Rotary

Looking back Beijing Rotary 2018

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Cleaning up my pictures

I have been busy trying to clean up and reorganize my thousands of pictures. I managed to wade through 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018. Result is a first batch of “Looking back Beijing Rotary 2018”.
The year 2018 was a super busy year for me, trips to Indianapolis USA, the shooting of the Jialing River movie, great stay in Phuket, many events, seminars, parties…
Remarkable is the amount of events with Rotary and Rotaract. Our clubs were so busy. It is a bit sad to see the pictures and noticing how many friends left Beijing.
The President of the Rotary Club of Beijing was Russell Brown, later followed by Martin Glatz.
I feel proud to have been so involved with our two Rotaract clubs who were so active.

Buffet dinner at Morel’s Restaurant

On 13 January 2018 I organized a buffet dinner with the help of Rotaract volunteers who also took care of receiving the payments.
It was called “Rotaract & Rotary Meet & Greet & Drink”, the event was very well attended by both Rotarians and Rotaractors, see the pictures that talk for themselves. Sadly many have left Beijing… Some four presidents of our club attended!

We also had the  induction of two new members (Robert Specht & David Boyle) by (then) President Russell, after a banner exchange.
More to come soon! Rotary Conference and Red Lantern Ball!

Beijing Rotary in April 2022

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Kempinski lunch

Beijing Rotary in April 2022 was still active before one more COVID scare hit Beijing, shutting down all activities.
On Tuesday 19 April 2022 we had our lunch in Kempinski Hotel with Lucia Zhou, Program Manager of HOPE as our guest speaker. Lucia is a Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor recognized by PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship).
Topic: Update about HOPE and the Benefits of the Equine Therapy.

HOPE (Horses Offering People Enrichment) offers equine assisted activities and therapy (EAAT) for children with special needs. Founded by a Californian woman, HOPE was brought to Beijing to provide equine assisted therapy for children with sensory disorder, physical/visual, emotional/social disabilities, and autism. RC Beijing has in the past year sponsored an Instructor Training for one equine therapist through the Instructor Educational Course. Lucia Zhou, the program director at HOPE and a Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor recognized by PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship), brought to the meeting the instructor trainer who has recently completed her trainer training program, and a young adult who has received the equine therapy from HOPE. Lucia thanked the club for the support and sponsorship. With her training completed, the trainer is now equipped with skills to design and create tailored-made programs to benefit the children in need and is qualified to train other equine therapists to further their service in the community. Lucia and her colleagues expressed their wish that the club could continue to provide financial aid toward their instructor training this year.

Haochuan Tom Zhang also shared his experience at HOPE. While receiving therapy from HOPE, Tom also helps with working around the stable, looking after the horse he had ridden, and assisting with equine therapy.

More about HOPE

I had the chance to meet the HOPE team earlier and I also saw several of the videos showing the remarkable effect of the treatment.On 25 March 2018 Rotaract invited the HOPE people to give an introduction to their program, in the former Restaurant Red Rose.
The effect on kids with mental disabilities can be impressive. We saw kids that refused all communication with adults, they started riding the horses and created a bond with them. Then suddenly they spoke words never heard before…

See also: HOPE 2021 Annual Report Final with Photos

Online China District Conference

I joined the Tencent (Voov) meeting on Saturday afternoon on 23 April.
It was chaired by SR Richard Zi who also introduced the incoming SR Andrew Hill (1 July 2022). I found that part to be the most interesting.
See here the details:
The announced program: 220423 conference1
The updated program: 220423 conference2
The guest speaker: 220423 Conference Speaker

See some screenshots of the online meeting. I only saw myself appearing “life” from our club. And yes we even had a “group picture”, try to find me…
I had hoped to see more updates of all our China clubs as some of the clubs are struggling or even closing. While the guest speaker did a good job. I thought it was not relevant to what we really wanted to learn.
And we never got the slides that were shown…

Rotary lunch 8 March

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Kempinski Hotel

For our Rotary lunch 8 March 2022 we had as speaker Sjoerd den Daas, Correspondent of the Dutch Broadcast Corporation NOS who reflected upon his recent experience of the Winter Olympics from a journalist perspective.

We also concluded the auction of the Winter Olympic tea set I donated for the following Rotary Disaster Fund:
The United Nations estimates that number of Ukraine refugees could grow to as many as 5 million people displaced. Inter-country Committees and Rotary clubs in Europe and around the world have stepped up their relief work, some working on the ground to help displaced families.
Rotary International has established a special Committee that will coordinate the provision of assistance from around the world to Ukraine, funds will be used to supply water, food, medicine, shelter, and clothing.
See here to donate directly: https://my.rotary.org/en/disaster-response-fund

Times a changing

As things become more and more complicated in China, Rotary is not allowed to operate normally, so many restrictions.
How times change. See here an announcement I did in March 2005 for the Rotary Charity Ball.

This today would not be allowed anymore.
Oh well…

Gilbert on Youtube, Introducing Rotary in Beijing

3 August 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKd6pKr_VQ8

Rotary eClub 3170 Guest Speaker Gilbert Van Kerckhove
Rotary Club of Beijing, China
I also talk about my origins, what I did in China…

A look back on the Rotary Club of Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Dinner in Morel’s

A look back at the Rotary Club of Beijing, starting with our dinner on 18 January. Small crowd with a special guest, Jingfu, honorary member of the Rotary Club of Shanghai.

We were impressed with our member Kevin who fasted one day so he could deal with the really big trout (I usually recommend it for 3 people to share).

Krankin’ thru China

“Krankin’ thru China”, a program launched by Joshua Dominick and Domonic Corradin, helps people with physical disabilities enjoy outdoor sports like paragliding, horseback riding, swimming, surfing and cycling. They presented their project to our club, on 10 August 2021, see: https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/09/15/rotary-beijing-in-summer-part-1/

They were featured in an article by China Daily:
19 January 2022 – Overcoming hurdles:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202201/19/WS61e75db2a310cdd39bc81e61_6.html
See attached the full article: 220119 Krankin

Otto Bock

See this article of Business Beijing of 1 June 2007 to read how our Georg Hoffman started working with protheses. See: 070601 OttoBock
He presented his project in our club on 17 August 2021.

See earlier post: https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/09/15/rotary-beijing-in-summer/

That’s January 2022

Happy to read this article: 220101 poledancing
I quote:
“Despite studios trying to promote the benefits, there is still a stigma attached to the sport by those who don’t fully understand it.
When I tell some guys I’m a pole dancer, they say, ‘Oh, you’re a stripper?’ I don’t get offended, they just don’t understand that pole dancing doesn’t have to be linked to stripping. I think a lot of people still don’t understand pole dancing and it’s still very niche.”

Indeed some in my circle made a scandal about pole dancing, being pretty ignorant about it.
See my earlier posts:
Pole dancing is a sport, https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/06/30/pole-dancing-is-a-sport/
Pole dancing is a sport (part 2), https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/06/30/pole-dancing-is-a-sport-part-2/

21 December 2021 Rotary lunch with inductions

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Kempinski

On Tuesday 21 December 2021 Rotary lunch with inductions followed by a presentation by Rtn Victor.

Rtn Kevin presided the meeting and Gilbert acted as Sergeant-at-Arms.
The induction of our two new members was done by Gilbert who is also their sponsor. We welcome two amazing individuals, Thierry and John who both previously gave us fascinating insights into their business. See:
– “John van de Water talked to Rotary”, https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/09/22/john-van-de-water-talked-to-rotary/
– 14 December 2021 Rotary dinner in Schindlers, with Thierry as a speaker: https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/12/27/14-december-2021-rotary-dinner-in-schindlers/

Speaker: Victor Montalva Salaverry

Topic: Introduction to Mining Industry and Community Relations in a Mining Town
Our Rotary member Victor gave us a speech about Mining Industry and the Community Relation in Peru, his home country. Victor is the director for Minera Tungsteno (tungsten mine) and director/co-owner of Agropex (copper/ gold mining) . He gave an introduction of his experience in gold, copper and tungsten mining and trading, and then he talked about the challenges and the positive significances of a good Community Relation in the mining towns, which are mostly located in the remote, economically undeveloped areas of Peru.