Rotarians give tech boost to marae
Members help with Red Cross campaign
Rotarians¯ from the Rotary Club of Omokoroa have hit the ground running with an innovative project aimed at enhancing the humanitarian work Red Cross is doing in the GisborneTaira¯whiti area.
Bronwyn Carter, from Omokoroa ¯ Rotary, said they were aware of the work Katikati Red Cross emergency management specialist Phil Parker is doing in the cyclone-devastated areas on the East Coast.
With support from money donated to the NZ Red Cross Cyclone Gabrielle Appeal, Parker is helping a number of isolated rural marae to provide more resilient community support in future civil emergencies.
O¯ mokoroa Rotary has been given a number of laptop computers and these are getting a complete rebuild, with new hard drives and software installed by a specialist team of Katikati
Rotarians, led by computer engineer John Buchanan.
Parker will pass the laptops on to the groups setting up welfare hubs at their marae. They will be used for general welfare administration and, in an emergency, for record keeping as evacuees arrive at welfare centres.
Tauranga-based Rotary assistant district governor Pat Taylor said the “energy and clear thinking” of the new O¯ mokoroa team in assisting Red Cross is a credit to O¯ mokoroa and to Rotary in general.
“I would also like to acknowledge the exceptional work done by Rotarian John Buchanan and his team of Katikati computer experts.
“They have over the last 15 years, been responsible for more than a thousand laptops being donated by Rotary to schools, villages and hospitals throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia.”