Member Behind the Badge - Lyn Borghouts

Welcome to "Behind the Badge" where we speak with our members to learn more about their lives and what brought them to where they are today.
Today, we'll be speaking with Lyn Borghouts, a long-time engineer, dedicated mother, friend and a valued member of the Rotary Club of Flemington Kensington. 
 

Though she’s too humble to mention, it’d be a-miss if we didn’t incorporate Lyn’s contribution to the Rotary Overseas Repurposed Playground (RORP) project. She designed the coding process for harvesting the playgrounds & because of this simplified method the project is adapted with such ease by clubs all around Australia. For more information on the project visit the link here

 

"I was born in Hitchin, England, and moved to Australia with my family when I was just two years old.

I have three older sisters, and my father was a Nuclear Physicist who worked as an engineer in various industries. In his desire to spend more time with family, he explored options to move and that got us here to Australia. We’d first stayed in Adelaide, then moved to Bacchus Marsh.

My mother was also a physicist who worked as a physics lab tech but after she got married, she stopped working due to the ‘Marriage bar’ law in those days. Later, in Melbourne she worked as a bookkeeper at Granny Smith Bread Company”
 

“Early childhood memory is playing at our house near Lerderderg River, we were very lucky to have lots of outdoor play time, we had access to creek just behind the house & this use to be where we’d spend most of our time.

Another, very early memory I have is being at badminton with my mum and siblings and falling off a seesaw & breaking my ankle, I remember being mortified to go to kinder in a pram while it healed.  

I went to Bacchus Marsh Primary and very soon followed my sisters and joined Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School, that’s also when we moved to Essendon.
 

Growing up, I saw my dad always fixing things around the house, I wanted to do what he did! So, I joined engineering at Melbourne University. The first day, walking into the Lecture theatre, there may have been at most 10-15 girls in the full theater of 350!
Embracing your differences, voicing your opinion isn’t something that came naturally in those days, which on hindsight, I wish we were able to do.

On that first day of the university, I met my dear friend Sue for which I am forever thankful, and since we have stuck together like glue.

In spite of my strong desire to emulate my father, I didn’t become the handy person like him. I’d learn later, his skill came from investing a lot of time on self-education and practicing the skills he learnt, which I didn’t do much. 

However, his commitment to treating everyone as equals and keeping the customer value at the forefront of his work has continued to have a profound impact on me and I have carried this ethos throughout my career.
 

         When did you get married, Kids?

I met Vic at my first job in the Department of Defence, he was a scientist, we met in 1990 and married in 1991, we both decided to focus on work and deferred having children for 10 years. During this time, I travelled to Indonesia and Thailand for Westinghouse Rail Systems.

In 1999 we had Zoe, I took a year off on maternity leave and went back work. Going back after maternity Leave,  my role changed, they had me writing standards for each department, which at that time I didn’t enjoy. But again, on reflection, that was best thing that happened as it provided me with this exceptional edge and insight into the working of each departments.

We had Jules in 2002, and I went back to work part time after Jules was 2. When I went back, I trained and took up a safety related job & several others since. i.e., 29 years with these company & 19 years of continuous service.
 

I joined Rotary in 2017 after my marriage ended and children had become independent. I wanted to give back to the community and was drawn to the breakfast club as it suited my work lifestyle. No one asked me to join specifically; I simply walked in one day and was welcomed by Lesley who recognized me immediately as a mother of her students.

I was very impressed with that first meeting, it was very structured, with Sergeant at Arms, all members are talking about projects. The club was celebrating the huge success they’d had with the level crossing project, the energy was contagious and I immediately felt that I wanted to be part of the community.
 

I enjoy the BBQ’ the most because you connect with people; your responsibility is clear and known and I loved having the conversation with people.
 

I enjoyed the work trips to Thailand and Indonesia, there I was able to live within the local communities and experience the support of the people there and also understand happiness & joy in new context.

Outside of that my all-time favourite place to be is Heron Island, a research station for birds on the Great Barrier Reef.
 

I enjoy reading, watching TV shows and going out to lunch with friends. I also love live theatre and music but haven’t made it to either since 2019.

On my list of recent favorite authors are Alice Pung and Jane Harper

I am enjoying watching Survivor, Severance and Slow Horses

I also love singing and have been a part of various choirs’ group.
 

I am passionate about social justice issues, particularly homelessness. Everyone should have access to safe and affordable housing, I think the approach taken in countries like Finland to tackle this issue is inspirational. I strongly feel that the government has a role to play in addressing this problem, we could do it during Pandemic, we should surely be able to solve this in this country!
 

Oh wow! My ideal dinner party guests would include Gayle Wurm, an inspirational woman I met through the Nursing Mothers Breastfeeding Association, Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer, lawyer and human rights advocate Geoffrey Robertson, challenges traditional viewpoints. I am inspired by people who have a unique perspective to share.
 

Kindness, family, and gratitude are the most important things in life, and that it's crucial to be aware of your own situation and practice gratitude.
 

The importance of patience and not feeling like everything has to happen immediately.
 

Thank you for reading our special monthly, ‘Member behind the Badge. We hope you enjoyed, if you have any questions or suggestions for our newsletter, please do not hesitate to email us at president@rotaryflemington.org.au