Format Change
Our speaker is Tutty Faber, the first of our new members from the former Rotary Club of Orange Grove. As you are aware a new member has to give a "My Job" talk at some stage but as Tutty is retired we would be subject to 20 minutes of silence so instead he's going to talk about himself which is much more interesting.
Artist Danny Myburgh talked about her work as an Art Therapist. She not only encouraged us to do new things and to be creative but showed us how important it was to think out of the box as you age. It was a fascinating talk with much description of brain functions from an early age up to adulthood and beyond. It's not just a case of seeing yourself as others see you but also how your self-image changes. She showed an interesting collage of self portraits by a man suffering from Alzheimers disease that showed how his perception of himself changed.
I have moved the pages to the Side Bar as only three pages will appear across the top of the page and there are already four of them. Take a look as already there have been significant additions to them.
This Week
Our speaker is Tutty Faber, the first of our new members from the former Rotary Club of Orange Grove. As you are aware a new member has to give a "My Job" talk at some stage but as Tutty is retired we would be subject to 20 minutes of silence so instead he's going to talk about himself which is much more interesting.
He looks rather fierce in this photo, quite unlike his usual amiable self. Maybe because he has just won the bottle of wine last week he needs to guard it from the rest of the table.
I happen to know that he is a keen twitcher.......or is he?
The term twitcher, sometimes misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or counted on a list. The term originated in the 1950s, when it was used for the nervous behaviour of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. Prior terms for those who chased rarities were pot-hunter, tally-hunter, or tick-hunter. The main goal of twitching is often to accumulate species on one's lists. Some birders engage in competition to accumulate the longest species list. The act of the pursuit itself is referred to as a twitch or a chase. A rare bird that stays put long enough for people to see it is twitchable or chaseable.
I think that any serious birder would resent the term twitcher as it is very similar to the train spotters of my youth who were only interested in underlining the number in the Ian Allan books and weren't interested in the steam locomotives as such.
Ian Allan died at the age of 93 in June. He was president of the Main Line Steam Trust based at Loughborough, vice-president of the Transport Trust and the Heritage Railways Association, chairman of the Association of Independent Railways. Here are a couple of train-spotters....one of them could have been me.
Last Week
Artist Danny Myburgh talked about her work as an Art Therapist. She not only encouraged us to do new things and to be creative but showed us how important it was to think out of the box as you age. It was a fascinating talk with much description of brain functions from an early age up to adulthood and beyond. It's not just a case of seeing yourself as others see you but also how your self-image changes. She showed an interesting collage of self portraits by a man suffering from Alzheimers disease that showed how his perception of himself changed.
In 1995, U.K.-based artist William Utermohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This is a difficult diagnosis and disease for anyone, but before his death in 2007, Utermohlen created a heart-wrenching final series of self-portraits over a roughly 5-year period documenting the gradual decay of his mind due to this crippling disease.
An essay by the artist’s widow Patricia explains perfectly exactly why these images are so powerful; “In these pictures we see with heart-breaking intensity William’s efforts to explain his altered self, his fears and his sadness.” It’s hard to say whether the changes in his portraits came about due the loss of his artistic skills or due to changes in his psyche but, in either case, they document the emotional turmoil of an artist watching his mind slip away from him bit by bit.
Dr Charmaine Blanchard
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| Charmaine receiving her Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Club of Hatfield, UK. Left to Right... PDG Debbie Hodge, Dr Charmaine Blanchard, DG Prue Dixon, the irrepressible Frank Taylor and Angela Ferris, Pastoral Minister of St Paul's Letchworth. |
Charmaine is Head of The Centre of Excellence for Palliative Care, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
Other Appointments
- Senior Lecturer. Faculty of Health Sciences. University of Witwatersrand
Key Accomplishments
- Established the Gauteng Palliative Care Doctors’ Group in Gauteng in collaboration with Dr. Trish Luck of Big Shoes Foundation in Johannesburg. A support group for doctors working in palliative care in Gauteng to exchange information and ideas and to debrief on a monthly basis.
Education / Honors
- Graduate, International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative, The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice, San Diego, CA, and Ohio Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2012-2014
- Higher Certificate in Management at the Foundation for Professional Development, South Africa, 2010
- Master of Philosophy in Palliative Medicine at University of Cape Town, Graduated 2009
- Postgraduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine at University of Cape Town, Graduated 2004
- MBBCh at University of Witwatersrand, Graduated 1998
- Bachelor of Science (Honours) at University of Witwatersrand. Graduated 1993
Why her interest in Palliative Care? It's a fascinating story that you can read HERE.
And rather a different video this week
A Letter of Thanks
From DGR Steve Margo
To all clubs who participated in the blanket drive.
Dear club
Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers, Rotarians, Ann’s Interactors, Rota-actors
and Friends of Rotary.
A special word
of thanks to each and every one of you for your untiring commitment to our
collective blanket drive. Thank you for your time and the effort you have put
in, in ensuring that a person less fortunate than you would be a little warmer
this year.
Despite
increased competition from many organizations, Churches and Schools, all of
whom ran their own blanket drives we again have come out on top.
The blanket
drive now in its 5th successful year has exceeded all expectations
and has surpassed the target laid down.
We have
collectively this year collected R1,040,966-50 IN CASH and have, to date, distributed 17,686 blankets to the destitute and
needy. An achievement to be proud of..
Well done and
thank you to one and all.
This project
also illustrates the huge success clubs can attain by working together on a
single project, so let’s do it again next year!
Will anyone with
good clear photographs taken at blanket handovers please forward to me for an
article in Rotary Africa and Caxton. Photographs must be a minimum of
700 KB’s and not more than 3 MB.
Please pass this
message onto all members who participated in this project
With my sincere
best wishes to all for a successful and enjoyable Rotary year
Yours in Rotary
S F Margo
DGR Steve
ILLITERACY TRAPS ADULTS, AND THEIR FAMILIES, IN POVERTY
Around the world, millions of adults are unable to read or write, and therefore struggle to earn a living for themselves and their families.
Even in the United States, with its considerable resources, there are 36 million adults who can’t read better than the average third-grader, according to the international nonprofit ProLiteracy. In Detroit, Michigan, a widely cited 2003 survey conducted by the National Institute for Literacy found that almost half of residents over age 16 were functionally illiterate -- unable to use reading, speaking, writing, and computer skills in everyday life.
Kristen Barnes-Holiday, director of program outcomes for Reading Works, an organization tackling adult illiteracy in Detroit, says the agencies -- many of them underfunded and understaffed -- that have been trying for years to address the problem there have made little progress.
Illiteracy affects all areas of life. Those with low literacy skills are far more likely to live in poverty, face health problems because they can’t read prescription labels or instructions, and grow isolated in a world increasingly dependent on computers. And the lack of a skilled workforce, Barnes-Holiday notes, has slowed Detroit’s economic revival.
But she worries most about the impact on future generations.
“A lot of children are raised in households where parents are low-skilled or illiterate, and we all know only a certain amount of learning happens in the classroom,” she says. “We are raising this generation with the expectation that if we pour a certain amount of dollars into their education, we will get better results. But that is only partially true if we do nothing to address the households they are coming from.”
Rotary member Mark Wilson, who also has been involved with Detroit literacy efforts, agrees that adult literacy is not receiving the attention it deserves.
“It doesn’t pull at the heartstrings the same way as when you see a child who can’t read,” says Wilson, a member of the suburban Rotary Club of Grosse Pointe. “But, in fact, it’s a vicious cycle and it perpetuates itself.”
Wilson’s club, along with other Detroit-area Rotary members, partnered with ProLiteracy Detroit to raise money to recruit and train more tutors. Also, members have collected 261,000 books and 587 computers to donate to literacy agencies throughout the city.
A grant from The Rotary Foundation brought a team of literacy experts from Australia to Detroit, to share their expertise with those who are training the tutors. The grant helped launch a weekly program on local television to raise awareness and broaden corporate and community support.
Through the efforts of the volunteer tutors, more than 500 adults raised their reading levels by three grades, according to testing by the Michigan Adult Education Reporting System.
Margaret Williamson, executive director of ProLiteracy Detroit and a member of the Rotary Club of Detroit, said the project has produced benefits even beyond initial expectations.
“Not only do we look at reading, but we look at building the skills the individual will need for employment,” she says. “And what happened was that, through the Rotary network, [these adults] had access to people who knew other people who were willing to give them an opportunity. We had people call us and say, “Do you have a person who would be good for this entry-level position?’ ”
The Rotary members have become better advocates for adult literacy, influencing policymakers at several levels, adds Williamson. Among the results of that advocacy: A financial institution donated a banking center for vocational training, and ProLiteracy received more money for tutor training and has expanded its network of partners.
“The ripple effect is still benefiting us,” she says.
Wilson also talks about ripples.
“When you teach somebody how to read, they have that for a lifetime,” he says. “It ripples through the community, one by one. And that was our goal.”
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