Ray Adams of Emerald is honoured with an Order of Australia (OAM) medal for Australia Day.By Tania Martin
THE honours just keep mounting up for Emerald’s Ray Adams.
In 2006 he was made a Senior Citizen of the Year and a Masai senior warrior and now he has an Order of Australia (OAM) medal under his belt.
Mr Adams was shocked and a little overwhelmed when told he was being awarded an OAM as part of Australia Day celebrations.
He has been chosen for the OAM honour because of his service to communities around the country and overseas through a range of leadership roles with Rotary International.
Mr Adams joined Rotary in the mid- 1970s because he wanted to give something back to the community.
He has held many positions as a Rotarian including district governor for the 9810 district and president of the Emerald branch. But one of the many highlights of his time with Rotary is helping to establish a school in Kenya to provide basic education and care for children.
In 2003 Mr Adams became involved in a project to set up the Tender Foot Self Help School in Kangemi, Nairobi.
Through the Emerald Rotary Club money was raised for school furniture, and a bus, he said.
When the project got underway the school was little more than a shed. Now, he says, it is a fully functioning school with 280 students aged between three and 16.
Mr Adams has also helped set up a scholarship program for the school and manages the money.
He said all the sponsorship money went directly into a school bank account to benefit the children in Kangemi.
Just $275 will sponsor one child for 12 months.
“We have 68 kids sponsored and 120 names on the list,” he said.
Mr Adams visited the school in October last year for the official opening and was given a king’s welcome.
He was made an honorary Masai senior warrior.
“They welcomed me like you wouldn’t believe – they gave me high fives, which I taught them,” he said.
“It was just terrific, the reception I got was just so friendly and welcome.”
Mr Adams continues to work with the school and encourages people in Australia to sponsor children through the Rotary Club of Emerald.
He said it was an amazing feeling to be given an OAM but that he enjoyed giving what he could back to the community.
