COVID - trials and tribulations, not much jubilation, but life must go on!!

 

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

I am your editor this week – Sybi has taken a short break due to a bereavement in the family and we wish her and her family well and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

 Thank you to everyone who made our fundraiser on Wednesday night such a success – thanks to the committee, especially Sonja and David. Rob Caskie our story teller did not disappoint and regaled us with a gripping build-up and fascinating account of the battle at Spion Kop during the Great Boer War in 1900.

 During the past week Jean, Jeanette and I went shopping for materials for mask sewing – put some ladies together, and say ‘shopping’ and we kick up our heels!!

 

Richard Tonkin spread some cheer when he donated a wheelchair to Charles Potgieter and assisted Charles and his wife with some much needed money for necessities. Sadly it is not just the last 6 months that have caused hardship for people – some knew hard times already and COVID has just made it worse.

 

News from Masego our Exchange student in Thailand – Thank you Masego and regarding the dentist – rather you than me!!

“Good morning✨

Oh things are okay on my ,a bit busy and hectic with the new normal unraveling behind the scenes but okay. I apologise for being so quiet. My exchange is year is still amazing, we trying to squeeze up all the missed events and activities to make up for the time lost during covid.

Myself and my Rotary club have actually been, you could say touring all around the Southern region of Thailand to all the clubs in our southern district 3330, to welcome all the new club presidents. So as soon as that finished, I will be set to sharing the cervical cancer project as well as other Rosebank Rotary projects .

I'm going to make the most out the last few months here, quite recently as yesterday I came back from tooth surgery, my wisdom tooth had to be removed I will return to surgery the following week to finish off the operation.”

 

Our most recent Friday speaker, Marelise Jacobs has allowed us to share some of her words of wisdom – she spoke of conflict, confidence, communication and conviction in the corporate environment – so easily applied to home and hearth. Oh to remember what to say and when to say it!!

 

Rosebank are the reigning Corona Cup winners and our Quiz program is getting interesting – Swaziland, Uganda on the agenda. We are so grateful to Gareth Hood for being our Quizmaster Extraordinaire!!

Upcoming quiz evenings are:

Wed 23^rd September. Rotary Club of Centurion

Wed 30^th September Rotaract Club of Bukoto, Uganda

Wed 7^th October Rotary Club of Morningside

 

The COVID story this week is personal and close to home…….from Sybille

This is the story of my precious twin sister Sabine who passed away suddenly of a massive heart attack last Friday.

She did not die of the Corona virus, but she definitely was a Covid casualty.

Last year Sabine was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and underwent chemo which was successful, but she was of course very vulnerable and her family wanted to protect her as much as possible and they in fact went into isolation 3 weeks before actual lock-down.

Sabine’s life were her husband, two sons, her daughters’-in-law and of course her 5 grandchildren, and she was blessed to have a huge circle of wonderful girlfriends who she loved and who in turn loved her dearly.

At the beginning of lockdown the novelty of not seeing your family and friends brought out all sorts of different coping mechanisms. We downloaded an app called Houseparty and for a while it was fun to have frequent face-to-face chats but as the months wore on that too became less and less often.

It became evident that only seeing your husband 24/7 and not being able to hug your nearest and dearest caused a huge amount of anxiety, so much so that her doctor prescribed drugs to keep her on an even keel. She certainly tried to embrace mindfulness and spent many patient hours with her intricate coloring-in-books.

She had a wicked sense of humour and she was responsible for most of the “joke of the week” inserts in our Ramble, which I had commissioned her to find for me.

Sadly, because she was such a positive being we did not realize what a huge toll the lockdown restrictions were actually taking on her physical wellbeing, and in the end her tiny heart could not cope with the strain anymore.

Covid is such an insidious enemy and it is imperative to look after your mental health as well as protecting yourself from the virus.

Dear Sybi - "Those we hold closest to our hearts never truly leave us, they live on in the kindness they have shared and the love they brought into our lives."

Take great care everyone,

Till next week.

Ann