Past Stories
Applications for 2026 Rotary Peace Fellowships are now open until May 15, 2025.District 9800 has produced one or more peace fellows every year, except one, since the program began in 2002. We invite you and your fellow club members to find qualified candidates so that our district’s world beating record can be maintained. This year, The Rotary Foundation will award up to 50 fellowships for master’s degrees and up to 80 fellowships for professional development certificates at premier universities — including at our newest Rotary Peace Centre in Istanbul.
Rotary Safe Families (RSF) has now been given a great opportunity to expand its outreach into the global Rotary international network. 
District 9800 Sponsorships for Calgary & Adelaide District 9800 is thrilled to announce an exciting opportunity for young Rotarians and Rotaractors to grow as leaders and experience the power of Rotary on a global and national scale.
In a heartwarming display of community support and the power of Rotary, the Rotary Club of Melton Valley has stepped up to enhance the educational experience of students at Toolern Vale Primary School.
From humble beginnings, the Rotary Overseas Repurposed/Relocated Playgrounds (RORP) project has given children’s playgrounds no longer needed in Australia a second life. Thanks to the tireless efforts of passionate Rotarians and friends, what started as a small initiative – where Rotary teams physically dismantling playgrounds in local municipalities – has now grown into an industry-recognised enterprise.
Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) is a 12-month international experience for 16 year olds providing cultural, social, educational and language immersion in a safe, supportive home hosting environment. Each year, hundreds of teenagers from countries across the globe take up the offer of the adventure of a lifetime where they develop independence, life skills and lifelong friendships.
Rotary Central Melbourne’s (RCM) 2024 Silk Miller Scholar, acting Senior Sergeant Steve Turner’s work has been recognised at the National Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards. Steve’s project resulted in the team receiving a silver award, one of nine awards presented by Federal-Attorney General, Hon. Mark Dreyfus KC MP, at a ceremony held in Parliament House, Canberra on 12 November 2024.
The Rotary Club of Wyndham Harbour D9800 in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Canal Estate D9110, Lagos, Nigeria, joined forces to provide school writing materials for kids in a local school in Okata in Lagos, unlocking words and giving children the joy of reading.
Helen Keller’s words: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much perfectly capture the essence of Rotary’s recent involvement in a Rotary International Global Grant in Cambodia. By installing WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) infrastructure and leading educational workshops in 11 rural schools in Siem Reap province, so much has been done to make a lasting impact on over 5,000 students and community members!
Rotary SAFE Families, created by Dorothy Gilmour, President of Rotary, has become a global peace project, providing its resources to Rotary Clubs around the world in its endeavours to prevent family violence.
How would you feel if your daughter or granddaughter had to miss school during menstruation due to inadequate facilities? Thanks to twelve new menstrual health management (MHM) toilets now under construction in a Cambodian Kampong, girls will be able to attend school whilst mentruating. Supported by a District Grant from the Rotary Foundation, the Rotary Club of Camberwell has partnered with the Running Water Project Cambodia to deliver these facilities.
If you are poor and uneducated in Myanmar your prospects for employment and a chance to improve your life are zero. Even worse than that, you can be preyed upon by child traffickers for the purposes of organ theft! Through the support of Essendon Rotary and a Rotary District Foundation Grant, some children from a Yangon slum will get the opportunity to learn practical skills leading to gainful employment.
Creating a sense of belonging from the moment a prospective member expresses interest in joining a Club is key to helping them become a long-term member.
Discover the transformative power of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) with Reimagine Belonging, the official podcast of Rotary District 9800.The Journey
This story began a few years ago when Isaiah Lahai joined the Rotary Club of Glenferrie. Isaiah has an amazing story of survival: a refugee from Sierra Leone due to civil war; 14 years in five camps in Guinea; then making his way to Australia. Since arriving in Australia, he has supported his community back in Sierra Leone and particularly the Aladura Primary School in Buedu: the value of education in improving the lives of young people cannot be underestimated. Buedu is in a remote area in the far east of Sierra Leone near the border with Liberia.
Small Comforts from Community is a collaboration of Clubs within Rotary District 9800: a social impact project the success of which is reflected in the fact that this initiative has recently expanded. In addition to providing care bags and clothing to The Alfred and Upton House (Eastern Health), we now also distribute care bags to patients at the Royal Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospitals. Over 1,500 care packs are provided each year to some of the most vulnerable members of our community, people being admitted to mental health wards in our local hospitals.
On 17 December, the people of Vanuatu were struck by a devastating earthquake that has left widespread destruction in its wake. Homes have been destroyed, communities disrupted, and countless individuals and families face a long road to recovery. In times of crisis, Rotary’s global network of compassion and action shines brightest, and District 9800 is stepping up to provide support to those impacted.