Clean a River, MoMo shares wonderful memories of her time in Thailand, and our first real meeting coming up....

From the Pen of our President.... 

Dear fellow Rotarians,

 

It is sad to say goodbye to friends. As we all remember Hector this week, I would like to start a series of remembering and learning.

So this week it will be – the beginning of the 4 Way Test. (thank you PDG Peter Margolius)

In 1932, during the depths of the great depression, a businessman named Herbert J Taylor was urged by the creditors of the Club Aluminium Company of Chicago to take over the management of the company and save it from bankruptcy. The cookware manufacturer was already insolvent, owing its creditors some $400,000 more than its total assets. Despite holding a secure job with the Jewel Tea Company, and being in line to becoming its president, Taylor was persuaded to risk everything, taking an eighty percent cut in pay and loaning $6,100 of his own money to the new enterprise to give it some operating capital.

Realizing that one false move could be fatal, Taylor began to search for some ways to survive. His competitors had equally fine products and personnel and could easily compete and could easily compete with him on price because they had much less debt to repay. Taylor concluded that his company would have to develop higher standards of corporate character, dependability, and service in order to secure any competitive advantage. A deeply religious man, he prayed earnestly for a way to challenge his troubled staff to new resolve. In July 1932, after meditating about the matter at his desk, he began to compose a hundred word guideline which he first reduced to seven tests and then to fours tests, putting the results on a card  that he kept under the glass top of his desk for sixty days.

              As business decisions flowed across his desk daily. Taylor began to examine the extent to which his company was measuring up to the ideals which he had captured on the card. He was shocked to see how often his business failed to meet the four tests which he had conceived. After sharing the guidelines with his department heads and gaining their support, the Test was accepted by the company, memorized by every employee, and soon began to function as the criteria for building a new corporate culture. Taylor literally turned the company around by making everyone in it, including himself, accountable to these four accepted standards.

              The result was a great success story. By 1937, the entire indebtedness of Club Aluminium was paid in full and, the next fifteen years, the firm distributed more than a million dollars in dividends to its stockholders. The net worth steadily rose to more than two million dollars, all from $6,100 borrowed money and The Four Test. In the worst climate that American business had ever known. Taylor proved that these simple guidelines could provide new energy and direction in the arena of practical commerce. 

In 1942, a director of Rotary International suggested that it adopt  Taylor’s test, which was approved by the board in January 1943, making the Four-Way Test a component of the Vocational Service Program, Although today it has become a vital part of all four Avenues of Service. In 1954-55, its golden anniversary year, Taylor served Rotary International as President, during which time he transferred the copyright for the Four-Way Test to the organisation where it continues to provide an effective summary of the movement’s ideals.

 

Enjoy a wonderful week.

Yours in Rotary,

Ann

Last Friday....

Last week's Ramble contained a cryptic acronym WASH - 

In the spirit of March being Water, Sanitation  & Hygiene Month and the 22nd  of this month being World Water Day we had an impromptu speaker address us about a worthy initiative to clean up the rivers and waterways in the Gauteng area.

                                                     

                                              

Mark McClue has been a resident of Chartwell with his family for 19 years. Mark is involved in various spheres of business and social impact investments and is a founding member of the NPO ARMOUR.org.za which provides a ‘Voice for Water’ and addressing ways to keep rivers clean and safe. He is a passionate whitewater kayaker, trail runner and outdoor adventurer.

It was his love of kayaking down the local rivers that alerted him to the ravaging pollution of our local rivers and the need to raise awareness and mobilize cleaning-up operations to save our environment.

 

This coming long weekend (20th, 21st and 22nd of March) PDG David Grant of The Rotary Satellite Club of Kyalami Sandton  in collaboration with Armour and the WASH Action Group is spearheading a monumental cleaning-up project and he is reaching out to all the Rotary Clubs in the District to lend a helping hand.

The Rotary Club of Rosebank has been allocated a section of the Sandspruit which runs through the Ernest Ullman Park in Morningside and Sybille is looking for a team of enthusiastic volunteers to muck in for a few hours on either Sunday or Monday morning. Plastic bags will be provided but bring your own rubber gloves. Please get in touch with her if you would like to be part of this initiative.

Momo reports back.....

Our Rotary youth exchange student Masego Matiko, or Momo as she is lovingly called, could not have chosen a more challenging year to venture out on her journey to far flung Thailand. She had hardly arrived when the pandemic closed down all the borders and she had to make the difficult decision of returning back to the safety of her home or to stay the course.

But our Momo is not a quitter, and so she stayed. Lockdown meant that she could get really close to her host family, and she speaks fondly of her "dad", who was assigned to her as he too was dark skinned.

Her host club was situated in the south of the country in Krabi and has 35 members; it is a relatively "young" club, with an average age of 35.

Momo was their first exchange student that stayed for a year, most only ever stayed for three months.

Her school was very "militarish", every morning the students had to sing the school anthem while hoisting the flag.

She was fortunate that once the restrictions had eased she travelled quite a bit and attended all district meetings. One of her highlights of her stay was when her "dad" , whose son-in-law was a captain in the army, arranged for her to give English lessons to a group of soldiers.She thought she would teach them something practical: the difference in pronunciation of "w" and "v".

She took part in a CPR training course project, which she reckons will stand her in good stead in life.

Her club also initiated a project where they installed ventilation systems in public schools, to combat the heat and humidity. 

And the food!!! She just fell in love with the Thai cuisine! Her favourite: sticky rice and deep fried chicken. Not to forget the seafood which Krabi is known for.

The only thing that she could not eat was the Durian fruit, which she said tasted a bit like diced garlic and caramel covered with whipped cream. Delightful!

In Momo's own words - she is homesick for Thailand and she lives in her memories "rent free".

 How beautiful is that!

Please join us on Zoom this Wednesday evening the 17th of March when Momo gives us a demonstration of the cooking skills she acquired during her stay in Thailand.

Rotary Regalia...

The Cost of shirts this year are as follows:-

Men’s Long Sleeve:  R372.75

Men’s Short Sleeve  R365.75

Ladies  Short sleeve Blouses. R344.40

 

 Rotary Face Masks. R29.95

 Lapel Pin.                   R51.67.

Car Stickers.              R6.72.      Proud to be a Rotarian.

                                     R25.18.    Decal External.

All prices exclude VAT.

 

Please contact David if you are interested in any of the above.

In Preparation of our first live meeting in a year....

Ann and Sybille cleaned out the cupboard at Wanderers.

Roll on the 26th of March!