IFCR  Welcomes Fiji     

Warwick Pleass, District 9920 Governor chose Suva in Fiji as the site for his 2007 Conference.

He had recognised the youthful qualities of some Fijian Rotary clubs and invited representatives of IFCR to organise a conference event to launch the Fiji branch of the fellowship.

Various IFCR notables attended. Mike Jackson, IFCR International Chairman, David Breusch, Australian representative on the International Board, ‘Kittu’ Krishnaswami, Indian representative on the International Board, Charles Townsing, former Australian President and Bob Aitken, longtime editor of Rotary Down Under were all there.

The game organised between an international team and a team drawn from local Fijian Rotary clubs on Anzac Day proved a great success. Thirty overs each way were played with the locals coming out winners.

Resulting from this, an official Fiji branch of IFCR was formed.

During the conference week the visitors learnt of the existence of the Happy Home, an institution supported strongly by the Rotary Club of Suva with their RC of Suva Sujit Foundation.

The genesis of this project was the discovery of Sujit Kumar who had been abused, traumatised and living in distressing circumstances for many years. The Happy Home was set up to accommodate Sujit and others from similar backgrounds so that they would no longer live in such an unhappy way. The Sujit Foundation was to be the vehicle for the Rotary club’s support.

Cricket is never far from the minds of the young people in the Happy Home so their delight can be imagined when the visiting IFCR members rapidly produced $500 to go towards the provision of an artificial pitch and cricket equipment.