The S.A. Ambassador to The Holy See is our Guest Speaker, Fellowship = Skittles, Club 100 and Tutu Desks.....

 From the Pen of our President....

They say there is no time like the present – enough of the history then!!  Let’s celebrate our Africa Centenary – what amazing speakers the organisers have invited to address us!! I hope you have all considered attending – it would be great to have a huge showing of Rosebank Rotarians. Hear from RI, Bill Gates, Ndlovu Choir, Soweto String Quartet, Tito Mboweni, and and and….topics and panel discussions covering our 7 levels of service.

Day 1 program and Day 2 programs – follow the links!!

I loved hearing from Ambassador George on Friday – there are structures and people in high places who can motivate and assist us in our Rotary service – Rotary does open opportunities indeed.

 

Tutu desks – please go back to your Rotary Africa magazine from February and read about this amazing project – as a club we agreed to donate $100. Great example of collaboration with outside community organisation and Rotary clubs. We have completed our 2 District Grant projects and are looking to find something like this to get involved in – please let us have your ideas and contacts.

 

We would like to know who receives the Rosebank Ramble and we would also like to send it to more people so please let us know who you send it to and tell us who we could add to the list!!

The more the merrier!!

 

Have a wonderful week – take special care!!

Last Friday.....

we were very privileged to have had the South African Ambassador to the Holy See address our weekly meeting. 

His Excellency George Johannes was bestowed a knighthood, and became a Knight of the Order of Pope Pius IX in 2018. He is the first South African to be honoured in this manner and is also the first South African to have been formally received by both Pope Benedict and then by his successor Pope Francis.

George, as he humbly asked to be called by us was educated by the Holy Cross Sisters at St. Augustine's in Parow on the Cape Flats, but then went into exile in the dark days of Apartheid and mobilized for peace and justice.

He studied and lectured in Cork, Redding and Manchester and returned to South Africa to join Mandela's government in 1999.

Interestingly South Africa only established an Embassy at the Holy See in 2016; before that it was represented via Bern in Switzerland.

He explained that the Holy See is the government of the Vatican, the smallest country in the world. There are 184 countries represented at the Vatican.

It is the biggest Non-Governmental Organization in the World and sends in excess of R1,5billion in aid to Southern  Africa destined for social and humanitarian projects, irrespective of religion.

His ambassadorial function is very complex. Besides overseeing a multitude of projects he is also very instrumental in mediation; he was part of a negotiation team sent to Ruanda and Burundi, and also mediated with Qaddafi after the tragic incident when the PanAm Flight 103 was shot down over Lockerbie in Scotland, as well as negotiating with Frelimo and Renamo in Mozambique. 

The Pope is very aware of the Islamic threat in Mozambique and the atrocities committed in Sudan and George is considered a trusted advisor in matters xenophobia and the ongoing plight of migrants and refugees. He has been appointed to a special commission to make sure that Covid vaccines are distributed equitably to the poorer nations.

George speaks to the pontiff regularly and he told us a snippet of information which explains why the Pope so often has a pained expression in photos. It seems he suffers terribly from sciatica and is often in terrible pain as a result.

This soft-spoken and unpretentious gentleman gave us a lot of food for thought, and our President Ann formulated it accurately: Ambassadors are normally political animals but in George's case his vocation is humanitarian, which epitomizes all the ideals Rotary stands for.

It would be wonderful if we could host George in person one day.

Fellowship....

Last week David Bradshaw received the following e-mail from Peter Kastner.

 

Hi All

 After a most unpleasant enforced break in our tradition we are back, planning our next bowling competition with your club, and have booked the skittles alley at the Swiss Club on Thursday 29 April. Please bring your strongest team and supporters, we’ll do the same, with the thought in mind that this time we have a score to settle!

Arrival time will be as usual 6:30 for 7:00 pm, a R50 bowling participation fee, cash bar and individual choice of items from the Swiss Club’s menu.

Please let me know if you can accept the date of our invitation and send us a list of your participants a week before the event.

We like to assure you that Covid19 sanitary measures will be observed and very much look forward to this fellowship evening with you.

 

Kind regards,

 Peter Kastner

Rotary Club of Kyalami

Club Administration Director & Youth Officer

Cell      082 776 5033

Email  kastner@

Throughout the last year of lockdown David has been tirelessly organizing our weekly Zoom quiz challenges which have become the highlight in many of our lives and thus other clubs in the area are reciprocating in kind

It goes without saying that not only are we quiz masters, but are keen to show our expertise at other pastimes.

Please put your hand up and let David know if you would like to join the team.

It's all in the spirit of Fellowship.

 

Club 100.....

The monthly winners of the Rotary Ann's fund raising initiatives are always published in their dedicated page above, but Lis Short has made us aware  that they still have a few tickets to sell.

This month the first prize of R300 was won by Celia Hughes D'Aeth, who is Lis's sister and a friend of Rotary. She lives in the UK, but she is now a avid participant of our weekly quiz challenges.

The 2nd prize of R150 was won by June Virtue's domestic help Anah Mozile. 

As they say in the Classics, if you do not have your line in the water, you cannot catch a fish.

Please click into the Rotary Ann's page to see the banking details if you would like to still participate.

2011 saw the official launch of the Desmond Tutu Tutudesk Campaign as an international outreach to multi-tiered donors wishing to provide learners with Tutudesks across Africa and the World. The Tutudesk Campaign geared towards both children in school and those displaced by conflict and disaster. 

Whilst our work remains true to assisting shortages in school environments, the Tutudesk is now recognized globally as a viable solution to emergencies with new sponsorships from UNHCR for displaced children.

This project has changed lives and Rotary has been instrumental in driving this program, and in this spirit the Rotary Club of Rosebank has agreed to donate $100 towards keeping the momentum going.

This Friday......

A Board Meeting.