, Ray Demicoli, speaking on two occasions due to the last minute unavailability of the Dutch Ambassador.
In his first talk, Ray spoke to us with great passion about the much needed rehabilitation of Fort St Elmo. A long-term interest for him, he has been leading a project for Government to obtain EU funds for a major embellishment and restoration project.
Following this Michael Falzon, ex-Minister for Infrastructure and also subsequently for Education spoke about Climate Change. His position as an agnostic (more than necessarily a sceptic) seems to be gaining weight internationally amid much controversy.
Ray Demicoli was then back for a talk about the Renso Piano project for the entrance to Valletta. This talk seems to have resulted in wide range discussions by the pro and anti members at the meeting
We also had a very successful Fellowship Night at Wigi's Restaurant in St Julians. Good food and excellent company combined into a most enjoyable evening.
Click here to see some photos. |
| UPCOMING EVENTS in FEBRUARY | |
February has 2 speak nights planned The full programme of events is available on our web site. Go to www.rotary.org.mt/events
Regulation of Insurance Activities - the why and how.
Dr Marisa Attard, the Directo of the Insurance Business Unit at the Malta Financial Services Authority will be presenting what augurs o be an interesting talk on Monday 1st Feb.
Quiz Night
As outlined above, the annual quiz night will be held on Monday 8th February. See details above.
The State of Broadcasting in Malta today
On Monday 15th February my brother, Roger de Giorgio, will
 be sharing his views about broadcasting in Malta The last time Roger spoke to our Club, an idea grew out of the meeting for the formation of an independent think tank. This idea has been successfully implemented through the Today Public Policy Institute. What will come out of this talk?
Monthly Convivial
The programme of monthly convivials commences again on Monday 22nd February having missed December and January due to allocation of the convivial funding to the Governor's Dinner and the Ladies Night respectively.
To keep track of upcoming events take a look at our events calendar at www.rotary.org.mt/events. |
| DISTRICT NEWS | |
District Governor's Newsletter
We have received the District Governor's Newsletter for February which is available on our web site both in Italian and in English. Thank you to Pat Salomone for the translation.
Click here to view the newsletter.
District Governor 2012-2013 Announced
Following the Past Governor's meeting held in Sicily two weeks ago intended to elect the District Governor for our district for the period 2012-2013.
The Governor will be GAETANO LO CICERO from Rotary Club Palermo North. |
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Finally I look forward to seeing you at our meetings this month.
John
John de Giorgio
President 2009-2010
Rotary Club Malta |
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