A Friday Evening Induction with Ann Hope -Baillie following Jean Bernardo as our new President for 2020/21. Congratulations Ann we are sure you are going to do a great job.
It was a motley crowd of Rotarians, potential Rotarians, partners, Rotary Anns and visitors from all over South Africa and overseas so we couldn't fit everyone on one screen.
The instruction from Ann Hope-Baillie was that we all had to wear a hat and there would be noncollectable prizes for those with the most fetching hats.
Jean Bernardo made a number of presentations as is the wont of the outgoing President. Two Paul Harris Fellowships:
Rtn Jeannette Horner for the magnificent work she has done during the pandemic making thousands of masks for the people of Alexandra Township and setting up a small home industry with a donated sewing machine in the township that can continue with other projects when the need for masks is over. She has also made lots of rusks.
Stephan Ferreira was the recipient of the other Paul Harris Fellowship....the smiling face beneath him is the incoming secretary, Costa Qually. I have created a page above to give the reasons that this award has been made.
And then, most important of all, the Induction itself...and Ann Hope-Baillie is already wearing the Rotary Jewel. In fact she is wearing two because the original one is full and we started a second one.
Here are those who achieved 100%
attendance this year and one person was inadvertently left off the list, Sybille Essmann.
Farewell
This is the end of my time as Editor of The Ramble and from now on Sybille Essmann will be taking it over. It's more than 10 years that I have been writing a blog for Rotary, initially for New Dawn and then Rosebank. It's important that somebody else takes over with new ideas to move The Ramble forward. I must thank my club for allowing me to impose this upon them every week. I have enjoyed it and the club has been recognised by District for what it does within social media. I wish Sybille all of the best for her future with The Ramble. I am sure it will go from strength to strength.
This is the end of my time as Editor of The Ramble and from now on Sybille Essmann will be taking it over. It's more than 10 years that I have been writing a blog for Rotary, initially for New Dawn and then Rosebank. It's important that somebody else takes over with new ideas to move The Ramble forward. I must thank my club for allowing me to impose this upon them every week. I have enjoyed it and the club has been recognised by District for what it does within social media. I wish Sybille all of the best for her future with The Ramble. I am sure it will go from strength to strength.
This Week
It's back to the new normal when our former member, Eddie de Vos of the Salvation Army, will be talking to us. It will be catch-up time and interesting to hear what he has got up to since his transfer to Cape Town.
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| Major Eddie and Major Hazel de Vos |
Two years ago Hazel and Eddie took over the dilapidated Men's Home in Alfred St near the Cape Town Docks...or maybe I should say Waterfront. Everything was in need of a revamp but it costs money.
“All Salvation Army branches are required to be self sustainable. We rely on donations from the public and the low rentals the men who live in the home, pay,” said Hazel.
“And our charity shop, which is also in desperate need of a revamp.”
Hazel, who is originally from Port Elizabeth, has been part of the Salvation Army all her life. “I grew up in the Salvation Army church and moved through the ranks.
“I was ordained in 1971 – I’ve been in ministry for 47 years.” Eddie’s parents were ministers at the Salvation Army church, so they moved a lot. Eventually settling in the UK, he did most of his learning there and returned to Cape Town in 1989.
“I’ve been in ministry for 25 years,” he said.
And although Hazel is retired, she is still active in ministry and helping around the home, until Eddie is due for retirement 5 years from now.
Over the years, Hazel and Eddie have taken on many ventures through the Salvation Army, including managing and ministering at children’s homes, old-aged homes, men’s homes and goodwill centres, among others. Now, the men’s home in the Waterfront has become home for Hazel and Eddie since they moved from Johannesburg.
“We managed a children’s home and then it closed down. We were then called to manage the men’s home, and we also provide spiritual guidance,” said Hazel.
The seven-storey building is home to 110 men who, in Eddie’s words, “have fallen through the cracks”.
“The home is aimed at lower income gentlemen who struggle to find accommodation. We are trying to reach out to the destitute, but it’s not a free facility. We rely heavily on the low rentals – but it’s not enough to keep the doors open.”
Hazel said some of the men had been at the home for 40 years – as long as the building has been there.
“This is home to them.
“We want to be able to lift the residents’ social and spiritual standards, and improve their living conditions.”
Anyone is welcome to live at the home, but a screening test is required, and the men must be able to pay the minimum rental.
The building also has a small laundry and has two cleaners.
Eddie said the building is old and “looks tired”, with the living spaces needing an upgrade.
“We battle with funding.
“There are some structural repairs happening outside which will cost us about R500 000. We need to revamp the rooms as well – but all of this costs money that we don’t have.
“The kitchen really needs an upgrade too. We feed the men here three meals a day. It’s functional, but needs a revamp.”
“We struggle because there is no passing trade. The road is quiet and we don’t have proper signage. We used to have a shop in Woodstock but it closed down because the rent was expensive.
“We still have bulk buyers in Woodstock who get things from us when donations come in. If it wasn’t for them, we won’t survive.”
Eddie and Hazel said while they are happy to be appointed at the Waterfront branch of the Salvation Army, there are many things demanding their time. “The best part is that we get to minister to 110 more people.”
They appealed to the community to assist them with the revamp of the building. Some of the items they require are:
Hairdresser or barber willing to donate time and resources
Cleaning materials
New linen and curtaining for the rooms
Office, dining room and reception furniture
Toiletries (soap, toothpaste, face cloths, shaving blades and shaving foam
Sponsorship for men with disabilities
Food (all types perishable and non-perishable)
Gifts for birthdays and special days
Upgrading of bathrooms
Upgrading of the kitchen
Upgrading of residents’ rooms
The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.
More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.
Supporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on 1 July 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.
More information about this new cause will be announced soon.
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