Meeting Report 3182 November 6th, 2023
Please note there was no bulletin for meeting 3181
Apologies for the evening:
Colin Bazeley, Julie Tekell, Tom Kelly, Leanne Clinch, Anthea John.
Guests
Efran Abidi -Guest Speaker; Stuart Cain-Guest of Brian; Sherine Allouche.
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This evenings Formalities:
Fines to:
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Toast
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Grace
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Chair
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Margaret Leversedge
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Margaret Leversedge
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Beth Hudman
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PP Barry Stewart introduced the chair for the evening- Beth who welcomed members and special guests before asking Members who wished to have a Rotary Spot to come forward.
PP Dr Bruce Eastick reported the passing of fellow Eldecare resident and past member of the club- Ron Washington. Ron’s wife sadly passed away just a few months ago.
Almoner PP Mike Williams
- Angela’s brother passed away last night after his short battle.
- Has been speaking to Colin who as usual is trying to be his bright and cheery self despite his injuries. The result of his accident was he has 10 broken ribs and a punctured lung. All Rotarians are sending him wishes for a speedy recovery
PE Anthony Barilla
- As reported earlier will be at the Port Adelaide Pageant on the weekend towing Santa. Pres John has committed to be there to walk along side and represent our club. Anyone else wishing to help out let Anthony know and he will put your name down.
Pres John
- Thanks everyone for the efforts in delivering a fantastic Village Fair-
- Next week is a special evening. We will be raising money for the Ukraine and Dinner will be an extra $5 with this money part of the donation. Guests from Gawler Light and other Area 6 clubs will be present.
Karl Smith
- Attended an awards ceremony for the Mayor’s Christmas card co. The competition. It was fabulous to see so many fabulous entries (Karl’s daughter won second place in her category!). The council have put all the entries into a hard bound book and will be in the Gawler Town Library for everyone to see.
PP Steve Barilla
- What an excellent day we had on Saturday. Approximately $18000 was raised by stall holders which will directly benefit the community.
- While Steve wanted to thank everyone for their efforts, he particularly wanted to mention Colin B, Mike W and Michael J for the organisation leading up to the day. Also special thanks to Isabel and Madison Williams, Sharine A, and Peter Heinrich for supporting the club, and Gawler Light for their fabulous effort with the Art Show once again.
- It was a wonderful day with both Rotary clubs working together.
After dinner Beth welcomed Barry to present his sergeants session.
The wheel spin winners were Beth, Kyle, and Anthony.
Barry said while he loved being Fat Barry at the fair there were lots of requests for photos so he couldn’t sit down and it was very hot in his suit!
Beth then introduced the guest speaker Efan Abidi. She had heard him speak at the Barossa club and knew his story was one to be shared. Efran is a member of the Rotary Club of Adelaide.
The following report of the presentation was submitted by PP Brian Burt.
On November 6th, members and guests were fascinated by Afghan Refugee Erfan Abidi who spoke of life in Afghanistan prior to August 2020 and his Journey to Safety following the fall of the US backed government.
Erfan is a university qualified security expert who worked for US and Australian forces in security and as a translator. However, life was far from easy,
“I had access to a good university education and had a job that made the constant bombings worth putting up with, although it was quite tricky at the best of times.”
With the fall of the coalition government people like Erfan were high priority targets.
His emotional story of how he and his wife and two children escaped from Afghanistan and are now happily settled in Australia is inspirational and shows a side of our migration policies and practices that we don’t often hear about.
Erfan Abidi’s Story
The Early Years
Afghanistan is a rough but beautiful country plagued by conflict and instability. It is home to resilient and proud people of different ethnicities. Most of its recent history has unfortunately been rife with disagreements between its different factions, stoked by neighbouring countries for their own political interests.
I grew up as a carefree young teenager in a happy, middle-class family in the suburbs of Kabul. We celebrated life with picnics and outings. Friends used to call in and stay over. My Islamic faith has always inspired my life as a good Sufi Muslim and I learnt to accept the diversity within Islam as well as other faiths. My father had a medium-sized property and grew a decent crop of vines which he sold on the market for a lucrative price.
Making the best of Life
We thrived and made use of the new services that were being offered by the central government of the time. I had access to a good university education and had a job that made the constant bombings worth putting up with, although it was quite tricky at the best of times. Somehow, we lived a relatively sheltered life in Kabul compared to the constant bad news from the regional areas. We would try to ignore the bombings around the city. After 2020, though, things started to change for the worse. The central government, which was largely propped up by foreign aid, started to buckle as the US was showing signs of budget fatigue. By the end of the year the writing was clearly on the wall. The bubble we were living in had to burst. The insurgency in the regional areas was escalating to a degree never experienced before. The question in everyone’s mind now was not if but when was it actually going to happen. With the collapse of the central government in mid-August the fate of the country and of our lives was sealed. With the fall of Kabul, we suddenly became enemies of the state overnight and unwanted refugees.
The Journey
Fast forward 15 days after we secured a humanitarian visa, my family and I experienced a living hell for three days without food or sleep. We changed houses to avoid capture, grabbed whatever we could carry in rucksacks, and made our way to the airport as did thousands of others desperately trying to push and shove our way through filth and sewerage. The aim was to get close to the Australian soldiers to take us into the airport. This was happening while the local Taliban were trying to control the crowds by shooting indiscriminately at us. It was an absolute nightmare and an emotional roller-coaster I would not like to relive. Having got through to the airport, a troop carrier aircraft ferried us across to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As the plane lifted off the runway, we sang our Afghan national song, Sarzameen-e-man, together. Everyone was grappling to contain their tears. It felt like our hearts were being wrenched out of our bodies. Comparative calm coupled with sheer exhaustion took over as we landed on safer ground in Dubai where we were debriefed and prepared for our new destination.
Arriving Down Under
We arrived early on the morning of 1 Sep 2021 in post-COVID Adelaide. It was not exactly a rousing welcome as we spent the next 14 days in lockdown. But we found Australians to be very generous people. We started to experience the safety and humanity of a normal life. Gradually we established a good network of friends to whom we are immensely grateful. The issues facing Afghanistan now and into the future will be centred on security, governance and economic prosperity. Among the population of 39 million, there are millions of displaced people and women and children still without food and work. I still have hope for a safe and free Afghanistan. Although it is hard to imagine this future for the people of Afghanistan, I believe it is possible with world powers leveraging their influence and aid for political change and I intend to play a part in it.
Looking ahead
I plan to take up further tertiary studies in Counter-Terrorism and Political Science. The knowledge I gained on the ground in my previous work in Kabul will put me in good stead towards a career in the Intelligence Sector for the Australian government. I am now in a position to make a difference to my old country as well as my new adopted country.
All Members were moved by his presentation and thanked him for his honest and confronting account. Beth presented him with his certificate of appreciation before introducing Pres John to close the meeting.
He thanked guests for attending and reminded everyone that next week will be a combined meeting before closing meeting 3180 with the four-way test.
