A lesson in San Culture, Norwood Spar Food Drive - it's a wrap! and one last gathering for 2021....

 

From the Pen of the President...

There is mounting evidence that the Omicron variant of Covid 19 generally has mild symptoms on those people it infects, particularly if you have been vaccinated. Whilst medical specialists say it is too early to form a definitive view in this regard, it certainly provides a ray of hope in an otherwise gloomy situation. A doctor I played tennis with over the weekend felt Covid may well become similar to flu – a virus that will always be with us but not one that poses a great risk and one that will have an annually updated vaccine available. I pray that these positive views prove to be correct.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.

Last Friday...

.... we were entertained by guest speaker Michael Daiber, general manager of the !Khwa-ttu San Culture and Education Centre, which was developed up the West Coast, 70 km north of Cape Town on a remote, desolate farm with spectacular views of Table Mountain in the far distance. 

Originally from Switzerland, Michael came to South Africa as a young passionate anthropologist more than 30 years ago with a yearning to learn more about the San people. Unlike the Khoisan, who possessed sheep and cattle and who lived predominately on West Coast, the San, or Bushman, were hunter-gatherers, without possessions and scattered throughout the whole of Southern Africa all the way up to the Okavango.

In 1998, Michael  met Irene Steahelin, another Swiss National and also an anthropologist, who had come to South Africa to write her Master's thesis about the San. She had a vision of establishing a place that could showcase the San culture to the world and therefore pledged the funds to buy a dilapidated farm consisting of 850 hectares of land, which had been on the market for 10 years. The land was placed into a Trust directed jointly by the San and the Swiss-based Ubuntu Foundation.

San people came from all over the country to work on the project and it took years to clear the land and renovate the buildings and in 2006 the project  was finally ready to open to the public.

Today it is a thriving tourist attraction receiving 20 000 visitors a year, with 40 permanently employed San. Every year 10 San interns between the ages of 18 to 30 come from various parts of South Africa and spend 6 months at !Khwa-ttu and are taught all aspects of tourism from building roads to making cappuccinos. The aim is make these young interns self-sustainable, and even if they are unable to find formal jobs they are given the practical tools to start their own little businesses in conservation, tourism or manufacturing.

To learn more about this unique project you can click into this link kindly shared with us by Michael.

https://vimeo.com/345703883 

Trolley Loads of good Cheer...

This past weekend we made one last concerted effort to encourage Norwood Spar patrons to donate non-perishable food items to our annual "festive cheer" drive and although we have not yet received the final figures our initiative has born abundant fruit.

Thank you to all the willing and able volunteers, we would not have been able to do it without you. 

We are hoping that we will be able to still distribute the vouchers before Christmas thereby ensuring that we will be able to deliver some much needed Christmas Cheer to some of the most vulnerable communities.

This Friday....

For those joining Christmas the Christmas party please don't forget a toy or book or sweets for a less privileged child. 

The Relevance of Attendance, A successful Norwood Spar Food Drive, but volunteers still needed, November Club 100 winners announced and RSVP for Xmas Drinks....

 From the Pen of the President...

The Omicron coronavirus variant has caused illogical panic reactions in many parts of the world.  The UK, EU and several other countries’ politicians seem as devoid of rational thought as many of those we are saddled with in South Africa. Being able to analyse and identify a new virus variant is not the same as being the source of it.

Fortunately, the WHO and other international bodies responses are more reasonable and acknowledge the skills and abilities of our scientists who identified the variant and were transparent about it. It is unfortunate that SA is being punished instead of being praised. I shudder to think of what the adverse effects will be on our economy and, in particular, on the tourism and airline and sectors.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

Remember, no human condition is ever permanent (Socrates)

Last Friday...

As the year hurtles to its inevitable end and the Silly Season is in full swing it is also evident that Club members have other commitments that keep them from attending weekly meeting. Only 19 members attended Club Assembly which was resumed from the previous week. 

With dwindling attendance it was suggested that the Ramble would be the ideal forum to reiterate the value of attendance.

Regular attendance is one of the requirements of Club membership. Rotary emphasises attendance because it recognizes that to remain an effective Rotarian, a member must experience the good fellowship of weekly meetings and be involved in the Club's progress and projects. Per the Rotary rules, members should have a minimum of 50% attendance at meetings.  

The calculation of attendance includes:

• Attending club meetings
• One or more make-ups which result from:

• Attending another Rotary club meeting
• Attending a committee meeting of the club, district, etc
• Attending a district or club sponsored activity
• Attending a meeting of a Rotaract or Interact Club.
• Participation in a Rotary project or fund raising event - such as a shift at a Spar collection, blanket drive, careers day, etc
• Attending a Rotary conference, convention or assembly
• Spending 2 or more hours in a day preparing for or organising a club or district project / event – for example preparing a RYLA course, making masks, repairing wheelchairs, etc

For multi-day events, include a make-up for each completed day or partial day that exceeds 2 hours.

Furthermore it was discussed that the new members who had joined in the past year, were at a distinct disadvantage due to the Covid lockdown restrictions, and had not been able to learn the ropes from the "old" hands in the Club. It would therefore be an excellent idea to introduce a mentorship program to help integrate the "newbies" into Club life and activities.

Rosebank Rotary volunteers assure Festive Cheer for  the Not-so-Privileged.....

The October food drive was followed up by a further weekend of food collection this past weekend, and once again we were blown away by the generosity of the community.

... Two more volunteers needed for this Saturday 4th December

Please let Tutty Faber (fabertutty@gmail.com) know If you are willing and able.

This Friday....

....promises to be a fascinating presentation.

 

Have you RSVP'd???

Technology lets us down at Club Assembly, Calling Volunteers for the Norwood Food Drive, Boikanyo's Buggy project gets our support and get ready for Christmas Cheer

 From the Pen of the President....

During our assembly last week it was apparent that some members were not fully aware of some of our projects or what was required to assist.  We strive to include relevant information in the weekly Ramble for members to read.  If you feel you would like further detail on any project, please just ask Sybille or pose a question on the WhatsApp chat group.

Our hearts and thoughts go out to Tayla and her family on their tragic loss.  May the Lord comfort you and help you during this time of sadness.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

Be as you wish to seem (Socrates)

Last Friday....

...our techno-expert Ann Hope-Bailie had placed her trust in Jean and Sybille to set up and conduct the technical aspect of a hybrid Club Assembly at Wanderers.

We had had a dry run a few nights earlier and Jean had made copious notes and taken photos of wires, sockets and connections and we were pretty confident that we had everything under control. 

 

The editor of this weekly newsletter is unfortunately not sufficiently techno-literate to explain what exactly went wrong, but suffice to say that despite Ann's telephonic input all the way from Cape Town we eventually lost WiFi connection  and managed to cut off the Zoom participants, who had gamely hung in there in the hope that we would eventually get on top of our challenges. It was not to be.

Costa then made an executive decision that, given so much time had been wasted, it would be wiser to postpone and resume Club Assembly this Friday 26th of November.

It will be a Zoom meeting.

As they say in the Classics " C'est la vie"

Volunteers needed for the Norwood Spar Food Drive...

On Saturday the 27th we  need two more volunteers to dedicate two hours of their valuable time to our annual food drive.

Who would like to put up their hand the following Saturday the 4th of December where we are looking for 4 more willing and able bodies?

Come on guys! We are people of action!

We raised R8 852 at last month's collection days. Surely we can do it again!

Please contact Tutty Faber on fabertutty@gmail.com, who is responsible for the duty roster.

Boikanyo - Have Faith....

In lieu of President Costa's induction dinner the club members raised a sum of R3 590, and the Board unanimously decided to donate these funds to the Boikanyo - Dion Herson Foundation, to enable them to continue providing cerebral palsy children with much needed specialized wheelchairs. Marilyn Bassin's next Madiba buggy project will take her and her team to Burgersfort, Mpumalanga before the end of January, and every cent will help greatly to get the buggies to their destination.

Get ready to party...

Saving the environment with compostable sanitary pads, Our Club's public image gets lauded, calling all volunteers and Why we should make EcoBricks....

 From the Pen of the President...

 

At the time of writing, we are facing reduced water supplies that are expected to last for another 2 or so days. Not too long ago we had load shedding, or the now more used term of blackouts. We feel inconvenienced and annoyed that those in charge don’t seem to have gotten their act together. Yet, for so many of our citizens a reliable supply of water, electricity and basic services is a pipe dream.  Perhaps we would do well to be more tolerant of the problems service providers face and plan how best to cope with breakdowns and interruptions that will likely be with us for many years still.  Also, let us continue to help those who cannot help themselves.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

He who is not content with what he has, would not be content with what he would like to have. (Socrates)

Last Friday...

.. Dr Coenie Louw, executive director of Gateway Health Institute and Growth.Life, was invited to address the club about his  research and development of socially, economically and environmentally sustainable sanitary pads made from natural banana fibres. These pads are 100% compostable, breaking down to soil in less than 180 days.

Why sanitary pads?

• Commercially available sanitary pads are unaffordable for a large portion of the female population
• Commercially available pads take 850 years to biodegrade
• They pollute the environment with micro-plastics
• Sanitary pads donations drives are unsustainable
• On average a young girl loses 44 school/work days a year due to menstruation.
• Just because girls are poor it does not mean that they need sub-standard products.
• With such high youth unemployment girls and young women need economic empowerment opportunities.
• Job creation for female small-hold farmers and in manufacturing and marketing.
• It is good for the environment 
• The bio-plastic is produced by the CSIR, use of organic glue and disinfected by UVC
• Sustainability is guaranteed by planting of banana trees to provide the fibre.
• Additional income through the sale of the fruit
• Compostable sanitary pads could cost 50% less 
• Carbon credits
• Expansion plans for tampons and disposable nappies.
• The R & D is almost complete, the SABS and CSIR will soon be testing samples for microbiology, absorption and composability.
• They plan on manufacturing 35 000 pads to be tested on 500 girls and young women.
• They will then be able to register 4EVA and the IP and create social franchises.

And a  Prestigious Public Image Award goes to....

Calling all Volunteers to offer their time for the annual Norwood Spar Food Drive..

On the last weekend of November we need 2 volunteers to fill the Saturday 27th  9:00 - 11:00 time slot and a further two for the 13:00 - 15:00 time slot.

On Sunday the 28th of November we need one volunteer to join David Bradshaw for the 11:00 - 13:00 time slot.

On Saturday the 4th of December we need 1 volunteer for the 9:00 - 11:00 time slot to join Mike Honnet and  further 2 volunteers for the 11:00 to 13:00 and another 2 for the 13:00 - 15:00.

Please contact Tutty Faber on fabertutty@gmail; he is co-ordinating the roster.

Why we should make EcoBricks...

Our club has enthusiastically supported the Rotary Club of Randburg's EcoBrick project in Diepsloot and it gives us pleasure to showcase their successes.

EcoBrick Classrooms

This Friday....

It will be Club Assembly. It will be a hybrid in-person and Zoom meeting and we urge as many members as possible to attend.

The Peace Pipe Letters - the story continues, Fitting Madiba Buggies in Thohoyando and HIghlands North Interactors host a blood drive....

 From the Pen of the President....

A few days in Venda  fitting Madiba buggies to heavily handicapped children has been quite an experience and emphasised several aspects that are important to me:

o   I have been very fortunate and blessed my whole life despite sometimes thinking otherwise

o   Some people who have very little and live in abject poverty nevertheless display incredible humanity

o   Providing support to those in need can really change lives – for both the recipient and the giver

o   It is amazing how freely some people donate their time, talent and treasure to helping others – characteristics amply demonstrated by those I travelled with

 

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

To move the world, we must first move ourselves (Socrates)

Last Friday...

....we welcomed Charter President Makheta Motsoari from the Rotary Club of Mantsopa- Maseru, Lesotho to our weekly meeting. Sadly only via Zoom, but David Bradshaw met with him on Saturday, so that he could shake his hand in person. His home club is aiming to have 35 members by the end of the Rotary year, and their average age is 26 years! Makhetha is a key accounts manager Lesotho Flour Mills. In this picture with fellow club members he is in the middle with the colourful blanket.

Our guest speakers Edvard and Tony gave us further insight into the Peace Pipe Letters

Edvard Škodič is from Slovenia, a 2 million country, between the Alps and Adriatic sea, bordering Austria, Italy, Croatia and Hungary. Edvard is a past president and a member of RC Ljubljana since 2009. RC Ljubljana was the first Rotary club established on the ground of former Yugoslavia (and third in former Eastern Europe) and with a  90 years of history since RC Ljubljana was first established in 1931, forbidden during WWII and later communism to be re-established in 1991.  Edvard Skodic is by profession Telecommunications Engineer and works at Telekom Slovenia, where he is an expert form mobile telecommunications and internet. Husband of wife Neza and daughter Nika. He is a marathon runner, Scout, historian especially in Rotary history and story teller.  His hobby on researching history comes from his father, who was a famous Ljubljana shoemaker of Alpine shoes, partisan (b.1927) always explaining stories of past events of WWII and life in Ljubljana.

Edvard Skodic became president of RC Ljubljana in 2018/19, recipient of Paul Harris Fellow Award (+3) and is regularly lecturing on Rotary history.

Tony Conn, president and co-founder of the Peace Pipe Proposal addressed us a few months ago, together with Jogi Reppmann, when we first were told about the Peace Pipe letters. 

The topic of last Friday's talk was around the clubs of the northern Balkans;  their enthusiasm for Rotary and Rotarian values, how they were shut down during World War 2 and reconstituted after the thaw of the cold war. 

Several famous members of various clubs were highlighted including:  Leon Stukel, gold medal Olympian from Maribor, and Dr. Ivan Slokar from Ljubljana, inventor of the helicopter.

Clubs from Austria:  Graz and Klagenfurt, clubs from Italy:  Milano and Tieste, clubs from Yugoslavia (then):  Ljubljana, Maribor, Varazdin, Zagreb - all were in one or other way affected by the Peace Pipe letters. 

So many stories, so little time....

And further afield in Thohoyandou....

At the crack of sparrows on Friday morning a team of 9 volunteers led by the inimitable Marilyn Bassin from Boikanyo headed north towards Venda with the aim of making a difference in the lives of severely handicapped cerebral palsy (CP) children. It had taken months of painstaking planning and logistics and a lot of blood, sweat and tears to firstly source old abandoned Madiba buggies, then strip and refurbish the shells, make new tray tables and foot rests, cut and glue foam rubber seats and sew covers.

These were then wrapped in plastic and through the generous support of Value logistics transported up to their destination.

A dedicated and passionate occupational therapist Mireo Ralivhesa, practicing at the Donald Fraser Hospital in Thohoyandou, spent hours tracking down parents and carers of CP children in far flung villages  and urged them to bring their children for a fitting.

It was  sweltering 37 degrees Celsius when Mireo met us and took us on a one and a half hour drive to a rural home close to the Zimbabwe border where a gogo was caring for her three year old CP grandchild, whose mother had passed away. A young mother of twins joined us, where the little boy was sadly cerebral palsied. To fit each child took nearly a further one and a half hours but it was undoubtedly evident that this Madiba buggy was going to change these children's and their carers lives.

The sun was setting by the time we headed back to Thohoyandou, humbled and satisfied of a job well done.

Saturday was another early start and when we arrived at the Donald Fraser Hospital there were already 11 families waiting with their children ranging from toddlers to a young twenty year old. Marilyn made the observation that she was surprised how many fathers were present for the fitting of their special children. 

Without a fuss we all slotted into our assigned roles, Costa fixing and adjusting buggy settings, Jean sewing Velcro on to straps, Sybille cleaning and preparing a buggy and Shirley making sensory toys/rattles for each child to take home.

It was a mammoth task expertly executed by Marilyn, the trained physio and her daughter Gina, a qualified occupational therapist, with Mireo close at hand acting as an interpreter, making sure that the parents understood what they were trying to achieve.

Besides the sensory toy so lovingly made by Shirley Eustace each parent was also gifted a beautifully crocheted or knitted blanket which had been donated by the NGO Warm the World.

This weekend again proved that Rotarians are people of action!

World Interact Week...

To take part in the World Interact Week 1-7 November , to celebrate the power of ROTARY INTERACT CLUBS and to connect with  Interactors around the world

the Highlands North Boys Interact Club ran a Blood Drive.

The 2021 World Blood Donor slogan of “ Give blood and keep the world beating” inspired the Interact Club to host the drive to highlife the essential contribution blood donors can make to saving lives and improving others health. Their initiative was to encourage fellow pupils to embrace the Humanitarian call to donate blood and to contribute to better health.--

--

This Friday...

We welcome guest speaker Dr Coenie Louw who will share his visionary project - Innovation for menstrual health.

He has an impressive CV:

In 2015 I was the only South African to be among the Grand Challenges Explorations Round 14 Winners for my work on the topic “Reducing Childhood Deaths through the Timely, Effective Treatment of Pneumonia” – an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In November 2015 I won a People’s Choice Award from the United Nations Envoy for Health MDGs and Malaria at the Pneumonia Innovations Summit in New York City for “Most promising Childhood Pneumonia Innovation”.
I am also an inaugural member of the Grand Challenges Africa scientific community and a member of the Pneumonia Innovations Team constituted by the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Health MDGs and Malaria.
I represented Civil Society on the Local Organizing Committee of the World Breastfeeding Conference, that took place in Johannesburg in December 2016. I am also a member of the sub-committee in charge of Programme Coordination. I was a member of the NDOH’s Technical Working Group to Protect, Promote and Support Breastfeeding.
I represented Gateway Health Institute on the South African Civil Society Organisation for Women’s, Adolescent’s and Children’s Health Coalition from 2015 to 2020 focusing especially on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Contraception and Breastfeeding.
In 2017 and 2018 I won two global challenges involving among others the UN Foundation (Every Woman, Every Child) and UNAIDS for my work on preventing HIV transmission to children.
I am currently involved in research (as PI) on HIV drug resistance among South African men and also in the research and development of socially, economically and environmentally sustainable sanitary pads made from natural fibers. These pads are 100% compostable - breaking down to soil in less than 180 days. The project is entering a clinical trial phase, awaiting approval from SAHPRA.
I am also responsible for for the development of low-cost mobile technology platforms, using mostly USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) and PWAs. (progressive Web Apps) targeting a wide range of beneficiaries - mostly key populations such as MSM, LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum seekers and AGYW in Africa.
In 2021 I was selected as a founding member (ambassador and trainer) of the One Million Green Leaders global initiative, representing South Africa. I am currently exploring regenerative agriculture, agroecology and food systems on our experimental farm in Limpopo, as well as experimenting with NFT and aeroponics as a way to produce nutrient dense vegetables to improve food security.

A jam-packed social meeting at Wanderers, a slow start to the Norwood Spar Food Drive and we again feature in the Killarney Rosebank Gazette...

 From the Pen of the President...

The local elections have been dominating our lives for the past few weeks. I am sure we are all looking forward to the end of politicians making commitments that we know will very likely not be met. I just hope that the results convey a very strong message that most people want reliable services and a degree of efficiency that has long been absent in far too many municipalities and government departments. Here’s hoping that there is a noticeable improvement going forward.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

A polling station is a place where you stand in line for a chance to decide who will spend your money

Last Friday...

As the Covid numbers come down and the vaccinations are ramped up, an executive decision was made by the Board that we will be returning to Wanderers for in-person meetings at least twice a month - for the business meeting and then the social meeting at the end of each month.

It was opportune that we could use this month's social meeting to induct our newest member Debi Lieberthal. Debi is no stranger to our club, as she has been a regular participant of our weekly quiz  challenges. 

She works at the Wits' Donald Gordon Mediclinic as a nursing sister, she is a widow and her hobbies and interests include walking, gardening, reading, puzzles, knitting, traveling and family and friends.

We wish Debi many rewarding years as a member of the Rotary Club of Rosebank.

Duty Sergeant Les Short presided over proceedings and it was great that we could once again have a wine draw which was won by Melodene.

To have Juanette Mc Crindle present at the meeting in person was very special, as we have only been able to "see" her via Zoom for the past 18 months. Sadly she has made the difficult decision to move to Hamburg for good, and she will only be in Johannesburg briefly  to pack up her possessions and sell her house.

It was then Roger Wedlake's turn to share his story with us. He titled his talk: "My journey to Wellness"

Both his parents died at a very young age, and this fact made him very aware of his own mortality. He was diagnosed with high cholesterol in his early forties, but it was really only when he went into retirement after working many years for Anglo American, where he travelled at least six months of the year and thus led a fairly unhealthy lifestyle, that he decided to focus on becoming healthy.

In his quest for Wellness  he has read a multitude of books, such as "The Cholesterol Myth", "Stop Ageing Now", "Dead Doctors don't Lie", "How to stop your Doctor Killing You".

Roger is a big proponent of supplements, and he particularly emphasised the importance of Vitamin C,

which your body needs to lay down collagen and for the flexibility of arteries. It is present in many foodstuffs, but unfortunately cooking at more than 60 degrees destroys its efficacy. 

Unfortunately Rogers talk was limited by the clock, but in the New Year he will share Part 2 of his Journey to Wellness with us.

The Norwood Spar Food Drive...

Every year the Norwood Spar generously allows us to approach their patrons to contribute non-perishable food items to our collection trolleys, the proceeds of which will be donated to various charities at Christmas time.

This past weekend Tutty, Ken, Pam, Costa, Sybille, Anne Padmore, Juanette Mc Crindle and hubby Rainer volunteered their time to this worthy cause.

We will be repeating this drive on the last weekend of November (27th/28th) and the first December weekend (4th/5th) and we urge every Rosebank Rotary member to please put up their hand for at least one 2 hour shift. Tutty is co-ordinating the shifts, so please let him know which shift you will be able to do.

Rosebank Rotary features in the Killarney Gazette...

For those that have not seen the hard copy of the weekly Killarney Gazette which was published last Monday, please click into this link to read the online version of the article.

Baragwanath receives a refurbished container from Rosebank Rotary

This Friday...

..We will be reverting back to a Zoom meeting, but it is again is proof  how technology connects us with people from all over the world.

Anthony Conn from across the Pond in the USA and Edvard Skodic in Slovenia will talk to us about the Northern Balkans. It promises to be a goodie!

A very successful Quiz fundraiser, Armchair Travel to an Indian destination, Club 100 October winners announced, and some interesting Rotary numbers...

 From the President's Pen...

Sadly, due to disruptive load shedding Costa was not able to produce his usual weekly message.

Hopefully we will be back on track by next week.

Your editor would just like to add an appeal that is close to David Bradshaw's heart:

Carol Lawrence, who is a resident of Ekklesia Old Age Home in Blairgowrie mentioned to him that their Charity Shop is in desperate need of re-stocking. They are looking for second-hand clothes, crockery and cutlery. If anyone has items to donate, please bring them along to Friday's meeting, alternatively contact David, who would happily collect.

Last  Wednesday....

Little did we know in March, when we set the annual quiz fundraiser date for October the 20th, that for the second year running we were uncertain whether we would in fact be able to hold what has become the highlight of our social calendar.

We persevered, we advertised and thank goodness Cyril put us back into level 1 lockdown just in time for us to once again have a most successful and enjoyable evening.

Quizmaster Larry wanted us to restrict the numbers to 80 people, but the bookings just kept coming in, and in the end 97 participants arrived on the night.

With World Polio Day being celebrated on the 24th of October we went all out to showcase Rotary's commitment to eradicating Polio.

Our fundraising queen Sonja Hood did a sterling job obtaining fabulous raffle prizes and a large portion of the night's takings can be contributed to participants digging deep into their wallets.

Every one will agree that the quiz questions were challenging, and that the ultimate winners certainly deserved their prize hampers.

Ultimately Rotary was the winner.

Last Friday...

... We were treated to some delicious armchair travel by Manan Mahajan, who is the managing director of the Orange Destination Management Company, a tour company in New Delhi, India, specializing in extraordinary trips throughout this vast, vibrant, colourful and fascinating country.

Manan chose to take us on a visual tour de force through the province of Kerala, which is an hour's flight south of Mumbai. 

It is not difficult to see why Kerala is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India, with its temperate climate and 600 km of unspoilt coastline, tranquil backwaters, wild life sanctuaries, hill stations and heritage sites. It  is famous for its charming houseboats, sprawling tea plantations, unique eco-tourism, Ayuvedic treatments and unforgettable culinary experiences.

It is considered one of the most progressive states in India, with 100% literacy and interestingly is led by the Communist Party of India.

Manan certainly inspired the travellers amongst us to put Kerala onto their list of travel destinations.

Some interesting Rotary numbers revealed....

After a Zoom/phone meeting with Annemarie re Membership Pioneers, David received a lot of stats including:-

 

Membership figures of every club in the World !!!!!!!!!!

 

Members might like to know that the PEOPLE’s REPUBLIC OF CHINA  HAS 29 CLUBS & 535 MEMBERS.

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION has 79 Clubs and 1050 Members,

ISRAEL has 59 Clubs and 1312 Members.

AFGHANISTAN has 3 Clubs and 35 Members.

IRAQ has 2 Clubs and 50 Members.

EGYPT has 124 Clubs 3033 Members.

 

TOTAL  WORLD FIGURES.         36.921 CLUBS with 1.195.325 MEMBERS

 

In District 9400

 

Rosebank is in the top 10  membership wise. The e-Club has 87 members. Johannesburg New Dawn 54, we are 6^th.

 

These figures are as at 14 October 2021.

This Friday.....

 

If you are able, please join us at Wanderers to induct Debi Lieberthal as a member and to listen to Roger Wedlake share what promises to be some interesting insights.

Please let Costa know whether you will be attending, so that he can pre-order our pizzas.

We are getting better at conducting hybrid meetings, so for those that cannot attend, please show your faces on Zoom.

A business meeting, The Palliative Care Department unveils the refurbished container and our members still hard at work making the Madiba Buggies ship-shape...

 From the Pen of the President....

 

A number of Rotarians were present at the handing over of the converted container at the Baragwanath hospital. This was the culmination of years of effort by James, Jerry, John Hope-Baillie, Kevin, and others. Yesterday, assistance was given in repairing and refurbishing Madiba buggies which will be distributed in the Venda district early in November. Once again  we will be collecting donations of food and money at the Spar in Norwood at the end of October and November and early in December. If you have not yet volunteered to attend one of the shifts, please do so as soon as possible. All these activities contribute to the current Rotary theme of “Serve to changes lives” and are greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

I have reached the age where the happy hour is a nap

Last Friday....

...our monthly business meeting in a nutshell:

Ahead of the Committee Chair report backs Ann urged the members to update their personal details on ClubRunner as well as updating their Zoom link. To update your Zoom link you need to sign in, then click into the link at the top right hand corner, and then into "check for updates" - quite straight forward.

• President's report back: Costa had very positive feedback on last week's hybrid meeting at Wanderers. We will endeavour to have two in-person meetings per month - the social meeting at the end of the month and possibly the business meeting which is normally scheduled for the second Friday of the month.
• The Christmas shindig will be held at Ann Hope Bailie's on Friday evening the 10th December. Monetary contribution TBA, and vittles and drinks will be supplied.
• No Treasurer's report back as John Symons was not present.
• Attendance report back by Pam Donaldson: the numbers are fairly static at an average of about 24.
• Membership report back by David Bradshaw: Tayla Burger was successfully inducted in person  last week. Those members that took part in the Kyalami skittle evening and those that take part in our weekly quiz challenges will have met Debi Lieberthal, who has had her fireside chat and will be inducted in the near future.  Francois du Toit, previously a member of Rotary Hermanus has opted to remain a Friend of Rotary, but he will be receiving The Ramble, and will become involved where he can. David is making progress with creating a satellite club at Dainfern, but he has indicated that he cannot do this on his own, and asked for a fellow-member to please raise his or her hand and assist him.
• David does a sterling job as almoner and keeps in touch with Judy Powell, he has spoken to Bernard Neuhaus who will make every effort to attend the next in-person meeting, Elaine Margolius is spending Christmas with her daughter in the Cape, and it was great seeing Yvonne Franklin at the Delta picnic.
• International Chair report back by Richard Maloney: He is still pursuing the Cervical Cancer project avenues and is testing the waters with Carte Blanche. 
• Youth report back by Jean Bernardo: The Interact Club of the Highlands North Highschool only attracted 2 members this year, and next year the intention is to widen the scope of membership to grade 9's 10's and 11's, so as to nurture continuity. The committee will also see whether there would be interest in creating  EarlyAct clubs at primary schools such as Craighall and Rosebank Primary. There will definitely be a Careers Day planned for February 2022.
• Publicity Feedback by Ann Hope-Bailie: A big thank you to Lorenzo, who made it possible that the container handover at Baragwanath was professionally documented. No doubt we will be receiving the recording shortly which we will share via a link. Please also look out for an article on the hand-over due to be published in the Rosebank/Killarney Gazette within the next week.   We have also been receiving visitors to our Facebook page which Ann diligently updates. 
• Foundation report back by Les Short: On the 23rd of October there will be online District Training on Peace Scholarships. It was remarked upon that unfortunately many training sessions are only publicised last minute, which often means it is too late to fit them into our schedules.
• Community Services report back by Sybille Essmann: There was only one pressing item on the  agenda - the annual Norwood Spar "Festive Cheer" food drive, taking place on the weekend of the 30th/ 31st of October and a further two weekends on the 27th/28th of November and the 4th/5th December. There will be three shifts on the Saturdays - 9:00 to 11:00, 11:00 - 13:00 and 13:00 - 15:00. There will only be two shifts on Sundays - 9:00 to 11:00 and 11:00 - 13:00. Shift coordinator is Tutty Faber, and Sybille urges that every member makes an effort to volunteer for at least one shift.
• Fundraising report back: Sonja was not present at the meeting but let it be known that we are over-subscribed for the Quiz evening taking place this Wednesday the 20th of October. All the prizes for the quiz winners and for the Raffle have been beautifully wrapped, and even if you are unable to attend,  you can still purchase raffle tickets and your numbers will go into the draw. One ticket will cost you R20, and for every 5 tickets you will receive an additional ticket. 
• Environmental report back by Lyn Collocott: Lyn thanked Pam Donaldson for organizing a very successful picnic in the Delta Park.

The Palliative Care Day Centre and Training Facility at Baragwanath officially opened....

 World Palliative Care Day 2021 was celebrated on the 9th of October and it was therefore fitting  that it would coincide (give-or-take a few days) with the handing over of the refurbished container which the palliative carers will be able to utilize as a training facility and also as a sanctuary to relax and unwind.

A huge thank you has to go to James and Charlotte Croswell who selflessly endeavoured to make this a memorable event for everyone who attended the ceremony. It was primarily an occasion to recognize and celebrate the volunteer caregivers, called "Grannies", who continue to play a major role in supporting the provision of informal care visits to the terminally ill in their own homes. Each "grannie" received a gift from James and Charlotte and every guest was also allowed to take home a lovingly wrapped succulent plant.

After thanksgiving, singing and speeches we all proceeded outside to officially hand over the refurbished container.

James Croswell, AG Jean Bernardo and Dr Mpho Ratshikana-Moloto, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Palliative Care.

Rotary, People of Action hard at work once again....

There were still a lot of final touches that needed to be completed ahead of the refurbished Madiba Buggies being transported up to Thohoyandou. Jean roped in her family and Costa and Shirley proved they were not scared of hard work.

This Friday....

Manan Mahajan, Director of a successful tour company in New Delhi will enlighten us about travel in India. Not to be missed....