Our Potential Cervical Cancer Project and a new Interact Club in the pipeline. Cyclone Idai, the Rietfontein/Sizwe Development and More.

Last Week

I wasn't at Rotary so I don't know what the report back was but I do know that Joan Sainsbury is busy with the conversion of the Carers Club at Holy Family College into an Interact Club and that James Croswell and the International Committee have made considerable progress where our proposed Cervical Cancer Project is concerned......

On Friday morning there was an ad hoc meeting with Dr Carla Chibwesha , representing Right to Care , about the potential Global Grant Project concerning cervical cancer. A preliminary agreement was reached to link onto the existing mobil screening unit at Cosmo City/ Diepsloot to provide an independent mobile treatment  clinic to provide “ on site” treatment and obviate the need the need for patients to travel to a Provincial Hospital for such treatment. The hope is that a greater percentage of patients, showing positive test for cancer, will be attended to. The next step is to agree on an appropriate MoU. The photo shows those who attended the meeting.

Thank you, James, for the photograph and the information.  Congratulations.

Cyclone Idai

The devastation, loss of life and the consequent problems of starvation and disease have produced an outpouring of international assistance not only for those in Mozambique but also for victims in Zimbabwe and Malawi.  Mozambique is part of our Rotary District and clubs have been asked to assist, mainly with financial contributions.  The Mozambique Rotarians are are in the forefront of Rotary's efforts.  Here is a very disturbing video that really underlines the magnitude of the disaster at a personal level.

https://www.facebook.com/colemanpg/videos/10157112732162288/

This Week

Marian Laserson will be talking to us about the Rietfontein/Sizwe Development.  

The development is across the road from Huddle Park Golf Course and Sandringham High.

Sizwe Hospital was first built in 1895, as Rietfontein Lazaretto, it stood alone in a remote location, a full-day's cart-ride from the centre of the town, established that far away as a safety measure against the smallpox epidemic sweeping Johannesburg.

One of South Africa's unsung heroes is the late Dr. John Max Mehliss, who for 32 years, was the hospital's superintendent and was responsible for treating some 160,000 patients. After only 2 years of formal high school study in King William's Town, during which he proved to have an exceptional ability, he completed his courses at the Universities of Munich and Guttenburg, gaining recognition as one of Germany's top students.  He caught the eye of Otto von Bismarck, Germany's  "Iron Chancellor", who asked of him, "Who are you, an unknown from an unknown land, to come here and beat all our best men?" Together with German physician Ehrlich, John Mehliss helped develop Salvarsan, a cure for Syphilis. 

The fame of the hospital, called "Mealies Hospital" by patients who corrupted the unusual name Mehliss, spread far and wide and it was inundated with patients from all over Africa coming to be treated there. In one instance a young black woman brought two old patients, both crippled and unable to walk, to the hospital. She had carried one of the old people 100 meters, set him down and returned to fetch his wife. It took them three months to arrive at their destination...

Archbishop Desmond Tutu spent two years as a patient in the Rietfontein Hospital, undergoing treatment for and eventually being cured of his TB.

Its treatments for plague, for communicable diseases like Spanish flu, Bubonic Plague and smallpox, as well as its successes with Veneral Disease, TB, leprosy, typhoid, anthrax, Ebola, and Marburg fever among others were groundbreaking.

While many of the hundreds of thousands of patients survived their illnesses and lived long years, about 7000 diverse people - including Chinese mine workers in the 1900s, Indians, Malawians, some  Irish, English, Germans, Poles and of course some South Africans of all creeds are buried there. Three of the original five cemeteries have been found, but to date there is no sign of either the Jewish or the Leprosy Cemeteries.

Metal markers rather than tombstones identified most of these burial sites.  In 2004 the Department of Water Affairs destroyed the Bluegum trees separating the cemeteries, because they were "foreign trees".  The Department promised to replace the trees with indigenous ones more suited to the environment, but to date - 10 years later - nothing has happened.

At the same time as the trees were uprooted, the metal markers on the graves began to disappear. Mr Eben De-Villiers, manager of the nursery in the grounds of the Sizwe Hospital, which is opposite Saheti  school for many years, remembers, some years back, huge heaps of metal markers with numbers on them, as well as markers with crosses on them commemorating soldiers who died in the Boer War.  All this metal, he said, was collected from the graves and sold as scrap metal.

In the last year tombstones have begun to be stolen. The Guthrie family lost three family members in 2 days: their huge tombstone is one of those that has disappeared.

Because of the presence of the graveyards and the danger of diseases coming from the graves, the area has for many years been secluded and protected from damaging development. Today it is home to troops of monkeys, to mongoose, owls, rodents of sort and a type of a small duiker.  In addition, orange and red data  plants within the grasslands are also present. Part of the area is a wetland; and three rivers run through the property, the largest being the Jukskei River.  Sadly today, more and more trees are being cut down, thus destroying wildlife habitat.

Load Shedding

A brief respite but here's equipment you can use to ameliorate the situation when it returns....and it will!

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Rotary-USAID Partnership, which has brought communities and resources together to provide clean water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene education in developing countries. 

Rotary-USAID education programs are teaching students in Ghana, like Philomina Okyere how to effectively wash her hands. More than 35 Rotary clubs are working in partnership on WASH projects in Ghana. Our Potential 

Rotary and USAID, the world’s largest governmental aid agency, bring distinct strengths to the effort. Rotary activates a global network to raise money, rally volunteers, and oversee construction, while USAID provides technical support to design and carry out the initiatives and build the capacity of local agencies to operate and maintain the systems.

“Rotary brings a lot of energy to the program and has the ability to create a lot of buzz,” says Ryan Mahoney, a WASH and environmental health adviser for USAID and member of the Rotary-USAID steering committee. “They have been great at leveraging their relationships with community leaders to get projects off the ground.”

In Ghana, which was a focal point when the alliance launched, 35 Rotary clubs across six regions will have implemented more than 200 sustainable WASH programs by 2020.

Fredrick Muyodi and Alasdair Macleod, members of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers, visited 30 of them last September to assess and evaluate their successes and ongoing challenges.

Macleod, a member of the Rotary Club of Monifieth & District, Tayside, Scotland, was impressed with the education efforts he saw. Most of the schools he visited had built-in education components, including a dedicated WASH educator on staff. In one case, the WASH teacher and students made and distributed posters about the importance of hand washing.

“Long-term projects need to start with the younger generation,” says Macleod. He adds that students can be agents of change in their own homes and in their communities by teaching the proper technique.

Other site visits revealed unexpected challenges, such as security. When a school has sanitation resources that are otherwise unavailable in a community, for example, the risk of break-ins and vandalism increases. Muyodi, a member of the Rotary Club of Kampala City-Makerere, Uganda, says that projects can lessen the risk by expanding to include the surrounding community.

Distance is also sometimes a challenge, if project sites are too far away for the clubs involved to commit to regular site visits. To remedy this, Muyodi says, clubs should engage with more local residents and create better links with leaders on the community and district levels.

Denham, a member of the Rotary-USAID steering committee, attributes the alliance’s success in Ghana to better coordination and communication, from using WhatsApp to connect with partners to hiring full-time staff. As it enters its second phase, the partnership — a landmark public/private collaboration in the WASH field — has secured $4 million in commitments for projects in Ghana, Madagascar, and Uganda. Rotary clubs in each country are responsible for raising $200,000.

“Rotary is in the business of social and economic development,” says Denham. “Our work in WASH can be a testament to that.”

A Social Meeting, Visitors, the Youth Exchange Weekend, a Business Meeting and RI President elect Mark Maloney looks to the Future.

Last Week
It was a social meeting and a very enjoyable one.  We had a number of visitors as well which enlivened the proceedings.





Marian Laserson was Sergeant and it was a great pleasure to see her after such a longtime.  Here she is in studious mood.








Helmut Ogulin was a visitor from the Austrian Rotary Club of Bad-Fischau - Thermeregion.  He presented President Jean with an almost blank banner!









A frequent visitor, David Craik from Sevenoaks in Kent, presented President Jean with a medal from the fun run that his club organises to raise funds.  This does give her the opportunity to prove to others that she runs a lot, even overseas. 

An increasingly frequent visitor was Nigel Bellamy from the Rotary Club of Selibe Pikwe in Botswana.  He bears a striking resemblance to PDG Jankees Sligcher.

PDG Jankees Sligcher

Rtn Nigel Bellamy

Youth Exchange Weekend



Our Youth Director, Joan Sainsbury and Youth Committee member Cuthbert Gumbochuma attended with our potential Exchange Student, Masego Matiko.

District suggested that Masego look at Long-term rather than a Short-term Exchange and she decided during the weekend that that made more sense than the Short-term she had applied for.

Masego will be a brilliant ambassador for Rotary and South Africa as she has really made her mark at the SA School for the Arts.  We wish her all of the best in this her Matric year.  Last Year she took the leading role in an interesting radical play at school and if Matric doesn't hold her back we must support her in any performance this year.



This Week
It's a Business Meeting so we should hear more about what money we need to raise, what  the expectations are regarding the Arts Festival etc.


Here's just a snippet of RI President-elect Mark Maloney's ideas on growing Rotary during his period of office starting on the 1st July.

President-elect Mark Maloney maps out a course for Rotary’s future

We need to grow Rotary. We need more hands doing service, more brains coming up with ideas. We need more partnerships, more connections. To accomplish that, I have four priorities for my presidency, and No. 1 is growing Rotary.

Q: How do you do that?

A: First, we redouble our efforts to support our clubs to attract new members and engage current members so that they stay with Rotary to perform greater and more innovative service. That means clubs being more flexible than they have been.

But the other aspect is to form new Rotary clubs. Our tradition was to form new clubs in areas where clubs didn’t exist. We need now to focus on forming new clubs where Rotary not only exists, but thrives. In many of those areas we are serving only a certain segment of the population. We need new clubs with alternative experiences that meet in nontraditional ways. That would help us attract a different demographic — be it age, gender, ethnic background — so that we are serving all aspects of the community. 

Q: What are your other priorities?

A: My second and third priorities support the first. At every level of this organization we need to design our club meetings, service projects, and social events so they are family-friendly. We need to provide opportunities that complement younger individuals’ family lives rather than compete with those family lives. 

And my third priority is that we must change our culture, our attitudes, and the way we do business so that it is possible and apparent that you can be actively engaged in Rotary and even assume positions of Rotary leadership while you are still actively engaged in your business or profession. If we want Rotary to be attractive to a younger demographic, we have to make Rotary leadership accessible to the younger demographic.

Q: What’s No. 4?

A: In June 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN charter. Rotary has been involved with the UN since before the UN began. Because of that, I want to focus on Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations. The annual Rotary-UN Day will be returning to the UN headquarters in New York after having been in Geneva and Nairobi. We also hope to have three presidential conferences focusing on Rotary’s relationship with specific UN agencies at different locations around the world and a final celebration of Rotary’s UN relationship before the convention opens in Honolulu, Hawaii.

So in terms of legacy — just to wrap that up — for those of us who are working together in 2019-20, our success will not be measured on 30 June of 2020, but on 30 June of 2025 or 2030, when others can determine whether the things we started had an impact as the years went by. 

Melanie Walker & the Borer Beetle, Welcome Sonja & Stewart and Rotary GBI at the London New Year Parade.

Last Week

Last week our speaker was Melanie Walker.  She was highly entertaining as you can see by her gesticulations

Amongst other things she raised the issue of the threat to our Urban Forest, the biggest in the world, by Borer Beetles

It's not just Johannesburg that's threatened bu all trees in South Africa, both indigenous and agricultural.

What Is The Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer?

These beetles, also known as Euwallacea fornicatus, are a troublesome species that are able to cause a great deal of trouble to the environment. Furthermore, the beetle has been discovered in Johannesburg and therefore, are considered a great threat to the indigenous trees of South Africa. These beetles are approximately 2mm long and are native to Southeast Asia. Moreover, the polyphagous shot hole borer, or PSHB, is associated with different types of fungi. One of these fungi is called Fusarium euwallacea. The shot hole beetle shares a symbiotic relationship with this fungus, as this fungus is the beetle’s main source of food in addition to it being the main cause associated with the wilting of trees. The other types of fungi are believed to help the beetle’s colonization of newly infected trees.

How Was The Shot Hole Borer Discovered In South Africa?

Dr. Trudy Paap of FABI (Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute) initially discovered the shot hole Borer beetle in South Africa. On a routine study for diseases in KwaZulu-Natal Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg in 2017, Paap found a series of infested trees. This led to the identification of the beetle in addition to the regions in which infestations are taking place.

How To Identify The Shot Hole Borer:

Unfortunately, the beetles are too small to detect. However, what you can do is identify the infected trees. The symptoms of infected trees vary from one tree species to another and there are many signs that show when a tree is infected. Some of these signs are:

• Wilting trees
• Dead branches
• Exit/Entry holes on the bark of the trees
• Shotgun-like lesions on the bark at entry/exit holes.
• Sugar volcanoes on the bark at entry/exit holes.
• Blotches of oozing resin on the bark at entry/exit holes.
• Wood frass (wooden powder) on the bark at entry/exit holes.

Why Should We Be Concerned?

The PSHB along with its fungus has caused tremendous damage to the trees in the US, specifically California, in addition to regions in the Middle East. Moreover, the beetle has been recently discovered in Sandton, which is Johannesburg’s economic hub. This discovery is particularly concerning because Johannesburg is believed to be one of the world’s largest urban forests with over 10 million trees. Furthermore, judging by the number of trees the beetle has killed in Johannesburg as well as Knysna, this beetle could potentially be one of South Africa’s largest ecological tragedies. In addition, the beetle is currently infesting over 200 tree species from 28 plant families worldwide.

South Africa is considered to be the biodiversity capital of the world and is a host to 299 species of mammals and 858 species of birds many of which are heavily dependent on trees as a source of nutrition and sustenance. Therefore, the Shot Hole Borer truly does pose a threat to what makes South Africa unique. For this reason, an immediate response to eradicate this threat is imperative to help preserve the beauty that is South Africa.

On a happier note President Jean inducted two new members,  Sonja Hood and Stewart Mutegeki.

Here they are again with Steven, Sonja's husband.

Polio Plus Evening
President Jean sent her pictures of the evening....but she is in them!

This Week

It's our monthly Social Meeting.  Last time it became a very valuable meeting because a potential Rotarian asked about our projects so we had to rack our brains to try and think what we actually do.

It was a very valuable exercise and I hope that this week's social meeting again becomes involved in some sort of discussion because a Business Meeting doesn't really become one simply because the reports back from the Board take up most of the time.

Rotary Blanket Drive

Message from David Bradshaw –

With Winter not that far off its time to start thinking about our annual blanket drive and to get our requests in early for churches, schools and companies to get their blankets through us.

We will not have the wonderful support of Super Group this year who have made a decision not to purchase blankets for 2019.

Please start asking as many people as you can, our blankets are wonderful value and will once again be R70 with the same quality as last year.

We will have available sample blankets and can of course supply these to your church/company/college to help them to promote sales.

Dates of our own sales weekend will be announced shortly.

Rotary members were flying the flag at the London New Year’s Day Parade.

Past Rotary GBI Presidents, Eve Conway and Denis Spiller, headed the Rotary contingent who paraded through the streets of the capital to promote the Purple4Polio campaign to End Polio Now and forever.

The Rotary team were joined by a vintage steam traction engine, as well as a Volkswagen Beetle – one of a number of vehicles which took part in the Rotary Purple4Polio Grand Tour last year raising an estimated £50,000 for the polio initiative.

Rotaractors and Rotary Global Scholars also joined to promote Rotary’s campaign in front of a crowd of 650,000 and a worldwide TV audience of 600 million viewers.

They were among 8,000 performers from 26 nations across the world and 15 London boroughs who took part in the 33rd London New Year’s Parade.

The parade set out from Piccadilly near Green Park Station, before heading past several of the capital’s landmarks including Regent Street, St. James’s, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, before finishing at Parliament Square.

Among those also taking part were the City of London Brass Brand, All the Queen’s Horses, the London boroughs, plus a selection of cheerleaders, as well as marching bands from the United States, plus organisations from the capital and across the world.

In a message posted on the London New Year’s Day Parade website, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “There really is no better place to welcome in the New Year than London.

“From the world’s greatest fireworks show on New Year’s Eve, to the fun-filled New Year’s Day Parade and Festival, our capital will be celebrating our unity and diversity as we again show the world that London is open to all.”

There really is no better place to welcome in the New Year than London.”

Mayor of London

The parade first took place in 1987 involving 2,000 performers, and was originally called the Lord Mayor of Westminster’s Big Parade.

Eve Conway said: “We’re here at the London New Year’s Day Parade to show that Rotary’s campaign to rid the world of polio is bearing fruit.

“There were just 29 cases of wild poliovirus last year in two countries worldwide compared to about a thousand a day in 125 countries when we started our campaign for a polio-free world over 30 years ago.

“We must finish the job and End Polio Now and forever.”

Many sent messages of support by video to Rotary International President, Barry Rassin, who was taking part in the Pasadena Rose Parade along Colorado Boulevard in California later on New Year’s Day with the Rotary Rose Parade Float.

Mike Lawrence RIP. Snow Leopards, the Mosque Outing, Melanie Walker and a Peace Initiative.

Last Week
Sadly Past President Mike Lawrence died at about midday on Saturday morning.  I asked Mike Lamb if he would kindly provide an In Memoriam as he has known him longer than most of us.

Michael Lawrence 1936 to 2019

Michael Lawrence became a Rotarian in 2000. In 2004/05 he served as President of the Rotary Club of Rosebank. In his service of eighteen years he worked tirelessly on a multiplicity of projects and was particularly true to the Object of Rotary in his daily activities. The Rotary Family was always meaningful and of great importance to him.

In latter years, he took on the onerous duties of Administrative Officer of the club and discharged his responsibilities in an exemplary manner including the changeover to computerised reporting and the mentoring of his successor, Jeannette Horner.

Michael was the victim of a physiological anomaly – his heart practically filled his entire body.

He took a keen interest in the activities and achievements of others and was always there quietly offering support and encouragement.

I enjoyed a close personal friendship with Michael, initially based on sharing a deep commitment to the promotion and extended use of electronic commerce, particularly EDI – Electronic Data Interchange - as a means of expediting, simplifying and accelerating inter-company transaction exchanges such as orders, invoices, etc. In business Michael worked tirelessly at promoting and implementing EDI with his company, Reckitt Benckiser, FMCG suppliers and major supermarket chains.

He has a zest for life that he held on to despite chronic heath issues that debilitated him for many of his later years and which he bore stoically despite the adversity.

Michael had a consuming passion for flight which we shared and which he passed on to his son Mark.

In flying, the position of an aircraft in an envelope of air – whether climbing, banking or any other manoeuvre is called it’s attitude.  There is a quote that we both enjoyed:

“ It’s your Attitude not your Aptitude that determines your Altitude”

Michael flew high. 

Michael is survived by his wife, Carol and his son Mark.

We extend our deepest sympathy to both families as they mourn the loss of this fine man.

A memorial service will be held at 3pm on Thursday 7 March at Harveston Retirement Village, 30 Penchartz Road, Honeydew Manor followed by refreshments and a rousing farewell to Michael.

Michael Lamb  

Our Friday Meeting

Dr Rodney Jackson was our guest speaker, accompanied by his wife Darla, talking about Snow Leopard conservation in the Himalayas.  

I said enough about Snow Leopards last week but what is interesting is that they are not related to leopards at all, they are effectively a type of tiger.

What I didn't do was to show a picture of one so here's one taken by Rodney for National Geographic magazine.

He showed us others that emphasised the amazing camouflage of these cats as it was extremely difficult to spot them against the Himalayan mountain side.

We had a number of visitors.

Former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Larissa Phillips presents President Jean
with a banner from the Rotary Club of San Marino, California

Artist Mario Soares and his manager, Mpho Mosia

Nicole Broome

Nicole Broome and Mpho Mosia are helping with our Rotary Arts Festival.






And last but not least Cuthbert Gumbochuma won chocolates by being the closest to guessing the amount in the Foundation Bottle...but it was much more than anyone guessed.

I am sure there was a bit if insider trading there.....otherwise he would have offered them round as any good Rotarian would!





The Saturday Outing - what President Jean had to say

Rotary Club of Rosebank fellowship outing to Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand where we had a delicious, plentiful lunch and the best baklava I have ever eaten. 😊











This Week
Our Speaker is Melanie Walker who used to do dangerous things but now is more of a gardener amongst other things which includes writing  for SA Garden and Home, presenting a gardening show, “Grounded” on 1485 am Radio Today; scriptwriting and researching for a couple of shows on DSTV (including Studio 53 – lifestyle and entertainment show that goes out on M-Net Africa); scriptwriting and doing voice-overs for Bike SA Tv; organising the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge Experience; teaching on Show Garden Design at Lifestyle College.




Peacemaker

David Ives
Rotary Club of Rhinebeck, New York

David Ives was a 16-year-old in rural Ohio in 1967 when he embarked on a trip that changed his life

. With his parents, Ives visited church missions in South America, where he saw people living in shelters made of corn stalks or tin cans, and in homes with no furniture other than a mattress on the floor. He saw rivers that were used as both sewers and sources of drinking water. “That’s the touchstone I can never get rid of,” he says, “the feeling that I had when I saw poverty for the first time.”

Ives turned that experience into a career dedicated to peace and the eradication of poverty. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica, he was a nutrition educator, helping people plant gardens to feed themselves during difficult economic times. While there, he tried unsuccessfully to save the life of a child whose lungs were filled with worms as a result of drinking dirty water. “She’s on my mind a lot,” he says.

Ives is a former Rotary Peace Forum coordinator, an adviser to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, and the executive director emeritus of Quinnipiac University’s Albert Schweitzer Institute, which conducts programs based on Schweitzer’s philosophy of reverence for life to bring about a more civil and ethical society characterized by respect, responsibility, compassion, and service. He has organized Rotary peace conferences around the globe which feature world leaders such as former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias Sánchez. At one of those peace conferences, in Côte d’Ivoire, Ives — himself a polio survivor — helped administer the polio vaccine to children in local communities.

With his fellow Rhinebeck Rotarians, Ives helps raise money for U.S. high school students to visit Costa Rica and carry out humanitarian projects in conjunction with Earth University, which teaches students from Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America how to work for socioeconomic and environmental change. 

Though now living with Parkinson’s disease, Ives, who turns 68 this month, shows no signs of slowing down his peace efforts — particularly where Rotary is concerned. “I’ve been extremely impressed with the power of Rotarians to be a force for peace,” he says. “We have great potential to do even more.”