Speakers' Corner
At most Monthly Meetings, a speaker is invited to give a talk or demonstration. This can be on almost any topic! The programme is fixed at the beginning of the year (see the Main Programme). The idea of a speaker dates
from the inception of the WI which aimed to provide access to information, and issues of national and international importance, for women in
rural environments.
Past Speakers A selection of past speakers to give an idea of the types of talks available:
| Article about a Members' Night* Speaker - October 2008 (*Members' Nights used to allow the members, rather than the committee, arrange one evening a year.)
Christine Dent - Travel and Conservation:
Wallabies, Whales and
Orangutans
At the Members’ Night
in October 2008 the surprise guest was Christine Dent, who talked about her
recent “gap-year” style volunteering and travel exeriences.
Christine spent time in Australia and Borneo, with Wallabies, Whales and Orangutans! It was a tale of three parts and
was full of ideas for anyone considering taking time-out and putting it towards
a valuable cause.
Wallabies - Australia
First Christine went
to Queensland to volunteer with Project Kial. This is a home for some of the few
remaining Bridled Nail-tail Wallabies, which were nearing extinction until the
couple who run the project started working towards their preservation. The
project also rescues and rehabilitates injured, ill or orphaned Australian
wildlife for release back into the wild. Among others, it was home to Cling-On
the Koala, Pickles the Possum, Wiggles the Wombat and Priscilla, the Wallaby
that Christine looked after.
Australian Animals Care & Education Inc
(AACE) Project.
Humpback Whales – Australia
The
Oceania Project has been conducting research within the Hervey Bay Marine Park
for more than a decade. Hervey Bay is around 300 km north of Brisbane, formed by
Fraser Island, just below the Great Barrier Reef, and the south-east coast of
Queensland. On their northwards migration, Humpback Whales travel along the
eastern side of Fraser Island, heading towards calm warm waters at the southern
and central regions of the Great Barrier Reef. In early August, the Humpback
Whales begin moving south from the Great Barrier Reef region and Hervey Bay
offers a natural haven for whales to feed their young calves and prepare before
the long trek to Antarctica.
As a volunteer, Christine travelled on the
expedition vessel, Moon Dancer, and took part in monitoring the behaviour and migration pattern of these whales. The whales, many almost as long as the
Village Hall, got very close to the boat and Christine had enough time to
observe that individual whales have individual patterns of behaviour. In
particular, some of the whales seemed to enjoy having fun, jumping out of the
water or lying on their backs and flipping their fins!
The Oceania
Project:
In Christine’s
team of volunteers there were 12 people, aged 24-51 years. They took part in
tree planting for reforestation, which will take 20 years to re-establish and
around 100 years to return to its previous state. They carried out building
work, including rendering and, very importantly, the construction of a toilet
block! A lot of Christine’s trip involved the river, building jetties and
travelling along it to the various sites, including Camp Leakey, where the work
of the Orangutan Foundation began. There she met lots of orangutans, who were
attracted by the free feeds and the fact many were bought up there as orphans.
The orangutans were very interested in the volunteers and would pinch things
that were not carefully looked after. On trips to the river to wash, everything
had to be carefully guarded or the orangutans would join in, eating, washing and
blowing bubbles with the shampoo, when not pinching and dressing up in clothes
from washing lines!
Kusasi, one of the orangutans Christine met
Other than the orangutans and the food, another
moment of note was the final reforestation work near the sea, when everyone
slept in hammocks on the beach and woke up to a perfect sea view ….
Orangutan Foundation UK: www.orangutan.org.uk
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