Rae Smart is a new member to Alex Rotary however she has been a member of various Rotary clubs as her work commitments moved her around the world. Rae first joined in 1989 and has taken many leadership roles including President of her Noosa club twice and most recently at Sunshine Coast Central.
Her life experiences were interesting ….. she spent a lot of time in the Papua New Guinea area including the troubled and war-torn area of Bougainville – which at one stage was considered part of the Solomon Islands group. She was seen as a leader and had the skills to empower women and girls and was “accepted” by both sides of the warring parties.
Helping and empowering women took her to about 20 different countries and all the way to United Nations in New York! Some of the many places she visited or lived during those times included: Japan, Beijing; Honk Kong; Cambodia; PNG; Solomon Islands; Cook Islands; Fiji; Vietnam; Chile and the South Americas.
She and her husband had one child, a daughter who contracted encephalitis as a young child and the medical advice was cruel …. she will be a vegetable and die within two years! Their daughter has developed into a fine young lady and overcome many of the medical issues.
Rae has been widowed for a few years … her husband was found deceased in his car in the car park of a medical centre on Anzac Day 2016 – it’s believed he was unwell and seeking medical help at the time.
In 2020 Rae was lucky enough to travel to Argentina to see their youth exchange host son, his wife and two boys and arrived back in Australia on one of the last flights before Covid-19 shut all the borders.
Rae has held many portfolios in Rotary Clubs and at a District level. She has been a keen supporter of the RYDA teenage driver education programme and in recent years has been very active in the Rotary International Youth Exchange programme .. and she is looking for help in this area as she builds a team working on the allocation of allocating YEP students to local families.
Alex Rotary is lucky to have her join us recently as she brings her passions, experience and an incredible desire to help many others.