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....